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Jazuela · 01-16-2006, 08:19 AM

Hello and welcome to the madness! You said your primary reason to try out a text game is to improve your writing. You also mentioned experience in acting. Because of those two things, I would recommend you try a MUSH, or a RPI (RolePlayIntensive) game rather than the more common hack-n-slash with lots of coded features.

With a MUSH, the emphasis is on writing, and roleplaying (improvisational acting, via text). RPIs share similar qualities, but use a different code base (the computer code that creates and generates the game itself), and with that different code base comes various commands that support the roleplay. As someone mentioned above (I think Brody, who's a great guy round these parts), some MUSHs have built-in commands as well beside the "pose" or "emote" command.

Emote/pose are commands that allow you to portray your character through text. In a MUSH (from what little I've experimented with one) you can insert dialogue between yourself and someone else, using an emote/pose. With an RPI, emote functions only to allow you to express behaviors, and you'd use "say" or "tell" or "talk" for dialogue. This is because in an RPI, there's the possibility that the person your character is talking to, speaks a different language. So they make oral abilities seperate, and the code determines whether or not you are being understood.

In RPIs there is the capability of coded combat. Some MUSHs might have that too but the emphasis of a MUSH is acting out a story, often taking place in a single setting. RPIs are more geared toward people who enjoy adventure type games, where they would ride out into the mountain range, exploring, risking life and limb for the chance to find the lost city, finding that little outpost where they can pick up a dozen doodads that their employer is paying scads and scads of money for, etc. etc.

MUSHes, again from my very limited perspective, is more about telling a story than becoming an integral heart-pounding part of the story. Each attracts different types of players, but I would definitely recommend you check out one or the other (or both). The three RPIs I'm aware of are Armageddon, Harshlands, and Shadows of Isildur. There are dozens of MUSHes and the only one I ever tried out, I can't remember its name, so you'll have to do some poking around to find them yourself.

01-16-2006, 08:19 AM	#5
Jazuela Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: New England Posts: 849	Hello and welcome to the madness! You said your primary reason to try out a text game is to improve your writing. You also mentioned experience in acting. Because of those two things, I would recommend you try a MUSH, or a RPI (RolePlayIntensive) game rather than the more common hack-n-slash with lots of coded features. With a MUSH, the emphasis is on writing, and roleplaying (improvisational acting, via text). RPIs share similar qualities, but use a different code base (the computer code that creates and generates the game itself), and with that different code base comes various commands that support the roleplay. As someone mentioned above (I think Brody, who's a great guy round these parts), some MUSHs have built-in commands as well beside the "pose" or "emote" command. Emote/pose are commands that allow you to portray your character through text. In a MUSH (from what little I've experimented with one) you can insert dialogue between yourself and someone else, using an emote/pose. With an RPI, emote functions only to allow you to express behaviors, and you'd use "say" or "tell" or "talk" for dialogue. This is because in an RPI, there's the possibility that the person your character is talking to, speaks a different language. So they make oral abilities seperate, and the code determines whether or not you are being understood. In RPIs there is the capability of coded combat. Some MUSHs might have that too but the emphasis of a MUSH is acting out a story, often taking place in a single setting. RPIs are more geared toward people who enjoy adventure type games, where they would ride out into the mountain range, exploring, risking life and limb for the chance to find the lost city, finding that little outpost where they can pick up a dozen doodads that their employer is paying scads and scads of money for, etc. etc. MUSHes, again from my very limited perspective, is more about telling a story than becoming an integral heart-pounding part of the story. Each attracts different types of players, but I would definitely recommend you check out one or the other (or both). The three RPIs I'm aware of are Armageddon, Harshlands, and Shadows of Isildur. There are dozens of MUSHes and the only one I ever tried out, I can't remember its name, so you'll have to do some poking around to find them yourself.