November 1999
- Admin: Kanga.Nu has moved again J C Lawrence
- mud history Matthew Mihaly
- Physics Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Language Independence Article. Ben Greear
- Language Independence Article. Chris Turner
- Language Independence Article. Bruce Mitchener, Jr.
- Language Independence Article. Cynbe ru Taren
- ADMIN: Archives are back again J C Lawrence
- Hilbert Curves [was: "[DGD] Rooms with Views" and "Physics"] Christopher Allen
- Hilbert Curves [was: "[DGD] Rooms with Views" J C Lawrence
- Re Hilbert Curves Cynbe ru Taren
- Re Hilbert Curves J C Lawrence
- Hilbert Curves [was: "[DGD] Rooms with Views" and Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Spatial datastructures and their application (Was Hilbert Curves) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Spatial datastructures and their application (Was Hilbert Curves) Christopher Allen
- Spatial datastructures and their application (Was Hilbert Curves) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Spatial datastructures and their application (Was Hilbert Curves) J C Lawrence
- Spatial datastructures and their application (Was Hilbert Curves) Miroslav Silovic
- Spatial datastructures and their application (Was Hilbert Curves) Brandon J. Rickman
- Spatial datastructures and their application (Was Hilbert Curves) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- A simple plan for establishing a history. Aaron
- Spatial datastructures and their application (Was R e: Hilbert Curves) Lo, Kam
- Server: Momoko J C Lawrence
- META: Successor to FAQ Maintainer Lo, Kam
- ADMIN: Library goof J C Lawrence
- Scripting in java... (was Momoko) Owen
- Majik (Was Hilbert Curves) Owen
- players who "take away from the game" msew
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" Holly Sommer
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" Holly Sommer
- players who "take away from the game" Balthazaar/BalthMURP
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" Holly Sommer
- players who "take away from the game" David Bennett
- players who "take away from the game" Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- players who "take away from the game" Miroslav Silovic
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" Koster, Raph
- players who "take away from the game" Koster, Raph
- players who "take away from the game" msew
- players who "take away from the game" Sellers, Michael
- players who "take away from the game" Daniel James
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" Philip Loguinov -- Draymoor
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" Greg Miller
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" Charles Hughes
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" Charles Hughes
- players who "take away from the game" Jon A. Lambert
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Philip Loguinov -- Draymoor
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" Jon A. Lambert
- players who "take away from the game" Matthew Mihaly
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Marc Bowden
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Charles Hughes
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Charles Hughes
- players who "take away from the game" Adam Wiggins
- players who "take away from the game" Adam Wiggins
- players who "take away from the game" Miroslav Silovic
- players who "take away from the game" Adam Wiggins
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- players who "take away from the game" Adam Wiggins
- players who "take away from the game" Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- players who "take away from the game" Adam Wiggins
- players who "take away from the game" Holly Sommer
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Quzah
- players who "take away from the game" Philip Loguinov -- Draymoor
- players who "take away from the game" Quzah
- players who "take away from the game" Ronan Farrell
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Jon A. Lambert
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Miroslav Silovic
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- players who "take away from the game" Koster, Raph
- players who "take away from the game" J C Lawrence
- History of Online Gaming, part III Koster, Raph
- [Lib] ADMIN: Library goof J C Lawrence
- Oh dear (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Costikyan's new report on online gaming Koster, Raph
- Costikyan's new report on online gaming Sellers, Michael
- Costikyan's new report on online gaming Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- META: System Security (was: players who "take away from the game") J C Lawrence
- System Security (was: players who "take away from the game") Eli Stevens {Grey}
- System Security (was: players who "take away from the game") cg@ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA
- System Security (was: players who "take away from the game") J C Lawrence
- System Security (was: players who "take away from the game") Bruce Mitchener, Jr.
