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Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 17:33:37 -0700
From: Jasper McChesney <jasperm@student.umass.edu>
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Subject: Re: Will IF gamers not support this style?
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Well, presonally, I love MUDS.  Especially in theory.  So, even without
the multi-player aspect of MUDing, I'd would certainly appreciate a well
crafted "rpg" text game.

Combat is not a problem for me, per se, but it cannot be AD&D's
hack and slash.  Also, while stats might be okay for a beer & pretzels
hack & slash, any "rpg IF" that invovles a lot of well developed story
shouldn't have them - they're artificial and only useful in very simple
games.  If you have them, make them complex and internal.  I would also
not like to see combat in which "You attack the gnoll.  You hit!"
occurs.
I want descriptions -- that's why it's called IF after all.  I also
would ideally like some real interactivity, but I realize that's
difficult to implement.  The big thing is that combat shouldn't have
numbers: it should not feel, in any way, separate from the overall
gaming experience.  If implemented in this way, I can't see anyone
objecting to combat from a simple gameplay perspective (not personal
preference).

The other thing which might be difficult is travel.  Typically, rpgs
involve a lot of travelling -- they are epic and span entire continents,
or at least regions of them.  Without coding thousands of locations or
using an algorithmic on-the-spot location generator, and I can only see
travel being implemented via descriptions -- but then it might be
taken too lightly.  Seeing "You travel for weeks and arrive in Ardania"
is not satisfying.

I think one of the primary objections many IFers (correct me if I'm
wrong
here) is that, by there very nature, rpgs focus on things other than
detail.
They encompass grand stories and travel over a long period of time.
Individual puzzles are not typically the meat & potatoes of rpgs.
