September 1999

• Battle Systems Philip Loguinov -- Draymoor
• • Battle Systems Matthew Mihaly
  • • Battle Systems Richard Woolcock
    • • Battle Systems Matthew Mihaly
      • • Battle Systems Richard Woolcock
  • Battle Systems Mik Clarke
  • • Battle Systems Greg Miller
  • Battle Systems Ben Greear
  • • Battle Systems Matthew Mihaly
    • • Battle Systems Greg Miller
  • Battle Systems Christopher Allen
  • Battle Systems Batis
  • Battle Systems Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
  • Battle Systems Richard Ross
  • • Battle Systems Matthew Mihaly
• semi-OT: Alan Cox is a MUD hacker Adam Wiggins
• • semi-OT: Alan Cox is a MUD hacker Ben Greear
• Graphical Mud Design JT Herring
• • Graphical Mud Design Chris Gray
  • Graphical Mud Design David
• ScryMUD is offically open to the public. Ben Greear
• • ScryMUD is offically open to the public. Chris Gray
  • • ScryMUD is offically open to the public. Ben Greear
  • ScryMUD is offically open to the public. Ben Greear
• IMP (Interactive Mud Protocol?) Philip Loguinov -- Draymoor
• • IMP (Interactive Mud Protocol?) J C Lawrence
• Its not a MUD...is it? J C Lawrence
• An Introduction Hess, Ian {Ian} *CTR*
• • An Introduction Caliban Tiresias Darklock
  • • An Introduction Mik Clarke
    • An Introduction Greg Miller
    • • An Introduction Ilya, SCC, Game Commando
      • • An Introduction Matthew Mihaly
      • An Introduction Jeremy Music "Sterling"
      • • An Introduction Matthew Mihaly
        • • An Introduction Jeremy Music "Sterling"
        • An Introduction Hess, Ian {Ian} *CTR*
        • • An Introduction Wes Connell
        • An Introduction Greg Miller
  • An Introduction Albert
• The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Tony Wilkinson
• • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Jeremy Music "Sterling"
  • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
  • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Marc Bowden
  • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Sellers, Michael
    • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
      • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Tony Wilkinson
      • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
        • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Ilya, SCC, Game Commando
          • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
          • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Jon A. Lambert
          • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
            • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Travis Casey
            • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Wes Connell
              • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Adam Wiggins
              • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Dundee
              • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Dundee
                  • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                    • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Adam Wiggins
                    • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                      • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
                      • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                        • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Adam Wiggins
                        • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                        • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Dundee
                        • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                          • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? J C Lawrence
                    • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Chris Turner
                    • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Jon A. Lambert
                • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
                • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                  • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Asmodeus
                  • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Dundee
                  • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                    • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
                    • • The Relationship between pkers andmonster AI? Mik Clarke
                      • • The Relationship between pkers andmonster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                        • • The Relationship between pkers andmonster AI? Sellers, Michael
                          • • The Relationship between pkers andmonster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                            • • The Relationship between pkers andmonster AI? J C Lawrence
                              • • The Relationship between pkers andmonster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                                • The Relationship between pkers andmonster AI? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
                                • • The Relationship between pkers andmonster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
                • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Dundee
                  • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
                • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Jon A. Lambert
              • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Jon A. Lambert
              • • The Relationship between pkers and monster A I? Sellers, Michael
                • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Mik Clarke
                  • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                    • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Jeremy Music "Sterling"
                  • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Jon A. Lambert
                  • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Travis S. Casey
                • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
            • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Sellers, Michael
            • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Zaid Sayeed
              • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Solmyr of the Azure Star
              • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Sellers, Michael
                • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Solmyr of the Azure Star
                  • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
                    • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
                      • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
                        • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                          • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Adam Wiggins
                            • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
                          • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
                          • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Laurel Fan
                            • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
                              • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
                                • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Caliban Tiresias Darklock
                                  • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
                            • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
                          • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Travis Casey
                          • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
                            • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Travis S. Casey
                              • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
                      • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Solmyr of the Azure Star
                • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Adam Wiggins
                  • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                    • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Adam Wiggins
                      • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                  • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Solmyr of the Azure Star
                  • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Sellers, Michael
                    • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Solmyr of the Azure Star
                      • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                    • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
                • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
          • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? JT Herring
          • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
        • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
    • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Kylotan
    • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
    • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Mik Clarke
    • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? David Holz
  • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Greg Miller
  • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Mik Clarke
  • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Matthew Mihaly
    • • The Relationship between pkers and monster AI? Adam Wiggins
• Skill Power vs Skill Rarity Philip Loguinov -- Draymoor
• • Skill Power vs Skill Rarity Mik Clarke
• Consensual/PvP/PK Ilya, Game Commandos
• Announcement Locke / Mad Merv
• • Announcement J C Lawrence
  • Announcement Greg Miller
• Tactical Interest Was MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #142 - 4 msgs Spin
• • Tactical Interest Was MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #142 - 4 msgs Travis S. Casey
  • Tactical Interest Was MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #142 - 4 msgs Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
  • Tactical Interest Was MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #142 - 4 msgs Adam Wiggins
  • • Tactical Interest Was MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #142 - 4 msgs Ilya, Game Commandos
    • Tactical Interest Was MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #142 - 4 msgs Mik Clarke
• Attracting players // TMC // 'admin' type reviewing Ilya, Game Commandos
• • Attracting players // TMC // 'admin' type reviewing J C Lawrence
  • • Attracting players // TMC // 'admin' type reviewing Emil Eifrém
• Attracting players Koster, Raph
• • Attracting players Dominic J. Eidson
  • Attracting players Matthew Mihaly
  • Attracting players John Hopson
  • • Attracting players David Bennett
    • • Attracting players Ilya, Game Commandos
    • Attracting players Koster, Raph
    • Attracting players The MUD Connector - Administrator
  • Attracting players Dundee
  • Attracting players Adam Wiggins
  • • Attracting players Matthew Mihaly
    • Attracting players Koster, Raph
    • • Attracting players Adam Wiggins
      • • Attracting players Ilya, Game Commandos
        • Attracting players Emil Eifrém
  • Attracting players Mik Clarke
  • Attracting players The MUD Connector - Administrator
  • Attracting players Petri Virkkula
  • • Attracting players Koster, Raph
      > -----Original Message-----
      > From: Petri Virkkula [mailto:pvirkkul@iki.fi]
      > Sent: Friday, September 17, 1999 8:18 PM
      > To: mud-dev@kanga.nu
      > Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Attracting players
      
