Today's Internet, and theory of RP
May. 12th, 2002 03:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceagleThese are just a few thoughts and observations on the what seems to have been happening over the last couple years or so, to internet role-play, due to factors and continuous development of computers and internet clients.
I remember way back in the late 90s, when I got my first few invites to join ICQ. I usually answered, "but I can already chat with friends in really great magical environments, on Multi-User Chat Kingdoms" (mucks). So, I didn't really dive into ICQ.
But I knew many others were, and I had a suspicion that soon, this new form of chat would take some toll on mucks. Not that it is the only reason it is harder to get into a good role-play any more.. there are certainly many factors, and some have been there for a long time, although they seem to be getting worse these days.. multitasking being the biggest problem.
Trouble is, ICQ is really suited well to multitasking, as it is easy to have a window open for casual messages every so often. That can be ideal sometimes, since that doesn't conflict with work or school.
And so there's the rub; perhaps the social environment is changing too.. it isn't just ICQ alone that has beckoned the world into other windows. There's AIM, MSNmessaging, Yahoomessaging, mp3s, gaming, journals and blogs, boards, irc, paltalk, powwow, surfing, usenet, email, multimucking/mudding/mushing, not to mention a myriad of RL tasks and distractions.. it's no wonder that it can be hard to find a good group for RP.
RolePlay is also a creative challenge, which admittedly, people might not want to engage in every single time they just want to chat, or cut loose and dive into prefab game.
Still, some of my most wonderful memories online have been just climbing into character, and joining in with friends for an adventure. Years ago, one of the very best places for that was a place called Brazilian Dreams.
Having a specific time set for RP is a great help for success too; we used to meet every Friday evening to explore the jungles of South America, and even when we just kicked back and yacked, we had a great time; lions, otters, parrots, foxes, and other critters, all getting together, attentive and devoted to just one window, and having a splendid experience with one another.
And yet, these days, so few people seem to realize that, unless you spend your time devoted to one window, you don't get the same intense reward as when you are focused and involved. Getting responses every ten minutes or more is fine for AIM or ICQ, but when the wheels are rolling on a good muck chat or RP, it really feels like a stall if that happens.
Each has a place, for sure. We can't always be deeply involved in RP, and casual messages are perfect for those times. What has become troublesome is, that the lines between the two have become gray, and many no longer seem to use the different mediums for their different purposes any more. So mucks usually feel idle, or ICQ can get to be too overtasking.
In this new world with so many great things to do, it is all the more difficult then for smaller mucks to do well. They seem to require an independently wealthy wiz presence, who can be there as a driving force nearly all the time, or be one of the very few large mucks whose sheer numbers put them past the threshold for survival.
It's a difficult question, as to where it will go from here. Some say that the lack of graphics and glitz will continue to nudge mu*ing further into obscurity, as more and more things encroach to take their place. Others contend that older text-based technologies will continue to have a place. The success of Linux does seem to suggest that using text to interact and operate with systems can be embraced and endure, and maybe that can be an analogy for the survival of mu*ing.
It will also take other factors to keep it interesting and worthwhile however, and to bring new generations into the medium.. and that involves keeping a clarity between times when we know we can't avoid distraction (when icq and the like works well), and when we need to be devoted to our fellow mu*ers, and focused. Staying on track in each situation, can bring the most satisfying experiences.
Easy enough to say.. but can the new internet generations enjoy the intensity that we once knew just a few years back..? Or do they even want to? That is a question that only time can really answer.
Wishing you the best in your online, and RL experiences, your friend, C Eagle. :>
I remember way back in the late 90s, when I got my first few invites to join ICQ. I usually answered, "but I can already chat with friends in really great magical environments, on Multi-User Chat Kingdoms" (mucks). So, I didn't really dive into ICQ.
But I knew many others were, and I had a suspicion that soon, this new form of chat would take some toll on mucks. Not that it is the only reason it is harder to get into a good role-play any more.. there are certainly many factors, and some have been there for a long time, although they seem to be getting worse these days.. multitasking being the biggest problem.
Trouble is, ICQ is really suited well to multitasking, as it is easy to have a window open for casual messages every so often. That can be ideal sometimes, since that doesn't conflict with work or school.
