[i8890321]

which mud has the highest average number of online player ? Aardwolf is about 250 everyday,always has 200+ players online Aachaea is about 150,sometimes only 100 players online, sometimes 250,depend on the time I am looking for a mud with alot of players online.. can any one give me some ideas?

[Newworlds]

Sounds like you found it already, 100 to 250 is a large playerbase.

Though you might consider more than just numbers. WOW has tens of thousands of players and still blows like a tornado. China has 1.3 billion, but do you really want to live there?

[Mabus]

Been a long time for me, but Gemstone used to have around 1,000+ or so online. Currently, from the website, they are showing 246 players at 3:41 AM EST. Catch is that it does cost $14.95 per month for 1 character.

I agree with Newworlds; Quality over quantity.

[i8890321]

Originally Posted by Newworlds Sounds like you found it already, 100 to 250 is a large playerbase. Though you might consider more than just numbers. WOW has tens of thousands of players and still blows like a tornado. China has 1.3 billion, but do you really want to live there?

Yer i agree with you, but i don't want to play the game alone, like walking for half an hour without seeing anyone pass by or chat in channel..200+ players online is ok, but around 500-600 is much better,1000 is too crowd. BTW i played WOW private server a year ago, i've suffered alot from those noob in WOW...

[Aeran]

Originally Posted by i8890321 BTW i played WOW private server a year ago, i've suffered alot from those noob in WOW...

The question then is is the experience on a pirate server is the same as on the official WoW servers. Every game community has its "bad players".

I played on an online game a few years where newbies were seen as bad by some players. In the start the game had some 80 players online average, and after 2 years the average was 10 players online. In a way a minority kicked out the majority of players. As players quit playing and no new players wanted to stay as they kept get PKd.

Handling bad players is an administrative task. If the game feel bad because of rude/misbehaving newbies/regulars it is because of poor moderation. Not necessarily a sign that large player base implies less quality.

[Lasher]

Originally Posted by Mabus I agree with Newworlds; Quality over quantity.

Funny how that little line is used in so many walks of life to imply that the two are mutually exclusive

[Mabus]

Originally Posted by Lasher Funny how that little line is used in so many walks of life to imply that the two are mutually exclusive

While the adage may seem tired, and not always hold true, I have played games where the quantity of players was high but the quality of game-play (my subjective opinion) was low. I have also played MUDs where the added quantity of rooms and areas actually lowered the quality of the game-play by spreading the player population so thin that role-play became a chore (that involved trying to find other characters that were in the same world).

So while the two (quality and quantity) are not mutually exclusive in every situation, the addition of quantity to a game is not always a boon to game-play. A lot of what would determine "quality" would depend on what each individual player found entertaining.

This likely deserves it own thread. My apologies to the OP for the derail.

[Aeran]

Actually good way to find MUDs with a lot of players online is to search http://www.topmudsites.com/forums/mudsearch.html but it mainly just give a rough idea.

It is problematic to find MUD with largest amount of players though because the entries don't seem very accurate. For example one MUD is listed to have above 250 players online avg at any given time. However from their login screen it says 100 players are online currently. It is similar on some other MUDs as well in the list.

Even if a MUD has 200 players online only 100 of them might actually be actively playing, while the rest are afk. So it is question how to proper measure it.

[Baram]

Originally Posted by Newworlds Sounds like you found it already, 100 to 250 is a large playerbase. Though you might consider more than just numbers. WOW has tens of thousands of players and still blows like a tornado. China has 1.3 billion, but do you really want to live there?

What exactly is wrong with living in China?

Originally Posted by Aeran Actually good way to find MUDs with a lot of players online is to search http://www.topmudsites.com/forums/mudsearch.html but it mainly just give a rough idea. It is problematic to find MUD with largest amount of players though because the entries don't seem very accurate. For example one MUD is listed to have above 250 players online avg at any given time. However from their login screen it says 100 players are online currently. It is similar on some other MUDs as well in the list.

Average != right now

Originally Posted by Aeran Even if a MUD has 200 players online only 100 of them might actually be actively playing, while the rest are afk. So it is question how to proper measure it.

Definitely an issue, hence I prefer MUDs with rules about being AFK (except for me... I never logout, but I'm invisible and don't count as a player...).

[the_logos]

Originally Posted by Newworlds Though you might consider more than just numbers. WOW has tens of thousands of players and still blows like a tornado.

That's your opinion, certainly, but about 11 million people, each of whose opinion is equally as valid as yours, appear to disagree and choose to pay to play WoW even though there are thousands of free alternatives available. That's a powerful statement.

I don't really play WoW, but I think it rocks. It is the ultimate DIKU.

--matt

[the_logos]

Originally Posted by Baram What exactly is wrong with living in China?

Nothing, and I know a number of people who have chosen to leave the West to move to China because places like Beijing and Shanghai, at least (as opposed to all the dirt-poor, environmentally-screwed villages and industrial cities that compose a good portion of China), are far more dynamic and exciting in many ways than any Western city.

Quality of life, quality of content, quality of community - these are all very subjective. What's important to you may be much less important to me, and vice-versa, so you may not even be talking about the same aspects of <whatever> when you're talking about quality. An engineer may find a particular bridge gorgeous because of its incredible strength and stability while an artist may be concerned with how the light plays off of it.

--matt

[Zeno]

Originally Posted by the_logos That's your opinion, certainly, but about 11 million people, each of whose opinion is equally as valid as yours, appear to disagree and choose to pay to play WoW even though there are thousands of free alternatives available. That's a powerful statement. --matt

And 40+ million people in the US smoke cigarettes.

Just because it's a game doesn't mean it doesn't have an addiction factor.

What exactly is wrong with living in China?