      > While I was calculating BatMUD's statistics for first half of
      > 1999 I started thinking how to measure success of a mud. The
      > thinking was triggered by the statistics report I wrote and
      > that is also included below. My interpretation of our
      > statistics was that our players play more that they used to
      > be, but at the same time the player base smaller than it used
      > to be.
      
      The trend you seem to describe, of lower peaks but longer average play
      sessions, would be a warning bell for UO or any commercial mud service. It
      would mean that the more casual players are leaving. You can count on the
      hardcore guys to stay forever (retention times in years are not uncommon on
      any sort of mud for this type of player, who are typically also early
      adopters of the mud) and their characteristic signature is extremely long
      play sessions. So if your session average rises while your peak numbers
      fall, then you are probably seeing the average rise because the players with
      shorter play sessions aren't playing anymore. This equals low to no growth,
      and since there's always attrtion of even hardcore types, shrinkage and thus
      loss of revenue.
      
      > The questions that I thought about (and almost sent to the
      > list) were something like:
      >
      > - is peak or average online players a good meter for a mud
      > - which is better, growing peak player count or longer
      > play times
      > - is it enought that existing players like the mud, or should
      > we seek (actively) for new players
      >
      > I did not find any definitive answers to the questions. Have
      > others thought that kind of questions?
      
