Players can improvise their lines within the safe structure of their roles and scene or story goals. They click on a help feature to access their goals for the scene, or to review the plot. In addition, users can write their own scripts. Our group wrote scripts and played them two times a week for several months. So when you give scripted roles to people, they fall in line right away and have a very good experience.
MUDS provide complex mechanisms to advance scenes or change states within the world.
This is fine if the goal is to create a simulated world or complex puzzles. However, the creators of Lead Line wanted a socially interactive space where participants could come together to solve problems and learn how to come to agreement. They wanted to look beyond the computer to study ways to facilitate and improve social interaction. The Virtual Worlds group is working with the MSN Chat team to get feedback on the design of Lead Line and hopes to deploy Lead Line later this year. The group conducted a trial in early May with several MSN program managers, hosts, and forum managers.