A lot of things? Examples:
BBC NEWS | Technology | China blocking Google
China Blocking RSS Feeds
Report: China Blocking Access to iTunes

[the_logos]

Originally Posted by Zeno And 40+ million people in the US smoke cigarettes. Just because it's a game doesn't mean it doesn't have an addiction factor.

The same can be said for all MUDs, graphical or text. (The comparison to smoking is also not apt. I'm aware of a scientific consensus that cigarettes are addictive. No such consensus exists with MUDs/MMOs. There's been very little research on the subject, comparatively speaking, and nothing definitive.)

A lot of things? Examples: BBC NEWS | Technology | China blocking Google China Blocking RSS Feeds Report: China Blocking Access to iTunes

I think maybe you missed the meaning of his question. Of course there are things wrong with China. I'm not aware of a country in which there are not many things wrong (from my point of view).

The point is, there's certainly nothing wrong with preferring to live in China over <pick another country>.

--matt

[Zeno]

The same can be said for all MUDs, graphical or text. (The comparison to smoking is also not apt. I'm aware of a scientific consensus that cigarettes are addictive. No such consensus exists with MUDs/MMOs. There's been very little research on the subject, comparatively speaking, and nothing definitive.)

Right, while there are studies nothing has been proven conclusive. But at the same time don't try and tell me that games cannot be addicting. My point wasn't trying to prove that all games are addicting, but that they can be and that a reason people continue to play a certain MMO is not always because they are thoroughly enjoying it.

I think maybe you missed the meaning of his question. Of course there are things wrong with China. I'm not aware of a country in which there are not many things wrong (from my point of view). The point is, there's certainly nothing wrong with preferring to live in China over <pick another country>.

No country is perfect, and I was not trying to say that. If he had meant something else over what his actual question was, it would make sense to say that instead of asking a one lined question.

[the_logos]

Originally Posted by Zeno Right, while there are studies nothing has been proven conclusive. But at the same time don't try and tell me that games cannot be addicting. My point wasn't trying to prove that all games are addicting, but that they can be and that a reason people continue to play a certain MMO is not always because they are thoroughly enjoying it.

I don't know if games can be addicting in the medical sense of the word, because addiction isn't something I have any expertise in and there's no consensus by experts to rely on. I know people throw the word 'addiction' around in common parlance, but that's not the same thing at all. For instance, I might off-handedly throw out, "I am so addicted to mountain biking", but that's just short-hand. I'm not really addicted to mountain biking, no matter how much time I spend doing it.

I certainly don't deny the possibility that MUDs/MMOs are addictive, but I think addiction in the medical sense is a very strong term to throw around casually. I also think it's just as likely/unlikely that all the free alternatives to WoW are addictive as that WoW is addictive.

--matt

[Avasyu]

Originally Posted by the_logos Originally Posted by Baram What exactly is wrong with living in China? Nothing, and I know a number of people who have chosen to leave the West to move to China because places like Beijing and Shanghai, at least (as opposed to all the dirt-poor, environmentally-screwed villages and industrial cities that compose a good portion of China), are far more dynamic and exciting in many ways than any Western city. --matt

You forget China is the devil incarnate.

Here is the proof.

[The_Fury]

If i was a salary earner and could speak Mandarin I would move to China in an instant, as i could make 3 times the money there as i could here in Australia. For that i would be happy to have the internet censored among other things.

Its not like we in the west do not suffer from the same sorts of issues. Governments suppress information, the mass media only ever plays one side of the argument and while we are free to vote for whatever party and candidate we choose, most of the real power does not reside in the individual but in special interest and lobby groups who have the $$ and the voice to get in the governments face and promote their own agenda.

[scandum]

Wasn't a mud addiction comparable to a gambling addiction?

Originally Posted by The_Fury Its not like we in the west do not suffer from the same sorts of issues. Governments suppress information, the mass media only ever plays one side of the argument and while we are free to vote for whatever party and candidate we choose, most of the real power does not reside in the individual but in special interest and lobby groups who have the $$ and the voice to get in the governments face and promote their own agenda.

Like devoted social democrats do not notice any oppression in the West, the same goes for devoted communists in China. If your political views differ too much from the mainstream the widespread censorship and social oppression becomes quite obvious.

[i8890321]

sorry to disturb you guys, you are starting off topic...

[the_logos]

Originally Posted by scandum Wasn't a mud addiction comparable to a gambling addiction?

Not as far as the medical community goes, no. Gambling addiction is a recognized psychological problem. MUD "addiction" is not.

[Fizban]

Originally Posted by i8890321 sorry to disturb you guys, you are starting off topic...

Here's a note. Half the people conversing are moderators. Maybe it's me, but I reckon if you already got your answer (Aardwolf) and its moderators that you feel are the one's de-railing your topic which is of no further use to you that you might just be best off moving on.

[Fizban]

Originally Posted by the_logos Not as far as the medical community goes, no. Gambling addiction is a recognized psychological problem. MUD "addiction" is not.

I'd say if you're a pkill player on a mud then you are gambling. Heck even on a mud where dying means you lose something (meaning muds, not console games, those typically have savepoints, you can load back to full eq if you die, another player can't loot you, a mob can't eat your corpse, etc.) Gambling with your time perhaps, not your money, but there's not much difference. Especially considering the adage, "time is money".

[Lurker94]

Originally Posted by Fizban "...Gambling with your time perhaps, not your money, but there's not much difference. Especially considering the adage, "time is money".

An adage is only that, an adage. How is time money for a retired person or homemaker who muds?

[Fizban]

Originally Posted by Lurker94 An adage is only that, an adage. How is time money for a retired person or homemaker who muds?

It is just as much as for anyone else. Retired people can go back to work and make money with their time, much the same way as homemakers can get a job and make money with their time if they so choose.