Mushy Thoughts about Roleplay by Petrel Chapter 1 - A Visit to Elendor Chapter 2 - Compulsory RP vs. Voluntary RP Chapter 3 - Obstacles to Voluntary RP Chapter 4 - A MUSH within a MUME? Chapter 5 - Uncoded Quests and /switched Gods Chapter 1 - A Visit to Elendor ============================== A Visit to Elendor In past discussions of RP, we have heard the argument that 'RP and diku don't mix; this isn't a MUSH; if you want RP go to a MUSH.' In the last couple of days, I have done just that. I started a character on Elendor, which is the MUME of MUSHes, that is, a Tolkien-based MUSH with a dedicated player base, a strong management team, and a high reputation. Ressaven also has experience there. I wanted to find out what they had that we didn't. What is it about MUSHes that enables them, and not us, to have RP - if that is how it is? I had never spent any significant amount of time on a MUSH, and if you have the following "discoveries" will not be new to you. The difference between Elendor and MUME, in terms of the code and data files, is NOT mainly that they have features we lack. Quite the opposite! It is that they LACK the features we have. They have no mobs to speak of, little in the way of equipment, and not much of what we call mudlle. Some of their descriptions are potentially richer, but that's not what makes the difference. Compared to what you see in MUME Bree, Elender Bree is virtually deserted. It is like an empty stage. You find yourselves in a reasonably well-described but totally empty room. You have little in the way of money or equipment. Even if you had them, there would not be much you could do with them. There are no mobs walking around. There is no possibility of adventure - UNTIL you find some other people sitting around. Then you can start to tell each other stories, make up plans, tell them about your imaginary past, and so on. The most important commands in Elendor are 'say' and 'emote' [pose]. If you happen to be in a relatively peaceful area, you might spend your whole evening ONLY saying and emoting. Even if you are an orc in a nasty area, where combat and dying are common, you are emoting most of the time. MUSHing is an art form sort of like improvisational drama. When I created my Breeland character, I found myself (quite by chance) at the inception of what we would call a 'quest' - in MUSH terms, a 'TinyPlot'. [I KNOW this term will never gain popularity here!] A few days before, it had been spread around that a troll had got into the Chetwood somehow. Offstage and Out of character, some of the Breelanders had arranged to obtain a couple of trolls, whom I think were 'puppets', more or less what we would call 'switched mobs', and developed a plan whereby one of the trolls would be scared off by someone pretending to be Gandalf. This plan having been developed and scheduled, about 12 Breelanders tried to log on to participate in the drama. When I arrived, everyone was sitting in the Prancing Pony dressing up the guy as a wizard. Of course this was done entirely with emotes. When he was supposedly dressed, he ducked into the bathroom and came out having changed his description. We then marched off to a few rooms outside of Bree, where we went through the motions of hiding in the brush, pretending to cast spells at the trolls, etc. Then we were left fighting the remaining troll, which only three of us could do because they were 'registered for combat' (which you can't do before you've been there for two RL weeks). Elendor combat is very slow by MUME standards, as each blow is prefaced by an emote, the adversaries agreeably taking turns hitting each other. Quite by accident, the troll delivered a knockout blow to one of the Breelanders. Naturally this was another occasion for high drama, as we emoted pulling him off the field, he groaned, coughed up blood, lapsed into unconsciousness, etc. Then the troll was ultimately dispatched, and the wounded were shepherded back to the Inn. When all this was over, nobody had any more "xp points", which don't exist, or money, or equipment. We had enjoyed ourselves, however. TinyPlots do not happen every night, though, and (as the example indicates) they need some planning and a quorum of locals to bring off. What do you do the other 5 nights in the week, when there are only two other Breelanders logged on In Character? Well, if you are a farmer, and the other one is the weaponsmith, and the third is the waiter in the Prancing Pony, I guess you sit around talking about weapons, drinks and hay, and how hard it is to get in the hay in these troubled times. You try to perfect your role and your biography, and impress everyone with the seamlessness of your acting ability. Is this fun? I think so. You may not. But here is my point. ALL of this can be done in MUME! Nothing stops people from sitting around the bar talking about hay. Nothing stops people from having a biography and talking about it. Nothing stops people from sitting around emoting. Even the troll in the Chetwood could be arranged, as I will elaborate upon later. Chapter 2 - Compulsory RP vs. Voluntary RP ========================================== Compulsory RP vs. Voluntary RP Elendor, of course, requires RP. In the first place, there is not much else to do a lot of the time except RP. In the second place, the administrators strictly manage player interaction. The character creation process is QUITE elaborate. You cannot get into the world until the local administrator of the culture approves you. You cannot fight anyone until the local administrator has approved you for combat. Arbiters can overturn the results of fights if they think rules of in-character/out-of-character were violated. In the third place, there is no way to 'level' your character into a greatly superior one, the way it is in the diku system. Instead, if your RP is judged to be good, you are nominated to play a stronger character. As a result of all this, people who don't like RP, or who have no aptitude for it, hate Elendor and depart, leaving behind a player base solidly committed to Roleplay. Where do they go? They probably come to MUME. Because of the leveling and scoring elements in the diku system, the presence of mobs, etc., it is