[MUD-Dev] Re: let's call it a spellcraft

["S. Patrick Gallaty" <choke#sirius,com>]

>On Wed, Sep 23, 1998 at 10:44:09AM -0500, Koster, Raph wrote:
>> An original key design premise of UO was that EVERYTHING in the game was
>> defined in terms of intrinsic qualities. An axe was 1 unit of wood and 2
>> of metal, a breastplate was 25 units of metal, a person was a given
>> amount of meat and possibly a given amount of prestige, a gravestone
>> embodied a few units of "spookiness", and yes, magical objects included
>> some amount of "magic" as part of their nature. In particular, different
>> magical components embodied one of the eight hidden "qualities" of
>> magic--such as classical elements, etc. So hidden inside sulphurous ash
>> was a unit of Fire, and mandrake root carried one unit of Death with it.
>> This allowed for MANY possible interactions with fairly little code.



So what happened to that excellent idea, Raph?
How did UO end up with that fairly disappointing spell system?