[Contents]--[Abstract]--[1]--[2]--[3]--[4]--[5]--[6]--[7]--[8]--[References]
This chapter contains the interpretation of the case study data and relates it to examples from Igor. The focus of the interpretation is on those feature which are useful in designing a MUD implementation of the Information City metaphor (see section 5.3.).
The examples from the MUD are taken directly from log files and have not been modified with only a few exceptions. MUD room descriptions normally are proofread but mistakes still occur. Misspellings in the logs have not been corrected and the formatting of the logs is unchanged.
The interpretation is bound to be incomplete for space restrictions in this thesis. Several topics researched in the interview series are left almost entirely to future work, for example collaborative navigation and the perception of time.
Several of the questions in the case study aims at how people perceive the structure of the MUD and how they cope with magic features. Magic features are treated in more detail in another section below. However it should be pointed out already here that a conncection between rooms by a magic exit is often perceived as representing a different distance than a normal exit.
The reason for the flatness may be the strong dominance of room exits leading into the ordinary compass directions. Exits leading "up" or "down" are sparingly used and always are a bit special. In areas using them there normally are only a few levels up or down whereas the east-west extensions of the main road in Igor alone is much longer than the number of levels most areas have.
The use of magic features introduces non-Euclidean features into MUD space. Locally most areas in Igor show Euclidean structure. Often areas are Euclidean subspaces of the whole MUD which are connected to the rest of the MUD by a transport system, a teleport or a long path. In several interviews people pointed out that besides the flatness of the MUD space they see the MUD as a set of isolated "islands" or "areas" that are loosely connected using teleporting or other transportation.
Fig. 23: Triangulation theorem in real life and virtual life.
Fig. 24: A missing room in the regular grid.
Fig. 25: Overlapping rooms.
Missing and overlapping rooms become noticable when the player tries to draw a map of an area. As the interview data shows many wizards try to make their areas "mappable". This aim refers mainly to the use of teleportation and magic features because many areas in Igor contain at least minor distortions by missing and overlapping rooms. An example of a players map is shown in figure 27. It shows parts of the Igor golf course. Notice how several connections have to be bent to fit the grid of rooms and how the grid is getting smaller and smaller as rooms have to be fit into the grid without overlapping other rooms. These problems arise because the players who did this map assumed that all rooms in this area are of approximately the same size and form which they are not. According to the creator of the golf course this area is laid out according to a real golf course (see figure 22 for a complete map).
Fig. 26: Map sketch for parts of the golf course.
In areas like the golf course, were rooms are described to have different shapes, the triangulation theorem shows a slightly different facet. Not only are rooms possibly missing in virtual space but because of the room layout the situation may be even more complicated (see figure 27).
Fig. 27: Triangulation theorem in irregularly shaped rooms.
The following log shows an extreme example of overlapping rooms although in this case this overlap is not noticed by most players. In the so-called spice club-room an exit to the north leads to the private room of a member of that club. There is only one door to the north but there are as many private rooms as there are members of the club. As the door is always perceived as a normal door by a player this door seem to be nothing special. When thinking of all the overlapping private rooms it has to be seen as magic feature though. In the interviews one wizard said that he perceives this room "as a very large hall with many doors to the north" although only one of those door is visible.
The air in here is thick with the delicious smell of spices. It is so strong that the paint is peeling off the walls! Along one wall is the bar, and a menu rests on it. Behind the bar stands a combined chef/waiter ready to take your order.
A scroll is on one wall and there is a sign above the exit leading
north to the Private rooms. To the south leads a quick exit back to the city village. Right next to a scroll on one wall hangs a clock.
Obvious exits: north, south, west and east.
A graffiti Garlic.
A Spice bulletin board.
> n
This is Jugler private room - he uses it to store his valuables while (...)
Most MUD players notice such disruptions of space but they adapt rapidly to the situation. They perceive such a transition as a move to another level of reality or as a long distance teleport to an entirely separated "dimension". Such a transition should be clearly marked as such - be it by using a transport metaphor or by teleportation. Simply going north through a door and ending on a different continent is not the kind of navigation most people feel comfortable with.
This example hints at the fact that it depends on the description of an area and on the "enactment" in the transition if overlapping rooms are perceived as such. As was mentioned already many people see the MUD as a collection of loosely connected areas. It depends on the enactment of the connections if the areas are perceived as separated or overlapping (see also section 7.5.)
The most common exit types go into the main compass directions, that is "north", "south", "east", "west". During playing these directions commonly are abbreviated as "n", "s", "e" and "w". Other exits are directions like "northwest" or "nw". Those are sparingly used and most people consider them as a bit special. Other, similarly special exits are the directions "up" and "down".
Internally all exits in the MUD are one-way exits. The MUD therefore is a directed graph. As the MUD tries to simulate a locally Euclidean landscape there exists a back-exit for almost every exit in the MUD. A room B that is entered using a "north" exit from a room "A" therefore has an exit "south" that leads back to room "A". In case such two-sided exits are not provided there is often a path of one-way exits that eventually leads back to the room the player started in (see figure 28).
Fig. 28: One-way exits in an Euclidean area.
MUDs therefore try to give the feeling of a locally Euclidean space where a door that can be entered from the one side can also be entered from the other side and leads back to where one started.
Fig. 29: Teleportation exits.
These exits can be dangerous while playing the game because an attacked player will first try to get out in the directions he came from and this will not work. The MUD provides a "wimpy" mode in which a player starts to run away automatically when severely wounded. As far as the author knows this wimpy mode uses the standard room exits however. The exit leading to safety is not "seen" by this feature and the room thus seems to have no exit at all. An "out" exit thus can become a deadly trap for the player.
Most people said that they like non-standard exits only if there is a way back. Many wizards acknowledge this need for safety and when coding an "out" exit they code an additional normal exit - like "south". The next log shows a room where this precaution is not taken by the programmer. This small pond has only a single special exit and going south does not work. This exit therefore works like a one-way exit:
You are at an open space within the forest. A strong smell of sulphur
lingers in the air. A mysterious sound of bubbling water can be heard
from the north. A closer scrutiny reveals a spring in that direction.
There are two obvious exits: north and west
> n
You enter the hot spring water. Its Hot!
In the middle of a hot spring. The air smells strongly of sulfur. The water is scalding hot and bubbles continuously. This is probably a good place to scrub yourself clean of the layers of dirt and filth you have accumulated in your adventures.
There is one obvious exit: out
> s
What?
> out
You are at an open space within the forest. A strong smell of sulphur
lingers in the air. A mysterious sound of bubbling water can be heard
from the north. A closer scrutiny reveals a spring in that direction.
There are two obvious exits: north and west
This discussion of special exits holds only for Igor. In other MUDs with a less spatial conception special exits are more common. There are examples for MUD areas that consist almost exclusively of special exits. One of those is the virtual Internet in MediaMOO or the whole Hypertext Hotel MOO.
The following log shows a room in the virtual Internet of MediaMOO. From there exits lead to all countries connected to the virtual Internet:
ROOT You are in a maze of twisty little passages. Of course it's a bit more like a neat tree than a maze. Obvious exits: com to com, edu to edu, gov to gov, org to org, at to (...) Lounge, and nl to nl You see net router here.
