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Loremaster · 10-08-2002, 07:15 PM

Game design is not easy, and one of the more prevalent obstacles to negotiate is the balance of 'realism' vs 'playability'.

I remember one MUD I tried years ago that required food and water. My new character starved to death in part because the system required me to eat the RL equivalent of every 2-3 hours; also in part because coins were hard to come by and the MUD was not very newbie friendly.

One of my favorite MUDs does not require eating or drinking at all. There are several taverns, and places to purchase a wide variety of foods, but it is strictly for RP. (Except alcohol, which can make your character drunk.)

This is the way I prefer it. Of course it is not difficult to type 'eat bread' each time a hunger notice comes up. Heck, I've used triggers on MUDs that required eating and drinking.

My opinion is that eating and drinking should not be required, but a variety of appropriate comestibles be supplied to allow players the chance to RP.

"But eating and drinking is SO important! We should really include this, to make the game more realistic!"

My stock answer is this: "If its really all that important and you think it really is necessary to require it, then why not include defecation?"

The answer is not really 'because that would just be disgusting!' Rather, it is because including this feature requires additional code (with all the attendant development, debugging and tweaking times) for very little increase in the playability of the game. If a character was forced to find an outhouse or build a slit trench every so often, would this really make the game more enjoyable? It is EASILY RP'd with emotes if you so desire. ** quietly slips into the bushes for a few moments before returning. **

If a MUD has various foods and drinks available to players and they are RP'ers, they will buy, eat, and drink. Dropping the requirement doesn't hurt gameplay in my opinion; on the contrary, it may help ease MUD newbies into the environment by relieving them of the constant concern of having enough food and drink to actually PLAY.

Different flavours and emits make it an enjoyable experience for all. If a MUD desires to be RP encouraged or enforced, I believe food and drink are a wonderful addition. I just believe the game is more enjoyable without hunger and thirst nags.

10-08-2002, 07:15 PM	#14
Loremaster Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 35	Game design is not easy, and one of the more prevalent obstacles to negotiate is the balance of 'realism' vs 'playability'. I remember one MUD I tried years ago that required food and water. My new character starved to death in part because the system required me to eat the RL equivalent of every 2-3 hours; also in part because coins were hard to come by and the MUD was not very newbie friendly. One of my favorite MUDs does not require eating or drinking at all. There are several taverns, and places to purchase a wide variety of foods, but it is strictly for RP. (Except alcohol, which can make your character drunk.) This is the way I prefer it. Of course it is not difficult to type 'eat bread' each time a hunger notice comes up. Heck, I've used triggers on MUDs that required eating and drinking. My opinion is that eating and drinking should not be required, but a variety of appropriate comestibles be supplied to allow players the chance to RP. "But eating and drinking is SO important! We should really include this, to make the game more realistic!" My stock answer is this: "If its really all that important and you think it really is necessary to require it, then why not include defecation?" The answer is not really 'because that would just be disgusting!' Rather, it is because including this feature requires additional code (with all the attendant development, debugging and tweaking times) for very little increase in the playability of the game. If a character was forced to find an outhouse or build a slit trench every so often, would this really make the game more enjoyable? It is EASILY RP'd with emotes if you so desire. quietly slips into the bushes for a few moments before returning. If a MUD has various foods and drinks available to players and they are RP'ers, they will buy, eat, and drink. Dropping the requirement doesn't hurt gameplay in my opinion; on the contrary, it may help ease MUD newbies into the environment by relieving them of the constant concern of having enough food and drink to actually PLAY. Different flavours and emits make it an enjoyable experience for all. If a MUD desires to be RP encouraged or enforced, I believe food and drink are a wonderful addition. I just believe the game is more enjoyable without hunger and thirst nags.