[MUD-Dev] New Topic: Butthead features

[Jon A. Lambert]

On 19 Aug 97 at 21:59, clawrenc at cup.hp.com wrote:
> 
> It illuminates for me one of the base differences in game design
> approach:
> 
>   Build something interesting and users will appear to do something
> intersting with it.
> 
> vs:
> 
>   Build something to play /this/ sort of game and represent *that*
> sort of environment.
>
> On the face of it I suspect that this is implicit to a __designed__ RP
> game (ie game designed for RP as vs GOP), and more specifically to an
> RP game where a particular form of RP or an RP in a pre-stated
> milleau/character is desired.  
>

Yes, but with a very large grumble...
<grumble on>
FORCING characters to SUBMIT to your environment is anathema to good 
roleplaying.  This is very commercial, white-washed, family-oriented 
politically correct entertainment, and has little or nothing to do 
with roleplaying. 
<grumble off>

> On my end I'm a lot more interested in building what I think might be
> an interesting system, and then seeing what people will do with it,
> including what social forms, good or bad (however I might judge), they
> might build.  In a way its all a grand experiment in providing a soil
> and variety of fertilisers, and then standing back to see what
> attempts to grow there.

The goals are identical with the exception of building an interesting 
"world" and see how players cope/deal with it as opposed to building 
a "system" and seeing how players cope/deal with it.


JL
Jon A. Lambert