[MUD-Dev] Pay Muds & Free Muds - working together, or against each other?

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Fri, 4 Jun 1999, Koster, Raph wrote:

> No. The Simutronics muds (Gemstone, DragonRealms) have made MILLIONS of
> dollars on text, text, text. How MUCH profit is very dependent on many
> factors, though. I would imagine that the graphical pay for play games are
> making orders of magnitude more money than the pay for play text games.

I would imagine that Simutronics is in the black, and I wouldn't presume
to inquire whether UO is, but simply bringing in revenue doesn't mean much
in terms of profit (except that your revenue stream determines the upper
limit of your profit). It's also worth pointing out that something like
Achaea is run very differently from something like UO, for instance. I own
most of Achaea, so I get most of the profits (well, I will once we stop
feeling compelled to reinvest all of the profits). Achaea is never going
to be a game on the size of UO or any of Simutronics games, but it has the
potential to make me, personally, a lot of money. Compared to how much UO
makes, it's not a lot, but since it is primarily going to me, it feels
like a lot. So really, asking whether significant profits can be made in
text depends on your frame of reference.

> 
> Not necessarily--remember, people tend not to migrate unless they can take
> their social context (eg, their friends) with them. So people on those
> Simutronics muds would continue to pay to play unless all their friends
> pickedup and moved to free muds too.

This is a good point, and I'd add something to it. People are also
reluctant to leave a mud where they feel they have "ownership" whether
through individual customization, customized housing, etc.

> > In terms of advancing muds in general, what role do pay muds 
> > play, and what
> > role do free muds play?
> 
> Hmm. If I had to list the most interesting things going on in muddom today
> that are actually running, I'd be having trouble listing any text muds that
> are contributing much right now. This may be because I am out of touch.
> Perhaps other list members can comment? Are there new free text muds that
> are advancing the state of the art in the way that the muds in the FAQ did
> in years past?
> 
> Whereas I'd immediately list Achaea, Gemstone, UO, Asheron's Call, and
> Furcadia from the commercial realm as advancing the state of the art in one
> way or another.

I appreciate the compliment, but I'm not entirely sure it is accurate. I
have little to compare it to, as I don't play any other muds, so I may not
be aware of advancing the state of the art, but I don't FEEL as if Achaea
is really. Just out of curiosity (feel free to reply privately), where do
you think Achaea is doing this?

> Roleplayers get rarer and rarer, in my experience, as the audience grows.
> And hack n slashers and pkillers both grow more numerous. But my feeling is
> that a balance of the suits becomes even more crucial, because you make your
> money off of player retention.

Definitely, and it's a hell of a balancing act. The player killers get
peeved if they are too restricted on whom they can kill, and the
roleplayers/social-types get peeved if they are killed too often.

--matt




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