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Drug Addiction Integrated Into Achaea MUD

Posted by simoniker on from the gleaming-the-cube dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The text-based MUD Achaea, one of Iron Realms Entertainment's games, has introduced an addictive drug called gleam into its world, during a plot involving a wide-ranging crime ring. On discovery, a number of players, eager for a new experience, took enough gleam to become immediate addicts, leading to head-twitching, speed-talking druggies polluting the land here and there. Several player cities have already outlawed the drug, and there are some very sorry addicts going through a painful withdrawal that can last up to 25 hours of playing time. It'll be interesting to see if anyone considers the tangible benefit (increased dexterity) that one gets worth the heavy cost of the drug on both the character's bank account and on the player's psyche. At least one real-life recovering addict has used the in-game forums to loudly object to the introduction of gleam."

28 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. Sweet by Thyamine · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I can be addicted to a game and IN the game at the same time.. How progressive =)

    --
    I will shred my adversaries. Pull their eyes out just enough to turn them towards their mewing, mutilated faces. Illyria
    1. Re:Sweet by enditallnow · · Score: 4, Funny
      Rumors that the code name for the drug while it was in development was called Evercrack have not been substantuated. ;)

      -- Enditallnow

  2. How metaphorical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Considering RPGing is pretty much an addiction itself.

    Like the woman that had her kids taken way because she wouldn't stop playing everquest.

    I hope my city illegalizes RPGs

  3. System Dynamics by keoghp · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Keep the effects simple, the price high. It will be interesting to see the effects on the dynamics of the game. Will it model the real world?

    It could be a good experiment this!

    --
    For problems, seek only the simplest solution, complexity brings with it more problems.
    1. Re:System Dynamics by Ayaress · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I play Ashen Empires. It doesn't have addiction, but it has the next thing. Alcoholic drinks restore the appetite bar, but drain the stamina bar sharply (making it more difficult to run, especially while carrying a heavy load of loot or ore or whatever you were doing, making you attack slower, and making it impossible to cast spells). It only takes a minute or so to get back up to about 70% (where many people try to keep stamina), but in the meantime, you're a sitting duck to anything or anyone who comes by and wants to kill you. When ales were first introduced, people were hitting up the few people who had quest exp saved up to raise their brewing skills early on for beer. Good brewers made a lot of money that day. After about six hours, though, people realized that the stamina drain was a serious limitation, and nobody uses beer except when they're inside a safezone chatting and notice their blue bar nearly empty - even then beef stew or even keeping a stockpile of mutton or venisen is better and far cheaper (The best beer is 75 gp, the best food is about 30, and helps more than the best beer).

      End result: In any RPG, gameplay will always have an impact on RP. Anoter example: Fallout II. Jet gives some pretty impressive benefits. More than enough to turn the tides in an otherwise hopeless fight. But the cost (buying/finding/looting enough Jet, or the stat drain and endless withdrawl if you don't can't) mean that it's not worth the effort.

      Drugs have a disadvantage in games: They effect the character, but not the player behind the character. Real drugs give with one hand and take with all the others. In a game, you don't really have anything forcing you to keep taking the drug. You know that if you put up with the disadvantages of withdrawal for a while, and give up the advantages of addiction, you'll more than make up for it by saving all that money for new equipment. All you have to do is put up with reduced performance for 25 hours. During that time, you can still think as clearly as normal, and you can easily keep your eye on all those extra gp you're going to have once it's all done.

      In real life, you can say all that, but it's different. Every smoker knows the numbers: Stop smoking, and in two years you have enough money for a new car. The problem in real life is that 25 hours spent in agony. After a day or so of ciggarette withdrawal, you can't think about the money you'd save by quitting. Instead, all you can think about is that if you just give in and have a smoke, the headaches and twitches would go away.

  4. He's protesting? by cloak42 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At least one real-life recovering addict has used the in-game forums to loudly object to the introduction of gleam.

    That's odd. It seems to me that looking at the effects of a drug on a fake world to see what might happen is a very interesting sociological experiment. It's hard to produce real-world effects in a static model, if only for the fact that people tend to do unpredictable things. But stick a drug with real effects (and benefits and detriments, just like a real drug) into a world run by diverse peoples, and you just might see a mirroring of real-world behavior regarding it.

    It's interesting that cities have banned the drug; I would've thought something like that wouldn't be controlled at a governmental level in a MUD. I wonder if the drug actually forces the user to do things he/she wouldn't want to do, such as kill somebody or steal from them in order to get enough money to buy more gleam. If that's the case, it's more understandable why cities would want to keep it away from their walls. I'm also assuming that this MUD is PK-able?

    I think this is cool. But then again, I've always preferred that art imitate life.