- System Security (was: players who "take away from the game") Cynbe ru Taren
- Neverwinter Nights Koster, Raph
- Neverwinter Nights Dundee
- Neverwinter Nights S. Patrick Gallaty
- Neverwinter Nights Trent Oster
- Neverwinter Nights Lee Sheldon
- Neverwinter Nights Sean Kelly
- Neverwinter Nights Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Neverwinter Nights Nathan F. Yospe
- Neverwinter Nights John Buehler
- Neverwinter Nights Travis Casey
- Neverwinter Nights Adam Martin
- associate producer/designer openings, and others: Maxis/EA Sellers, Michael
- MySQL as a MUD. Quzah
- MySQL as a MUD. Holly Sommer
- MySQL as a MUD. J C Lawrence
- MySQL as a MUD. J C Lawrence
- MySQL as a MUD. Ian Macintosh
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Sellers, Michael
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Holly Sommer
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Charles Hughes
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Quzah
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game" ) Sellers, Michael
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game" ) Matthew Mihaly
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Mik Clarke
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Ilya, Game Commandos
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Holly Sommer
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Balthazaar/BalthMURP
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Holly Sommer
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Balthazaar/BalthMURP
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Holly Sommer
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Adam Wiggins
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game") Jon A. Lambert
- ColdC/ColdCore Zelnar
- ColdC/ColdCore Bruce Mitchener, Jr.
- Spatial datastructures and their application (Was Hilbert Curves) Miroslav Silovic
- Spatial datastructures and their application (Was Hilbert Curves) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- bugs (was players who "take away from the game" ) Charles Hughes
- GEL -- A New Approach to Online Interactive 3D claw@kanga.nu
- New FAQ moderator Marian Griffith
- New FAQ moderator J C Lawrence
- Mud Dev FAQ Marian Griffith
- Random numbers (was: Physics) Eli Stevens {Grey}
- code base inquiry Ilya, Game Commandos
- code base inquiry Philip Loguinov -- Draymoor
- code base inquiry Andru Luvisi
- code base inquiry Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- code base inquiry Travis S. Casey
- code base inquiry Ben Greear
- code base inquiry cg@ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA
- code base inquiry Mik Clarke
- code base inquiry Adam Wiggins
- code base inquiry Matthew D. Fuller
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Ben Greear
- code base inquiry Greg Miller
- code base inquiry J C Lawrence
- code base inquiry Mik Clarke
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Robert Green
- code base inquiry Travis S. Casey
- code base inquiry Andru Luvisi
- code base inquiry Travis Casey
- code base inquiry Matthew D. Fuller
- code base inquiry Travis Casey
- code base inquiry Ben Greear
- code base inquiry Travis S. Casey
- code base inquiry Greg Miller
- code base inquiry Ben Greear
- code base inquiry Travis S. Casey
- code base inquiry Ilya, Game Commandos
- code base inquiry Mik Clarke
- code base inquiry Adam Wiggins
- code base inquiry J C Lawrence
- code base inquiry Lars Duening
- code base inquiry Travis S. Casey
- code base inquiry Ilya, Game Commandos
- code base inquiry cg@ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA
- code base inquiry Travis Casey
- code base inquiry Lars Duening
- code base inquiry Colin Coghill
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Richard Woolcock
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Richard Woolcock
- code base inquiry Ben Greear
- code base inquiry Richard Woolcock
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Richard Woolcock
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Richard Woolcock
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry MichelleThompson
- code base inquiry Dundee
- code base inquiry Kristen L. Koster
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry J C Lawrence
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry J C Lawrence
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Bryce Harrington
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Bryce Harrington
- code base inquiry adam@treyarch.com
- code base inquiry Bruce
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Miroslav Silovic
- code base inquiry Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry David Bennett
- code base inquiry Sellers, Michael
- code base inquiry Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- code base inquiry David Bennett
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry MichelleThompson
- code base inquiry David Bennett
- code base inquiry J C Lawrence
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry David Bennett
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- code base inquiry Ilya, Game Commandos
- code base inquiry Colin Coghill
- code base inquiry Greg Miller
- code base inquiry Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- code base inquiry Greg Miller
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Miroslav Silovic
- code base inquiry Joey Hess
- code base inquiry Bruce Mitchener, Jr.