And so there's the rub; perhaps the social environment is changing too.. it isn't just ICQ alone that has beckoned the world into other windows. There's AIM, MSNmessaging, Yahoomessaging, mp3s, gaming, journals and blogs, boards, irc, paltalk, powwow, surfing, usenet, email, multimucking/mudding/mushing, not to mention a myriad of RL tasks and distractions.. it's no wonder that it can be hard to find a good group for RP.
RolePlay is also a creative challenge, which admittedly, people might not want to engage in every single time they just want to chat, or cut loose and dive into prefab game.
Still, some of my most wonderful memories online have been just climbing into character, and joining in with friends for an adventure. Years ago, one of the very best places for that was a place called Brazilian Dreams.
Having a specific time set for RP is a great help for success too; we used to meet every Friday evening to explore the jungles of South America, and even when we just kicked back and yacked, we had a great time; lions, otters, parrots, foxes, and other critters, all getting together, attentive and devoted to just one window, and having a splendid experience with one another.
And yet, these days, so few people seem to realize that, unless you spend your time devoted to one window, you don't get the same intense reward as when you are focused and involved. Getting responses every ten minutes or more is fine for AIM or ICQ, but when the wheels are rolling on a good muck chat or RP, it really feels like a stall if that happens.
Each has a place, for sure. We can't always be deeply involved in RP, and casual messages are perfect for those times. What has become troublesome is, that the lines between the two have become gray, and many no longer seem to use the different mediums for their different purposes any more. So mucks usually feel idle, or ICQ can get to be too overtasking.
In this new world with so many great things to do, it is all the more difficult then for smaller mucks to do well. They seem to require an independently wealthy wiz presence, who can be there as a driving force nearly all the time, or be one of the very few large mucks whose sheer numbers put them past the threshold for survival.
It's a difficult question, as to where it will go from here. Some say that the lack of graphics and glitz will continue to nudge mu*ing further into obscurity, as more and more things encroach to take their place. Others contend that older text-based technologies will continue to have a place. The success of Linux does seem to suggest that using text to interact and operate with systems can be embraced and endure, and maybe that can be an analogy for the survival of mu*ing.
It will also take other factors to keep it interesting and worthwhile however, and to bring new generations into the medium.. and that involves keeping a clarity between times when we know we can't avoid distraction (when icq and the like works well), and when we need to be devoted to our fellow mu*ers, and focused. Staying on track in each situation, can bring the most satisfying experiences.
Easy enough to say.. but can the new internet generations enjoy the intensity that we once knew just a few years back..? Or do they even want to? That is a question that only time can really answer.
Wishing you the best in your online, and RL experiences, your friend, C Eagle. :>
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no subject
Date: 2002-05-12 04:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-05-12 03:01 pm (UTC)The loss is of course the facility to exercise the imagination, which is not something large media companies have ever encouraged anyway.
The answer is... Everquest?
Date: 2002-05-12 02:53 pm (UTC)Progress Quest!
Date: 2002-05-14 09:40 pm (UTC)Never was much for MUDs
Date: 2002-05-13 04:21 am (UTC)So it is on to bigger and better things. maybe that's why I like LJ a lot. It's almost like a different approach to bbs'ing.
Then again.. Those people living in the computer labs all day playing were kind of scary. Then again, many of them were my friends, as I was there all the time too. I'm still a fan of older video games. They involved thinking. I can't go around just killing things, and I don't particularly like the first person perspective that everybody thinks is so great.
Here in Germany, they are seriously considering rethinking their strategies on these bloodbath games, after what happened in Erfurt. Then again, these are the kids who know how to use the internet as well, and the rest of the world will provide them with what isn't available here.
Role Playing and Internet Activities
Date: 2002-05-13 07:06 am (UTC)I’ve been around the ‘Net long enough to witness the changes that have taken, though I know there are other folks who’ve been online for a much longer time (since the early 1990s) to see the Internet be taken into the mainstream social environment.
I used to role play a lot when I had the free time in my university years. Mucks like TerraFrore was one of my favourite Mucks to role play on. Times have changed, and all my old friends have gained busier lives as they move on and grow up further in the real world.
I’ve stayed away from AIM, MSN Messenger, and the other programs that link people together. I just haven’t found any interest to use these programs. Even ICQ can be a pain, because it’s a chatting program for one-on-one conversation. It’s not like IRC or the Mucks, where you can involve more than one people into the conversation.
