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Multi-MOOing -- server/server rather than server/client?



G'day ...

This thread is starting to touch on aspects of a dream-project i've
been considering for some time.  i'll state, right-up-front, that the
current form of the server, the current bandwidth of the network, and
the current power of the machines we have available to us, are all too
limited to support the kinds of things i'm considering ... but these
will all evolve, and i'm more interested in exploring *directions*
right now, rather than specifics of implementations.

Here's the bottom-line, in-a-nutshell:

   i envision the current player-client/MOO-server design evolving
   into a  personal-player-server/MOO-server one, where the former is,
   if you will, a personal-MOO totally tailored to one individual, and
   the latter is an environment optimized to support interactions
   among the former.

The player-MOO is, essentially, one's own private world, always
accessible, within which one does development, stores avatars, and
maintains a library of one's existences within MOO environments.  It
is also tailored to one's own particular idiosyncracies in terms of
interaction modes, appearances, response attributes, etc., and
effectively handles all the details of accessing other environments,
including providing the glue for achieving a seamless transition from
one to another.  During interactions within an external MOO, the
personal-MOO would keep track of how external-MOO attributes relevant
to the player are changing (with some kind of encryption-key
mechanism from the environment-MOO, assuring some level of
authentication of stored values), and would then be able to restore
these upon some subsequent entry to that environment, freeing the
external-MOO from the responsibility and resource-drain of having to
maintain permanent knowledge of characters.

The external-MOO would specialize in environmental and interaction
support, and would provide the resources necessary to host
currently-active players.  It would be able to provide simplistic
player avatars for those without their own player-MOO capabilities,
essentially identical to the manner in which we currently interact
with MOOs.  I/O variations (e.g., VR mechanisms, display and input
alternatives, access to real-world instrumentation, etc.) would all be
dealt with here, freeing the player to simply be concerned with
maintenance of the personal environment.

i see the necessity for the development of sensory-protocols: visual,
auditory, kinesthetic, temperature, pressure, pain/pleasure, various
forms of ESP ... 

This isn't just hemp-smoke: a fair amount of the necessary foundations
are already extant, although scattered among a number of different
projects, all with different motivations and goals.  But i *will*
admit that "Snowcrash", Gibson's novels, and the DreamPark series have
helped color some of my thinking (nothing wrong with that: anybody
remember where the term "waldo" originated?  Or the original idea for
the waterbed?). 

Well, i think i've done enough damage to my rep for one day.

doug

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