This example differs enormously from the Igor examples as the virtual Internet almost exclusively uses special exits. An example of a room in Igor that contains mainly special exits is Noa's workroom. It contains also one ordinary exit:
This is the workroom of Noa. You may look around if she's not here.
There is a desk and a chair here. Noa has finally started working.
(Or at least the desk and the chair give you such an impression.)
The door to the east leads to Noa's bedroom.
There is a window on the west wall.
There is a NOTE left here by Noa.
Emergency exits lead to various places. Noa uses them to run
away when there is an explosion, or when she accidentally created
some monsters which she can't handle.
She uses these exits very often.
There are five obvious exits: east, church, guild, shop and pub
In this example the destination of the special exits is clear from their name - which is not the case in most special exits. This is possible only as the special exits in this example lead to well-known landmarks. This type of special exits is commonly found in private rooms of wizards. They could be considered as functionality that is similar to a Home-Page in the World-Wide Web containing one's favorite link destinations.
Hidden exits
Closely related to this issue are hidden exits or exits that can be used only after performing an action. In case this action requires an object to be found somewhere else the player could be trapped in that room forever if she does not possess that item. She can only log out, loose all objects carried and log in again to be transported to the church. Such traps occur very rarely in the MUD - wizards are encouraged to program a game that is fun and not to code nasty traps. Hidden exits are those which are not described in the line "obvious exits". They are programmed differently in the MUD.
Such a hidden exit is a special exit and often it is coded as a teleport or a similar way of navigation.
You hear a metallic sound as you walk on the ground.
A small town yard surrounded by houses.
To the west you can see a small break in the buildings.
North street starts here.
Obvious exits: north, south, west and east.
> dig
You dig for a while. You reveal a manhole!
> open manhole
You start entering the manhole, but soon lose your grip and fall down!
With a loud SPLASH!!! - you land in the sewage!
(...)
A ladder leads back up to the fresh, clear world of Igor, and there is
a ventilation shaft to the south.
The manhole is open, but the grating is closed.
Obvious exits: north, west and east.
Unconnected rooms
Unconnected rooms are MUD rooms that are not reachable form the MUD using standard navigation. They are either entirely unreachable for players or players have to be transported there by wizards or a transport system. It is a matter of taste if a set of rooms that can be reached only using a lengthy chain of commands to activate a transport system is considered as an area connected by a transport system or an unconnected area (see figure 30).
Fig. 30: Unconnected rooms.
Unconnected rooms are very common in Igor but they do not occur in the MUD game itself. Instead MUD areas still under development, areas that have not been connected yet or areas that have been disconnected from the MUD are unconnected rooms. Most wizards create unconnected rooms as "working places". One wizard said in the interview that he has coded about one hundred open rooms in the MUD and that he has several hundred additional rooms which are not connected to the MUD.
It seems that unconnected rooms do not disturb the cognitive map. Many participants agree that these rooms are either up in the sky or a similar place, or in another dimension. This signifies that the rooms are present on the cognitive map, but in a place that is reserved for these kinds of rooms. This means unconnected rooms can be used in the virtual city for unrelated types of information for instance.
Envelopes
Envelopes are a concept found in the MediaMOO system. Envelopes can be realized in Igor as well but during the case study no example of an envelope was found. The @mail command on MediaMOO transports the user to a special room providing mailing support. Using another command the player is transported back. So far this description sounds like a room that is connected using two teleports.
In an envelope a user teleports to an isolated set of rooms and emerges always in the same room in that construct. She can move freely in the envelope and when issuing a "back" command the user is transported back to the room she was in before teleporting to the envelope no matter which room in the envelope she is in at the moment. Envelopes often provide a special set of commands like the mail commands in the mail-example (figure 31). Envelopes act similar to a "mode" in a user interface.
Fig. 31: An "envelope".
The main difference between the envelope and a teleport to another "level of existence" is that in the envelope the user expects to go back to the room she was in before teleporting - in the other example it makes sense to deposit the user one room further west when the user walked one room west in the other level. Note therefore that in envelopes the back-exit does not origin in any room but on the envelope.
Teleportation mazes and magic mazes
Teleportation mazes are a set of rooms that are connected only using teleportation. As the goal of the maze is to confuse users there is no Euclidean relationship between those rooms. Going to the "east" twice can therefore transport the player back to where she started. It seems that using such irregular connections between places is best avoided. It is difficult to learn these areas, people do not like it and will not return there if they can help it (figure 32).
Fig. 32: A teleportation maze.
In this type of maze the exits are hard-wired and dropping an object in a room can help to find the way back. Whereas a regular maze has room connections that lead to adjacent rooms exits in this type of maze provide the user with no feeling of distance and direction - room connections may jump over rooms. This situation is similar to a hypertext web based on no spatial metaphor.
A magic maze differs from this situation in that the exits are not hard-wired but may change deterministically or even indeterministically. In an indeterministic magic maze the finding of the exit relies only on sheer luck and patience.
The results from the questionnaire study show indicate that participants think teleportation without fixed starting and arrival points has the innate property of moving one across large distances, teleportation with fixed destinations has the innate property of moving one across relatively short distances. Thus the two kinds of teleportation exits can serve entirely different functions in the MUD.
Hidden exits often require several commands to walk from one room to another and such exits are then perceived as bothersome and time-consuming. When measuring distances in the MUD such exits can be seen as requiring more effort to get through. A different way to assess distances is to measure the "effort" to get from A to B. The following log shows an example of a room that would be very distant using this measure as the door has to be unlocked, then opened to go through. Yet the description communicates a simple door. In such situations it depends on the creator of an area to balance the amount of realism in the area with the usability of the area for the player. It is very nice to have such a richly described area when walking there a few times - in case the player has to do that many times the richness will be more disturbing than helpful.
Something shimmers in the niche.
You are in the second of the three sewage basins.
(...)
There is a small niche in the wall.
Obvious exit: up.
> get key from niche
a wood key: Ok.
Done.
> u
With a nasty smell of sewage in your nostrils, you look around.
(...)
In the middle of the round platform that you are standing on is a two
level tower, and using your superior intelligence you realize that it
must be the control-tower of this plant.
There is a closed door leading into the tower here, it is locked.
Obvious exit: down.
> unlock door
You unlock the door, turning the key a second time breaks it!
> open door
You open the door.
> enter tower
The door slams shut, and a CLICK is heard!
(...)
There is a closed door here leading out, it is locked.
Obvious exits: up and down.
Measuring distance using "effort" makes a teleport or a magic feature a very short connection as it requires only one command to get very far. However several people described that they felt that such connections lead further than normal exits - perhaps because they mentally stretch the exit in order not to distort their mental representation of the area too much. Another interpretation is that "magic features would not be used if the location be reached were just around the corner".
Yet another method to perceive distance is the time it requires to get there. Measuring distance using time or "amount of activity going on" is a viable way when using well enacted magic features. Using a flying dragon that prints a message like "you are flying on a dragon" every now and then can communicate a feeling of distance when the number of such messages is related to the distance covered. The drawback of this method is that transport systems are thought to be slow anyway and such enactment could make them even less popular (see section 7.3.1.).
