[Andrew]

What makes your ideal mud? Just trying to get a few suggestions, want to try and help the mud I'm on grow a bit .

[The_Fury]

Originally Posted by Andrew What makes your ideal mud? Just trying to get a few suggestions, want to try and help the mud I'm on grow a bit .

There are a number of things that i can think of that i find appealing in a game. Professional game staff who are there to solve disputes but other ways are not involved in mortal affairs. There is a lot to be said about professional game houses and the strong separation of staff and players when compared to many muds where staff are pretty much involved with everyones personal business. Staff should be there to develop content, not to interfere with players. The idea of a staff position called enforcer is also an absolute joke. Game staff should only be appointed to develop the game and its content and if needed be there to solve disputes. Policy enforcement should be a minor component of staff activities, not the main part. Any game that has need for game police should seriously look at its design and work out what they have done wrong.

I also like to see a cohesive approach to game content, there needs to be a natural flow that leads you into the game and it needs to be fairly obvious. Areas should be laid out in a fashion that leads you into the game and deeper into the plot line. The biggest No No is having low level areas connected off of high level areas, where the PC is going to get killed as soon as they enter.

Also there should be no stock content that in no way fits into your story. There is only so many times one can deal with yet another midgaard or darkhaven or ofcol or dwarven catacombs. It annoys me to no end to see adverts for games that outlines some really good game plot and the first thing to see is a whole lot of stock content that in no way has anything to do with the plot line that is being promoted.

The story and game plot must go hand in hand with the content that your serving up, if it does not then your game is a fail to me. I also like to see a central quest line that follows the game plot, again this is more of the above, its about having a cohesive design that incorporates all the elements of area, race, class, skills and game code into something that resembles a whole game, not just hap haphazardly thrown together ideas because someone says they like that. If it does not fit in your story then remove it.

That is but a beginning of the things i like to see, i hope that i helps you in finding a direction that best suits you and your game.

[KaVir]

An ideal mud is like an ideal flavour of ice cream - everyone has a different opinion, and what one person loves another may hate. But here are some of the general points that make an ideal mud for me:

1. Fun: Most important of all, the mud needs to be fun. If it's a chore, what's the point in playing?
   
2. Innovation: I've played many muds over the years, and the same old features just don't excite me any more. I always appreciate creativity and originality, as long as it doesn't detract from the gameplay.
   
3. Cohesion: The features and world need to mesh together with the theme to form one cohesive whole. Sure, you might have some cool ideas for implementing guns - but if they clash with the theme, I don't want to see them in the mud.
   
4. Polish: Attention to detail and little touches can smooth away the rough edges, making the game really come to life.
   
5. Cosmetic fluff: Mechanics may be the meat of the game, but cool cosmetics provide the flavour. Even the most well designed of games can feel lifeless and barren without the appropriate cosmetic touches.
   
6. Administration: Interference from admin should be minimal, and only when absolutely necessary. The code should enforce as many 'rules' as possible.

And here some more mechanics-specific points that make my ideal game:

1. Dynamic descriptions: Not just for creatures, objects and places, but also for help files. Dynamic descriptions can greatly improve the immersion of the gameplay, and are a very effective way of adding the sort of polish and cosmetic fluff I mentioned earlier.
   
2. Combat: I like combat, but it should be entertaining. No more of this typing "kill" (or being required to active a combat script that you bought from another player) and then going for a coffee while the code does all the work - I want interactive strategic combat, where my playing skill makes a difference, and where tactics need to be constantly varied to take into consideration each individual opponent.
   
3. Movement: When Wolfenstein 3D and Doom came out, I found the smoothed movement awkward at first - but once I got used to it, I couldn't go back to the old tile-jumping and 90-degree turn movement systems used by older games such as Dungeon Master and Bloodwych. The same has happened now that I'm used to true coordinate-based movement - I find the old room-based style of movement awkward and clunky.
   
4. Character customisation: I don't care if you use classes or races, but I don't want to see cookie-cutter characters. I want variety, choices, options...no two characters should be the same unless one is actively copying the other, and even within specific roles (such as 'melee fighter') there should be dozens of completely different character builds.

[Disillusionist]

I can't fault any of the above points.

It seems to me that this thread is the inversion of "Things That Make You NOT Play a MUD", a thread elsewhere on the forums.

Things that to me make an ideal MUD?

A community with a genuine sense of outgoing helpfulness to others, especially new people.

A staff that spends ten times as much time doing actual work as it does involving itself in player politics.
That would be refreshing.

Cannot stress enough that the MUD has to be fun.
The last MUD I played was work, and it daunted the entire community's spirit, and caused many players to leave, in that they came home from work to log into mindless tedium (read work) induced by mediocre mechanics.
I guess if I find a fun community, fun can be had, but that's less a game feature than a coincidence of personalities. The game itself should be exciting, if not precisely fun. At some point, it should raise my pulse, and not my incredulous eyebrow.

Believability. NOT 'REALISM'.
I have yet to see a reality-emulation that was anything of the sort.
But as long as the world behaves as the designers -claim- it should behave, then I can enjoy its self-sense.

As little staff interaction as possible.
Times a billion reasons.