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From: obrien@randvax.ARPA (Michael O'Brien)
Newsgroups: net.games.rogue
Subject: Re: How about Multiplayer Rogue? (long response)
Message-ID: <1766@randvax.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 18-Apr-84 13:15:47 EST
Article-I.D.: randvax.1766
Posted: Wed Apr 18 13:15:47 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 21-Apr-84 01:40:03 EST
References: <1194@sdccs7.UUCP>
Organization: Rand Corp., Santa Monica
Lines: 34

Multi-player games involving people spread across the country have been
extremely well explored on the PLATO CAI system.  (Editorial comment:
this is an OK CAI system, but without doubt the greatest gaming system
ever conceived by the mind of man.)

Consensus is that multi-player games are far, FAR better than single-player
games.  There are two basic types: team play, with various teams competing
against each other, and "rogue"-type games, where players individually
try to off each other.

One exception to this rule was a game called "battin" (named after the
author), a "rogue"-style game with seven 1000 x 1000 mazes arranged in
levels.  The "city" levels had no monsters, but shops where you could use
your gold to buy enchanted armor, weapons, etc.  They also had "bars", where
you could meet and talk with anyone else in the game who was also in a
bar.  There you could barter and trade things.  Every now and then you'd
run into some super player who would out of the goodness of his heart
just devolve about 3,000,000 gold pieces on you.

Most games had the concept of an "operator", who could in some ways control
the action of the game (much like the "wizard password" in rogue).
This would involve creating new monsters in the database, altering a
player's statistics, or editing the maze (if it were a permanent maze).
I was an operator in one 20-level D&D game which installed a new maze every
month: each operator got to design a level.  The non-random character
of the maze made mapping interesting in itself as the pattern generated
by the designer gradually became clear.

The main thing needed by all of these games is a common, centralized
database with record-level locking.  That's the "game board".  It's difficult
to live without this capability.  PLATO was a single computer with terminal
lines strung cross-country.  With a decentralized, network-based game you
need an expert in protocol design, as well as a crypto expert to prevent
forged network packets from taking over the game.  It's very hard.