In one of the interviews it was pointed out that the length of a path that is very well-known seems to be smaller than the length of another path that connects the same number of rooms. The example used in that interview used one path that led to a guild and another one that led to a commonly known area. As the guild can be seen as a landmark for this player, this reduction in perceived distance seems to be similar to the systematic mistakes in distance estimation reported by Tversky (see section 2.3.5.)
Room sizes
The sizes of rooms are perceived very similar to distances. Most people say that it depends entirely on the description of the room. The length of the description seems not to influence the perception of the room size. This is surprising at the first thought. However when a room is described as a small cozy place most people think there should be a limit on the number of people allowed in the room because the room otherwise is considered unrealistic or "funny".
An example of a room that is perceived as large is the church (see section 6.2.2.1.). There are always at least a few people and churches commonly are thought to be large places. An example of a room that is perceived as a small and cramped space by every player asked is the shop (see section 6.2.2.4). The shop has a short description but using the command "list" a list of all object on sale is produced which may well exceed the length of a typical computer screen. Interestingly almost no player asked got any impression of size from the description of the post office (see section 6.2.2.2.).
Normally the amount of objects - overall of large objects - has to be limited in a small room. In one interview a player said that a very large object in a room automatically makes him think of the room as large.
Surrounding rooms can influence the perception of room size. Several wizards described that they strive to build large places or squares by realizing several separated parts of that place. A square consisting of only one MUD room that is surrounded by rooms describing the insides of houses is normally seen as small despite its description.
Room sizes depend mainly on the description of the room and less on the number of objects and people in them. Those aspects are important only when the number and size of objects in the room is in clear contrast to the description. Similarly the description of distances influences the perception of distance more than does anything else. There are several ways to measure distances in the MUD. The most common of which is the number of rooms to cross. This measure is modified to account for the fact that magic features "would not be used for small distances". A clear enactment of an exit - that is a clear description of the exit and the process of using it - leads to a clearer perception of distance.
Summary
This section focused on the space concept in the MUD. MUDs essentially use a topological space concept like hypertext systems, but they are designed to locally represent Euclidean space. Connections between areas are sometimes performed using the topological space concept. These connections are described as magic portals, special exits, teleporting and transportation systems.
Room sizes and distances between rooms in the MUD are often assumed to be uniform such that rooms can be arranged in a grid. Most wizards design areas this way but room descriptions not always "fit" into that grid. These areas then feel "distorted". The difference between normal exits and special exits has been described. Hidden exits are those room exits which are not immediately visible from the room description, are not listed in the "obvious exits" section or require to be revealed or opened before usable. Typical local MUD structures like the one-way exit, the trap, the teleportation maze, the envelope and overlapping rooms have been described. It was pointed out that most people define distance in the MUD as the number of rooms to travel. Sometimes they use a distance measure based on the "effort" to travel to a place instead.
Verbose mode:
You are standing next to the flag at the fourth hole. A small
group of bunny hills are to the west and they almost glow
in the light of the reddish moon. All to your east are
thick trees, but a small path of fairway slips through them
opening wider on the other side to the southeast. A green
appears to be to the north and a tee is to the south. From
here you have a good view of the entire center part of the
course. Save for the small hill to your west, the whole
center part of the course is flat and free of trees. You
can see at least nine holes in this center part before
your vision is blocked by the grey wall of tall trees that
rings this area. You're not certain, but think you can see
several figures moving in the shadowy light.
Obvious exits: south, southeast and north.
Golfer is here.
Brief mode:
The fourth green. [north south southeast] Golfer is here.
Very brief mode:
The fourth green.
In this thesis all logs are shown in verbose mode and the whole case study was done under the assumption that players are using verbose mode. However several (4) players said that they use brief mode often. They switch back to verbose mode when getting lost or when looking for something or when they notice a missing exit. The very brief mode seems not to be used much as it provides too little information.
Rich or poor descriptions
When looking at room descriptions different writing styles in descriptions can be found. People tend to put much effort into the description of their personal spaces and in places that are important to them. Typically much less detail is worked into less important areas. For wizards who program an area the important rooms are those that contain riddles or where tasks are to perform. The rooms in between therefore often are less elaborate. Rooms showing activity or containing infrastructure, or rooms to interact with normally are more elaborate than others.
There are areas, that are described very briefly by intent. An example is the mine below Guran's cave where the rooms have almost identical descriptions. The rooms thereby look all the same and the overall effect is that the mine appears to be much bigger an area than it is. The mine is hard to navigate. This is clearly acknowledged by the placing of a map of the area near the entrance:
The corridor forks to a huge mine.
The exit is to the south.
Obvious exits: east, south, north and west.
A map is here.
> look at map
[ ] ordinary room
[1] stairs
[2] entrance
[3] to the pub
|,- doorway
[ ] [ ] [3] [ ] [ ] [ ]
| | | | | |
[ ]-[ ]-[ ]-[ ]-[ ]-[ ]
| | | | | |
[ ]-[ ]-[ ]-[ ]-[ ]-[ ]
| | | | | |
[ ]-[ ]-[2]-[ ]-[ ]-[ ]
|
[1]
> w
You're in a large mine.
The mine continues to the east and west
as far as you can see.
Obvious exits: east, north and west.
A dagger is here.
> w
You are in a huge mine.
The mine continues as far as you
see to the north and east.
Obvious exits: north and east.
While this kind of room description is not ideal to make an area easy to navigate the opposite method is not necessarily helpful. Examples of almost "overloaded" room descriptions can be found in the golf course. Room descriptions in the golf course are very elaborate (see the example for verbose mode above). However people tend not to read those descriptions because of their length.
Room description in the golf course contain much information about the environment. However the objects described in the room cannot be interacted with. As the layout of the golf course is done according to the layout of a real golf course a real life golfer perhaps can extract even more information about that area simply by looking at the numbers of the fairways and holes. For the typical MUD player however all that detail is lost.
Objects in the room description
Many wizards in the MUD interviews definitely stated that they prefer designing (3) and using (6-7) such rich room descriptions but that they want to be able to interact with the objects in the description. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Here is a description of the author's personal room in Igor. It contains objects in the description which the user can at least look at.
This is Jugler private room - he uses it to store his valuables while abroad. You see some typical juggling equipment lying and rolling around - for instance some juggling balls, cigarboxes and a unicycle.
There is a desk with a Powerbook 170 on it. Next to the Powerbook is a HUGE pack of salt-sticks standing on the desk.
Obvious exits: south and southwest.
> look at powerbook
A Mac Powerbook 170. Jugler uses it to write his PhD thesis on navigation in virtual environments
> look at desk
The desk is a mess. The Powerbook and the salt-sticks are almost drowning in (mostly unread) papers, books and some CD-Roms. There are many books on comic art and animation lying around.
> look at books
There are books on media, drawing, cartoon animation and so forth. Jugler likes to draw and studies drawing of cartoons in theory (since his drawing skills are not good enough to do it in practice :-( )
Exits in the description
Describing objects and exits only in the description of the room is a commonly used method to hide them from the casual player and from players using the brief mode:
A large open plain, extending in all directions.
The old castle of Silverbane is standing here.
