[MUD-Dev] Attracting players

[mrkelley at one.net]

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Original message: http://www.kanga.nu/archives/MUD-Dev-L/1999Q3/msg00337.php

On Thu, 16 Sep 1999 07:57:50 -0700
"Koster, Raph" <rkoster at origin.ea.com> wrote:

> What are the list's thoughts on this issue? The intent is not to
> get Legend/DartMUD/Arctic/etcs (Arctic btw has statistics better
> than Legend's, but overall still in the same league) up into the
> top echelon, but my observation has been that without the influx
> of new players, administrative problems start to rise due to
> player sense of entitlement, lack of new faces to put on your good
> behavior for, etc.

Perhaps, my good friends, instead of finding a way to bring new
people into Mudding, we should look at ways to keep existing Mudders
in the game.

Take me, as an example. After being banned from LegendMud (The only
Mud I ever seriously played) for the small, pathetic mistake of
crossplaying, I've lost interest in Muds completely. As hard as I've
tried, I simply can't replace Legend. No other Mud satisfies me
after 6+ years at Legend. I don't know other Muds, and I don't care
to take the time to get to know them.

With that being said, I'll move on.

I'll give you the main two reasons Muds are dropping off the face of
the earth.

Broadband internet conections, and broadband internet connections.

Muds can't really compete with the intense graphics and gameplay of
games like Half Life, Quake, UO, and so on and so forth. Today's
user wants graphics, and that's fine, let them have graphics.

Hell, I can play my Xbox over a broadband internet connection now
using gamespy and pay nothing.

Muds are oldschool, simply put. Kids don't care about text games
these days, and they likely never will. They want to see the blood
splatter, and the machine gun rounds fire. It has replaced the
choppy, scrolling text with smooth, no need to think or read
ideas. And most times I've found the graphical games run faster than
a Mud.

<EdNote: Deletia>

-Matt Kelley
mrkelley at one.net



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