      So in the commercial mud world, we think of it in the following terms:
      
      - churn rate (amount of new players and return players who had left, vs
      amount of players who are quitting)
      - player retention (what is the average amount of time a player keeps
      playing before quitting)
      - active accounts (of course)
      - peak usage (of course)
      - avg hours played per week by avg player
      
      The Holy Grail is retention. For us, it's a lot more important that someone
      keep paying month after month, and a lot less important that they play a
      lot. (In fact, since we pay for our bandwidth, we love those players who
      play almost no time a month but keep paying :)
      
      On a text mud, where there is no way to detect when someone has *left*, it
      is very hard to measure churn. Which is unfortunate, because it is the best
      indicator of all sorts of things, especially if you can assess how quickly
      new players leave. So for example, since early adopters tend to be diehards,
      you tend to see lower retention figures for more recent additions to the
      game, on average. But if the trend accelerates throughout the life of the
      game, it probably means your game is not accessible enough.
      
      Personally, I strongly believe that a mud needs an influx of new players
      regularly, and should strive to keep growing at all times. Its inflow of new
      players and its figures for players who are returning after an absence
      should be higher on a monthly basis than its totals of departing players.
      Otherwise, there's numerous risks that can occur:
      
      - cliques tend to develop. This makes the mud less accessible.
      - Shrinkage and migration and splinter muds. Cliques are more likely to
      migrate off the mud, causing shrinkage. Remember, it's easier for groups to
      migrate than individuals, in the case of long-term players.
      - rules are likelier to grow lax, which may limit public appeal. Example:
      "We're all friends here, why does it matter if we let slip a cuss word on a
      public channel?"
      
      etc.
      
