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I played an idle game on IRC called "idlerpg" around the year 2000 that was way less polished than this. I'm pretty sure that the first idle games were just ev
by sshine 3y ago
I played an idle game on IRC called "idlerpg" around the year 2000 that was way less polished than this.
I'm pretty sure that the first idle games were just event hooks on IRC that made periodic, random dice rolls for each person who had been in the channel. Initially it was just XP for not saying anything, and subsequently you'd randomly find things that boosted some stats that didn't really do anything.
I remember thinking that idle games on IRC were a pun on the fact that you have dozens or hundreds of people who never say anything because their clients are perpetually detached because they obtained a life and never returned. So while your friend stop responding, you reward them for their quietude.
This game seems a lot more polished; a game that plays itself while you do nothing.
Much deserving of the title idle game, but perhaps only the original to some.
- nosrepa 3y agoI remember all the patches I had for idlerpg that took me forever to figure out what order to apply them in.
- kevincox 3y agoThe best part of idlerpg was that if you disconnected or heaven's forbid accidentally typed something into the channel you would be punished. So it became a game of bouncer stability and remembering not to leave that channel focused.
- self 3y agoIn the early 1990s, there was ZenMOO: https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.mud.lp/c/GAFQ8FJIm5A/m/uVYBI9R8MAIJ https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.mud.lp/c/GAFQ8FJIm5A/m... You connect, sit around with all the other players -- and not say anything. The high score was for staying connected and idle the longest. Occasionally, the mud will say something. Resist the urge to reply; it'll lower your score, and if you type too often/much, you get kicked off. Every so often, though, it'll ask you something. If you don't respond within a time limit, you get kicked off. Its website, where you can download a copy of the database under a LambdaMOO server: https://web.archive.org/web/19971011224937/http://www.zennet.com/pub/moo/zenmoo/html/index.html https://web.archive.org/web/19971011224937/http://www.zennet...
- pavel_lishin 3y agoI have four attempts in my ~/projects folder to recreate this for Slack or Discord, in a variety of languages using a variety of approaches, and none of them felt quite right. One day, though!
- anthk 3y agoJust use IRC with ii (irc it), that would work from anywhere to anywhere.
- pavel_lishin 3y agoBut I want additional features; I don't want to just port it over.