From the players'
point of view, the underlying mechanisms are of little or no interest. To them,
MUAs are environments where things happen. Players have 'personae', which exist
in a world elsewhere. The computer is their interface to this otherworld, carrying
out their orders and reporting back to them what has happened. MUAs are sprawling
landscapes, richly described, and you can try anything (within reason) that you
like.
- Richard Bartle, Interactive
Multi-User Computer Games, Game Architecture, 21 Jan
1999. |