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From: buzzard@TheWorld.com (Sean T Barrett)
Subject: Re: An IF'er in a strange land (Skotos and multiplayer IF)
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Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2002 04:17:14 GMT
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Alan DeNiro <alandeniro@aol.com> wrote:
>No, no doubt, this might sound very MUDish in a certain light. And
>that might be true, in a certain light. But is Skotos a glorified
>(albeit highly social)MUD? Well, yes and no. It depends what yardstick
>you're using. What's interesting to me is that the creators of Skotos,
>and many of its participants, THINK of it in a different light, that
>they're trying to do something quite different. Although as a newbie I
>was most definitely on the outside looking in regarding narratives
>swirling in the castle, I could tell that they were there. There were
>certain narrative structures (the trick is discovering how to
>participate in them) clustering around; not in any linear sense, but
>then again, not in a treasure-acquisition or  hack n' slash sense
>either. The social interaction IS the puzzle.

See AmberMUSH, and I'm sure there are others.

The only difference is they're basically totally freeform
in interaction, rarely governed by the actual game engine
the way "LOOK/EXAMINE" as you described are. I'm not sure
if there are any "gamemasters" behind the scenes running
the narratives at all, or if it's just entirely collaborative
on the players.

SeanB
