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Molly · 04-26-2005, 05:36 PM

Ashon wrote; April 25 2005,13,02
LOL... It may seem like KaVir and I are bickering most of the time, but actually we agree on a lot more things than you may think. I have the deepest respect for KaVir even when we disagree (which is quite often), and I hope that respect is mutual, at least to some extent.

And although I am flattered about having 4D bunched together with a roleplay focused Mud like Brody's Otherworld, I have to admit that roleplay in 4D is pretty rudimentary.

Dragonmaster is right in that we are focused a lot more on Gameplay than Roleplay. However I think that he is wrong in that we are more focused on Gameplay than Gameworld. In fact most of our main features are based on exploring and questing, and the descriptions play a really large part in that. To us descriptions are not just 'creative writing', meant to conjure a vision of the virtual environment. We use the descs and extra descs actively, sometimes to tell a story, but mostly to give hints about concealed objects or key phrases that you need to solve the many built-in quests in the zones.

I honestly think it's mostly coincidence and a question of what staff you have available at the start that decides which way a Mud is going to develop.

For many years 4D lived with a pretty inactive coder, but a set of very active builders. This lead to a focus on the world rather than the code, but it also lead to us developing scripting abilities that I believe are quite a bit above the average. We have loads of interactive mobs that you not only can talk to, but which may also present you with some pretty nasty surprises in a combat situation. And those advanced scripts would probably never have been developed, if the coder hadn't been so tied up in RL.

During the last 1-2 years however we have gained an inventive, talented and active new coder, which means that the code is now being brought up to par with the zones, and hopefully a bit further. And this is probably what out game description on this site reflects right now.

I don't really believe in categorising muds, like Ashon does. The best results are usually achieved when coders and builders work very closely together, respecting and inspiring each other.

And I never was any fan of one-track themed muds, I like diversity. Roleplay is fine, but if there is nobody I like to roleplay with on line, I want the option to explore or even bashing a few mobs instead. That's what I've got mostly against Mushes and pure RP enforced muds, there don't seem to be much to do, if you tire of the roleplay. And the same thing goes for pure PK. I like to have as many alternatives as possible.

In fact I think a good mud should present several options to entertain a player, even if he happens to be the only person on line at the moment.

04-26-2005, 05:36 PM	#5
Molly Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Sweden Home MUD: 4 Dimensions Posts: 574	Ashon wrote; April 25 2005,13,02 LOL... It may seem like KaVir and I are bickering most of the time, but actually we agree on a lot more things than you may think. I have the deepest respect for KaVir even when we disagree (which is quite often), and I hope that respect is mutual, at least to some extent. And although I am flattered about having 4D bunched together with a roleplay focused Mud like Brody's Otherworld, I have to admit that roleplay in 4D is pretty rudimentary. Dragonmaster is right in that we are focused a lot more on Gameplay than Roleplay. However I think that he is wrong in that we are more focused on Gameplay than Gameworld. In fact most of our main features are based on exploring and questing, and the descriptions play a really large part in that. To us descriptions are not just 'creative writing', meant to conjure a vision of the virtual environment. We use the descs and extra descs actively, sometimes to tell a story, but mostly to give hints about concealed objects or key phrases that you need to solve the many built-in quests in the zones. I honestly think it's mostly coincidence and a question of what staff you have available at the start that decides which way a Mud is going to develop. For many years 4D lived with a pretty inactive coder, but a set of very active builders. This lead to a focus on the world rather than the code, but it also lead to us developing scripting abilities that I believe are quite a bit above the average. We have loads of interactive mobs that you not only can talk to, but which may also present you with some pretty nasty surprises in a combat situation. And those advanced scripts would probably never have been developed, if the coder hadn't been so tied up in RL. During the last 1-2 years however we have gained an inventive, talented and active new coder, which means that the code is now being brought up to par with the zones, and hopefully a bit further. And this is probably what out game description on this site reflects right now. I don't really believe in categorising muds, like Ashon does. The best results are usually achieved when coders and builders work very closely together, respecting and inspiring each other. And I never was any fan of one-track themed muds, I like diversity. Roleplay is fine, but if there is nobody I like to roleplay with on line, I want the option to explore or even bashing a few mobs instead. That's what I've got mostly against Mushes and pure RP enforced muds, there don't seem to be much to do, if you tire of the roleplay. And the same thing goes for pure PK. I like to have as many alternatives as possible. In fact I think a good mud should present several options to entertain a player, even if he happens to be the only person on line at the moment.