  5. Players by empaler · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't think it will be as widely used as in RW-drugs, as it is far easier for people to handle withdrawals when it's not "real". Just like any RPG, the players would want to "win", and therefore would probably not let their chars be addicted too long.

    Then again, maybe the effects outweigh the sideeffects for enough players...

  6. Uhhhhh, no. by Crash+Culligan · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Like the woman that had her kids taken way because she wouldn't stop playing everquest.

    I hope my city illegalizes RPGs

    I've found that RPGs can be an excellent source of entertainment and socialization, when played in moderation. Your city should just ban stupid people.

    So many of the world's problems could be solved if we could separate the intellectual wheat from the chaff, so to speak: those people who can't differentiate fantasy from reality, or who are prone to getting hooked on whatever "big thing" that comes along, be it drugs, alcohol, pornography, roleplaying games, or tax legislation.

    Those people who can't handle reality should be pulled out of it and treated like the children they are. They're giving the rest of us a bad name. If they can't tell fantasy from reality, we shouldn't let them watch television. And if they're terminally gullible, they probably shouldn't be allowed to vote; politicians can be tricky.

    I'd vote technocrat, only I've got nobody to vote for.

    --
    You cannot truly appreciate Dilbert until you read it in the original Klingon.
    1. Re:Uhhhhh, no. by MDCore · · Score: 4, Insightful

      you said:
      So many of the world's problems could be solved if we could separate the intellectual wheat from the chaff, so to speak

      I say:
      And how do you do that exactly, seperate those who can't differentiate between fantasy or reality, or who get hooked on things. IQ Tests maybe? Or do YOU get to decide who's wheat and who's chaff?

      technocrat, no. Despot, yes.

    2. Re:Uhhhhh, no. by mlk · · Score: 3, Funny
      And how do you do that exactly, seperate those who can't differentiate between fantasy or reality

      Well everyone rolls a 2D6 minus ( time_appeared_on_jerry_springer*10), below 4, and we ship 'em of.
      --
      Wow, I should not post when knackered.
    3. Re:Uhhhhh, no. by Frizzle+Fry · · Score: 3, Insightful
      I've found that RPGs can be an excellent source of entertainment and socialization, when played in moderation

      Funny, since that's a pretty accurate description of a lot of drugs that have been banned for similar reason.
      --
      I'd rather be lucky than good.
    4. Re:Uhhhhh, no. by Crash+Culligan · · Score: 2, Interesting
      you said:
      So many of the world's problems could be solved if we could separate the intellectual wheat from the chaff, so to speak

      I say:
      And how do you do that exactly, seperate those who can't differentiate between fantasy or reality, or who get hooked on things. IQ Tests maybe? Or do YOU get to decide who's wheat and who's chaff?

      (Yes, brothers, cherish the <blockquote>)

      IQ tests wouldn't quite be right for this; one can be slow to put facts together, yet still able to pull the right facts out of the environment to come (eventually) to a valid conclusion. It's a matter of being able to see what information is available, not assume what isn't available, and even if the whole picture isn't available, using what you've got to make an educated guess. It would be more of a "savvy" test. But some sort of testing method, impartial and incontrovertible, would be needed for something like this.

      Come on, admit it. If you're stuck at a toll bridge in the exact change lane behind someone with nothing but a twenty, most peoples' thoughts will stray, however momentarily, to putting a better filter on the gene pool.

      Or maybe you don't. Interestingly, I never said anything about appointing myself Minister of Intelligence Standards.

      technocrat, no. Despot, yes.
      Goodbye logic, hello ad hominem attack! So tell me, what's your solution to the problem of people who get addicted to things? (And don't tell me you don't have an opinion...)
      --
      You cannot truly appreciate Dilbert until you read it in the original Klingon.
  7. already been done... by shepuk · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The non-combat MMORPG A Tale in the Desert has an extremely interesting game mechanic built around drug addiction... there's a potion in the game - called "Speed of the Serpent" - that gives the user a very beneficial boost to their abilities... but with a catch: SotS acts as a slow (and permanent) poison... after your first drink, you need to consume a dose of antidote at least once every 28 real-time days. If you miss a dose, your character dies. (Death in ATITD is permanent - say goodbye to the character; no resurrection).

    The really evil twist is as follows... for every additional drink of SotS you take, you get the same ability boost... but the mandatory interval between your doses of "antidote" shortens by a day... so after 2 drinks of SotS, you need to drink the antidote at least once every 27 days... after 3 doses, you need to take the antidote on a 26 day cycle... etc etc...

    This effect is cumulative, and (to date) there is no cure. However... the allure of the benefits that this potion can bring has driven a lot of people to become completely dependent on the antidote - having to log in every few days to make sure they get their fix and their character stays alive(!)

