From: darius@starbird.WPI.EDU (Christopher J Scanlon)
Subject: Re: **** TOP 10 LPMUDs ****
Summary: Some interesting comments Michael but...
Keywords: complexity vs. simplicity
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 01:26:53 GMT

In article <michael.714053328@aviator.cc.iastate.edu> michael@iastate.edu (Michael M. Huang) writes:
>In <1992Aug17.113249.8144@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> ak853@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Eric Blade) writes:
>
>[Some text deleted]
>>	Have you guys ever heard of a neat thing called simplicity?
>
>Well, to view it from another coin, have you ever heard of a neat thing
>called complexity?  What if someone got on here and started to complain
>about how simple the muds in the current LP world is, and how mindless
>that most of the muds have become.
True, but to make something a bit less "mindless" you don't need to make it
overly complex.  Complexity is good, and even better when it can be used
by everyone.  Take Valhalla for instance.  It had a complex system but
it wasn't too hard to ask someone or find out what all the differences were
and make your plans from there.  If Genesis took a step like Fletloss did
with Valhalla, then LP's would be going somewhere.  It is still the best
system for stats, combat, etc; that I have ever seen on an LPmud, followed
by Kingdoms.  Complexity and change without shock.  An easy transition.
Genesis is not this, and a lot of people I talked to can back that up, there's
too much that's changed and it's been done in too much of a drastic fashion
for most to not look for something a bit more familiar though just as 
interesting.

[Some stuff about evil muds deleted]
>
>LP world used to be pretty much the same.  Every mud you log on all
>look the same.  Most even had same "castles".  You always start up in
>a church (or endoplasmatorium, depending on the side of the Ocean 
>you're on :)  This was the old days.  Then, some insane souls decided
>that "different can be good", and many "different" muds sprang up 
>everywhere.  Different, in those days, meant different baseworld.
>The basic mudlib still remained the same.  Then, people got more
>lunatic and insane and changed the mudlib.  These were not drastic
>changes, mind you.  They were only minor alterations and additions
>here and there.  But, people look at it and say "Different is good".
>From all these ancient alterings (oh... 1-2 years back :) sprung
>the current LP madness, where every mud tries to be different
>and "unique".  But, the truely different muds are those that have
>taken far drastic paths than the rest.
>
And the muds that are best are those which try to be "unique" without scaring
off players.  I would rather have a vanilla lpmud source [taking out all the
bugs like kill scripts, money bugs, quicktyper bugs, etc;] and have some
GOOD wizards [I'd take a Melvaig, Darkone, and a lot of others] and even
with nothing very special, you'd still have a great mud just by the 
complexity of these "different" castles.  Different can be good when done
right.
[More stuff deleted to keep this one short]

>I speak for no particular mud here, only the idea behind "different".
>
>-michael
> From the Grave
> Deceased/retired Vincent's Hollow wanderer.
>

Christopher Scanlon : darius@wpi.wpi.edu : Darius @ Aegolous Acadicus
Daroki @ Valhalla, Paradox, Ancient Anguish, PhoenixMUD, and Demon World


Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.lp