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Explorers have more fun.

by Lord Ashon

I have a confession; I am a hacker. My purpose in life is to learn how computer systems work. How I can gain an advantage over every one else who uses the same systems that I use. I have another confession; I play your mud. What else do you want to know about me? Well, there is quite a lot that I could tell you about myself. And in this article I will.

The explorers that needlessly died.

Drawing of Burke and Wills off to explore Australia.

Let me tell you a little about my hobbies. First and foremost I generally live on my computer, I can make it do things that most would only dream of. Secondly, I play muds. I have for years, and probably will for many more. The last hobby that I have got that really matters to you is that I program. I can write code as well or better than your coder. So, are you scared yet?

If you are not then it is because I have not told you what my plans are yet. And then, you will be very skilled. You see at one time I used to mud through plain telnet, but then technology advanced. Tin-Tin came out, and yah, last night I down loaded this really nifty program called zmud. I played a little with it, and then I discovered something, I could write scripts.

Oh yes. Now you see your error. I am able to write those dreaded bots. More importantly, I want to and enjoy writing those bots. Quivering yet? Well you should be. But maybe I will tell you just a bit more about myself. I attend a university, I am a Computer Science major, and the most horrifying fact that you do not want to know, I have more time on my hands then you or, your coding staff has combined. Now do you see your folly?

Let us talk about a couple things; first, you want me to stop botting, but you know what, I am not going to. You want me to Role-play, but again I do not want. You want me to do a lot of things, but the first and second and even third reason I am playing your game is because I want to defeat it, and I want to learn from it. Everything else is secondary to those three points.

Now that you know that, let me tell you a couple of things that I want. I want you to create a sophisticated and complex system in you mud that will challenge me. I want your mud to offer me something that no other mud does, and something that is challenging. Whether it is something stunning like the combat system that KaVir has developed for Gladiator Pits, or something totally mindless and random like the map system from GroundZero and GroundZero II. Both of them challenge my skills, why? Because, they are so unique and different.

How can I write a faster better way to map the random room layout? That is always my question. Why? Because, the cliche is true knowledge is power. If I know what the map looks like I can hunt you down and kill you before you can kill me. How can I create a system that will interpret your moves, predict the next action, and counter it all in two long seconds? By trying and experimenting.

We have both read the Hacker's Manifesto, but you see I am the one that applies it to the mud. That is why I have got that little script that will auto-feed me, and go get food when I need it. They take me seconds to code to write, and then it gets better. I get to do more of what I enjoy and that is exploring your system.

So I am an explorer, I like your system, in fact I am even curios about your system, and you know what, for all the crap you give me for being a script kiddie, I am in love with your system, that is why I am what I am, and that is why I play your game.

Lord Ashon continues to write his zMud scripts and always will. But for all that he still designs with a team the WheelMud system.