[MUD-Dev] Law of Resource Congestion

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Thu, 17 Aug 2000, Nathan F. Yospe wrote:

> Matthew Mihaly <the_logos at achaea.com> said:
> 
> > Most swords may look alike (well, most foils look similar, most
> > broadswords look similar, etc) but that's not really relevant to this
> > discussion, I think. If the players want unique-looking items, then it is
> > entirely reasonable that every player have unique looking items (I don't
> > actually give all players unique-looking items, as uniqueness has value,
> > and thus we charge for unique descriptions, but you see my point I'm
> > sure.)
> 
> And adding some unique wire or gemwork to the hilt (quite doable) would do
> the job, for those who actually had the money to invest with someone who
> had the skill.  Mind you, the more unique, the harder to obtain... artistans
> do have the use of a partial form of the builder engine, but it takes skill
> to use.

If artisans have partial use of the builder engine, what can they modify?
How do you stop them from writing inappropriate things? I've always wanted
to give artisans the power to alter clothing descriptions as such, but I'm
aware that were I just to give them the power to do it, they'd be making
bulletproof vests, giant dildos, and all manner of ridiculous things that
don't belong in the context. How do you screen for that, without having to
have admins read everything?

Actually, scratch that, I can think of one method. Certain players in
Achaea have the ability to re-write certain room descriptions. The
Chancellor of a city state and his aides can do it, though it costs the
city a fee. We've not had a problem so far with players writing
inappropriate descriptions, probably largely because a player doing that
would quickly be kicked out of power by the other players.

I'm not sure how you'd apply that to the idea of an artisan (who shouldn't
need to be elected or whatnot), but I'd feel comfortable giving an elected
position the power to alter clothing or whatnot, and trust them to do it
appropriately. (Just thinking out loud here, if any of my players are
reading this, that's not a promise!)

 
> > But again, so what if lava and rust would mess it up in reality? Muds are
> > not reality. (Granted, I realize that you, Nathan, try to simulate
> > reality, but I must respectfully question whether a mud that attempts to
> > simulate reality as strictly as you seem to want to will ever get any
> > significant playerbase.)
> 
> I doubt you're right.  So long as Vernor Vinge, Jerry Pournelle, David 
> Drake, and other such writers have a following, my type of mud does too.
> 
> Besides, have you seen the anticipation around Halo?  I rest my case.

Is your mud a graphical game? If not, the comparison is not apt. A
baseball simulation in graphics is fun. In text, it's just pants. Text
cannot do some things that graphics can do, and vice-versa, at least in my
experience.

--matt
"He that is wounded in the testicles, or have his penis cut off, shall not
enter into the congregation of the Lord." Deuteronomy 23:1




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