[MUD-Dev] Re: Room descriptions

["quzah [sotfhome]" <quzah#softhome,net>]

From: #Make Nylander <thenewt#use,usit.net> on Sunday, September 27, 1998 at
7:10 AM
Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: Room descriptions


>Doesn't it all boil down to suspension of belief? In text-based MUDs,
>a player is basically a blind person being lead through the game world
>by the game, a narrator/story-teller. If a player is being told his/her
>character sees something the player knows is not there or acts in a way
>the player knows the character would not, the player may think the
>narrator is stupid, patronizing or lying, which undermines the suspension
>of belief and sense of wonder.
>There are several ways of maintaining the suspension of belief already
>mentioned here:
>- Having room descriptions that are generic, neutral or brief;
>- Making the room descriptions dynamic;
>- Making the player character assume a role that is consistent with
>  the room descriptions;
>- Making room descriptions (the narrator's POV) consistent across the
>  game world.
>
> Newt


Personally, I liked this room description (pharaphrased) that I saw
on a mud a long time ago:

    You are standing on the banks of a rapidly flowing river. You
    spot a young girl playing on the opposite bank. Suddenly, before
    you can react she falls head long into the torrent. She lets out
    a sharp scream before she is pulled under the water, and carried
    to her death.

(grin) I typed "look" a half a dozen times in a row, and drown all of
the little girls in the village ;)
-Q-