[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis

[Dan Shiovitz <dbs#cs,wisc.edu>]

On Mon, 13 Jul 1998, Adam Wiggins wrote:
> On Sun, 12 Jul 1998, Matt Chatterley wrote:
> > Right. I also feel that replacing the numbers with more descriptive information
> > is conducive to a different approach to gaming (more below). It also (to my
> > mind) makes it 'friendlier' to those who are unaccustomed with this type of
> > game, and requires less instruction - "My strength is 18? What does that
> > /mean/?" versus "Okay, so I'm very strong.." (of course, the logical
> > continuation is similar, since it is ".. compared to what?").
> 
> This is, IMO, a larger problem of establishing a frame of reference.  You
> need to do this for ALL elements in your world, not just numerical stats -
> although those can be the easiest.  For example:
> 
> % stats
> You are a female ogre.
> You are very strong compared to most ogres.
> You are very intelligent compared to most ogres.
[..]

Note that this is the *right* way to do it, and I haven't seen it like
this anywhere. What I usually see is something like

 % score
 Your Strength: buff
 % help strength
 Strength values: wimpy, wussy, tiny, girly, average, normal, buff,
                  macho, studly, heroic, titanic, elephantine. 

  
In other words, all the admins did was play use-the-thesaurus and
there's no obvious ranking of the stat words unless you have memorized
the help file. 

> Adam
-- 
Dan Shiovitz || dbs#cs,wisc.edu || http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~dbs 
"...Incensed by some crack he had made about modern enlightened
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