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Mik Clarke
- code base inquiry Mik Clarke
- code base inquiry Andru Luvisi
- code base inquiry Andru Luvisi
- code base inquiry J C Lawrence
- code base inquiry J C Lawrence
- code base inquiry Ian Macintosh
- code base inquiry cg@ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA
- code base inquiry Greg Miller
- code base inquiry Ilya, Game Commandos
- code base inquiry Adam Wiggins
- code base inquiry jerry@cc588591-b.twsn1.md.home.com
- code base inquiry Jeremy Noetzelman
- code base inquiry Greg Miller
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry J C Lawrence
- code base inquiry Laurel Fan
- code base inquiry J C Lawrence
- code base inquiry Justin Rogers
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- code base inquiry Matthew Mihaly
- MudWords.com J C Lawrence
- Library news J C Lawrence
- Languages for MUD drivers Laurent Bossavit
- Languages for MUD drivers Joey Hess
- Languages for MUD drivers bruce@puremagic.com
- Languages for MUD drivers Cynbe ru Taren
- Languages for MUD drivers Laurent Bossavit
- Languages for MUD drivers Cynbe ru Taren
- Languages for MUD drivers J C Lawrence
- Languages for MUD drivers J C Lawrence
- Languages for MUD drivers Ian Macintosh
- Languages for MUD drivers Greg Miller
- Languages for MUD drivers Cynbe ru Taren
- Languages for MUD drivers J C Lawrence
- Languages for MUD drivers Jo Dillon
- Languages for MUD drivers J C Lawrence
- Languages for MUD drivers Greg Miller
- Languages for MUD drivers J C Lawrence
- Languages for MUD drivers Laurent Bossavit
- Languages for MUD drivers Cynbe ru Taren
- Languages for MUD drivers J C Lawrence
- Languages for MUD drivers Laurent Bossavit
- Languages for MUD drivers Ian Macintosh
- Languages for MUD drivers Cynbe ru Taren
- Languages for MUD drivers Greg Miller
- Languages for MUD drivers J C Lawrence
- Languages for MUD drivers J C Lawrence
- Languages for MUD drivers Ian Macintosh
- Mud hosting services Dundee
- Mud hosting services AR Schleicher
- Mud hosting services Dundee
- Mud hosting services AR Schleicher
- Mud hosting services Greg Miller
- Mud hosting services Dundee
- Mud hosting services Mik Clarke
- Mud hosting services J C Lawrence
- Mud hosting services Mik Clarke
- Mud hosting services Ian Macintosh
- Mud hosting services J C Lawrence
- Mud hosting services gunderwood@donet.com
- Matrix Laurent Bossavit
- Sony's EverQuest Admits Using Diku Locke
- Sony's EverQuest Admits Using Diku Koster, Raph
- Sony's EverQuest Admits Using Diku Greg Miller
- Sony's EverQuest Admits Using Diku rnicoll@respc-jrn.res.st-andrews.ac.uk
- Sony's EverQuest Admits Using Diku Wendy Winkler
- Sony's EverQuest Admits Using Diku Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Sony's EverQuest Admits Using Diku Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Admins as Mortals Philip Loguinov -- Draymoor
- Admins as Mortals Holly Sommer
- Admins as Mortals Travis S. Casey
- Admins as Mortals Philip Loguinov -- Draymoor
- Admins as Mortals Sellers, Michael
- Admins as Mortals PartyG2816@aol.com
- Admins as Mortals Mik Clarke
- Admins as Mortals Philip Loguinov -- Draymoor
- Admins as Mortals J C Lawrence
- Admins as Mortals Travis S. Casey
- Admins as Mortals Koster, Raph
- Random numbers (was: Physics) J C Lawrence
- Urban Desire claw@kanga.nu
- Depth of realism Joe Kingry
- Depth of realism Ilya, Game Commandos
- Depth of realism Koster, Raph
- Depth of realism Mik Clarke
- Depth of realism Matthew Mihaly
- Depth of realism Marian Griffith
- Depth of realism Travis S. Casey
- Depth of realism Jo Dillon
- Depth of realism Marian Griffith
- Depth of realism Matthew Mihaly
- Depth of realism Wendy Winkler
- Depth of realism Travis Casey
- Depth of realism J C Lawrence
- Depth of realism J C Lawrence
- Depth of realism J C Lawrence
- Depth of realism Travis S. Casey
- Depth of realism J C Lawrence
- Depth of realism Jon A. Lambert
- Depth of realism Marian Griffith
- Depth of realism Jeremy Music
- Player statistics calculation (Was: code base inquiry) Petri Virkkula
- Player statistics calculation (Was: code base inquiry) Matthew Mihaly
- Player statistics calculation (Was: code base inquiry) Marc Bowden
- Player statistics calculation (Was: code base inquiry) David Bennett
- Player statistics calculation (Was: code base inquiry) Adam Wiggins
- Player statistics calculation (Was: code base inquiry) David Bennett
- Player statistics calculation (Was: code base inquiry) Adam Wiggins
- Admin: Attribute your quotes J C Lawrence
- Muq V -1.46.0 release (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Languages for MUD drivers Petri Virkkula
- MUD client resources (was: Mud hosting services) Bruce Mitchener, Jr.
