Posted by Shokai(IMM) on June 13, 2000 at 13:59:23:
In Reply to: Re: Inherent Cheating Flaw in all muds? posted by Mud Theory Guy. on June 13, 2000 at 12:44:21:
> Interesting that you use the word "experience." Because a new CHARACTER has none while a new PLAYER may have much. Two eleventh level warriors of the same race and of comparable stats should have equal shot at PKing each other. But if the first has been on CF in various incarnations, and "somehow" has managed to get all kinds of kick-ass gear (though knowledged gained in those previous characters), well that's not particularly equal, is it?
>
Yet your CHARACTER in carrionfields, someone who was born in Thera and lived there all of thier life is going to inherently know some of the things about the land that a seasoned player would. Elves in Darsylon know thier way around, and could probably walk to Galadon or Ofcol, or Tar Valon with thier eyes closed. Young Warrior recruits have heard tales of the flurry. Young invokers have heard elder invokers speak of the powerful shields...all of this can be taken into account to explain away how a character knows more than a newbie. All of the knowledge you carry with you OOC (as a general rule) can be easily explained within character. Does this mean your new character should know things about your last character that weren't public knowledge? No. However it's likely your character has heard legends of powerful characters that impacted Thera. (be honest with yourself here...if you didn't REALLY impact the land, don't blow your own horn).
To address the other side of this coin...it's a thing called common sense. Obviously when we wrote that rule we didn't expect people to brainwash themselves before playing a new character...you know what your character should know and what they shouldn't....(idea! why not explain some of this in the ROLE command? Maybe where he traveled as a young guild apprentice, what he overheard in a tavern, etc?). It's not cheating...no more so than knowing all of Kunmitsu's special moves in Tekken and using them to pound the hell out of someone who has never popped a quarter in before..(okay, so maybe that's a bad example...but damn it was fun)