[MUD-Dev] Re: Administrative notes

[Marian Griffith]

On Tue 27 May, Adam Wiggins wrote:

> > On Mon 19 May, Orion Henry wrote:

> > > 	Well, that healer who sits in town all day, healing people,
> > > should get REALLY REALLY good at sitting in a town all day healing
> > > people.  When he encounters things he's unfamiliar with or has not
> > > had much experience dealing with, then he should be in trouble (the
> > > plague, major burns, etc...)
> [Marian:]
> > Which may be one of the reasons why the good people of the town award
> > this healer with more than she needs to survive. In the hope that she
> > will get better at healing so that when an emergency occurs they have
> > a competent healer about rather than one who knows how to deal with
> > the common minor wounds and diseases.

> Yes.  Plus of course, as you get more experience, you can charge more for
> your services (whether this be monetary or otherwise), gain a certain
> amount of respect (everyone watches out for you because you're the
> only one who knows the remedy to X) and notoriety (pupils come from
> far and wide to learn at your feet).

> Danger can be fun,
> but I doubt it's the *only* way to have fun.  It just that, as of now,
> combat systems are usually the most detailed (and therefore, interesting)
> technical (ie, part of the game and not introduced by the players) part of
> a mud.

Which I think it's important for people trying to think up new ideas for
muds to work on this aspect. How to detail other meaningfull activities
besides fighting. I don't want to totally abolish combat from a game,
but I would like to see it being the only thing possible.

> Again, implying that it's impossible to learn anything without having a
> teacher seems a bit strange to me.  How, pray tell, did we (humanity, that
> is) ever manage to learn anything since we didn't know anything to
> begin with? :)

Somebody who is really, -really- good can elaborate on existing knowledge.
And somebody who is really stupid, but lucky, can stumble on something
by accident. The price that has to be paid for being that good is high,
often too high for the community who has to pay to support this person
(so she can devote all her time to study her chosen subject)

marian
--
Yes - at last - You. I Choose you. Out of all the world,
out of all the seeking, I have found you, young sister of
my heart! You are mine and I am yours - and never again
will there be loneliness ...

Rolan Choosing Talia,
Arrows of the Queen, by Mercedes Lackey