The drawbridge is down and the gates are open.
You can enter it if you want.
Obvious exits: north, south, west and east.
> enter castle
This is the beautiful entrance to Silverbane's castle. There is a (...)
The special exit used to enter the castle is not described in this log as an exit at all. The user can enter the castle only by entering "enter castle". In his case it is clear what to do but there are examples where the user has to try several times before guessing the right command. While such a description of exits is nice for a game it will be unacceptable for an information system that should support navigation.
Previewing
Previewing is a method to describe what a user sees when "looking farther ahead". It provides information about locations in other rooms. This commonly is the sight of a distant tower or castle. Such previewing provides navigational information. An example are the bunny hills on the golf course. They can be "seen" from several rooms. Walking into the direction of the hills leads to a set of rooms where a rabbit runs around freely. This set of rooms is only two rooms south from the exit of the golf course. Having understood this relationship makes make it easier to leave the golf course. Other examples of previewing in that area are a hill in the southwest corner which can be seen from several rooms farther away and the clubhouse that can be seen from several rooms that are adjacent to it according to the grid but have no direct exit to the clubhouse.
Here is another example of previewing:
This is the backyard of Noa's house. She sheltered this part of
(...)
A very nice fragrance comes from the south, and you feel like taking a look.
There are two obvious exits: south and west
A cat.
A kitten.
A kitten.
A kitten.
> s
Yes, this is the source of the fragrance.
You are in Noa's small garden. She takes care of the plants here
very well, and most of them are blooming now.
(...)
Previewing goes beyond a simple room description. It is a method to make the previewed room special. However not a single interview mentioned previewing as an aspect that makes rooms special. This results is surprising as it is a typical aspect of a landmark to be visible from far off. As MUDs normally are managed without looking beyond the borders of a room players supposedly learned not to rely on such information and previewing is not regarded as navigational tool.
Unusual is everything that distinguishes a room description from the descriptions in the vicinity. Thus this degree of unusualness of a feature in a room description depends on the surroundings. A room that has unique properties is more likely to be accepted as an orienteering point in navigation and may even become a landmark (see next section).
A way to make a room look special is the use of pseudo graphics, that is graphics made up of text characters. In the following example the sign in the room will be visible only when the user looks at it (see also section 7.4.1.). Pseudo-graphics can be used also in the room description itself.
A large white statue of a man and his horse is here.
(...)
There is an ant-hill and a sign here.
Obvious exits: south, west and north.
> look at sign
/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\
| Welcome to the low-level area of Igor! |
| |
| Beware that some of the inhabitants of the tunnels below aren't |
| as easy as the more friendly animals in the park. Also, rumours |
| say the village of Amber is around here somewhere... if you |
| manage to find it, beware if you're not experienced! |
| |
| Ideas and reports of inconsistency are appreciated, either use |
| the 'idea' command or simply mail me in the postoffice. |
| |
| Carlsson |
\_______________________________________________________________________/
| |
/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\
| DO NOT BOUNCE ON THE GRASS! |
\_____________________________/
| |
| |
\ . % | | .\/ .
\ | \ | | // \ |
.~\/~...^:...S\.:.s|#~~:...s\/...:.\|.|.#://..:..:.\.>...../o..:...>...%:...\|..
In the interviews most people said they like pseudo-graphics. Two interviewees however dislike it. One of them said that for him this graphics indeed makes a room special or even a landmark as he will never enter that room again, if possible.
The use of such pseudo-graphics is very uncommon in Igor and makes a room very special. The layout of the room description seems not to have much influence on the recognition of a room.
Activity and functionality provided in rooms
Another property of rooms that is regarded as important to make a room special is functionality provided in that room. Thus several rooms of the Igor backbone, like the church, the post-office, the shop, and others are seen as special places. Those rooms are special because there often are many people present. The presence of many people makes a room always a center for communication and a socially important place. As objects and users are listed separately they both serve as a part of the description that clearly sticks out visually.
Objects in rooms
Rooms with many objects are often considered as special. A long list of objects is a strong visual cue. Here is an example of a room with many objects.
This place is evil! You know that you shouldn't be here!
A lone set of strange footprints cross the sand of this sand trap.
You can climb out of the trap onto the hole to the northeast.
Beneath your feet, the sand feels cool.
There is one obvious exit: northeast
A Sand Demon.
A rake for the sandtraps.
A golf ball.
A golf ball.
A golf ball.
As is clearly described in the very beginning of the description this room is a rather dangerous place. Because one of the objects in the rooms is valuable people often take the risk of entering the room, grabbing all they can get and running out fast again. For this it is essential to see immediately if the valuable objects are there at all. The strong visual appearance of the object list makes that an easy task.
Landmarks typically are locations that provide navigational infrastructure - like the place south of the church where the flying dragon lands. Other examples are guild rooms - especially in those guilds where players are provided with a "home" teleport skill. This type of teleport transports the player to the guild room no matter where the player is in the MUD.
In the interviews it turned out however that there are many minor landmarks that neither have a special layout nor contain objects or people. Those landmarks are stepping stones that help in orientation when trying to get to a certain place. Lynch describes getting to a place along a path as the sequential traversal of landmarks. In MUDs the situation is similar. Users get from one such minor landmark to the next and ignore the rooms in between. Such minor landmarks are typically found in most route descriptions.
Minor landmarks often are places where people "run into a wall". People often type ahead when they want to reach a certain room quickly. They know the next turn on the path is to the west but do not know exactly how many rooms this turn is away. So they type several times "w" and wait for what happens. When typing "w" too often they will bump into the wall of the minor landmark if this landmark does not provide a "w" exit.
In the first interview series many users said that they either know the exact number of rooms to traverse to get to the next turning or that they "get it into the feel" when to stop typing. Often there are several minor landmarks close together so they try to reach one of them and reorient themselves there. For instance when running from the area of the orc valley back to the shop it is common to type one "e" less than would be needed. The reason is that the room thus reached is a main crossing of important paths. Just to the north is the entrance to the sewer system and to the pub and this room has a very strong keyword in the first line of its description which can be recognized even on a fast scrolling screen. As this room is approximately in the center of Larstown people know the surrounding rooms so well that they can give exact directions to any other room in the center of the Larstown village from there. Reaching this room every experienced user of Igor knows that the shop is "e n", the guild is "e s", the church is "w w n" and so forth.
This example shows that rooms can get a landmark status not only from their visual appearance and from the functionality in them but also from the fact that they are in an important location. The more people treat a room as a landmark the more this landmark status of the room will be enforced since it will commonly occur in route-descriptions and in conversations.
> climb beanstalk
You climb a little up the beanstalk...
You are near the base of the beanstalk here,
The crossroads appear just below you.
Obvious exits: up and down.
> u
Your not far from the bottom of the stalk, but
the forest begins to look smaller from here.
There are two obvious exits: up and down
> u
You are quite a way up the beanstalk now,
Boy's Island of Terror looks quite small from here.
Obvious exits: up and down.
> u
Phew! This beanstalk seems to go on forever!
You are almost afraid to look down, but when you do
you see that IgorMUD looks very small from here.
Obvious exits: up and down.
> u
(...)