- MUD client resources (was: Mud hosting services) Greg Miller
- Distribution schemes (was Languages for MUD drivers) Ian Macintosh
- Distribution schemes (was Languages for MUD drivers) Bruce Mitchener, Jr.
- Distribution schemes (was Languages for MUD drivers) Mik Clarke
- Distribution schemes (was Languages for MUD drivers) Bruce Mitchener, Jr.
- Distribution schemes (was Languages for MUD dri vers) Koster, Raph
- about MOO Ilya, Game Commandos
- (no subject) Michael Seifert
- (no subject) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- (no subject) Mike Sellers
- (no subject) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- (no subject) JC Lawrence
- (no subject) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- (no subject) JC Lawrence
- (no subject) JC Lawrence
- (no subject) Marian Griffith
- (no subject) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- (no subject) Chris Gray
- (no subject) Jon A. Lambert
- (no subject) Chris Gray
- (no subject) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- (no subject) Alex Oren
- (no subject) Ilya, Game Commandos
- (no subject) Jon A. Lambert
- (no subject) Travis Casey
- (no subject) Dan Shiovitz
- (no subject) Travis S. Casey
- (no subject) Marian Griffith
- (no subject) Mik Clarke
- (no subject) J C Lawrence
- (no subject) The Eternal City
- (no subject) Travis Casey
- (no subject) Travis S. Casey
- (no subject) John Buehler
- (no subject) Joe Andrieu
- (no subject) John Buehler
- (no subject) Bruce
- (no subject) John Buehler
- (no subject) Ben Chambers
- (no subject) Dale Garnier-Wells
- (no subject) shren
- (no subject) Matt Mihaly
- (no subject) Travis Nixon
- Player statistics calculation B. Schulte
- Player statistics calculation Marc Bowden
- Player statistics calculation Adam Wiggins
- Admins as Mortals twist Ryan P.
- Admins as Mortals twist Darren Henderson
- Admins as Mortals twist Matthew Mihaly
- Admins as Mortals twist Darren Henderson
- Admins as Mortals twist Matthew Mihaly
- Admins as Mortals twist Dundee
- Admins as Mortals twist Matthew Mihaly
- Admins as Mortals twist AR Schleicher
- Admins as Mortals twist Jeremy Music
- Admins as Mortals twist J C Lawrence
- Admins as Mortals twist Koster, Raph
- Admins as Mortals twist Sellers, Michael
- Admins as Mortals twist Koster, Raph
- Admins as Mortals twist J C Lawrence
- Admins as Mortals twist Chris Jones
- Admins as Mortals twist msew
- Admins as Mortals twist Matthew Mihaly
- Admins as Mortals twist Greg Miller
- Admins as Mortals twist Philip Loguinov -- Draymoor
- Admins as Mortals twist Marian Griffith
- Admins as Mortals twist Greg Miller
- Admins as Mortals twist Matthew Mihaly
- Admins as Mortals twist J C Lawrence
- Admins as Mortals twist Koster, Raph
- Admins as Mortals twist J C Lawrence
- Distribution schemes (was Languages for MUD drivers) Ian Macintosh
- Distribution schemes (was Languages for MUD drivers) Ian Macintosh
- Public Domain Client Ian Macintosh
- Public Domain Client Mik Clarke
- Public Domain Client Jeremy Music
- Public Domain Client Andrew Wilson
- Public Domain Client Mik Clarke
- Public Domain Client Bruce Mitchener, Jr.
