The Famous "Future of Arctic" Post.
This was originally posted on the immortal board in 1994 by one of Arctic's
early implementers. It is provided here for your enjoyment.
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Message 49 (Fri Apr 01): Valiar -- Some Changes
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Today is a special day.
After brief conversations with Dean and Dale, I've agreed to assume
full control of Arctic.
There will be a few minor changes.
If you don't like them, I suggest you leave.
First of all, I'm unsatisfied with the amount of time which the gods
have been putting in here. Having a high rank should only be possible
for those who have the time to put in a regular appearance.
Therefore, each god (with the exception of level 37's) will be
required to put in no less than (level - 31) * 2 hours PER DAY. If
you can't be here that often, then you'll be automatically demoted to
a level which you can sustain. Code to check your presence and weed
out clients will be provided by Muddy.
Next, I really dislike the 'DragonLance' theme. Instead, we'll be
going with something a little more modern: guerilla warfare in the
21st century.
The first changes to support our new theme will be to rename the
current classes with the names of their with modern counterparts.
Here is the list of new classes:
Soldier (formerly warrior)
Thug (formerly assassin)
Policeman (formerly ranger)
Scholar (formerly mage)
Businessman (formerly cleric)
Environmentalist (formerly druid)
Politician (formerly thief)
MUDAdmin (formerly paladin)
Except for the names, the classes will remain pretty much the same.
Muddy will code the changes.
To further support our new theme, we'll be changing the name of the
mud from 'Arctic' to 'RamboMUD.' To celebrate, we'll have a contest
to design a new title screen showing John Rambo knocking off a few
foreigners in eye-catching ANSI colors like 'Blood Red' and
'Camouflage Green.' Submissions should be sent to Reorx, who will
judge the contest and select the winner. The winner will receive a
promotion to level 35 (since we can't afford to have too many gods,
however, Reorx will be deleted). Muddy will code the eye-catching
colors.
(cont'd)
<< end of message 49 >>
Message 50 (Fri Apr 01): Valiar -- More Changes
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Within the week, we'll be deleting all zones in progress. They're
unlikely to fit our new theme, and it's just not worth anyone's effort
to check. I plan to obtain a few popular public domain zones such as
Iraq, Thalos (renamed Latin America Zone), the Matrix (renamed New
York Zone), and the Dwarven Keep (renamed Los Angeles Zone). We'll be
disposing of those zones which the creators can not manage to change
over to the new format within a week (except for my zone, of course,
which will remain exactly the same and be called the 'D&D Zone').
Here is a list of new standards which you must follow to create here:
* Your zone name must end in 'Zone.'
* You must clearly mark EACH entrance to the zone as shown here:
"You are now entering LOS ANGELES ZONE, for levels 8-15."
* You must not have one-way doors or other confusing features.
* You must not have aggressive mobiles unless there are clear warnings.
* You must not have death traps.
* You must not have more than 10 mobiles and 10 objects per 200 room zone.
* You must try to make zones as linear as possible so as not to confuse
mortals with multiple exits.
* You must not use specials in a confusing manner.
If you're not clear on any of these, I can suggest a few admirable
MUDs for you to visit and check out the zones. Muddy will be coding
any necessary changes.
At some point I'd like to just ditch the RamboMUD code and start fresh
with Merc 2.0. It has some really kewl mods that would look really
great here. I'd like to get the coder from Medievia MUD, the
self-proclaimed "cutting edge of MUD technology," to work here (Vodka?
Vecna? Vice? who cares, as long as it starts with a 'V'?), who
really impressed me by finding a fix to the Merc 2.0 bulletin board
bug **within a single week**. I'm afraid that he'd shun working with
someone of such vastly inferior coding skills such as Muddy, however.
(cont'd)
<< end of message 50 >>
Message 51 (Fri Apr 01): Valiar -- Still more...
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As long as we're on the subject of V's, I've decided that it's too
hard for the mortals to tell who's a god here and who's not, so in the
spirit of Merc I've decidied that all gods' names will begin with a V,
and no mortal will be allowed to have a V. For simplicity, we will
just replace the initial consonant of each god's name with a V (e.g.,
Vuddy, Veorx, Vaistlin, Vathmat). Vuddy will code this change--anyone
who objects will be deleted. Hopefully, it can be incorporated in
Merc 3.0.
We'll also need a few minor extensions to the code. These include
ranged weapons, ammunition, and armored vehicles. I expect these
won't be much of a problem, and Vuddy should have it done within a few
days.
Oh, I almost forgot! Immortals (level 31) will be expected to be
present at least 12 hours a day as part of their training for godhead.
They will also be expected to go forth continuously during this time
and assist mortals (make sure they don't die) and tell everyone how
RamboMUD is the best. Applications can be made for 'away time' which
will allow immortals to visit other MUDs in disguise and proclaim our
greatness. All of this will be monitored automatically. Vuddy will
code.
I'll appoint Vaistlin to come up with a new standard for mud balance
in the new era. After he has checked that the changes and new zones
conform to the standard, he'll be deleted so that he can't leak
information to the mortals. Vuddy will code.
I also want to change the levels here to a 20-level system. Levels
21-23 will be used for the gods, and I will be level 26. Levels 24
and 25 will be reserved for people I know but who are never around.
For those of you who miss the symbolism, too bad. Vuddy will code.
I'm sure everyone who plays here will be most happy with the changes
(otherwise they'll be automatically deleted by intelligent
discontent-seeking monitors, which will be in place soon). Vuddy will
code.
(cont'd)
<< end of message 51 >>
Message 52 (Fri Apr 01): Valiar -- Changes Mk. IV
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Regards!
Valiar
P.S. The proper form for address of other gods will henceforth be
'comrade.' The form used to address my person will be 'Your most
beneficent and auspicious majesty, Master of RamboMUD.' Failure to
properly address another god before exchanging words will result in
deletion. Vuddy will code.
P.P.S. Get to work, Vuddy! I expect this to be done in a week at most.
P.P.P.S. Today really is a *special* day.
P.P.P.P.S. I want code that detects my jokes and deletes anyone who
doesn't respond with at least three 'rofl's' an a 'laugh.' Better
yet, just make anyone in my presence when I make a joke do so
automatically. I hate to have anyone deleted.
<< end of message 52 >>