      -Raph
    • Attracting players Matthew Mihaly
  • Attracting players Koster, Raph
  • • Attracting players Matthew Mihaly
    • • Attracting players David Bennett
      • • Attracting players Greg Miller
      • Attracting players Laurel Fan
      • • Attracting players Scatter
      • Attracting players Andrew Wilson
      • Attracting players Caliban Tiresias Darklock
      • • Attracting players Greg Miller
        • • Attracting players Caliban Tiresias Darklock
          • • Attracting players Greg Miller
      • Attracting players Greg Miller
  • Attracting players Matthew Mihaly
  • attracting players Par Winzell
  • • attracting players David Bennett
    • • attracting players Mud Imp
      • • attracting players Marc Bowden
        • attracting players adam@treyarch.com
        • • attracting players Kevin Scott London
          • attracting players Ben Greear
          • • attracting players Wes Connell
          • attracting players Marc Bowden
          • • attracting players Willowreed@aol.com
          • attracting players Mordengaard
          • • attracting players adam@treyarch.com
            • • attracting players Jon A. Lambert
            • attracting players David Bennett
      • attracting players Marc Bowden
  • Attracting players mrkelley@one.net
  • • Attracting players Louis
  • Attracting players Matt Mihaly
• chess Matthew Mihaly
• • chess Robin Cloutman
• an essay on PK Adam Wiggins
• • an essay on PK J C Lawrence
  • an essay on PK Marian Griffith
  • • an essay on PK Jeremy Music "Sterling"
    • • an essay on PK Chris Turner
      • • an essay on PK Adam Wiggins
        • • an essay on PK Chris Turner
          • • an essay on PK Adam Wiggins
            • an essay on PK Charles Hughes
            • • an essay on PK Adam Wiggins
              • • an essay on PK Chris Turner
                • • an essay on PK Adam Wiggins
  • an essay on PK Matthew Mihaly
  • • an essay on PK Jon A. Lambert
    • • an essay on PK Matthew Mihaly
      • • an essay on PK Ilya, Game Commandos
        • an essay on PK Marian Griffith
        • • an essay on PK Matthew Mihaly
          • • an essay on PK Rhonda Alexander
            • • an essay on PK Ilya, Game Commandos
              • • an essay on PK Caliban Tiresias Darklock
                • • an essay on PK Laurel Fan
                  • an essay on PK Miroslav Silovic
              • an essay on PK Matthew Mihaly
              • an essay on PK Marian Griffith
              • • an essay on PK Matthew Mihaly
          • an essay on PK Adam Wiggins
          • an essay on PK J C Lawrence
  • an essay on PK Richard Bartle
  • • an essay on PK Jason Spangler
    • • an essay on PK Willowreed@aol.com
      • • an essay on PK Koster, Raph
    • an essay on PK Ola Fosheim Grøstad
  • an essay on PK Richard Bartle
• Might not make right... Spin
• META: MUD-Dev visibility J C Lawrence
• Seeking one or two creative C coders for MURP project. Darin De Stefano
• Algorithms for an Infinite Universe Ola Fosheim Grøstad
• • Algorithms for an Infinite Universe Quzah
  • • Algorithms for an Infinite Universe Jp Calderone
    • • Algorithms for an Infinite Universe Joel Kelso
    • Algorithms for an Infinite Universe Ola Fosheim Grøstad
    • Algorithms for an Infinite Universe Ola Fosheim Grøstad
• Dynamic muds ryan
• • Dynamic muds Asmodeus
  • Dynamic muds Robin Cloutman
  • • Dynamic muds ryan
    • • Dynamic muds Ilya, Game Commandos
      • Dynamic muds Colin Coghill
      • • Dynamic muds J C Lawrence
        • • Dynamic muds Emil Eifrém
          • • Dynamic muds Katrina McClelan
            • • Dynamic muds Ilya, Game Commandos
              • • Dynamic muds David Bennett
                • Dynamic muds Christopher Allen - GM Fangs
                • Dynamic muds Spin
                • • Dynamic muds Ilya, Game Commandos
                  • • Dynamic muds Spin
                • Dynamic muds Chris Turner
                • • Dynamic muds Adam Wiggins
      • Dynamic muds Mik Clarke
      • Dynamic muds Arlie Stephens
  • Dynamic muds Eli Stevens {KiZurich}
  • Dynamic muds Greg Miller
  • Dynamic muds Petri Virkkula
  • • Dynamic muds Ben Greear
    • • Dynamic muds Greg Miller
      • • Dynamic muds Colin Coghill
      • Dynamic muds Katrina McClelan
      • • Dynamic muds Marian Griffith
        • • Dynamic muds Katrina McClelan
          • • Dynamic muds Alex Oren
      • Dynamic muds Eli Stevens {KiZurich}
    • Dynamic muds Chris Gray
  • Dynamic muds Ronan Farrell
  • Dynamic muds Petri Virkkula
  • Dynamic muds Christopher Allen
  • Dynamic muds Petri Virkkula
  • Dynamic muds Justin Lockshaw
  • • Dynamic muds Mik Clarke
    • • Dynamic muds Marian Griffith
      • • Dynamic muds Travis S. Casey
        • • Dynamic muds Marian Griffith
• thoughts on 'realism' Matthew Mihaly
• Tactical Interest Spin
• Tactical Interest Spin
• • Tactical Interest Adam Wiggins
• what players want, what I want Ilya, Game Commandos
• • what players want, what I want Matthew Mihaly
  • • what players want, what I want Ilya, Game Commandos
  • what players want, what I want Justin Lockshaw
  • • what players want, what I want Caliban Tiresias Darklock
• Creating a mudlib Solmyr of the Azure Star
• Mobiles AI and automation Crystalmir
• • Mobiles AI and automation Matthew Mihaly
  • • Mobiles AI and automation Marc Bowden
  • Mobiles AI and automation Mik Clarke
• This is just... STRANGE Dundee
• Mail delivery failed: returning message to sender (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
• Ultima Online Steve Sparks
• • Ultima Online Ola Fosheim Grøstad
• Peer pressure and cooperation Miroslav Silovic
• Effiecient interaction (was deliver failed) Spin
• ADMIN: We're moving again J C Lawrence
• "Online migration and population mobility" Koster, Raph
• • "Online migration and population mobility" Koster, Raph