nu.kanga.list.mud-dev

7512: [MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?

On Sat, Sep 26, 1998 at 10:01:38PM +0100, Kylotan wrote:
> Jon Leonard <jleonard@divcom.slimy.com> wrote:
> Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?
> 
> >On Sat, Sep 26, 1998 at 02:38:55AM +0100, Kylotan wrote:
> >[stuff including a list of traits that make a game 'mudlike']
> >> -- Character persistence across games, including character
> >> 'advancement'.
> >
> >However, the mudlike games that I'm aware of don't have character
> portability.
> >The relevant data for the character is authoritatively stored on the
> server,
> >and not transferrable to a different game.
> 
> I apologize, as now I realise that I used the wrong word above. In
> hindsight, it should have read "Character persistence
> across -sessions-..." rather than 'games'. The idea is to show that you
> can stop playing, and come back to that point at a later time or date.
> Again, there are many games we don't consider muds that have this
> facility, but there are few that we -do- consider muds that don't :)

Oof.  My wording was even worse than yours.  I should have made it clear
that I thought there were 2 importanct characteristics, of which you
described one:

1) You can stop playing, and come back to it later as the same character
in the same game.

2) You can't usually move a character from one game to another, even of
the same type.

Diablo has property 1 but not 2.  There isn't enough substance to the
particular world to distinguish it from any other Diablo game.

The interesting question is then, are there any games that are obviously
very MUDlike that do transfer characters from game to game, or alternatively
can't be resumed after quitting.  I've heard of some attempts to make
characters portable from one MUD to another, but they usually don't let
objects across and so fort.

Jon Leonard