You appear above the clouds in a different land.
(...)
Another example of a path that was mentioned in several interviews is Eastroad - the road leading through the center of Igor and one of the first things to explore for a newbie. Here is a part of this element leading from the beach into Igor.
The village shore. To the east a jetty of land extends into the
ocean. Westward, a well-travelled road leads through Larstown.
An old, dusty road winds away to the north.
A pink beach extends to the south.
Obvious exits: north, south, west and east.
> w
You are on a road going out of the village.
(...)
> w
Eastroad runs north from here, along the perimeter of the town,
and to the south are fields planted with all the crops the town
needs. The main road runs toward the shore to the east, and
west into Larstown.
(...)
> w
A long road going through the village. There are stairs
(...)
> w
A long road going east through the village. The road
narrows to a track to the west. There is an alley to
(...)
Edges
The concept of the edge works different in real and textual virtual space. Edges are linear elements in the environment that can be seen by the traveler in the environment. The textual description can provide such a description - an example is the fence in the golf course:
From beyond the fence to the south, you can hear crickets chirping.
(...)
> e
(...)
to the west. South of you is a tall fence.
There are three obvious exits: north, east and west
> e
(...)
next tee is to the west. East are some dark woods while a tall fence
lies to the south. One part of the fence looks shorter than the rest
of it.
There are two obvious exits: north and west
Edges are sparingly realized in MUDs because they do not fit into the way MUD rooms "work".
In real life a transport system often acts as an edge as it can be seen travel a path trough the environment and this path then acts as an edge for the observer. This does not work in textual virtual environments as transport systems do not really travel though the MUD but instead perform a teleport and act "as if they were traveling through space". Therefore the observer cannot see any transport systems traveling the environment.
Moving objects with a fixed path can be seen as an edge in the environment. However the feeling of the edge is weak since the object can be only in at most one distinct place at the same time, it moves only seldom and the edge can be learned only over a longer time span when encountering the same object at points along its path.
Gradients
Like edges gradients are only sparingly realized in the MUD because they can be described textually only. Although the textual description is capable of describing very small changes in the gradient this kind of gradient is considered simply as boring.
A famous example of a gradient was realized in the first text adventure game ever written - the colossal cave adventure game. The user approached an active volcano for several rooms and in each room the increasing heat and the rumbling of the ground was described as being more intense. So the user got a very strong feeling that she was approaching that volcano. There was even a possibility of a "preview" to the volcano in several rooms which enforced the gradient. Gradients of this kind not necessarily are perceivable in each room on the way but can be separated perceptions while traveling to the focus of the gradient.
In Igor such a gradient is realized in the area of the two temples. The evil temple gives the player an uneasy and evil feeling. This feeling is described in every room inside the temple. The description of where the safe direction appears to be gives the user a very distinct feel of where to flee if need be (see figure 33). This is similar to the ubiquitous illuminated EXIT signs in hospitals and other official buildings.
You are in a green meadow.
To the east and west you see temples.
From the west one you get a queasy feeling.
(...)
> w
This is the entry hall of this evil temple.
You feel a chill running down your spine as you look around.
There is a corridor to the west, but the safe way seems to be east.
Obvious exits: west and east.
(...)
> s
You stand in north-south corridor.
You feel a chill running down your spine as you look around.
The safe way seems to be north.
Obvious exits: north, south, west and east.
Still the evil temple is not an ideal example of a gradient since the feeling of danger is relatively unmodulated. The feeling gets stronger only as the user is very near the center of the temple. However it provides a sense of directionality in a larger area which is uncommon in MUDs.
Fig. 33: The two temples from the inside. The two arrows show the entry and the exit to this area (see also figure 34 in section 7.5.2.).
Gradients are sometimes used between two or three rooms to indicate danger. These gradients are used to warn players about very strong monsters. A variant of gradients is the placement of a guard monster one room before a particularly strong monster - this keeps newbies away - except when somebody else fought the guard shortly before and didn't manage to take out the monster as well.
Again the typical limitations of MUD rooms apply and thus areas do not show clear borders - they simply are a set of rooms that are connected to the remaining MUD. Often there are only very few connecting lines that connect an area to the MUD - for instance there is only one open access to the golf course from the north. Another access comes from the south - but to use it the player has to fly the flying dragon to a wood and then climb the fence mentioned in the last section.
Areas in that respect are very different from real life areas. The are not separated from one another by paths, edges or whatever, but they simply end. Due to the spatial layout of the MUD players feel or know, that they should reach the town of Praxis, Guran's Cave or Gothmog's Museum when going west from the golf course (see figure 18), but the rooms between those areas have not been coded. The area concept in the MUD does not hold because the triangulation concept does not hold.
People still think in terms of areas and indeed it is sometimes possible to perceive a "border" between area: in one interview it was pointed out that different coding styles or the writing styles of wizards provides a hint of where an area starts. This is similar to Lynch's observation that districts show "common character".
Smaller areas can be characterized by the probability to meet moving objects or non-player characters. It is common to associate an approximate area to a moving object. An example is Hector, the collector. This virtual player is normally met near the two temples and has a mansion there. Hector is an important figure in one of the quests in Igor and every player has to meet Hector several times during that quest. It is important to be able to find Hector. He has no fixed path but moves randomly. He even can be found far outside the temple area. It is common knowledge however that Hector is "somewhere near the two temples" (see also section 7.4.1.). Areas that are defined by objects or non-player characters are often used to give directions to other players.
Summary
This section concentrated on aspects of MUD room descriptions. It was pointed out that there are three modes of room descriptions only one of which - the verbose mode - shows the full information. Typical stylistic methods to make MUD rooms look special have been described including the explicit use of very detailed or very undetailed descriptions. Most people prefer rich room descriptions but also want, that objects described in those descriptions can be interacted with. Keywords and the layout of the description play only a minor role in room recognition except in the case of pseudo-graphics. Several environmental elements, landmark, edge and district, work differently in the MUD as MUD rooms do not allow looking beyond the metaphorical walls of rooms. Still they can be realized in the MUD. These elements then exist mostly in the head of the player and not really in the environment.
Parts of the informational infrastructure looked at in the last section serves as navigational infrastructure as well - examples being signs or rooms containing directions how to reach a location. Non-player characters talking about monsters and treasures hidden in the vicinity help in navigation and have to be considered navigational infrastructure. However these aspects are not covered in more detail in this section. Instead this section focuses on transportation metaphors.
The MUD uses a walking metaphor for normal walking, a teleportation metaphor for shimmering doors and teleporting and the metaphor of a flying dragon or taxis for transport systems. Internally all those ways of navigation are coded similarly.
Besides normal walking Igor provides several kinds of transportation. Basically these should be classified into "point to point transports" - that is a connection between two locations, and "transport systems" which connect several location in a network.
As transports in MUDs are visible only in the transport stops those transports are no edges in the sense of Lynch. For example the flying dragon cannot be seen flying over a room except if it enters and exits the room the normal way. Lynch often describes highways, railways and similar linear means of transportation as edges or paths, depending on the viewpoint of the user. MUD transports do not have this function - they emerge into the MUD space at discrete locations and the space between those locations is crossed using a teleport. An exception to this is the tramway system in MediaMOO. It moves deterministically through a set of rooms and thus provides users with a guided tour. It can be seen by any user standing in a room traversed by the tramway - it is a moving object the user may interact with and thus defines an edge.
