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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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) ;>