Maybe my imagination is failing, but I cannot conceive of a text MUD combat system that can't eventually be automated to be at least as good as the best human can be. Depth is no barrier. Chess is already scripted, for instance, to be better than any human is. It's just a matter of time before Go is as well. Heck, the main reason we don't have competitive chess tournaments in Achaea (something people have requested for a long time) is because they can just be 'scripted' by using any commonly available chess program to play.
--matt
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