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shasarak · 03-26-2008, 09:43 AM

(applause)

Exactly!

It's also worth pointing out that some of the other previously cited "counter-examples" are actually nothing of the sort. "MUD" is a perfectly good term, given that it doesn't stand for "Multi-User Dungeon" any more, it stands for "Multi-User Domain". And both "Hack & Slash" and "PK" are actually quite reasonable phrases to use to describe what they describe: PK means "killing characters controlled by players rather than by the computer" - "player-killing" is a reasonable and unambiguous abbreviation for that (unless you think we need to distinguish it from systems where the actual human players are killed in real life while playing).

However, "RPI" here is being used in a sense that is different from what one normally means by the phrase "role-play intensive", and the phrase "role-play intensive" could be (and is) used in a far wider context. If you actually say out loud "no, just because a MUD is role-play intensive doesn't mean it's Role-Play Intensive" you can see quite how inapparopriate the term is.

Again, I've nothing at all against RPIs, but the choice of "RPI" as a term to describe them was simply wrong. The fact that people who play "RPI" MUDs were the ones who coined the term doesn't make it any less wrong.

Put it this way: if they'd decided to call them "Armageddon-like" MUDs, would we even be having this discussion?

(sits back and waits for prof1515 to say "We're not talking about role-play intensive MUDs, we're talking about Role-Play Intensive MUDs!" as if that actually meant something...)

03-26-2008, 09:43 AM	#85
shasarak Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Emily's Shop Posts: 60	Re: Guidelines for an RPI mud. (applause) Exactly! It's also worth pointing out that some of the other previously cited "counter-examples" are actually nothing of the sort. "MUD" is a perfectly good term, given that it doesn't stand for "Multi-User Dungeon" any more, it stands for "Multi-User Domain". And both "Hack & Slash" and "PK" are actually quite reasonable phrases to use to describe what they describe: PK means "killing characters controlled by players rather than by the computer" - "player-killing" is a reasonable and unambiguous abbreviation for that (unless you think we need to distinguish it from systems where the actual human players are killed in real life while playing). However, "RPI" here is being used in a sense that is different from what one normally means by the phrase "role-play intensive", and the phrase "role-play intensive" could be (and is) used in a far wider context. If you actually say out loud "no, just because a MUD is role-play intensive doesn't mean it's Role-Play Intensive" you can see quite how inapparopriate the term is. Again, I've nothing at all against RPIs, but the choice of "RPI" as a term to describe them was simply wrong. The fact that people who play "RPI" MUDs were the ones who coined the term doesn't make it any less wrong. Put it this way: if they'd decided to call them "Armageddon-like" MUDs, would we even be having this discussion? (sits back and waits for prof1515 to say "We're not talking about role-play intensive MUDs, we're talking about Role-Play Intensive MUDs!" as if that actually meant something...)