    Of course, most people think: "Hey, I can handle one drink... the consequences aren't so bad..." - but once you're on the slippery slope to addiction.... ;)

  8. A Tale in the Desert's take on drug addiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Some context: When you're offline in ATITD, you accumulate "waypoint time" which is used to instantly warp around the game world. It's as if your character has been running the whole time you were logged out, and then you direct where it was he was running to.

    This waypoint time is very precious! There is just one way to get more, aside from taking a break from play: you can drink "Speed of the Serpent", which instantly gives you 24 hours of waypoint time. There's a catch: from that point forward, you must drink some cabbage juice (super-easy to get) at least once every 30 real-life days. If you forget (the game even reminds you), or fail to log in during that time, you die: game over, account cancelled, no refunds.

    You can do additional shots of Speed of the Serpent for additional 24 hour awards, but then the every-30-day rule changes to every-29-days, then every-28-days, etc.

    What's interesting is that the player is the one "addicted", not the character!

    We've had about 20 deaths.

  9. Addictive tool for Powergamers? by vgarofalo · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Admittedly I'm not familiar with this game, but after reading the page about drug use in the game world, I was struck with the following thought.

    If use of gleam can raise a character's dexterity, and if long time players have amassed a sizable pile of treasure they have no other use for, will some players see gleam as a way to make their characters even stronger?

    I can almost imagine gleam use/addiction being a status symbol of some sort ... for those characters that can easily afford it. Or maybe gleam is a means to try and bleed some extra cash out of characters with too much coin.

    Either way, I'm glad I don't play this game.

    -- V

  10. Sounds intrestting by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 4, Informative
    Many RPG type games have drugs, certainly the ones set into the futute. More fantasy oriented ones got "drugs" of a sort but they rarely have a negative after effect let alone an addiction penalty.

    I however find them usually poorly done in gameplay. It is like all those potions in baldurs gate. Protection against gold, protection against heat, protection against electricity, protection against undead on a friday except on a full moon.

    WHO HAS THE TIME!!!!

    Geez I am playing a fantasy role of a babarian. Not a bloody chemist. Just sell all those bloody things and spend it on simple healing stuff or even better. Heavy hitters. Who cares is a monster has some weird special attack when one hit puts it down.

    I am currently playing Star Wars Galaxies and it got a shitload of drugs/buffs/foods/drinks all wich boost some stat some with some negative after effects. Problem? there are so many that people only bother with 1 or 2 of them. Maybe a 3rd on occasion and all the rest is ignored.

    Why? Well I doubt it is an objection to the idea of drugs but more likely that people don't just want to bother. First you got to find a buyer. Then find the money to buy it. Then find the right time to use it. Most of the stuff has short duration and is expensive so you only want to use it when you really need it. Plus the better stuff has after effects so you want to make sure you don't get the downer in the middle of battle.

    So drugs in this game are not very intrestting.

    It would be intresting to see how a drug would do that has some real and easy to exploit advantages. Say that all your stats go up for a full day but that also has some major side effects like addiction and perhaps overtime less effectivness (so you need more and more just to get the same buzz) and perhaps mental problems like your avatar walking away from battle to look at the pretty colors. Make it illegal in game too so that both imperials and rebels will be looking for it and the components needed.

    Then again the real study of addiction is those games themselves. I know SWG is crap with an endless list of bugs and constantly newly introduced bugs, the latest is that mission payouts are not shared out amount the group anymore and sometimes not even being payed out to the mission owner, and yet I keep playing. It is nice weather outside and yet I am inside playing a game that is more an exercise in frustation then fun. At least real world drug addicts can consider themselves cool rebels without a cause. I am just a nerd.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  11. Is this new? by Washizu · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm sure the declaration went something like this...

    SirElfZer: Gleam is a danger to our children in this text based society. Chemical dependency wastes out currency and poisons our soul.
    SirEflZer: Merchants caught selling it will have their licenses revoked and will be banished to the northern caves.
    * Wild Dog bites SirElfZer for -4 hit points *
    SirElfZer: QUICK! Someone get me a potion!

    --
    OddManIn: A Game of guns and game theory.
  12. Fallout by (trb001) · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hasn't this already been done in Fallout? I know Achaea is a MUD and therefore realtime/MM/etc, but Fallout had a number of drugs that you could use, get boosts from, get addicted to and go through withdrawl from. Hell, two of the abilities you chose while rolling your character determined whether you were highly resistant or highly affected by drugs.

    --trb

    1. Re:Fallout by *weasel · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Games Workshop has also had drugs and dependency in its tabletop and pen-and-paper games for years (almost decades).

      The fact that a player is protesting this mechanic is the only thing 'new' here imo.

