In January 2000, the following article appeared in the online magazine Imaginary Realities. It concerns the online game I’ve been involved with since 1992, Armageddon MUD and it appeared under the name which I use to administer the game, Sanvean.
In 1999, one of the Armageddon MUD coders, Morgenes, put in a command that has no effect on a player at all. It doesn’t get you gold (or obsidian, in our mud’s case), doesn’t raise your skills, doesn’t open the mystic portal to the realm of Waterdeep, or anything at all like that. Yet it was a change that would end up becoming one of the most popular (and most copied) commands ever on the mud, with at least one thread on our discussion board devoted to lavish praise of it from players and staff alike.
The command was ‘think.’ Its syntax is simple. The player types think ‘Woah, hey, did I just see a coin lying in the road back there?’ and gets this back: ‘You think ‘Woah, hey, did I just see a coin lying in the road back there?’ Easy, no? And at first glance, somewhat pointless.
To explain the immense popularity of this command, one needs to understand that Armageddon MUD is more than role play intensive. It’s role play required, and players who fail to stay in character or interrupt the flow of the vast interactive story that staff and players are spinning together usually mend their ways fast. Or are asked to leave the story, usually not in a particularly polite manner. Armageddon’s had the reputation of having the rudest immortal staff on the net for a long time, and while that’s changed considerably, there are, I suspect, staff members who still cherish that attitude to a degree. Players who aren’t staying in character find out fast that it’s not appropriate, or appreciated, on Arm.
Given this, think has proven invaluable to the players whose actions might be incomprehensible to the staff. If a staff member happens to be monitoring a player, and glimpses a few thinks here and there, they know what’s going on and why, precisely, that crazed Krathi is sitting out in the desert. She’s waiting for a vision, which she might choose to supply of her own accord via think, or with which a staff member might help. Why did that elf suddenly take off running? He thought he saw a mantis, gythka staff in mandible, approaching his hiding place. Think not only helps the player solidify what it is she’s doing, but lets the staff know what’s going on as well.
Beyond that, the command’s entertaining and helps the player flesh out the character. Is he thinking ‘Did that templar just look at me?’ If so, he may scurry back into the Labyrinth to hide from the unwanted attention. Perhaps while that wily gypsy is trying to sell her a luck charm, the player’s sitting there thinking hard on how to sell the gypsy out to the dreaded Blackmoon. Personal beliefs, spiritual beliefs, reactions to other characters – all of these, and more, get played out via the think command in a way they never were before. One of my favorite moments was monitoring a conversation between a pretentious noble and the commoner they were upbraiding, who while keeping their eyes downcast was thinking of the multitude of ways that noble could be humiliated.
I’ve seen other benefits as well. At least one character has accidentally typed talk instead of think, and found themselves saying aloud what’s in their head, leading to assorted and interesting results. It slows down some of the fast typists, who otherwise tend to overwhelm other players with the multitude of their emotes and speeches. Some players use it while sleeping, to create intricate and sometimes lurid dreams. We’ve some plans to tie think into the psionic skills on the mud eventually, though that’s a far and future notion. But the benefit to the role playing of the mud has been tremendous. I’d urge other role playing muds to at least…think about putting this command in.
Almost ten years later, I’ve drawn somewhat apart from the game that I was once passionately engaged with, but it remains an endless source of observation about net and gaming behavior. And it’s a nuance like the think command that points to something that is, for me, one of the key differences between textual and graphic games.
I play World of Warcraft as well, on the evenings I want to escape. I play on a roleplaying server, even. But the roleplay there is not the unadulterated draft of storytelling juiciness I see on Armageddon. The world is constantly intruded upon by the chat channels, which feature chatter that ranges from the offensive to the inane, with rare moments of comedy or philosophy interjected.
Armageddon has no pictures, only words, but it does have plenty of conversation. In it, a player controls a character, and can describe their actions and words in fine-tuned, sometimes adjective-laden, glory. For example:
Leaning forward, eyes gleaming in the inn’s dim light, the lean, grey-eyed man says at your table, barely audible over the clink and clatter rising from surrounding drinkers, in sirihish, “What are you smuggling in next Abid?”
This is an immersion that just isn’t possible in graphic games, where emotes are primarily canned, and NPC interactions are all scripted. It’s the sort of immersion where the think command, visible only to the player (and on occasion certain psionically gifted individuals) becomes a valid part of play.
Armageddon is, weirdly enough, the cutting edge of an obsolete technology, and somehow remains pertinent even now, when more and more graphic programs flood the market. Textual space allows for a space of pure storytelling that, despite the blinding speed with which the Internet advances, remains as pertinent today as it was a decade ago.