I have felt a decline in the Mucks, reflecting back upon my own personal experience of spending more time online #feathers IRC than anywhere else in particular. My apologies for not dedicating and donating my time to your wonderful Muck. The appeal of IRC bringing feather-like minded creatures together for common chat is great. Though sometimes I do miss role playing Lanakila as I know him. (I wish there were some panther cubs to take care of!) :>
Your writings have been thought-provoking and wonderful to read all at the same time. Thank you for making your postings!
multi-thank yous! (part 1)
Date: 2002-05-17 04:46 pm (UTC)Glad you loved this so much too, Timwi *feather fuzzle*.. but you needn't feel badly that you can't get on there as much lately.. If you feel inclined, maybe just keep a connection open to there (is all anyone can do really), and then when the spirit grabs you to build or write or wander about, you can; or also when a friend shows up, you'll be right there to say hi. Part of my musings were as to whether smaller mucks really can survive and grow in today's barrage of other activities, so it could go either way. I still figure it's a matter of getting the word out to the right people, and enough of them at the right time, to get a head of steam and energy going with new signups, and to keep those connection counts up there.
Muck chat is also best suited to when we can really *be* there, which becomes difficult when we try to do it too much from work or labs or such (thus some migration to casual stuff like icq), or best suited to when we devote time to it and to the others involved, such as scheduling a time for it or some kind of RP time where we know others will also be on, so we need not idle in wait for too long. Luckily, muck allows for idle time to be spent with programming or building or wandering to enjoy places others have built, but that isn't something we feel like doing upon every connect. Usually we want to unwind and chat or RP, and that takes some degree of planning to spend time, or arrange to meet when others are also planning to be there. Haphazard connections can offer fun surprises too, but it's less likely unless lots of people are also chancing to be there :>
Points well-taken too, StarGlider! There is plenty of razzle-dazzle in a lot of games, and that can be overwhelming. As you say, some of these games might actually be pretty worthy.. like EverQuest :> I am impressed at first by the artwork and plot potential, and EverQuest has looked pretty good from what I've seen. Part of it is a personal thing too, methinks. I'm among those that enjoy different gaming to different extents, and being in my persona, like one can on a muck, has been the best of them for me. IRC is fun too, but I don't feel the same flexibility that mucks offer. Games like EverQuest and Nintendo and Sega and Atari and XBox and PlayStation and WarCraft and Diablo and all that stuff can be fun, but I get bored fast after a few times unless it is a multiplayer situation, i.e., interacting with another real person. Then, after some time with that, I tend to get more longing for the full creativity of muck once again :> Even Furcadia just felt to confining after trying it a few times..
I suppose some day if the right game came along, where let's say, one could visually see every morph and movement and expression visually that we can do on mucks (one moment you are a gryphon in flight, then morph to digitigrade, then join with other creatures and beings in a magical environment shown vividly on the screen, with close-ups on flexing talons, and moving perspective with hi-res views all around fantastic and varied landscapes.. sort of like a video game, but customized and customizeable..) *warble*...then I might make the jump away from muck, to a new enhanced interactivity :> ! (course, they may make improvements visually and sonically, but I'll bet they never get a scritch or fluffle to feel real) ;>
multi-thank yous! (part 2)
Date: 2002-05-17 04:49 pm (UTC)linnapaw.. wow.. You really bring back a lot of memories, like the days of BBS's and early irc stuff.. *fuzzle* ..*hehheh*..yeah, I can remember back in '94 connecting to BBS places all the way over in Denver, just trying to learn a bit here and there what the whole internet thing was about.. and how it was excitingly new at first, but lost some charm shortly thereafter due to limitations (and phone charges!) :D Very insightful comments on plot and perspective too.. :>
Lana ki ki .. *scritch fedders* True true, and it's sad that Terra Frore has dwindled in attendance.. very extremely it has. I never got to really see the RP there that you seem to have enjoyed, but I could see a potential. Luckily I got to experience that at Brazilian Dreams, (though once at Terra I did have one of the best RP times ever, with a very capable person named Sebkha, I think). I think they may have recycled all their g.characters (guest accounts) by now :/ *nods about IRC* Yep.. I find that fun too, tho I haven't been able to spend as much time as I'd like, and noone has taken the time to teach me all of the +features that many a good wiz did for me with mucks *waggle* I do miss the ability to page #mail there, and to build and program,.. but I guess that is offset a bit by being able to DCC files. And I love the irc crowd just like the muck folks, *warble* :> ... I still feel some of the idleness there sometimes that confounds both muck and irc, due to multitasking mostly, and folks can idle both places, but about twice as many idle on irc lately.