The sewage now reaches your chin! (...) A tremendous surge pulls you down together with the sewage as the pumpstation starts working! You get a free 'transport', no fare taken... You find yourself in the first of three sewage basins. (...)
In the interviews such transports were described as being very disturbing when there is no way to get back. In this example the way back is provided by two transports. One of them is a taxi. It has the disadvantage of costing MUD money but can transport the player to several locations and therefore is a transport system.
Another transport is located in the pumping station. To use this transport the player has to find the key to unlock a door. In case another player has taken the key shortly before the key will be available only after the next room update which may take a long time.
> d
The cellar air is moist and heavy.
There is a strange hole in the floor.
(...)
> look at hole
It leads down into darkness, and there are some strange tracks in it.
> d
You enter the hole and start sliding away fast!
A seam in the tube scratches your back without mercy.
Your tummy feels as if it is up between your ears, you are FALLING!
A seam in the tube scratches your back without mercy.
You tumble around in the tube as it turns to another direction.
You tumble around in the tube as it turns to another direction.
Suddenly the tube stops, and you fall down with a *SPLASH*!
End of ride...
The sewage is licking your armpits in here.
Faint light from the flare shows you a strange tube above your head.
Obvious exits: west and east.
This point-to-point transport is different from the first one because it provides a lot of enactment of the transport process. The lines describing the process of sliding though the tube are printed with short delays and give the user the feeling of a lengthy process.
Here is a log showing how Gnuram, the flying dragon lands in front of the church and looks for people to take a ride. Between these messages there is a delay of a few seconds. People have about a minute to mount the dragon before it flies away again looking for customers elsewhere.
You are at an open green place south of the village church.
You can see a road further to the east and an arena
to the south.
Obvious exits: north, south, west and east.
A Newspaper Stand (Valentine's Edition On Sale Now) is here.
Gnuram the flying dragon lands.
(...)
The dragon looks restless.
(...)
Gnuram, the dragon flies off into the sky.
The stops of transports often are considered a landmark. This has two reasons. Newbies often use transports when they do not know how to reach a certain place by walking. That transport system therefore reduces the complexity of the path to the destination. A path to a place 50 rooms away can be only 10 rooms away when most of the distance can be covered using the transport. Frequent usage of such a transport makes the transport stops important landmarks since the user consciously uses the transport stop to arrive and to get away from a place. Secondly the marking of the room using signs or footprints distinguishes it from most other rooms in the vicinity and makes it "special".
The following log shows how a player mounts the dragon and gets transported to a randomly selected destination. Then the player orders the dragon to fly to a specific destination. Note that the environment outside the dragon is not visible during the ride. Note the footprints in the clearing at the last landing place of the dragon. These footprints clearly mark the place as landing area of the dragon.
You are in the orc valley. This place is inhabited by orcs.
(...)
Obvious exits: north, northeast, southwest and east.
Gnuram the flying dragon lands.
> mount dragon
You mount the dragon.
You feel the dragon slowly move.
The dragon flies to a new location.
You fly through the air, mounted on the dragon.
You feel the dragon land at ruins.
> look at dragon
This is a flying dragon.
Its name is Gnuram.
You can command the dragon to 'fly <destination>'
where <destination> is one of the following:
'church' : on the road outside the church.
(...)
'wood' : A clearing in some dark woods.
You can leave or dismount the dragon by typing 'leave'
> fly wood
You command the dragon to fly to wood.
The dragon flies to a new location.
You fly through the air, mounted on the dragon.
You feel the dragon land at wood.
> leave dragon
You dismount Gnuram, the flying dragon.
> look
This is a circular clearing in the dark woods. Like tiny diamonds, the
(...)
The grass of this clearing seems rather torn up by what appears to be
huge claw marks. Something very large must occasion this place. Maybe
if you wait long enough, you will get to see what it is.
There is one obvious exit: southwest
Gnuram the flying dragon.
In the interviews players described transport systems are not very useful because they are too slow, connect too few locations and exits mainly in one area - there is no taxi connecting the church to all the farthest areas of Igor for example. A really useful transport system would connect the main landmarks of the most important areas of the MUD in a quick and cheap way. It would be instantly available and players would not be forced to wait till, for instance, a dragon happens to land where they are waiting. Such an approach is realized in the train transport, which is a point to point transport in Igor. At the train station there is a calling button which, when pressed, instantly summons a train.
To be exact as MUD rooms have no real location they cannot really move. Instead the connections from the room to other MUD rooms are changed accordingly which is then perceived as if the room would move. So this enactment gives the user the wrong feeling of movement. It is a break of the metaphor but it serves its purpose and makes usage of the room easier and is therefore justified. Certainly such a room is not entered by the standard "s" or "n" exits but through shimmering doors - a nice metaphor for every exit that works differently.
An interesting case is the following movable room in Igor. It appears from time to time along the main street in Larstown, contains a shop and is perceived by the players as a "shimmering portal". From time to time this rooms moves to the next room. What makes this example interesting is the way the movement of the room is enacted for a player positioned inside that shop while the shop is moving:
A small town yard surrounded by houses.
(...)
There is a shimmering door here.
Obvious exits: north, south, west and east.
> enter door
Oh, oh! This is one of THOSE shops!
(...)
There is a shimmering door to the south.
(...)
A sign lights up: FASTEN SAFETY BELTS!
A low thrumming reaches your ears. You feel... not exactly motion
but rather a lack of stability.
> s
The door is no longer there!
The sign winks off. Stability returns...
> s
You are at an open green place south of the village church.
(...)
There is a shimmering door here.
Obvious exits: north, south, west and east.
This description makes it very easy for a player to cope with the fact that he will emerge at a different place than the place he left when entering the shimmering door. It therefore definitely supports orientation even over the "movement."
Summary
This section described transportation in the MUD. Basically there are point-to-point transports which are magic exits connecting two location. Transport systems are networks of connections the player may choose from. They are magic features. Most people think of transport systems as slow and seldom use them. Both point-to-point transports and transport systems rely on enactment to give the player an indication of what is going on, to distinguish this "special exit" from normal exits. Enactment of transports in the MUD seldom gives hints on direction and distance traveled.
The first of those approaches has the advantage that navigation in the MUD becomes direct navigation in the information -- a move in the MUD is equivalent to a move in information and information is "seen" when entering a room.
In the second case there are always at least two commands necessary to get to a piece of information - first the command to navigate to the correct location and then the command to display the information itself. The advantage of the second possibility is, that structural information is not mixed with the information itself. Examples for such structural information are room descriptions and descriptions containing the read wear of the information in the room. During navigation the user thus is not distracted from the information she needs to navigate. While navigating the structure the information contained in the traveled nodes is not as relevant as the information about the structure.
In the context of the MUD such questions do not have to be considered as strictly as MUD seldom have the need to provide lots of information in their rooms. In those cases where much information has to be given to players it is preferred to take the second path - in favor of a rich and realistic room description.