- Public Domain Client Mik Clarke
- Public Domain Client Bruce Mitchener, Jr.
- Public Domain Client Andrew Wilson
- Public Domain Client Laurent Bossavit
- Public Domain Client J C Lawrence
- Public Domain Client J C Lawrence
- Public Domain Client J C Lawrence
- MUD-Dev request rejected Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev request rejected J C Lawrence
- Re[4]: (no subject) Travis Casey
- Re[4]: (no subject) Koster, Raph
- Re[5]: (no subject) Travis Casey
On Tuesday, Tuesday, November 23, 1999, Travis Casey wrote:
> On Monday, November 22, 1999, Marian Griffith wrote:
>> On Sun 21 Nov, Travis Casey wrote:
Following up to myself here...
>>> Yep... I'll note that all the popular mud codebases seem to be stuck
>>> in the late 70's or early 80's, as far as RPG design goes (speaking,
>>> as I usually am, in terms of paper RPGs).
>> My guess is that this has to do with the fact that players have their
>> expectations of muds, as have people interested in putting a mud up.
>> It is like designing a new house. Everybody knows what a house looks
>> like so you can not be too different, or nobody is going to buy it.
>> With muds it is the same. Even if you would create a radically diffe-
>> rent mud, nobody would be interested in it, because they would not
>> recognise it as such.
> One could have equally well argued in 1974 that "Even if someone
> could create a radically different paper RPG, nobody would be
> interested in it, because they would not recognize it as such." With
> the benefit of hindsight, we can see that this wasn't true -- far from
> generating an infinite succession of D&D clones, the RPG industry
> immediately branched out in several directions. By 1980, we had the first
> skill-based RPG (Runequest), the first RPG with non-random character
> creation (The Fantasy Trip, IIRC), the first RPG deliberately designed to
> be simple (Tunnels & Trolls), the first "play the monsters" RPG (Monsters!
> Monsters!), and the first universal RPG (Basic Roleplaying). For
> genres, there was "generic" fantasy, SF, superheroes, post-holocaust,
> military, detective, espionage, Westerns, swashbucklers, Arthurian fantasy,
> and even an RPG based on the Dallas TV show.
> All this was within 6 years of D&D's publication. It's now been 25
> years -- and the RPG "state of the art" has advanced such that someone
> who introduced an RPG like the original D&D today would be laughed at
> by most paper RPG gamers.
> Now, contrast this with muds -- what sort of muds were out there 6
> years after the first one? Note that after about 20 years of mud
> development, people can put up a new mud that's of about the same
> level of sophistication as the original muds, and most mudders will
> consider it a decent mud.
> What's the difference here? Why did paper RPGs explode in different
> directions so much faster than muds? Well.... I have a few thoughts,
> but the clock is ringing midnight here, and I have to go to work in
> the morning. More later.
Well, it's later. Here are my ideas on why muds haven't branched out
as fast:
1 - Higher effort required. Creating a new paper RPG system requires
just being able to design the game and write reasonably well. A
new mud requires one to design the game, implement it in code, and
create areas/adventures (equivalent to a paper RPG's "adventure
modules"). Thus, creating an original mud requires both more
effort and a broader skill set than creating an original paper RPG
does.
Further, the effort required for a mud is continuous. Once you've
put an RPG out, it can keep going without any further effort from
you: GMs will create their own adventures, fix "bugs" as
necessary for their campaigns, and extend the game. (An RPG isn't
likely to be successful without continuing support, but it has
happened.) A mud, in contrast, requires continuing support to
create new areas, fix bugs (both rules bugs and software bugs),
and extend the game. Ideas for these things can come from the
players, and in some cases even code, but there's always going to
need to be some person or people "in charge."