Cat Rambo is the fiction editor of Fantasy Magazine. Her website appears at http://www.kittywumpus.net. Her collection Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight appears this summer from Paper Golem Press and can be pre-ordered here. She has been playing RPGs since the dawn of time.
1 • Gonzo Granzeau said:
March 20th, 2009 at 4:02 pm, permalink
You have to go back one further step than MUDs and MUCKs to understand the implications of text versus graphical. Go back to table top RPGs. In those, you had a human giving the ultimate in quality control of the adventure too.
Simple questions really: What does “the dungeon has an oppressive air” look like? Could I represent this through visual description alone? Could a picture represent this alone? Or would you need a dark thrumming in the distance, which is more felt than heard? Can you do this through a game?
In the end, no, you can’t do all this through a game. This is why sometimes the game instructs the player to be thinking ‘You think something is lording over this dungeon with an iron fist’ or something to that effect. The idea being is that there is a reason for the original text, and you want the player to be thinking down the path of ‘plot’.
Getting players to follow plot is hard. Why do you do anything in WoW for instance? I mean seriously, you kill hundreds of creatures with little to no reason why. So, you imply ‘why’, through little snippets, stupid emotions by the mobs, etc, but by saying simple things like ‘You think…’ you can give a real reason why something is happening, from the player character with years of combat experience, without relying on the observation skills of a 14 year old unexperienced boy.
BTW, this goes completely wrong in graphical games far more often, like when an NPC accidently walks through an object so you can’t see them, or someone disconnects, etc. It’s less common in old school text adventures, but as the immersion level steps up, there will be more technical challenges that will pull people out of the world.
2 • Jonathan Wood said:
March 20th, 2009 at 4:49 pm, permalink
I think a lot depends on what the game is trying to achieve. Most graphic games are not trying achieve the level of immersion that a MUD (or in fact table top gaming) creates. The pleasures are more surface level, and usually focus around caving in the head of the nearest bystander.
Some games do focus on storytelling and the results are a mixed bag. While some games have achieved emotional power (Final Fantasy VII and X spring to mind) they have followed a model of “go from A to B, hitting things along the way” and you will be rewarded with a piece of story). While, at their heights, emotional punches can be delivered, it’s never going to be as strong as in a text roleplaying game because you’re never truly playing the role, you’re just following along.
Recently some western graphic RPGs have challenged that. Specifically I’m thinking of Mass Effect and Fallout 3 (I own an Xbox 360, so that’s my frame of reference). Both these games have offered players a wide range of choice in their actions, and the actions they take do noticeably influence the story. And in gaining that ability you do start to take on the role, because the nature of a character becomes important. And while the implementation of these system still leaves a lot to be desired, (in both games you are mostly influencing sub-plot, not the main plot) I found Mass Effect to be a truly emotionally effective game.
As good as these two games are (and they are very good) in terms of allowing a player to influence a story, to interact with a story, to create a story, they’re pitiful compared to a MUD or tabletop RPG, where instead of a set of programmed responses you’re dealing with an infinitely more resourceful GM, someone who’s able to adapt to the unexpected. It’s doubtful in fact, that they’ll ever be able to touch them.
But graphic games will always be more popular. I think it’s sad but it’s true. So much less is required of a player with a graphic game (in terms of time, not money). Less imagination is required, no rules need to be learned. The experience is immediate. It doesn’t have the depth, but it is likely to be deep enough for most people.
3 • Randy Henderson said:
March 20th, 2009 at 5:41 pm, permalink
I should think the advent of mobile devices would open up new opportunities for MUDs. It is not so far from texting or tweeting on your phone to having an exchange with an NPC. Certainly seems more suited to the small screens than graphics-intensive games, and the “turn-based” nature of it seems to me a good fit for gaming on the move. I’ll admit I’ve not dived into a MUD yet (I just don’t feel I have the time to really get into it), but is it something one could play, for example on the iPhone’s safari browser? Is it something that could be adopted to accept input/output via email or text messaging?
I’m surprised interactive fiction games haven’t been better supported by mobile game companies as well. I’m tempted to hack my iPhone just to play Zork.
4 • DustMight said:
March 20th, 2009 at 8:52 pm, permalink
Cat is right on here in all regards – think has allowed for an immersive world to become even more immersive.
Text games that are role-play required do offer that “textual space” that you can’t find anywhere else – it’s like the best of the pen and paper games of old, only better because you can’t guess what the other player is really up to.
