We've heard arguments and discussions before on the possibility of adding pay-to-play, pay-for-perks, and 100%-Free categories to the MUD voting lists... but what about RPI and PvP Categories?

I'll keep this first post simple and open this discussion up to everyone else. Many players specifically seek out roleplay or player-killing intensive MUDs - I think it'd be a great addition to the site. These genres are "niche", and most MUDs do not have their primary focus on one of these two areas. As a result, many of the more specifically designed MUDs(that typically have smaller playerbases, as a result of their more specific gameplay) cannot contend with the more broadly-designed MUDs.

So... good idea? Bad idea? Talk.

I think "pkill restricted" is too vague and needs to be broken out into more choices. Restricted can mean you need to be within a certain level to kill someone, need an rp reason, can mean pkill is optional, or can mean restricted to arena or areas. Oh, and sometimes more than one can apply so maybe there should be checkboxes under the restricted choice.

That's probably smart.

To me, either the "Arena PK only" or "PK if you turn an optional toggle on" varieties would not qualify as a PvP-intensive game, but I'd bet that players/administrators of those games would feel differently.

I run such a game (arena area PK only) and I don't think my game is PvP-intensive. I'm not sure if I should say we are no-pkill or pkill-restrictive. If I say no-pkill, I feel like I'm being misleading but if I say resticted I'm afraid I may miss out on potential non-pkiller players.

The PK restriction section under database is also misleading in this way;

What good PvP MUD has no PK restrictions? Without restrictions, all you would have is abuse and imbalance. That's why I think there needs to be an actual listing on the voting ranks - the same with RPI MUDs.

While it's a good idea, the "category" listing on the main page is really, with the exception of "graphical" more of a theme/setting.  Under the advanced search is more for theme/setting than the type of RP or gameplay.  I'd definitely like to see the advanced search modified to add RPI to the list of Role-Playing options (presently "none", "accepted", "encouraged", and "mandatory" are all there are) and think that both listings would be good for addition to the main page category option.

The only real problem that exists is the dishonest way in which many MUDs list themselves.  Of course, it's not all the fault of those listing their MUDs.  The existing categories are poorly conceived and defined.  Presently there is "Fantasy" and there is "Medieval".  What is the difference, since a significant amount of fantasy consists "medieval fantasy" and no MUD listed under "Medieval" is truly historical (and a good number of them barely constitute "medieval fantasy".  Fantasy might be seen to count science fiction but then there's also the category of "Futuristic" though not all science fiction need be set in the future.  The result is a mess that really needs redefining.

Assuming MUDs could fall under more than one heading (but not more than one theme or type) I'd recommend the main page categories be changed to read:

Resources
Theme - Fantasy
Theme - Historical (though including this would probably result in an empty page)
Theme - Horror
Theme - Multigenre
Theme - Science Fiction
Type - Graphical
Type - PK
Type - RP Optional
Type - RP Required
Type - RPI

This would help alleviate some of the confusion in trying to figure out what kind of a MUD will be listed.  Of course, people can still be dishonest in their listing (especially in the categories of "type" such as RPI) but it would be a lot easier to find a specific theme/setting.

As for the advanced search, the categories there include a mix of settings/themes (though there's another spot for "Theme of your MUD" as well). RPI and PvP wouldn't really fall under Category since the prevailing meaning there is setting or theme. Under Roleplaying and Playerkilling though, I would agree with the addition of RPI and different PK terminology respectively.

Take care,

Jason

I would like if perma-death were a searchable criteria.