There were over 2000 MUD's by my last count. I'm curious what you, the administrators, think sets your MUD's apart from the competition?

Is it:
superior player numbers?
superior areas?
superior replayability?
etc.

There simply has to be a reason there are so many MUD's beyond "I just didn't like how the last one I played was run".
Let's not turn this thread into a promotions one either, a simple instance or example or thought will do.

Why not? For most of them, it's that or a similar variant. For example, "Because I wanted to be an uber l33t GOD." Or, "Cuz everyone's lame. Except me." etc...

Pick a random Diku or GW that looks fairly new. Log on. Odds are, the mud will exist because of sentiments like the above.

Sure, lots of great muds. However, most of them... bleh.

Expressing that our game is based on LPmud, the one thing we have been focusing on is the removal of hundreds of hardcoded .c files (for areas, items, etc) and developing MySQL daemons that call the information needed from our database and build the objects needed in real-time.

We also developed an in-game SQL shell that allows our developers and administrators to remotely access the MySQL database to perform queries, updates and whatever else comes to mind. Before this, we had to resort to someone having shell access to the server to make these modifications to the database and its several tables.

-- Silver

Surely you guys ARE a commercial game, no?

--matt

Well I'm not sure now that I think about it.. What would the definition of commercial be?

Well I'm not sure now that I think about it.. What would the definition of commercial be?

--

sorry for the repeat.. Can I delete this one?

If profit is one of your aims, you're a commercial enterprise.

--matt

Profit? Tricky word. Yes we make money from Medievia. No it is not a lot. We do not have any paid employees, all of the gods on Medievia are volunteers. Of course it is our hope to make much more profit from Medievia, expand the business, hire employees, etc, but for now I would say we are not making a profit.

Whether or not you're making a profit isn't the point. It's whether it's a goal. It's not about having paid employees either. Presumably, you guys are paying yourselves. Being small has nothing to do with whether you're commercial or not.

This is kind of a silly discussion. You guys are blatantly commercial, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. All the most popular virtual worlds are commercial enterprises.

--matt

Soleil, I try not to care about what other people are doing with their muds, but watching you dance around whether or not Medievia is a commercial mud was PAINFUL to read.

You accept money for purposes far beyond just paying basic costs. Everybody knows this. There is no need to dance around and perpetrate a silly canard.

Issues specific to Medievia aside (we've been down that road 1000 times), there is absolutely nothing wrong with a game being commercial. For myself, I have no interest in ever playing a non-commercial online game. I'm not interested in risking my gaming time to the whims of a hobbyist who can literally do anything with the game at a moment's notice (including shut it down).

To be fair, I don't believe Soleil was deliberately trying to be deceptive. I think there was just some confusion over what being a commercial entity means.

--matt

All that despite how much practice she's had .

Isn't this true of your game as well?  I was under the impression that you're the sole owner who has that level of authority over it.  If you wanted to decree a particular change, including shutting your game down, what stops you from doing so?  I understand it's also your employment, but privately-held businesses can change or close at the whim of the owner as well.

You answered your own question. A commercial operation has its own commercial health as a very clear, obvious, financial reason to continue to operate. Nothing in life is certain, but it is a lot easier to put one's faith in a business' financial self interest than the whims of a hobbyist who might get fed up or bored at any moment.

Also, a commercial game is more likely to be able to afford (and have the financial motivation to take care of) backups, redundancies, etc.

I am only expressing my personal preference. I know there are people with different preferences than me and I am not interested in a flame war or a debate over my preference.

I think you'll find the attitude tends to be more scorn and pity rather than hate.  Regardless of how often Soleil plugs her mud, the sad fact is that the one thing Medievia is best known for - and will most likely always be best known for - is ripping the credits and copyright notices out of a Diku derivative and claiming it as their own work.

A very new mud is likely to be a risky prospect regardless of whether it's commercial or hobbyist (the former may well die due to financial concerns, the latter out of lack of interest) - but the longer a mud operates, the more likely it is to keep going.

However you could also argue that a commercial mud will only going keep running as long as it continues to make money - while the longer hobbyist mud operates, the more love and sweat will have been poured into it, and thus the less likely it is to simply shut down.



And to answer the original question:

My mud contains numerous innovative features, but I'd say the thing that really sets it apart is the combat system - the result of almost five years work, it's completely unlike anything else out there (although by requiring significant player skill to master, it tends to only appeal to a minority).

What makes LegendMUD different? Well, a lot of things. Our theme, for one (see sig). Our highly specialized code would be another: it provides for a pretty deep combat experience and a rewarding spell system...it's a major focus of our coding staff, and is constantly evolving. Additionally, I believe that the writing quality in our areas is top notch, and gives the entire mud sort of a "storybook mixed with history text" feel.

Also, our playerbase, while not huge compared to some MUDs, is very, very passionate about our game, as are the staff. We have a sizeable number of them who have been around for the bulk of our 11-year history.