[MUD-Dev] Where are we now?

[Greg Munt]

I've been quietly ignoring muds for about two years.

I'm not sure why.

I think I just got plain bored re-re-rewriting a core. Or maybe I got
disillusioned by the "quality" of players that any mud ends up
attracting.  Hatred and lust seem to win out every time. I hate to
sound arrogant (no, really!), but the intelligence of the average
player seems to verge on zero.

I returned to DevMUD yesterday. It was pointed out that this is a
relic of the ever-increasing sizes of the groups that players form. It
was even suggested/implied that humans weren't *meant* to be in groups
of much over 100 - cf human tribes, etc. Look what the 'large groups'
who visited north america did to the native population a couple of
hundred years ago.

Do large groups vanquish our humanity? Are commercial muds catering
for the selfish, mindless, destructive throng that is caused by simply
having so many users? Are the perpetually small free muds actually a
Better Thing?

-----------------------------------------------

Okay. That wasn't actually my reason for posting. I wanted to ask what
has changed in mudding in the past two years. It was mentioned on
DevMUD yesterday that free muds just haven't really changed at all -
but commercial muds have. Indeed, they have sucked out the skills that
free muds need to grow and thrive, and left nothing but a stagnancy.

Hmm. Again, I've come around to commerical muds vs free
muds. Interesting.

-----------------------------------------------

So, what am I doing now? I've turned to Java, a la jeffk. I'm even
more convinced that text muds are the ancient beast that just refuses
to die, even when it is long overdue. I'm interested in a doomesque
client. I'm interested in how the hell we make a place that isn't
wholly populated by moronic imbeciles looking for their next
cyberorgasm. In a place where you are welcomed - not rejected, hated
and despised.

And no, the glass isn't half-empty. There isn't even a glass :-)


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