The Sysop File

Comms Plus! paged NIGEL HARDY, sysop of ARKHAM BBS, and interviewed him Online...

[Excerpt]

CPI

Do you have any specialities that other BBs don't tend to have?

NIGEL

I support the Atari ST quite well now (having two STs myself), and also ths MUG section has been quite busy this year: a lot of MUG coders and players have been on. And the Arkham MUG (Sector 7) is completely unique (cos I wrote itl).

CPI

What's it about?

NIGEL

Good question! Ask me in a year's time... It's based in the future. Players emerge from a bunker into an abandoned city. It's fairly small and limited at the moment but I may get around to expanding it (especially if I get that extra line in). It was initially written as a exercise for myself, to see if I could do it; and the feedback at Adventure '89 where I demoed it was enough to keep me working on getting it going.

CPI

As an aside, I heard some criticisms of the Adventure '89 con, that it was too full of games 'in production'. How would you counter that?

NIGEL

I think that's a necessary part of that kind of convention. There were a lot of ames 'in development' but that gives users a chance to see what sort of thing is coming up. And gives coders a chance to view other games and to get feedback from users. There aren't really enough 'going' MUGs to make an exhibition like that one worthwhile. Though that is changing now.

CPI

What sort of future do you see for the MUG scene realistically?

NIGEL

I see it splitting several ways. There'll be the continuing MUD/Shades type games, there'll be an increase in on-line chat/conferencing systems concentrating on the 'social' side of MUGs as they are... And there'll be the hard-edged commercial things, probably graphical games, not unlike the Astro game that Third Millenium demonstrated at Adventure '89.

CPI

That's with special sox that allows you to get graphics as well as text at the user end?

NIGEL

Yes that's right. They've done it in the States with Air Warrior, though I've heard that it leave a little to be desired... I'd hope for things like the current 2-player games Falcon, Populous otc, but with more than 2 players...

CPI

How do you see the overlap with Live Role Playing or PBM [Play By Mail] etc... Is there a relationship, or are players usually committed to just one form of Role Playing?

NIGEL

Hmm... Well at least one Arkhamite does both, MUGs and LRP. I think that most MUG players are more likely to go for PBM initially of the other two, though I think a lot depends on what they get out of MUGs. Some people enjoy the role-playing aspect of MUGs and are heavily into the Fantasy/Sci Fi side of things. I'd guess they'd quite like a go at LRP. We had a day out at a paintball game with some Shades players, and some Telecom Gold Noticebd users, which was fun, and some Shades players play Quasar which is a similar thing. Neither of those actually involve role-playing though, so maybe they just like killing things?!