I do hope text based games featuring high quality role play stick around for a long time.
5 • HunterKiller said:
March 20th, 2009 at 9:02 pm, permalink
The think command for me is a one-sided way of communicating with the “immortals” (or “imms” or “staff”) of the game. I think plenty in my own head, playing a character who’s usually very unlike my real self. What I choose to type in my think are things that are relevant for others to know, or so I think.
The mere fact that the market is so flooded with graphical games makes a game with scrolling text that much more powerful – it becomes a story or poem that literally writes itself before you, with you contributing a verse.
Ironically, I’m actually a 3D artist working with the famous / infamous tool called “maya”, a very powerful and popular tool used in Hollywood in the entertainment and animation industries. I have a real passion for graphics, but Arm has a certain wicked power that these graphics can’t seem to touch. Not because books have traditionally been more encouraged than video games and are often described as being “better” than the movies that so often imitate them, but because the text leaves the mind completely open to fill in the blanks. A truly frightening concept for anyone to realize, the extremes of just about any emotion we could have during the unfolding of a story is fueled by images created by ourselves – nature has nothing on imagination. I have a complete, crystal-clear picture in my mind of what the land of Zalanthas looks like, buildings, weather, moons, villages, etc. Even what some of the animals and clothing and weapons look like as well.
While it may at times be more cumbersome to type and read so much than a graphical game, demand more of a commitment to play once you’re in the game than a traditional first person shoot-em-up, Arm is something that stays with you long after you quit playing. It becomes a story you wrote yourself just begging for sequels.
The above is the reason I continually play, through marriage, kids, crazy busy job schedules and family & friend drama. It’s also what makes things you don’t like about the game even that much more tolerable. Features such as this “think” command are a tiny sliver of the game and represents one of many things that root themselves in each player’s motivation to keep coming back.
I think if the boob imms (spoken of above) were left to keep running the game, it would’ve likely shut down long ago. Consistent, dedicated administration and policy making with a true appreciation for fairness has built this game from average to great, and while features such as this “think” command are great role playing tools and make the game even that much more fun to play, it’s a mere shadow of the real magick Arm has, at least what it’s brought me.
- HK
6 • Jesse said:
March 20th, 2009 at 10:38 pm, permalink
I think that text is the only true medium for role play over the internet. Graphical games just aren’t made in such a way as to promote true role play. There are no consequences, and no true rewards. Let’s use World of Warcraft as an example, seeing as how most people are familiar with it to some degree. Even on a “roleplay” server there is little roleplaying going on. The constant intrusion of other people who are not rping breaks up the environment for those who are. Not to mention that in WoW, no matter what you do, or what you roleplay, you’re still exactly like everyone else.
Now, in a mud your roleplay eventually takes you someplace, or that’s the plan anyhow. Given time you may achieve things that other people’s characters actually have to acknowledge, and at the end of the day, you have something to show for your time and effort. A character with it’s own personality and achievements, something a lot closer to a real person than a graphical game can ever give you.
7 • ComradeCanadia said:
March 21st, 2009 at 12:09 am, permalink
Something as RP-specific as the think command is going to remain unique to MUDs for a long time. I played World of Warcraft obsessively for several years on an RP server, and the trick with that game is that the roleplay takes place despite the game, not -because- of the game. This remains true for pretty much every single MMOG out there. I could potentially see an MMOG implementing a command like think for roleplayers, but it’s highly unlikely. I can’t think of a single MMOG that actually caters to roleplayers. They’ll make spaces for them, but the game design and game rules never really back up a roleplaying environment. It’s why I feel RP on warcraft is completely futile. How do you create a compelling character when a banana heals a sucking chest wound?
A roleplay-intensive MMORPG would never really match what RPI muds have for a multitude of reasons. Even what that advertised itself for roleplayers and had pure RP commands like think (I’d love to see a little thought bubble show up like in comics), there’s no real way to keep a high level of roleplay outside of guilds. It’s too easy for some omron to start screaming “CHUCK NORRIS” over and over again to ruin things. Enforcing roleplay in a game with couple hundred active players is a task and of its own. What about in a game with thousands, or even millions? I can’t see it as being possible, though I’d love to see someone -try- at least. Even getting there halfway could be an enjoyable gaming experience.
8 • NejikFans said:
September 5th, 2009 at 12:46 pm, permalink
Спасибо за милое общество.
9 • AccepancY said:
May 4th, 2010 at 3:00 am, permalink
Благодарю! спс