possible for MUMErs to enjoy themselves without RP. And there is no likelihood that we are going to make RP compulsory. The question, though, is, do we do what we could to make RP POSSIBLE for people who actually want to do it? Well, I think we have recognize that the xp/tp requirements for leveling are to some degree in tension with RP. You cannot become a strong warrior, OR, for that matter, a skillful cleric!, without having killed a lot of things. More things than can possibly be killed in a 'role-play way'. A character who only killed the things that it made sense to, and hunted exclusively through roleplaying, would spend days of playing time before getting to level 5. Of course, one could sit in the shire and play a level 3. But then there are large portions of the MUD you will never get to see, since you cannot get a 'promotion' for good roleplay. However, I think it is possible for people who like RP to get a compromise. One can xp-hunt for part of one's time, in a semi-RP way, while spending the rest of one's time RP-ing more extensively. RP will not be the source of levels, promotions, money, or equipment, but it could be the source of some enjoyment. We apparently have some people who like the idea of more RP, since they responded favorably to my post. But it seems hard for them to get RP going even SOME of the time. What are the reasons for this? Chapter 3 - Obstacles to Voluntary RP ===================================== Obstacles to Voluntary RP I argued above, and repeat, that the obstacles to voluntary RP are mostly not in the coding of the MUD. It is POSSIBLE for people to do non-RP things, but it is also possible for them to spend the whole day doing pure RP if they want. Why don't we? I argue that the obstacles are mainly psychological and sociological. (a) The first set of obstacles to RP lies in the fact that, even for people who want to RP, the coded features of MUME make it EASIER to take the easy way and avoid RP, not just in terms of the leveling, but in terms of the interactions that go into RP itself! That may seem kind of abstruse, so let me explain what I mean. Consider social commands. They don't exist in Elendor, btw. They may exist in user-defined commands, or in people's clients, but I never saw them in much use. When someone wants to apologize to you, he usually stops and thinks and types out an emote that suits the occasion. We, on the other hand, can type "apo ". Much faster! But it's stereotyped, and it undermines the texture of the encounter. It is sort of like the competition between cheap, mass-produced goods and more expensive craft-made goods! The coded feature (the social) is easier and faster to use than the emote. As a result it drives the emote out of the market! Take another area: professions. In Elendor, there is a hobbit who is the Bree Weaponsmith. So far as I know, this does not mean that he has a functioning store where you can buy a sword. (Not that you will need a sword, since you aren't going around Bree killing mobs anyway.) However, he is on hand to play the role, to discuss weapons with you (when he happens to be on), and I think that when someone is approved to carry a weapon, somehow he gets involved in the process. When he isn't around, there is no weaponsmith... not that the town really needs one. I stress that there is very little CODE involved in X the Elendor hobbit being the Bree weaponsmith; it's just that he's identified that way. Now, we have a robot (mob) in Bree who functions as the weaponsmith. Still, nothing prevents some MUME hobbit, residing in Bree, from proclaiming himself to be a weaponsmith. He could do as much in that regard as the Elendor Bree weaponsmith, and more. The problem is that in some regards the mob weaponsmith is BETTER than the player weaponsmith! He is open every day, not just when somebody logs on. He gets a 'government subsidy' to buy weapons that he can't sell. He never runs out of weapons of certain types. He can stock hundreds of weapons. Because of these features, he drives the player weaponsmith out of business!! People endure the fact that he's a mob, that he can't converse, that he is lacking in RP qualities, because of the level of service that he provides. Ressaven told me the other night: on Elendor players occupy all positions and social classes; on MUME players are only 'adventurers'. This is true. But it's not because MUME -prohibits- people from playing farmers, weaponsmiths, the Vice-Mayor of Bree, etc. [Consider Kilvarnan, who has been the Master of the Guard of Tharbad for quite some time.] The difference is: first, Elendor management will validate your position as the Bree weaponsmith (you can type a command, +breejobs I think, and see what jobs the Breelanders have); but second, and more important, MUME creates mobs and features who will compete with you and A messenger brings dire news! The forces of darkness are besieging the Dark Tower! Rilhir needs help! undercut you. This is not an insurmountable obstacle, but it means that RP here requires some forethought and effort. (b) The second set of obstacles lies in the existence of an anti-RP culture, which grows out of the temptation to level-racing and stat-hunting which is inherent in the diku code. Although VIEW ABOUT says that MUME is not part of the xp-hunting rat race, this news has not gotten through to a large number of MUME rats! :) Not only do people want to get the best stats, hunt supermobs, get legend equipment, etc., as fast as possible - with the best intentions, they want to help YOU and everyone else get the best stats, hunt supermobs, etc. Therefore, at any given time, there is a sea of anti-RP narrates, sings, tells, and spam which drowns out every impulse to roleplay. People who want to RP do not know who the other potential RPers are, or if they exist. Each one thinks he or she is the only RPer logged on, that everyone thinks RP is silly. Chapter 4 - A MUSH within a MUME? ================================= A MUSH within a MUME? MUME top management philosophy is based largely on the principles of compromise and incrementalism. Implementors, and Aratar, differ significantly among themselves as to what the 'ideal MUME' will be, valuing differing features