When searching for a mud to play at topmudsites, The Mud Connector, and kyndig, one of the first things that a person will see is the mud's description, whether in the search database or a review or an advertisement.

1) If a mud seems to meet the basic criteria of your search - but its description is written most terribly - how much will this influence the likelihood that you will visit the mud?

2) When considering what best to put into descriptions, how much depends on the mud's audience (e.g., RPers vs. PKers, newbies vs. veterans, etc.)?

3) Given the audience you are most interested in, what types of things should be included in an ideal mud description?  What types of things are often included that should not be?

4) How would you adapt your ideal description if you wanted to attract a broader audience?

As a player who has browsed the listings and tried out a few of the options, here is what I like to read in a description:

-What genre of world it is. Seems pretty basic, but many leave it out, leaving me to wonder if it's post-apocalyptic, low medieval, or space-based scif-fi. To me, if you can describe your world without describing your world, it makes me feel like it's interchangable with any other world.
-What the levels of PK and RP are.
-Anything unique or rare about your MUD (i.e. several races and classes to choose from, or a clan system, are not rare or unique).

Here are some snippets that would catch my eye:
-4 Dimensions: Time Travel in four worlds.
-Armageddon: brutally harsh desert theme
-Carrion Fields: Adventure, politics and war await you
-Devil's Silence: Sometimes, in order to make friends, you have to KILL them!
-Feudal Realms: Swear fealty to a noble
-Inferno: high medieval fantasy where light and darkness vie for supremacy
-Medieval Times: become a Mindflayer or DeathMage!
-Necromium: Sail the seas with our nautical code