Again there are two subtypes of this way of providing information - either the information is unmovably contained in the room or it is contained in a object that may be carried around by the user.
A hypertext room
In a prototype of a hypertext room in a MUD the information is kept in an information wall. The wall cannot be removed from the room. There are several different commands to interact with the information. The information-wall can be looked at, read, and even examined - each time different information is given to the user. The same set of commands exists for the links:
Previewing was described above already as a way to make players see beyond the walls of a MUD room. In a hypertext system, previewing means that the user is able to get a glance at the contents of a hypertext node before going there. This does not mean that the user sees the whole link destination but that she gets information, that makes it easier to decide if the link is worth being followed. Below is an example of a prototype hypertext room in an Information City based MUD that features previewing [DiTr93b].
> look at wall A text wall in room number 1 It has been looked at 0 times. It has been read 0 times. It looks very new. > read wall This room contains an early example of a [1:Hypertext] Information wall. The wall text contains a few [2:Links] that can be traversed by typing link n. There will be other commands too, when the basic functionality is debugged. A Link transports the reader to another room. It is possible to peep through the link to the link destination to get a preview of what is to be expected from this link. This is done with the command preview n. There is another link - back to the entrance of the [3:Infocity]. Enjoy... Juggler. > preview 1 The preview of link [1:Hypertext] is: The concept of Hypertext. It looks very new.
The room in this log implements a basic "read wear" functionality. As this prototype is implemented in a MUD, read wear is described textually. The information wall "remembers" how often it has been read and looked at and wears out accordingly. Eventually walls containing interesting information should be worn out more than others, as more people read them.
Reading the text wall reveals the text links. Links can be followed. This link-following is enacted like a teleport. However links can be previewed. This previewing delivers the state of the destination wall and a short description of the contents. If this short description is not defined the preview delivers the first line of the information wall. Preview gives considerably more information about the link destination than simply the link name.
Previewing
A magic window in Hectors mansion in Igor is an example of previewing using a magic feature. It is necessary for players to locate Hector easily - however Hector is moving freely in the MUD. Here is the solution:
This room is crowded with trophies from throughout the world. It also has a nice fireplace with a big skin rug...seems to be made out of some strange animal..a furry dragon? Strange indeed. On a wall you see a shimmering mirror.
Obvious exit: south.
> look at mirror
You gaze into the mirror...after a while, you start to discern a pattern.
You see:
You are at the east end of a broad path,
To the east is a magic portal, to the northwest
is an huge mountain. It seems unclimbable, though.
South is a beautiful temple complex.
Unfortunately there is no entrance on this side.
Obvious exits: west and east.
Hector the Collector (nice)
(... some walking later...)
You are at the east end of a broad path,
(...)
Unfortunately there is no entrance on this side.
Obvious exits: west and east.
Hector is here.
The magic mirror in Hector's mansion always shows exactly what the user would see if she were in the same room as Hector at that very moment. Since players know the MUD they are able to spot the collector easily or at least they get a hint of where to look for him.
Movable information objects
In the "Bath Library" in Igor movable objects are used to provide information. This library contains parchment scrolls describing magic spells which can be used by players belonging to the Order of the Bath, a major guild in Igor. Here is an example of how to use this library. The library combines both approaches as the plaque on the wall is an unmovable information provider:
You are in a brightly lit room in which rows of scrolls lie
in racks of polished marble embroidered with silver. The slots
resemble a large white honey comb. There is a silver plaque on
the wall which indexes the scrolls.
To check out a scroll, type 'check out <num>'.
Obvious exit: west.
> read plaque
=========== Index of the Spell Scrolls ===========
0. Scroll of Glow
(...)
12. Scroll of Ceremony
(...)
> check out 12
The scroll magically appears on your person.
> read scroll
Ceremony works just like it is described on the badge -
it sends a monster's remains into the afterlife. It is quite
(...)
> drop scroll
The scroll disintegrates as you drop it.
In this room there are no information object except the plaque which has a similar functionality as a hypertext wall. The command "check out" creates an information object that is transferred into the players inventory. It is a special kind of object since it cannot be given to other players and disintegrates when being dropped. However it can be manipulated like any other object - it can be read, looked at, dropped and most importantly - it can be carried around. Whereas the information on an information wall is tied to its place this kind of information is movable and available at all times while carried around.
Providing a lot of information
When there is need to provide a longer text there are two basic approaches how to do this. The first one is simply not to care and to let the screen scroll the information. The better approach is to abandon the parchment-scroll like screen scrolling to cut the information into manageable pieces - or pages. Here is an example of how this is done in a room on Boy's island. Note that the informational object is hidden in this long description - it cannot be found using the brief mode:
> enter cabin
You enter the beautiful cabin.
You are in a sunlit room that seems like a fairy tale.
(...)
The last thing you notice lies placed on a high shelf.
It looks like a slender and elegant documentation in a gilded
binding. It is positioned next to some old looking scrolls.
You feel this cabin belongs to someone powerful.
Obvious exit: out.
> look at documentation
A slender and elegant documentation in a gilded binding.
You are able to read the documentation,
If you 'read page1', 'read page2', etc.
> read page1
On page one;
You read about a Chinese murderer who killed
(...)
> read page9
On page nine:
The end of the book... should you want to know more
(...)
In this example the documentation contains only 9 pages. When there is much more information in the documentation there would be need for a more structured information access - there should be a table of contents and perhaps a command that shows the next page in sequence. Here is the table of contents from the newbie library:
> This is the Newbie Library.
It is one of the newly remodeled rooms that got blocked off
(...)
The obvious exits are: north, east, south and up.
A Book On A Chain.
> read book
I think you meant to type something else!
> open book
Ok.
> read book
You read worn the front page.
Chapters:
(...)
To read something type 'read <chapter>'
> read adventuring
** ADVENTURING **
On later years, it has become more and more complicated to adventure and
(...)
This book is implemented to be overly realistic. In can be read only after being opened. While this is a nice aspect during adventuring it is be a tedious property of informational infrastructure in a MUD based information organizer.
The first infrastructure that comes to mind when talking about communication objects is the post office. However there are several other devices to support communication in Igor. They are placed in those rooms where people meet. The presence of these objects makes these rooms even more popular and again attracts more people. Two examples of such objects are found in the main Adventurer's Guild - the graffiti plank and the bulletin board:
You have entered the Adventurer's Guild. This is the main gathering point for adventurers all over Igor. (...) A graffiti plank, the Adventurer's Cat Board, a word box and a book on a chain are here. > look at plank This is what's scribbled on the plank: I need a certain someone right now....*sigh* (...) A space! My kingdom for a scribble! -=Van. To make some graffiti of your own, use 'scribble Kilroy was here!' This plank is Polgara's creation, coded by Zell. > look at board N 1: No new notes /6/ Coallump <11> Wed Oct 12 13:24:25 (...)
Looking at the bulleting board produces a list of available messages. The board essentially works similar to a UNIX mail system. Communication infrastructure like this makes a room very special. As the content of the information permanently changes and contains possibly useful information it is often frequented by the players. Reading bulletin boards is an ideal task to do while waiting, which makes this room a good meeting place. The room therefore is likely to become a socially important place.
