Top Mud Sites Forum - View Single Post - What are the differences between a MUD and a MUSH?

Nymeria · 09-21-2009, 06:26 PM

There are different types of roleplay, so yes, the very term roleplay can be subjective. And when you start talking about "quality", you are definitely in the subjective territory.

There is no standard definition of roleplay that says that certain features have to be present for the roleplay to be good. You have actors playing on empty theatre stages, or against blue-screens where they have to imagine fighting a 30-foot monster. I would argue that imagination is a far more important tool for roleplay than any code. In fact, I would argue that roleplayers who can work without any "crutches" such as coded commands are stronger and better roleplayers than those who need such assistance to create realism.

But that is subjective. Just as your opinions are. Trying to put something across as the one true way just comes off looking odd. That said, one can certainly identify trends for what is generally considered good within certain game genres. But if you ask 20 MUSHers about what good roleplay is you will get a very different answer than if you ask 20 MUDders.

09-21-2009, 06:26 PM	#21
Nymeria Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 71	Re: What are the differences between a MUD and a MUSH? There are different types of roleplay, so yes, the very term roleplay can be subjective. And when you start talking about "quality", you are definitely in the subjective territory. There is no standard definition of roleplay that says that certain features have to be present for the roleplay to be good. You have actors playing on empty theatre stages, or against blue-screens where they have to imagine fighting a 30-foot monster. I would argue that imagination is a far more important tool for roleplay than any code. In fact, I would argue that roleplayers who can work without any "crutches" such as coded commands are stronger and better roleplayers than those who need such assistance to create realism. But that is subjective. Just as your opinions are. Trying to put something across as the one true way just comes off looking odd. That said, one can certainly identify trends for what is generally considered good within certain game genres. But if you ask 20 MUSHers about what good roleplay is you will get a very different answer than if you ask 20 MUDders.