(Another way of thinking about this is that muds are innately
centralized -- players *come to* the mud. A paper RPG is
decentralized -- it comes to the players. In some ways, a mud is
more like a gaming group than a "game", in traditional RPG terms.)
2 - Higher cost of entry. To create a new RPG in the '70's, all one
needed was some players to test it on, a typewriter, and enough
money to have some copies photocopied or printed (or even
mimeographed, for some of the early ones) and to put an ad in a
gaming magazine. (To become successful required more, but this
was the minimum to get started.)
In contrast, starting a new mud in the 80's required access to a
network-connected computer that someone would let you run a game
on. Many muds have had difficulty keeping a server for any length
of time. Some solved that by buying their own, but that was
expensive and, if you couldn't piggyback on someone else's
Internet connection, had a high continuing cost.
A non-commercial mud still needs a site and a network connection
-- and it's getting harder to find free ones that will run muds.
A non-commercial paper RPG, on the other hand, only needs a few
hundred K to a few megs of disk space on a web server somewhere --
which can be gotten from "free" web providers like Geocities.
3 - Community size. I don't have any way to prove it, but I'd say
that the traditional mud community (i.e., the text-based mud
community) has been smaller than the paper RPG community for
most, if not all, of its lifespan -- and has had worse internal
communications.
The paper RPG community has had print magazines since the
mid-70's -- as far as I know, it has always had at least two
magazines in print since the early 80's. _Dragon_ has been
continuously in print since 1976, and has been available in major
chain bookstores since 1980. These have provided a central forum
for people to learn about new games (and a central place for game
makers to advertise).
The mud community, in contrast, seems highly fragmented. The
closest thing I know of to a "central forum" for muds is the
Usenet mud newsgroups -- and a low percentage of mudders use
them. Indeed, many people who are creating muds have no idea
they even exist.
4 - Audience expectations. Free muds face a problem -- much of
their audience comes from computer game fans. However, free
muds aren't much like the popular computer games today -- many
computer gamers now will turn up their nose at anything
text-based. They want their online games to be like the
store-bought single-player games they play -- which themselves are
largely locked into a class-based, kill-the-monster paradigm.
IMHO, this is so because of the greater investment needed -- a
computer RPG needs to sell a lot more copies to make a profit than
a paper RPG does, so they do what will sell -- which largely means
appealing to men in their teens and early 20's.
(I'll note that the same formula is successful with the same age
groups in paper RPGs -- hence AD&D's continued reign as the
biggest RPG. However, due to the lower startup effort and costs,
pretty much anyone who wants to circulate their own paper RPG
can.)
In the paper RPG arena, amateur-produced RPGs regularly compete
with "the big boys". They don't quite do so on a level playing
field -- but their field is much more level than that between the
big MMPOGs and the typical mud.
5 - Motivation. Many people who put up muds (especially the more
stock muds) do so because they want to be free to make the
modifications they want to an existing mud base, free to make the
areas they want, or to be an admin. They have no interest in
creating an *original* mud.
In the paper RPG world, people who want to do this sort of thing
can simply start their own gaming group, with themselves as GM.
There's no need for them to start a "new game" to do so. (As
mentioned above, in paper RPG terms, a mud is more like a gaming
group than a game. From a paper RPG viewpoint, then, different
"stock" muds off the same codebase aren't different games --
they're different groups running the same game. Building new
areas doesn't make a "new game" from that viewpoint either, and
even some level of modification is possible without it being a
"new game" -- just as two D&D GMs may have different optional
classes in their campaigns, yet both be running the same game --
D&D.)
--
|\ _,,,---,,_ Travis S. Casey <efindel@io.com>
ZZzz /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ No one agrees with me. Not even me.
|,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-'
'---''(_/--' `-'\_) - FAQ for gm-types? Dundee
- FAQ for gm-types? Charles Hughes
- FAQ for gm-types? Mik Clarke
- FAQ for gm-types? Christopher Allen
- FAQ for gm-types? J C Lawrence
- Re[6]: (no subject) Travis Casey
- FW: Re[6]: (no subject) Koster, Raph
- Re[5]: (no subject) Koster, Raph
- Re[5]: (no subject) Travis S. Casey
- Interesting links Bruce Mitchener, Jr.
