@golgoth said in A new platform?:
Did you know that it is relatively easy to implement an @mail system where all of this @mail dude=<title>/<Stuff> or whatever is hidden behind a simple popup where you fill in the fields and vwoosh, @mail sent?
There has been a few replies along the line and @Thenomain may have extrapolated some of what I was after.
There are a number of forum and social media platforms that actually can replace in-game clunky systems like @mail or +bboards ... what if the webinterface had a frame with nodebb (or similar forum/social plugin) just like these forums. The frame could toggle on/off, come with size control, things finger touch-screen kids would be familiar with, easily customize-able graphic interface (my MSB is dark background with light text, easier to read for me, but heck get enough interested kids in something like that and they'll learn to design their own faces, add graphics, whatever). Then, instead of bboards we have categories and threads on the forum. We don't need mail, PM'ing works just the same, it notifies us already of new messages with that little red dot thing. We can click a user to get info on them and they can customize those pages. I don't know if anyone is creating divisions here with CSS to try and override the main CSS to really pretty up their profile pages, but I imagine something would be figured out with enough interest.
But it seems we're focused on re-inventing the wheel when web interface already has gadgets/wickets/platforms/extra/etc that could be made to work in a web frame along side a window client for the RP side that is the typical RP oriented things for the mush to work. There are tons of apps/gadgets/gizmos out there that could take a web frame and make it just as clunky as MUDlet, with options of control.
As noted by @Ashen-Shugar
A fully featured graphical front-end is just as hard as a fully-featured chargen or skill system is.
Right now what I think I'm saying is, I'm just trading one way of coding (PennMUSH softcode) for a more adaptable backend code (Ruby or Python or some derivative), throwing in a little more SQL or some other form of data manipulation to pull from server to web, learning a little more HTML/CSS to create some forms and such. I understand the code bits are easier for younger individuals to use as they're more familiar with it, assuming these changes create enough of a draw. But I don't know who its made any easier to set up and run a game, as noted again, graphical front end is more possible these days, but its still just as much work as a chargen/skill system. Is it saving any work, becoming easier? Or is it just adding more options that equate to more work?
I really don't know, part of the issue seems decline in the interest in reading and writing. (No @SquirrelTalk, I'm not saying ignore younger individuals interested in reading and literary arts/hobbies/entertainment). It just feels the advances are moving slightly away from support of a literary medium, not saying I favor a blank green screen and a command prompt and a do it yourself mentality (10 flash; 20 print Hello; 30 goto 10; run program; leave lab with program running knowing the next student will not know how to Escape the program).
I support Ares MUSH as an out of the box, easy to configure MUSH; I awaited its release for years, I look forward to seeing what others do with it. I'm good with FS3 as the primary system, I like it. Except when I want to customize the dice and skills, which can be done by by knowing or learning Ruby. Which to me, I've traded help files for every code command in the system being accessible while in the live text environment to learning back end code via other sites and tutorials; which isn't bad, my daughters are slowly learning Ruby.
So I don't know, is it evolving to something new and easier? Or is it a linear transfer from one way of coding to another? I completely concur Ares and Evannia are a step in the right direction of drawing newer interest by appealing to what they know, but it still takes that step of wanting to know and dealing with the amount of reading required to make the step. New players continue to trickle in, always have, but not in the droves and flocks of the hobby's hayday.
Sorry @surreality, a graphic interface with lots of options including a text window for the actual RP some where in the middle of it all seems like it will come out that way to me. Its no different than how we used to set up spawn windows in clients on the more mathematical gamey games MU'es in the 90s (I'm looking at you battletech), it was an eyesore, but we could customize it to display how we wanted and it worked for the massive overload of fast flowing information we wanted in a text based game played at that speed.
ETA: Sorry wall of text, I was trying to break your telnet buffer by going over 80 lines or something.