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prof1515 · 11-14-2010, 10:32 PM

Role-Play MUDs, where the emphasis is on Role-Play instead of merely an option choice not shared by most, can be broken down into the following:

Role-Play Encouraged/Accepted, where it's an option but not a requirement to role-play. Debatable if these can be considered RP MUDs since it's entirely possible to find no one deciding to RP. As a result some, including The RPMUD Network, do not include these in discussions of RP MUDs.

Role-Play Enforced (RPE), which includes any RP MUD where the role-play is required. Some MUDs only require RP on things like PKs so in general I tend to lump these with the Encouraged group since the rest of the time there is no such enforcement.

Role-Play Oriented (RPO), a term I coined in 2006 to denote RPEs which didn't fit into a single definition of features but which had many specialized variations similar to RPIs.

Role-Play Intensive (RPI), a term dating to the early 1990s which refers to a shared set of characteristics. To date, myself and several others have managed to identify 19 such characteristics.

It's not necessarily your fault. The community is divided on the subject and due to several MUDs abusing terminology for the last half decade (the earliest misuse of the term RPI dates to a MUD in 2002) there is considerable confusion over the terms.

It's hard to nail down any feature set utilized by more than one or two MUDs outside of the RPIs which span some 30+ games using 3 (soon to be 4) different code lineages (yet all possessing those 19 characteristics).

The RPMUD Network, of which I'm a part, did a bit of this primarily to ensure that our Operating Committee had a diverse range of views regarding RP MUDs.

Like I said before, outside of the RPIs, there isn't a general consensus of shared characteristics between most RP MUDs. Each has their own mix of features and the like.

Even in the RPI community there is confusion primarily because while we all knew what were looking for when we said RPI, none of us took the time to clearly analyze and define the term until a few of us started around 2006 by examining the original RPIs and determining what they had in common that spawned the general acceptance of the term as a means of identifying themselves. The result was a list of 17 characteristics though further examination has revealed two more over the years leading to a list of the 19 characteristics you'll find in that link above.

It's slow-going as RL is kicking everyone's arse but The RPMUD Network hopes to have a database listing the various characteristics of every RP-enforced MUD which is also searchable for and excluding each.

11-14-2010, 10:32 PM	#7
prof1515 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Illinois Posts: 791	Re: YART (Yet Another RPI Thread) Role-Play MUDs, where the emphasis is on Role-Play instead of merely an option choice not shared by most, can be broken down into the following: Role-Play Encouraged/Accepted, where it's an option but not a requirement to role-play. Debatable if these can be considered RP MUDs since it's entirely possible to find no one deciding to RP. As a result some, including The RPMUD Network, do not include these in discussions of RP MUDs. Role-Play Enforced (RPE), which includes any RP MUD where the role-play is required. Some MUDs only require RP on things like PKs so in general I tend to lump these with the Encouraged group since the rest of the time there is no such enforcement. Role-Play Oriented (RPO), a term I coined in 2006 to denote RPEs which didn't fit into a single definition of features but which had many specialized variations similar to RPIs. Role-Play Intensive (RPI), a term dating to the early 1990s which refers to a shared set of characteristics. To date, myself and several others have managed to identify 19 such characteristics. It's not necessarily your fault. The community is divided on the subject and due to several MUDs abusing terminology for the last half decade (the earliest misuse of the term RPI dates to a MUD in 2002) there is considerable confusion over the terms. It's hard to nail down any feature set utilized by more than one or two MUDs outside of the RPIs which span some 30+ games using 3 (soon to be 4) different code lineages (yet all possessing those 19 characteristics). The RPMUD Network, of which I'm a part, did a bit of this primarily to ensure that our Operating Committee had a diverse range of views regarding RP MUDs. Like I said before, outside of the RPIs, there isn't a general consensus of shared characteristics between most RP MUDs. Each has their own mix of features and the like. Even in the RPI community there is confusion primarily because while we all knew what were looking for when we said RPI, none of us took the time to clearly analyze and define the term until a few of us started around 2006 by examining the original RPIs and determining what they had in common that spawned the general acceptance of the term as a means of identifying themselves. The result was a list of 17 characteristics though further examination has revealed two more over the years leading to a list of the 19 characteristics you'll find in that link above. It's slow-going as RL is kicking everyone's arse but The RPMUD Network hopes to have a database listing the various characteristics of every RP-enforced MUD which is also searchable for and excluding each.