Thanks again for reading, and I'm glad you enjoy the posts and thoughts.. *purrwarble*.. and I enjoy reading all of yours too! This online journal stuff wasn't around when I got my degree in communications, but as far as I can tell, it is doing a great deal of good for a vast number of people, in ways that enhance the levels of communication, keeping us connected, and at the same time restoring and reinforcing the art of the written word.
Take care! :>
Where does "furcadia" fit in the picture?
Date: 2002-07-04 09:59 am (UTC)In my case, I never learned all of the special command line entries one needed to know to make the muck really work. It was created by programmers, well, pretty much FOR programmers.
Note how web based boards like VCL or even LJ itself are winning favor over usenet for having conversations with any degree of meaning - though the spam factor is probably the major motivating factor in that case. One Usenet post with your real address on it will get you spammed for years. But the avitars and use of HTML is also nice, and lets you personalize things too.
Re: Where does "furcadia" fit in the picture?
Date: 2002-07-06 06:49 pm (UTC)Pretty true though, on mucks.. I guess.
I discovered them just a few months after the actual internet, which I signed onto in late 1995.. (back when YahooGeocities was still BHI!) ..so I s'pose I sorta put mucks together in the entire learning experience I was having about the internet.
*nodding to your comment on the learning curve for muck commands* Yep.. it took quite some time, and I guess it's not for everybody. The whole concept though, of RP as an embodiment of yourself as a cartoon character, and talking with all these other critters at the same time, ..it was almost like 'living' in an apazine :> It took about 4 months or so to get really comfortable with the basic variety of commands, then after that learning a few more programs here and there as time went on.
I really liked all the options of page #mail, descs, building, fluffs, wi, and other customizations that could be done.. it seemed pretty limitless. But even something good can be overtaken when something(s) better comes along, thus as you say, the peak may have passed for mucks.
One friend said that they think rather than dying out, they will probably keep most of the old guard, yet the level of new recruits will become less and less.. in theory anyway.
Point well-taken on usenet too :| Luckily I learned rather early not to post, or even read them for the most part. I know I am missing a lot, but there were only 12,000 groups about the time I cold-turkeyed away from them, because I realized if I got into them, I wouldn't have time for anything else.. there's just waaaay too much there! *gasp*
I peeked a few times at the Yerf usenet last year, but after a few weeks I saw where that was going, so I didn't stray for too long :> (your comment on spam) ... yep, that also helped me stay away, after making that mistake waaay back, but that doesn't keep ya from the reading part.
Which brings us to your mention about web boards and LJ. What you said about them is most poignant in the area of "having conversations with *higher* degree of meaning" is very apropos.
One might even be able to put the different means of communicating (email, usenet, muck, icq, written letters, speech, etc) all on a scale.. and it seems that these Journals (and to a slightly lesser extent the Boards) have a very high sincerity rate on that scale, and therefore I am very impressed with their success in truly connecting people with a lesser amount of error than many other forms of communication. Customization puts the frosting on the cake of enjoying the expression of ourselves too.
Re; Furcadia.. heh.. :> Well, yep, I went there a few times. Personally, I found its limitations to deliver a pace that sort of put me to sleep, although I'm sure it's nice for many, and I might even like it more, assuming there might be some nicer things that I missed about it before. Also, the fact that they never ported it to Mac has kept my interest in it low. And look, LJ has formats for nearly *every* OS already!
I still enjoy the potential that mucks have, but I concede to some other formats now, that it isn't up to its task as well as it used to be. It's sort of like a democracy.. if people aren't devoted to them, then the experience on them fades somewhat, and that can sort of lead to an exponential deterioration of the muck experience I guess :P
LJ has got me now! :D And it's more fulfilling than usenet I think.. As you said, to paraphrase, "conversing with higher meaning" ! It's a worthwhile goal :>
no subject
Date: 2006-05-17 06:01 pm (UTC)*murls soft and sadly*