From: cdshaw@cs.ualberta.ca (Chris Shaw)
Subject: More on MUDs (Was Re: VR Worlds better than Reality)
Date: Sun, 4 Aug 1991 19:36:29 -0600
Organization: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada



In article blah (Howard Rheingold) writes:

>Can you tell us about LPmud in a way that is consistent with living in
>a kind of VR world? And something about the scope of LPmud as a
>subculture? Do you think this world will be enthralled with VR
>frontends, or is the text format essential to the illusion?

LPmud (and other Multi User Dungeon programs) are very similar "culturally"
and structurally to Dungeons & Dragons. Some even steal the accounting and
combat resolution procedures from D&D, which is a mistake in my opinion, 
since the constraint of having humans evaluate outcomes using dice is not
necessary when the computer can do it.

Nonetheless, the "virtual world" aspect is very similar to "Adventure" or 
"Zork". You interact with a virtual world which is usually static, there
is a limited command set, and there is a directed graph structure to the
geography which is laid out in advance. Of course, the geography can be 
changed or extended in most MUDs, but during a given session, it is fixed.

The main difference, of course, is the multi-user nature of the game. Users
team up to hunt for monsters and glory, which is measured in "experience 
points". You can kill other players if you desire, although this is more
likely to get you into trouble than anything else. Some MUDs have town
guards which will hunt you down if you have attacked another player.

Culturally, most of the people you meet seem to be teenaged males. I 
think this has as much to do with the enormous time investment required
to improve your level than anything else. Unfortunately, some MUDs are
not designed with the idea that your time investment is important, which
is a fatal botch in my opinion. One LPmud I have played is quite good in 
this respect, since you can sell everything you've collected at the
store, and put the money in the bank. Any program which requires you 
to plan quitting so that you lose minimum work is poorly designed, 
in my opinion.

There is also a fairly strict hierarchy based on level. Higher level
players are usually charitable to lower level players, and lower level
players are expected to not be idiots. Some of this charity is due to
the lack of documentation, which results in new players continually
asking questions. Other charity is necessary because new players start
off with lousy equipment and no skills, and so must enroll in an
apprenticeship program to survive. This enrollment process consists
of standing around shouting that you need to join a team.

As far as the illusion is concerned, the text could easily be replaced by
pictures with no loss of comprehension. The basic problem is that it's
feast or famine. Either nothing is happening, or (in combat) so much is 
happening you can't take it all in. This fits with real life, of course,
but in real life you don't have to worry about mistyping a command, or 
having it scroll off the screen. This data organization problem can be 
solved by a front end, and I think a visual front end would be very nice.
--
Chris Shaw               University of Alberta
cdshaw@cs.UAlberta.ca    CatchPhrase: Bogus as HELL !