There is a lot more information I think is needed to really assist, mostly because depending on what software and services you’re already using, there may already be several ways this can be done. Without knowing more, here is some random info that may help point you in the right direction:

Email Parsing Services:
Mailgun (Inbound Routes) - parses incoming emails, extracts data, sends to webhooks
SendGrid (Inbound Parse) - similar functionality
Postmark (Inbound Processing) - clean interface for email-to-webhook
Amazon SES (with Lambda) - AWS solution for email processing

Workflow Automation Platforms:
Zapier - can trigger on new emails, parse content, update records
Microsoft Power Automate - especially if you’re using Office 365/Outlook
Make (formerly Integromat) - more complex automation workflows
n8n - open-source workflow automation

CRM/Database Integrations:
HubSpot - has built-in email-to-record functionality
Salesforce - Email-to-Case feature does exactly this <–
Airtable - can receive emails and parse them into records
Notion - has email-to-database capabilities

DIY Solutions:
Google Apps Script - if using Gmail/Google Workspace
Microsoft Graph API - for Office 365 environments
IMAP + Python/Node.js scripts on a server

@sao said in “All the World’s a MUSH”: Genre as Destiny in Collaborative Roleplay Behaviour:

@dvoraen the part where you had to acknowledge how many years you have been in this hobby

“Yes.”

Next question.

@Pavel

2716eaf0-60b1-4719-8dde-b78c9c332784-image.png

@Ominous Be careful about crowdsourcing too much - people have a way of killing enthusiasm for new games and new ideas because they tend to focus on all the ways it WON’T work. It can be hugely discouraging, but it’s just the nature of the kind of critique you’re going to get in this format.

Solicit ideas by all means, but one of the strongest markers of a successful game, I’ve found, is the passion of the creator and their willingness to put in the work to build enthusiasm of actual players. Decide the game YOU want to run, the game that’s worth it to you to do the work on, bring on a small group of people whose vision strongly aligns with yours, and go for it.

@Pavel
This is exactly what I needed! Thanks!!!

Sad to hear Glitch had to leave the hobby but this is some really slick work!

@Faraday Oh that’s not too bad, and I think I’ve still got some of the stuff around from last time I did an Ares game, might be worth a shot then. Thanks Faraday, very glad you’re still about the community.

Random observation: The telnet access is what makes Ares accessible to visually impaired players. Which of course doesn’t rule out having the coolest web portal ever.

@Tez said in [BeipMU] Removing pose order spam from Ares games.:

less consistency about putting \ before my < and >

I only do it so I can look at it and know, “Right, it is checking for the actual < not some weird control character I’ve forgotten and need to look up.” 😛

@Jennkryst I’ll DM you, feel free to also page me on dsmush.com/webclient.

The reason I don’t do both full roster and my roster system…simply is time. I have enough time and patients to pick one priority at a time and that right now is to get the character creation done.

@Cobalt said in Work with me on a project?:

I know Faraday disapproves, but it’s easy

I don’t disapprove. There have been several WoD/CoFD/etc. games made on Ares using the generic RPG plugin. It’s only an issue if you’re looking for a Masq or reality levels or those other sorts of immersive code thingies that often crop up on WoD style games.

Not that you need my approval or anything, but just for the record 🙂 Good luck!

@somasatori I know Lost and Dreaming are totes different, BUT if you adopt the resurrecting faerie soul from Dreaming, then they can have flashback adventures.

Saw the post on r/MUD about 2.0 releasing – congrats!

My biggest issue with character progression is that the only way most characters progress on a game is through xp and stats.

XP and stats should not be the only way a character progresses. There should be other achievables like rank or resources or territory or a combination of all of them that allows a character to progress without simply racking up xp and spending it.

If people had more objectives to achieve besides MOAR XP, then a game wouldn’t need to give out so much xp per week to keep people interested and uber stats become much less of a problem.

But handing out scads of xp is the easy, traditional solution. It takes very little monitoring and is often completely automated. So that’s what most games do.

Not saying that is bad or wrong, just that it really puts the burden of character progression on xp if that’s all the game has.

@Faraday I’m not a kimono expert or even novice but I can tell at a moderate glance that’s AI, too. The sleeves, and the way the folds don’t match above and below the belt. That’s the first thing I look at, making sure the borders of things make sense/line up. AI is not good at it.

@Faraday said in What Is Alpha Anyway?:

Alpha and beta are really meant for players to provide feedback and help test things out before it’s ready. That’s why so many video games offer free alpha/beta test versions. You’re doing them a favor by trying out their half-baked game/app.

I think that this is really where I’m at:

If the main purpose of having players on the game is to test systems/theme/etc and the features are not complete, I think it’s Alpha. If the main purpose of having players on the game is to test systems/theme/etc and the features are (nearly) complete, I think it’s Beta. If the main purpose of having players on the game is to tell stories and play the game and the features are complete, I think it’s Gold/Release – even if there are still going to be additions made to the game later.

Those are just my definitions, of course, and I wouldn’t expect anyone else would stick to them (although it would be nice for me if they did).