Re: [MUD-Dev] Affecting the world

[Matt Chatterley <root#mpc,dyn.ml.org>]

On Fri, 19 Sep 1997 clawrenc#cup,hp.com wrote:

> In <199709170525.AAA09363#dfw-ix9,ix.netcom.com>, on 09/17/97 
>    at 08:45 AM, "Jon A. Lambert" <jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com> said:
> 
> >You mention the amassing of player armies.  The cost and logistics in
> > labor and resources would be vast.  The effects of this on local 
> >economies can be both explosive and devastating, even excluding the 
> >effects of actual warfare (the old guns or butter issues).  Then 
> >there's those elusive things called morale, training, and readiness 
> >which might make it all for naught.  
> 
> I would note in passing that medieval armies often numbered under 100
> men, and rarely were more than a few hundred.  I recall something to
> the effect of the Battle of Hastings having less than 100 total
> participants...

I don't profess to know much here. :)

I can't imagine players under our system massing HUGE forces and
mobilising them in one place (that is the key notion) - it probably
wouldn't be necessary. If it is for something they want to do, the costs
will be high. A superb soldier can account for several poor or untrained
soldiers - the only snag is that the superb ones are a lot more expensive.

In any case, the notion of 'armies' particularly their size and so forth
will be romanticised somewhat in many places. :)

Regards,
	-Matt Chatterley
	http://user.itl.net/~neddy/index.html
"Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics." -?