- CODE RELEASE: (client) SMM++ J C Lawrence
- authority and human nature Matthew Mihaly
- authority and human nature Koster, Raph
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Mik Clarke
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Sellers, Michael
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Sellers, Michael
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Sellers, Michael
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Mik Clarke
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Dan Shiovitz
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Joe Andrieu
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Adam Wiggins
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Marian Griffith
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Travis S. Casey
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Eli Stevens {Grey}
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Douglas Couch
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Dundee
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Chris Turner
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) David Bennett
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Scatter
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Scatter
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Scatter
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Quzah
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Scatter
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Quzah
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Scatter
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Adam Wiggins
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Richard Ross
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Mik Clarke
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Dundee
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Raph & Kristen Koster
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Dundee
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Mik Clarke
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Holly Sommer
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Marian Griffith
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Lucas Moten {Krozy}
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Mik Clarke
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) Greg Miller
- Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) J C Lawrence
- volunteerism on muds (fwd) J C Lawrence
- (fwd) Artificial Language for MUD programmers claw@kanga.nu
- The grass is always greener in the other field claw@kanga.nu
- The grass is always greener in the other field Jon A. Lambert
- The grass is always greener in the other field Matthew Mihaly
- The grass is always greener in the other field J C Lawrence
- The grass is always greener in the other field Dundee
- The grass is always greener in the other field J C Lawrence
- The grass is always greener in the other field Greg Miller
- The grass is always greener in the other field Ilya, Game Commandos
- The grass is always greener in the other field Adam Wiggins
- The grass is always greener in the other field Sellers, Michael
- The grass is always greener in the other field Adam Wiggins
- The grass is always greener in the other field J C Lawrence
- The grass is always greener in the other field Sellers, Michael
- The grass is always greener in the other field J C Lawrence
- The grass is always greener in the other field Travis Casey
- The grass is always greener in the other field Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- The grass is always greener in the other field Koster, Raph
- The grass is always greener in the other field Bruce Mitchener, Jr.
- The grass is always greener in the other field Cynbe ru Taren
- The grass is always greener in the other field Koster, Raph
- The grass is always greener in the other field cg@ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA
- The grass is always greener in the other field Koster, Raph
- The grass is always greener in the other field Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- The grass is always greener in the other field Bruce Mitchener, Jr.
- The grass is always greener in the other field Charles Hughes
- The grass is always greener in the other field Matthew Mihaly
- The grass is always greener in the other field Cynbe ru Taren
- The grass is always greener in the other field Matthew Mihaly
- The grass is always greener in the other field Ilya, Game Commandos
- The grass is always greener in the other field cg@ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA
- The grass is always greener in the other field Scatter
- The grass is always greener in the other field J C Lawrence
- The grass is always greener in the other field Matthew Mihaly
- The grass is always greener in the other field J C Lawrence
- The grass is always greener in the other field Matthew Mihaly
- The grass is always greener in the other field Raph & Kristen Koster
- The grass is always greener in the other field Timothy Dang
- The grass is always greener in the other field maddog@best.com
- The grass is always greener in the other field J C Lawrence
- The grass is always greener in the other field Petri Virkkula
- The grass is always greener in the other field Matthew Mihaly
- The grass is always greener in the other field Ian Macintosh
- The grass is always greener in the other field Koster, Raph
- The grass is always greener in the other field Adam Wiggins
- The grass is always greener in the other field J C Lawrence
- The grass is always greener in the other field Travis Casey
- The grass is always greener in the other field Adam Wiggins
- The grass is always greener in the other field J C Lawrence
- The grass is always greener in the other field J C Lawrence
- The grass is always greener in the other field Raph & Kristen Koster
- The grass is always greener in the other field Joe Andrieu
- Re[4]: (no subject) Travis Casey
- Re[4]: (no subject) claw@kanga.nu
- Re[6]: (no subject) Travis Casey