> Hey all,
>
> I know that this question surfaces from time to time, but, what
> is your opinion on developing text based muds these days ? I've
> started one from scratch, as a hobby, and to experiment stuff like
> multithread programming and creature AI without the hassle of building
> a GUI.
>
> I don't actually play any of those MMORPG's you all know and
> love :) (in fact I stopped at some clone of Envy Mud 10 years ago),
> and I don't know if people still care about text based games.
>
> Of course there are some advantages like: the developers can
> focus solely on gameplay and not on polygons, players can essentially
> connect from anywhere anytime (you cannot have a WoW window open
> during your working hours, but a telnet session will do fine), etc...
>
> Thing is, is it worth it? Will anyone still care ? Is it a
> waste of time?
I'm still an active administrator for a MUD that's been around for 13ish
years. I'd say they're still relevant, but the ones that have survived
have generally been those that worked at developing a community,
combined with good gameplay and continued active development. If you
can do those three things, you stand a good chance of building a
playerbase, even now.
The particular MUD I work on has kept player statistics since 1997 --
I've found it fascinating to observe the ebb and flow of player
populations as other games came out (WoW saw a pretty significant hit
to the population, but over half of those people came back after a
hiatus), as well as how changes in our policies and gameplay affect
things. One particularly notable policy change that has helped not
only stabilize but regrow the player-drain was to remove pfile purges,
and instituting methods for older players that HAD purged to regain
their character. It's marginally more work for us, but worth it. At
our peak, we were pulling around 200-225 concurrent players at prime
times, and 120 concurrent at our slow hours. At our lowest point, those
dropped to as little as 90 and 30 respectively. We're currently doing
better, with a 130:60 wave, with a slow but steady growth.
I'd say the key elements to making a MUD relevant/viable today are:
1) Encourage social gameplay. The easier it is to connect with other
players and become friends, the more likely they are to stick around.
Community is king at this point.
2) Let the gameplay be engaging. This means both the play mechanics,
and the context/content of the game itself.
3) Don't stop developing. Active development of SOME KIND is a clear
way to signal to your players that you care about the project and
aren't going to be abandoning it any time soon.
4) Listen to your players. Yes, it's your vision, your sweat and
tears developing it, but if you don't at least LISTEN to what they
have to say (whether you choose to act on it or not), you'll be
developing to an empty MUD. By not listening, you are also closing
yourself to the wealth of road-test experience about that play
mechanic you wanted to experiment with.
5) Documentation! I know, we all hate doing it, but the value of a
good help system CANNOT be overestimated. Especially if you're
experimenting with a new model of gameplay -- stumbling around
without any sort of guidance appeals to a very small subset of
potential players (namely the ones who usually go off and start their
own game and aren't likely to be playing on yours anyway). A good
"school" or tutorial area for new players can be a godsend.
Nabil