The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

In addition to making games, I am the Managing Editor of the gaming channels on - a technology themed web site with about 4 million visitors per month. While we mostly publish articles, guides, and reviews about graphical games (PC, console, online, etc.) I have been trying to devote some articles to text games and MUDs.

I recently published an interview with TMC's founder Andrew Cowan. You might find it an interesting read:

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

Seems to be down.

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

I was worried I did the link wrong so I double checked, and it worked fine.

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

Seems to be up now.

I know you probably didn't develop this site, but I have to say when a site splits up an article into multiple pages that ensures I will never again visit that website again. It's completely unnecessary.

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

Thanks for the heads-up on this! I've posted a link to it from the Text Adventures Online blog -

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

You are right that it is not my decision that the article is split that way. But I will tell you why they do that, as annoying as it may be.

If they didn't split articles up like that, then the site couldn't stay in business basically. They need the traffic to earn enough ad revenue to cover the costs of the site - including paying their writers. So articles being split up like that is a necessary evil if we want web sites to be free.

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

Thanks Brody!

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

Hey, great read there Threshold. Thank you for posting the link.


On a side note, this is just AWESOME:



-AP

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

For the reader, but not for the site's advertisers I'm afraid.

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

And as such, the site will lose many readers. :P

One of the top upvoted submissions on Reddit, so it's not like few people notice this.

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

And how many readers does a web site have when they go out of business and the site no longer exists?

You are acting like people multi-page an article out of stylistic design. It is a financial necessity in a marketplace where end users have no desire or interest in paying for content.

I'm sure a restaurant that had good, free food would be hugely popular. But how long would it stay in business? Someone has to pay the bills. If it is ad supported content, the only way to even HOPE to pay the bills is to break long articles into pages.

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

Ad blockers exist for a reason people. If you don't want to see ads, install one.

Good article. Don't let the page splitting deprive you of the read, it's worth it even if you have to suffer a few ads in the process.

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

Indeed. I look at web page ads as a tax on the technologically unsavvy. Their lack of ability to install ad blocking software means they pay for the tech savvy's ability to view web sites ad free. :)

Thanks Samson. :)

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

Nice article -- hope there will be more MUD articles featured on brighthub.com! One thing that struck me was the comment, "From what I have seen at TMC, those discussion boards remain incredibly active after all of these years." I hope we'll see some more discussion ramp up on TMS! Just a few years ago, there seemed to be a lot more activity on these forums and now it only seems to flare up when someone has a proverbial axe to grind.

(Regarding splitting articles into pages, those sites that have that seem to now have the option to "view on single page" which I prefer but really if I am interested in an article, it's not going to stop me from viewing all pages. Of course clicking "view on single page" triggers a new set of ads!)

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

Well, since I am in charge of the entire gaming section on the site, I definitely intend that there will be.

If anyone has a good idea for a MUD related article, feel free to PM me about it.

I want to do a similar interview with Lasher. I even sent him a bunch of questions. He hasn't had time to respond yet (in his defense, I sent him a LOT of questions... hehe). Hopefully he'll find some time soon and I can get an interview with him up as well.

Re: The Mud Connector - A Vital Resource in MUD and MMORPG History
 

In the final two weeks of January this article was read by over 1,000 people. That's a good sign for MUDs I hope.