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Old 03-15-2008, 03:47 PM   #10
prof1515
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Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Illinois
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Re: RP Enforced or RP Mandatory MUDS

I agree with Kavir. "Enforced" and "mandatory" are pretty much the same thing (albeit spelled differently *grin*). But I do agree with the original poster as well when he points out the sheer amount of misinformation that is employed by so many MUDs. As the recent discussions regarding RPI have pointed out, terms originally intended to mean one thing are quickly adopted, sometimes without even a shred of similarity, and used by games for reasons that could be described as widely ranging from ignorance as to the meaning of the term to downright attempts at deceit.

I've said it countless times that the community needs to be more dedicated to holding MUDs accountable for being honest about their features. The result of the dishonest ways in which MUDs describe themselves is the very problem that seems to be faced by the original poster: frustration.

Instead of worrying about coddling MUDs and MUD owners by not challenging their use of misleading descriptions and assessments of their games, the community's efforts should be on providing a clear and helpful means by which players can find the game that suits their needs. I'm a hardass on the topic no doubt, but I think games that attempt to deceive potential players should be booted from the community or even placed on a "Liar's List" so to speak, a list of MUDs identified as using dishonest attempts to misclassify their features. Granted, given the degree to which many MUDs exagerrate their qualities, the list might very well grow rather large. Terms like "roleplay enforced", "original world", and "RPI" are so abused by the community that sometimes I think there might be more MUDs not resembling their own descriptions than MUDs that do.

And that's just a disgraceful mark on the community as a whole for not trying to put a stop to it. After all, every MUD which turns off a player by attempting to deceive them means the possibility that the said player will abandon text-gaming altogether or, worse yet, have nothing but unflattering words for the medium as a whole.

Take care,

Jason

Last edited by prof1515 : 03-15-2008 at 04:00 PM. Reason: Typo
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