nu.kanga.list.mud-dev

9379: [MUD-Dev] Re: Levels versus Skills, who uses them and when.

On Thu, 14 Jan 1999 13:31:13 -0800 (PST) 
Adam Wiggins<adam@angel.com> wrote:

> If people were willing to invest 100 or more hours into a mule
> character like this whose usefulness is not even all that high,
> IMO, then I'd say that using the technique Mik describes above is
> probably going to be fruitless.  It may *reduce* the muling
> somewhat, but not get rid of it.

My first thought is that not removing characters from the game upon
player logout would handle this, but that doesn't work because if
there's a necessity (and there is) to be able to make characters
safe during player-absence, then that applies just as well to mules
while stashed awaiting their next tool-handler.

Note to Ling:  Need to add mule definition to the FAQ.

The real problem of course is that mule exploit game design
weaknesses where certain functionalities are desirable but not worth
playing with as a regular basis.  Hurm.  More interesting question:

  Is the existence and use of mules *really* a problem?  Why?

Mules add complexity, interdependence, and some amount of flavour to 
a game.  They are also tantamount to robots (just player based
robots).  While not "fun" per se, do they actually *damage* the
game, or do they really add a value in an area a game is already
lacking in?

--
J C Lawrence                              Internet: claw@kanga.nu
(Contractor)                             Internet: coder@kanga.nu
---------(*)                    Internet: claw@under.engr.sgi.com
...Honorary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...