Important changes are announced in the bulletin boards, the newspaper or by putting signs in the place or the surrounding rooms. Small changes simply happen and it is up to the player to find them. Change in the environment was not studied explicitly in the case study but the question about what people notice during running shows that most people notice missing exits at least when they try to use them and it does not work. They do not notice most other changes.
There is one famous area of Igor which was disconnected during the case study: the area of "Praxis". This change is communicated by putting a description of a blocked road to where the road to Praxis had been. Near that place a small area has been installed providing a part of the infrastructure formerly available in the town of Praxis. This is necessary as items that could be bought in a shop in Praxis are needed for quests still in the game.
You are in the wilderness outside the village.
There is a big forest to the west.
A blocked path leads south.
A newly made road leads north from here.
Obvious exits: north, west and east.
> e
(...)
> sw
(...)
An ex explorer has set up a shop west of here.There is also
another shop, decorated in hearts to the east.
(...)
> w
From the rubble of Praxis, an intrepid explorer found a large
cache of backpacks, shovels, and dynamite.
These are of course available for sale. A list is posted on the
wall behind you.
Obvious exit: east.
Vendor is here.
> look at list
A list of the equipment the vendor has for sale.
> read list
The following items are currently for sale:
Warrior backpack 200 coins
(...)
It happens very seldom that MUDs change that significantly. Most change in the rooms is caused by objects taken away or by objects that are modified. An example are killed monsters. A monster "orc" which has been killed leaves a "corpse of orc" which changes to "somewhat decayed remains of orc". After more time has passed only a "skeleton of orc" remains which vanishes after somebody has entered the room. In case the corpse contained weapons or other objects those objects remain behind. This typical change gives "read wear" information on a room. When a player finds many corpses in an area it is a safe guess that most other monsters will be killed too, that most treasures are taken away and so forth - maybe its a good idea then to come back later.
Players sometimes remove corpses which removes the read wear information from the room. This makes it difficult for other players to estimate the time since the another player was in the area. In the interviews a few people said that the decaying process of corpses can give them a feeling for time in the MUD, others said that they get no feeling for time this way. This read wear should be studied more closely in future work.
Summary
This section described informational infrastructure which is every piece of information that goes beyond typical room description. Informational infrastructure often provides the functionality of information and communication systems. Examples described were book and scroll metaphors in Igor. Informational infrastructure of this kind can be unmovable or movable. As an example of an information object bound to location a prototype of a hypertext information wall for the Information City was described. Basically information can either be provided in the room descriptions or in objects found in the room. Several examples of communication infrastructure have been described. The contents of this type of infrastructure is provided by the players and not by the designers of an area.
However several people described initial problems with the magic feature. They stressed the need for learning the feature which is not surprising, as these features do not allow us to draw on real world knowledge. Those people pointed out that a clear description of what is going on is clearly important in helping the player learn how the feature works.
When asked where they would put such features in their environments several wizards answered they would use it "when it fits". This answer can be seen as an intuitive understanding that magic features can be very helpful when they are used in a place where they really fit but are bothersome when they are provided with no clear need.
Here an example of a user going through a shimmering door - this transport is enacted very differently than an ordinary room exit, which simply prints the description of the next room:
You're on a clean trail leading through the park.
(...)
Paths lead everywhere.
Obvious exits: north, south, west and east.
A large white statue of a man and his horse is here.
> ride horse
The Horse of uncle Loeks takes you on a hellride.
You are magically transfered somewhere !!
(...)
A large white statue of a man and his horse.
This enactment shows that this exit is different from a "normal" exit but this enactment easily can be missed on a rapidly scrolling screen. Compare it to an example of a user going through the shimmering door near the both temples - this transport uses much more detailled enactment. The lines with only a dot at the beginning make the screen scroll up really fast during that transfer which creates an optical effect supporting the feeling of "floating through space". This effect is similar to the ride in the tube in the sewer system.
You are in an empty castle hall.
The only thing that's left is a shimmering portal
to the west.
Obvious exits: south, west and out.
> w
You feel as if you float though space, you can't keep track
of the directions or time...
.
.
.
.
.
.
Finally, you see a blurring image of a meadow in front of you.
You are in a green meadow.
To the east and west you see temples.
(...)
This log is a typical example of overlapping area. The area of the temples is located at the same place the orc valley and parts of the crescent city are located. Because of a clear enactment no player would assume that the teleport leads only a short distance. The overlap therefore is perceived as a connection to another place which is either far away or in another "plane of reality" (see figure 34).
Fig. 34: The two temples - outside.
Summary
In this section usability aspects of magic features was focused upon. Basically most players think of these features as being useful but they often report initial problems using them. It is advocated that a clear and well-designed enactment of their workings can make learning their working much faster and easier.
The "quality" people look at the general character of the area, search for misspellings, bugs and embarrassing texts. "Balance" checks that there are not too weak monsters as guards for incredible treasures.
This scheme has kept the quality of Igor's areas very high. The drawback of this approach is that wizards often code areas, that are never allowed to be connected to the MUD and that the evaluation takes weeks. Guidelines can help to accelerate this review process as less mistakes are likely to be made in the first place.
Guidelines could serve another purpose - to teach wizards how to support their players in navigation. That is how to design areas that are easy to navigate. As the essence of adventuring is not to solve a quest too easily such a proposal was rejected by most interviewees. Still there is a need for a few very basic guidelines - like that a strong monster should always be announced first using preview or by putting a guard one room before the monster. There is such a guideline document dating back to older systems. However this document or set of documents is not considered as fixed guidelines for MUD design.
Participants have different strategies in navigating; sometimes they want to find a specific object, sometimes they are simply looking around. In both cases they feel it is a waste of time to get lost and a high price to pay for exploring. For this reason most participants resort to making maps on paper for complicated connections between rooms. This enables them to explore and find their way back at all times. These maps are based on the same assumption as was used for the sketches in this thesis - that is: a regular grid and uniform room size.
Giving users the opportunity to look at a map of the surrounding area anticipates a natural impulse to create maps. An automatic map therefore could help considerably in navigation but would spoil the fun of the adventure game. In an information organizer maps should be provided in different levels of detail however.
A "special" room is a good candidate for being a landmark - as people tend to recognize it immediately. Recognizing a landmark not necessarily involves reading the room description - instead the general layout of the room, a keyword in the description or whatever must be sufficient for the user to recognize this place immediately. The prime landmarks are the church, the shop, the guild and the pub. As landmarks are special places in the MUD all the criteria for special places apply also to them.
In Igor there are means of transports that can be seen as metaphors for transportation different from walking or teleporting. Those means of transportation are a fixed "path" of rooms that are linked using a special teleport link. The user however does not perceive those means as teleport links. Examples for such paths are the taxi, the flying dragon or similar installations in other MUDs. The word "path" is written in quotes because the transport system does not really travel a path but instead performs a series of teleport links.
MUDs are changing mainly when new areas are connected to the MUD. It seldom happens that areas are disconnected. Changes in the environment are described using informational infrastructure and people often cope well with such changes. Smaller changes often go unnoticed for quite a long time. Objects can be taken away and monsters can be killed, which again changes the environment. At least parts of the player population get a feeling of time from this process.