      Of course, previous games with drugs were played in tight-knit groups or by individuals, so those not wanting to see/experience drugs simply didn't.
      In a persistent world, that's not really an option.

      --
      // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
    2. Re:Fallout by AdamPiotrZochowski · · Score: 2, Interesting

      In fallout, anything that is a drug or similiar to a drug can cause
      an addiction.

      So besides obvious:
      Beer / Booze / Jet (form of speed) / Mentats

      we also could get addicted to just Coca Cola, Nuke Cola.

      Out of more wierd addictions are ones related to healing.
      In Fallout you can become radiated by walking around nuclear
      silos, nuclear blast sites, nuclear waste or nuclear reactors.
      The game however provides you a variaty of anti-rad pills and
      potions. A heavy use of such pills can leave you addicted
      to them.

      Further more, in fallout one generally heals by sleeping
      off damage, but during a fight you cannot take a nap, so
      there is this product called 'stimpak' that fixes you.
      You can get addicted to it.

      There are also super stimpaks that you get more easily
      addicted to (but provide more healing power).

      And once you get addicted you have to sustain your
      addicted state or go through withdrawal.

      Some of the characters that join your party (cassidy)
      also have medical conditions, meaing they can die of
      heart attack due to abuse of drugs.

      As another poster mentioned there are also addiction
      related perks/skills.

      If you are 'Chem Resistant' it means you dont get
      addicted as easily, but this also means that the drugs
      effects get diminished.

      Conversly if you are 'Chem Reliant', it means that you
      get addicted easily, but also it means you go through
      withdrawal much faster.

      so many choices, so many poisions, so many addictions.

      Fallout,.. the best ever RPG...

      /apz, If you don't have a nasty obituary you probably didn't matter. -- Freeman Dyson

  13. Dune by Soukyan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Spice? Several Dune MUDs are in existence and the whole of that world revolves around an addictive substance. Why should gleam be viewed as any different than melange? Certainly introducing an addictive substance that has benefits into a society is going to cause changes to that society, but it will make for an interesting experiement. I think I need to start playing Achaea again just to see what happens.

  14. Nothing new by j.bellone · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have been programming MUDs for a good few years, and this is nothing new. There have been MUDs around that have "diseases", "sicknesses", hell, even some had "stds." Nothing new; although most of them didn't advertise it like it was a special gametype or something.

    --
    I'm f#$king magic!
  15. MUDs by WWWWolf · · Score: 3, Informative

    MUDs, wherefrom the MMORPGs truly spring, have had addictive substances for quite a while now.

    I think BatMUD has had tobacco addiction for as long as I can remember. Which would be something like since 1994-6 or something. Quite likely also earlier than that.

  16. I recall an old text MUD doing something similar.. by Samurai+Cat! · · Score: 2, Informative

    ...though it may have just been alcohol, not drugs. The MUD was called "Armageddon", it was based off some old D&D-based novels, set in a desert. (I don't recall the name of the book series.)

    I recall bumping into another character in a town, and everything he said came out on my end as garbled, and he would 'stagger around' i.e. he'd try to go north and would go east instead, etc. The effects would wear off in time. I don't think they had any sort of addiction built into the system.

    --

    "People" using "unnecessary" quotes should be "shot".
  17. Flamebait here. by E_elven · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The drift of the story -undoubtedly submitted by one of the industrious Achaea PR folks- seems to be that Achaea invented the drug addiction code. This is incorrect -there have been many instances of similar implementations in the past.

    I am, frankly, sick and tired of reading advertisements for Achaea on /. shallowly disguised as news or articles -there are many as good and even more better MUDs out there (not that Achaea is particularly bad), with better code, better storylines, better administration and better players. 'd rather read about MUDs in general rather than these moronic innuendos.

    Achaea uses the same questionable advertising style on many forums. It is one of the few apparently commercially successful text-based game companies of the time, but this is entirely unnecessary.

    Please, do not post this crap anymore.

    --
    Marxist evolution is just N generations away!
  18. Uh, euphoria, duh. by AEther141 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is never going to model real drug addiction for one simple reason - MMORPGs cannot model euphoria, the reason people take addictive drugs. People don't get hooked on crack because they're stupid, they get hooked on crack because it feels better than anything else. No amount of buffs can simulate that kind of incentive.

    1. Re:Uh, euphoria, duh. by GoofyBoy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      >This is never going to model real drug addiction for one simple reason

      No, just like it can't model long-term damage to a body from running around, jumping off of walls etc.

      At best it can highlight the fact that some drugs when used in excess do have determential effects which might not be worth it.

      --
      The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
  19. Been there, done that by Patrick+May · · Score: 2, Informative

    Ancient Anguish has had such substances available for a number of years. They pose no problem. I can quit anytime I want. Really.