and promoting different forms of excellence. The result is a MUD that is trying to be "all things to all people" - that is trying to satisfy the RPer and the level-racer, the pacifist and the pkiller, the connoisseur of room descriptions and the lover of action, all at once. And it succeeds rather well at this. At least, although all players have gripes and complaints, they apparently all feel that the good (the parts that satisfy them) outweighs the bad (the parts they find unpleasant or irritating). If it were not so, we would not have the large population of permanently addicted residents that we do! However, the RPer faces obstacles here. The obstacles to RP are not the result of conscious action. They are the result of 'market forces', if you will. There is a Gresham's law in effect: "Cheap, bad RP drives out good, expensive RP." And management is not going to make the sort of radical changes that would be necessary to eliminate this process. To survive against these obstacles, MUME RPers need to create a subculture of roleplay. They need to be able to recognize each other. They need to support their own version of reality. They need to help each other ignore the anti-RP culture. They need to develop, on a voluntary basis, the kind of shared understandings that, on Elendor, are enforced by management. They need to avoid the coded social, and to patronize the player weaponsmith if one exists. I am thinking, in essence, of a Voluntary Organization of players and gods who would establish rules and understanding for roleplay among themselves. These rules would not be imposed by management, or by code, on the player base as a whole. They could not be used to get tangible rewards, like xp or money [assuming that 'experience points' obtained by elves on a computer screen can be called 'tangible rewards'!!]. This organization, which could be called the "Role-Players' Guild" perhaps, might not get any concrete help or resources from Management. (I think Management would like to see roleplay flourish, but it is very much unwilling to do anything that could be called favoritism toward any group of players.) But in the final analysis, all that is necessary is that the participants share their thoughts with each other. It could be done entirely via existing public means of communication. = The rules, or principles, of the RPG could be posted on the public boards, and (I think) can be made available through the libraries. (I would recommend that anyone truly interested in RP should go and visit Elendor at elendor.sbs.nau.edu 1893 and read their RP help file, which I think is NEWS ROLEPLAY. It would be bad manners and a violation of copyright law to steal their whole file and post it here, but I wouldn't mind working on a paraphrase.) - Players can identify themselves as members of the RPG in their whoises. - Current membership lists can be MUMEmailed to members. - Projects, such as quests [see below] could be announced on the public boards. = If legends were to join the RPG, they could put the designation in their titles. - If there were legends who supported the goals of the RPG, they might be persuaded to donate rooms in their legend houses - or endow new rooms - for the purposes of the RPG. The whole idea is that, if there were 20 RPers on at a given time, they would, together, be able to IGNORE the rest of the MUD long enough and well enough to engage in their own RP activity. Chapter 5 - Uncoded Quests and /switched Gods ============================================= Uncoded Quests and /switching gods Because favoritism-by-gods is one of the most horrible things that Management can conceive, it is VERY unwilling to give gods the discretion to run uncoded quests that will bring tangible benefits to mortals. If experience or items are to be given out, all players must have an equal opportunity to get them, and the only way to do this is to do it all by mudlle. However, since the objective of RPers is not to get experience and items, but to enjoy themselves, I believe the door to uncoded quests with god participation is actually wide open, PROVIDED that there are no tangible benefits. Suppose, for example, the RPG wanted to do the 'wild boar in the Northfarthing' quest. I don't think the experience of a wild boar is so much, but, if it were necessary to meet Management's objections, we could put together a 'wild boar' mob on the platform of the level=1 mob template, adjusting the combat stats as desired, but providing -no xp-. Somegod could then switch into the boar, or follow it wizinvis with some /force aliases, causing it to fight in an interesting way. We could even doctor the combat stats so as to make it a long fight - give it 500 hp, say, but a damroll of 2. Meanwhile, some mortal has gathered together the party in the Green Dragon Inn. Perhaps the party should be limited to level 6's or below. Or perhaps a last-minute adjustment of the boar's stats could be made, based on the levels of whoever shows up. It should be made clear, however, that people participate in the hunt at their own risk. Of course the gods involved are trying to make the hunt fun, not punitive, but something might go wrong, and if it does they won't get reimbursed. (That should scare off the legends and let the level 6's have their fun!) It is an activity for 'consenting adults', if you will. If it were packaged this way, I predict that nobody in Management would have any objections to the project, or to the participation in it of interested Mc+. I don't speak for top management, but I predict that they would have no objections to an uncoded quest with god participation, IF: - It does not give tangible benefit to the mortals, but is all about roleplay - It is not silly (like a talking cat would be) - It is planned in advance - It does not endanger non-participants - Mortal participants consent in advance to the activity, and accept normal risks. In conclusion, I'd like to say that this set of ideas is in no way a finished product. I wanted to write something to help start a discussion, but I want to hear feedback on this. Mail comments back to me and I will either forward them to the whole 'RP mailing list' or add them as additional chapters to this book.