Top Mud Sites Forum - View Single Post - Determining the Origin and Meaning of RPI

Bakha · 05-02-2008, 10:58 AM

Good post. This is pretty much my suggestion as well. Just drop the meaning for the acronym altogether.

My question, I guess is: what is the motivation of mud owners to label their games RPI now? How is it different from role-play enforced? I guess that part of it is the trendiness of the term RPI.

Why, though, is RPI a trendy term? Because of a buzz that was created around the term... by the original RPI muds.

Predictably, the "buzz" around RPI will die out as the term becomes basically another meaningless term like roleplay enforced or roleplay mandatory. No one is really at fault, it's just the way things happen. I think this dynamic repeats itself in real life all the time. For example, when a small, trendy hip town like Austin, Boulder, or Portland becomes "discovered." Suddenly, everyone wants to move there and enjoy the coolness of that thing. When all of the outsiders move in, there is a backlash from the "locals" because they perceive the interlopers as destroyers of the very thing which makes the locations special. The people moving in, meanwhile, appreciate and love the very things that the town represents, and they don't understand why they're being accused of trying to change things or destroy the good things in the town.

The same dynamic repeats itself in life all the time, with bands, bars, sports, etc... It would probably be an interesting subject for a Freakonomics style book.

05-02-2008, 10:58 AM	#37
Bakha Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 46	Re: Determining the Origin and Meaning of RPI Good post. This is pretty much my suggestion as well. Just drop the meaning for the acronym altogether. My question, I guess is: what is the motivation of mud owners to label their games RPI now? How is it different from role-play enforced? I guess that part of it is the trendiness of the term RPI. Why, though, is RPI a trendy term? Because of a buzz that was created around the term... by the original RPI muds. Predictably, the "buzz" around RPI will die out as the term becomes basically another meaningless term like roleplay enforced or roleplay mandatory. No one is really at fault, it's just the way things happen. I think this dynamic repeats itself in real life all the time. For example, when a small, trendy hip town like Austin, Boulder, or Portland becomes "discovered." Suddenly, everyone wants to move there and enjoy the coolness of that thing. When all of the outsiders move in, there is a backlash from the "locals" because they perceive the interlopers as destroyers of the very thing which makes the locations special. The people moving in, meanwhile, appreciate and love the very things that the town represents, and they don't understand why they're being accused of trying to change things or destroy the good things in the town. The same dynamic repeats itself in life all the time, with bands, bars, sports, etc... It would probably be an interesting subject for a Freakonomics style book. Last edited by Bakha : 05-02-2008 at 11:10 AM.