[MUD-Dev] Re: Mud websites

[Robert Woods]

On Tue, 9 Jun 1998, Greg Munt wrote:

> How important are they? How relevant are they to telnet-only games?
> (Particularly to stock muds, where all or most of its features are known by
> almost all of its players.)

I would say that, in most cases, a Mud website is important to the game.
Stock muds probably don't need them as much, because many of its features
are already known.
 
> What are their goals, and are they achieved? Do mud administrators provide
> what users want?

A mud web site has a few goals that I can see:
	1) Recruiting newbies - put the site up on a search engine,
           and when they find it, if they say "wow...this looks like
	   a fun mud", they will log in.  This is the way that I generally
	   go through when I'm looking for a new MUD to play (not that
           I do it much anymore).

	2) Documentation - Even if just the FAQ, info on
           classes/guilds/etc, maybe a couple of player hints pages.
           People want to have info, and having at least the basics
           on the web site makes it easier for them to get info without
           having to worry about scrolling text, etc.

	3) Community Development - From giving info about the admins
	   to player/character/guild/class/clan/... page links, it gives
	   the sometimes cold-seeming telnet game a bit of warmth, and
	   gives people the sense of community that keeps old players
	   in the game.
 
> My perspective is that mud websites, as a medium, are wholly under- and
> mis-used. Most are put up to say 'here we are' and/or 'this is what you can
> do at myMUD!' - not much more than advertising spiel. The web could be
> taken advantage of so much, even by telnet-only games. Mostly, to encourage
> internal socio-political and cultural development (the more RP, the more
> advantages to using a website that there are). You can have online
> newsletters, websites for clubs/guilds, maps, histories if the world, lots
> and lots of things that could not be effectively achieved through telnet.

What...you don't like the really nice ASCII maps that abound on muds?
I'll have you know that when I was an immortal on the mud I started on, I
mapped out two domains in ASCII.  It took a long time. (Then they decided
to totally change one of the domains around, but that's another story.)

I agree about the medium not being used to its fullest capacity.  However,
I would like to make one comment about newsletters.  Trying to do a mud
newsletter on a non-commercial mud is akin to attacking a lunatic asylum
with a banana.  The admin are often too busy trying to keep the mud
running smoothly to organize it, and the players generally would rather
play than "work".

Honestly, I don't see why telnet-based games would be any different in use
of a web page than other types of network games.  Maybe it's just because
I am used to dealing with things in text anyway.

Sorry if this is a bit incoherent or it sounds like I'm ranting.
must...reach...bed. (14 hours of work within a 17 hour period, followed by
a test is always lots of fun).
############################################################################

I'm not insane, I'm just irrational.

-Bob