[MUD-Dev] Missing the point: OpenMUD, Gamora, Casbah, etc.

[Bruce]

Good evening all,

I had a particular point in mind when I'd posted about Gamora and Casbah.  I
believe that that point was missed as I probably didn't really indicate it
at all in the email.

There are a number of other systems out there that fulfill many of the
postulated requirements for OpenMUD.  To name just a few, MOO, DGD, Muq (hey
Cynbe), Cool, Interlude, Cold, Gamora, MudOS, Casbah, possibly POO.  These
are just the ones that I think about off the top of my head, there are many
more.  Many lessons have been learned by those involved with these projects.
Many of the people associated with these projects have a strong sense of
what the problems with the current (and previous) implementations are, and
how they would do things if they were to start from scratch.  In some cases,
there are _years_ of work invested in those systems, getting them to where
they are today.

Is there a reason that implementation must begin so soon?  Is there a reason
that implementation must begin from scratch?  Why not take the time to learn
about the existing projects, have people look into what has been done and
where it failed and where it succeeded?  Even more than having an existing
base of code, it might be very profitable just to have a survey of the field
like that done to assess what the real state of the art is and where the
real problems are to be solved.

Thoughts?

 - Bruce