One of my goals is to have at least a working, semi-intelligent vision statement for my mud project before writing a formal design document or taking on any subordinate staff. It will still be a while before I'm ready to do either of those things, which is fortunate, because I suck at writing vision statements -- most people do, IMO.

I mean, it wouldn't be difficult to replicate the wishy-washy, feel-good crap that hangs on the walls of so many businesses, but I want a good vision statement that will actually mean something to the staff and be more relevant to my mud than to any other organization.

There must, of course, be some core values that are in common to all viable organizations, businesses, games, muds, etc. But which of those are important enough to be in the vision statement of any particular mud?

Next, when it comes to core values specific to a particular mud, it can be difficult to decide what values should truly be held throughout the life of the mud, and which better fit a temporary strategy or mission statement than a vision statement. Do you have any tips for detecting when you are crossing that line? Also, what topics can be considered safer ground in this regard, and what topics should be avoided for being too volatile?

Final question: when writing your Big Hairy Goal -- what my instructors called that short, concise statement of where your organization will be in X number of years -- what do you think is a reasonable substitute for 'X' when it comes specifically to muds (or types of muds, if you think that is more applicable)?

Here's what ours looks like, in case that's helpful to you.  This was written about 5 years ago, so I'm noticing it needs updating here and there, but you get the picture.  Unfortunately, it's formatted in a way that doesn't translate well.