[DGD] The future of muds

[Petter Nyström]

> Muds are dying.

And they will still be dying, 10 more years from now.

> DGD could die with muds, or DGD could help you take the step to
> switching to the web, running a client as a Facebook application so
> that new players can find you again.The currently ongoing move
> to social networks and HTML5 may be the last good opportunity to
> catch up with the present; it's still new territory and standards
> are not high.

I assume you mean going further than just offering a typical
telnet-based mud client as a web application here? Since most muds
already do offer some way of playing via the web browser.

I too find the possibilities with HTML5 thrilling. While you can build
a full featured web client using today's Javascript technology,
already, I have been dissuaded from going all in by the lack of speed
that my test implementations have shown. I hope HTML5, by introducing
socket network communication, will alleviate much of this.

A Facebook app sounds like a great way of getting new players, too.
However, a mud only playable via Facebook sounds awful to me --
MudVille, anyone? That wasn't what Dworkin suggested, either. I'm just
saying.

> To return to the subject of features planned for my mudlib, here is
> one feature that my mudlib will not offer: a telnet port.  No, not
> even a binary port that telnet will know how to talk to.

I don't see my mud project closing its telnet port anytime soon,
because it is populated by geeks living their lifes in GNU Screen. But
I do hope that we will eventually be able to tap into the golden land
of the web, as well, with a co-existing web client that reaps the
benefits of being a web client and offers a more graphical ui.

Regards,
Jimorie