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-   -   MUDs run by Professional Game Developers (http://www.topmudsites.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1615)

Threshold 04-13-2006 04:44 PM

This thread is to list (alphabetically) MUDs that are run by professional game developers who are paid to work on that MUD.

Achaea
Aetolia
Dragonrealms
Gemstone
Imperian
Lusternia
Threshold

I know there are a few more.

Rhuarc 04-13-2006 04:59 PM

How about professional game developers who work on their muds on the side? If those count, add Tarmon Gaidon to your list.

Threshold 04-13-2006 05:06 PM

That's interesting, but this is a list for MUDs that are professionally run by professional game developers whose job it is to work on that mud. Some players prefer a gaming experience where the people (or person) running the MUD does so as their full time job. For some players, this provides them with a sense of stability, permanence, and accountability that does not exist in MUDs that are more hobbyist in nature.

There are many excellent MUDs that are run as a hobby - some of them are, in some ways, as good as (or perhaps better) as MUDs that are professionally run. The purpose of this list is not to debate that question. With that said, there is also no denying that there are many players who prefer to invest their gaming time in a community that is professionally managed, maintained, and developed.

This is a list for MUDs whose operator(s) are professional game developers whose main, full time job is the maintenance, management, and development of that MUD.

KaVir 04-13-2006 05:14 PM

I think you'll find that the majority of the staff on the muds you've listed are volunteers.

I guess you got a bit upset about missing out on the 'free mud listing', huh? :P

Milawe 04-13-2006 05:17 PM


KaVir 04-13-2006 05:20 PM

Well it's pretty obvious that this is just an attempt to hit back in response to the thread about free muds. Rather childish, if you ask me.

Threshold 04-13-2006 05:22 PM

Fortunately, the criteria for this list is not that all staff must be professionals.

Why would I want to be on a list of free MUDs when I quite openly state that Threshold is not a free MUD. That would be like accusing me of being upset about missing out on a list of stock muds, hack-n-slash MUDs, or some other category of MUD that does not apply of Threshold.

KaVir, as a moderator of the TMS forums, your use of this thread to make a personal attack is very inappropriate. I did not attack or criticise anyone in any way. There are perfectly legitimate reasons for a list such as this. Many players prefer a professional experience to a hobbyist one. Please respect that fact.

KaVir 04-13-2006 05:29 PM

I'm not making "personal attacks", nor am I the moderator of this forum. Your thread is blatant flamebait, and it's pretty obvious to anyone reading this forum that you're just offended at the idea of a mud list which you cannot participate in.

Ironic that a so-called "professional" mud could demonstrate such an unprofessional attitude, but perhaps not entirely surprising, all things considered.

Threshold 04-13-2006 05:40 PM

KaVir, please be serious. This was not only a personal attack, but it was COMPLETELY off topic:

"I guess you got a bit upset about missing out on the 'free mud listing', huh?"

Furthermore, you can try to impute whatever phantom motives upon me you choose, but that does not make them true.

A list of free MUDs (as defined by Anitra, since she started the thread) has a value to potential players looking for the right MUD for them.

A list of MUDs run by professionals (as defined by me, since I started the thread) also has a value to potential players looking for the right MUD for them.

How can you possibly not realize there is a totally logical and legitimate purpose behind BOTH kinds of lists?

To make an analogy, some people use Chemlawn for their lawn care, some people hire Bob the local Gardner/Handyman, and some people make their kids cut the grass and pull the weeds. Different people have different preferences. Some want a professional experience. Some what a hobbyist/homegrown experience. Some want a bargain/free experience. I say give people the information and let them choose. More people finding MUDs that are fun and right for them is good for the entire hobby of MUDding.

Why is a list of free muds the only type of list that has any value in your eyes? Furthermore, why do you have to turn everything into a flame war? Can't you just let a thread stay on topic? I did ask you nicely, after all.

Milawe 04-13-2006 05:41 PM

It could be that, or it could be that someone came up with a really good idea that another person decided to emmulate. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I really don't see how it's an attempt to "hit back" when in the same post that lists commerical muds he acknowledged that several hobbyist muds are exceptional. It's simply an appropriate list for our mud that is inspired by a different list and a different poster.

The immediate jump to flaming is what seems childish to me.

Fern 04-13-2006 05:48 PM

Is there a point to this thread? And if so, why is it in Advertising for Players?

KaVir 04-13-2006 05:51 PM

A list of free muds has obvious value to players, as it gives them a way to find muds which have no costs (either obvious or hidden). It has become increasingly apparent that there is a demand for this sort of information.

But what possible value could your list provide? A list of pay-to-play muds, sure. A list of pay-for-perks muds, certainly. But it makes absolutely no difference to the players whether or not Bubba decides to quit his day job at McDonalds and live off "donations", rather than using the money to supplement his burger-flipping income.

It's not - in fact, for a long time I tried to push for the option to list pay-for-perks muds, but without success. If you were to put together a list of pay-to-play muds, or pay-for-perks muds, then I think that would be of definite use.

But I see absolutely no value whatsoever in your proposal here. It was quite clearly written to cause offense, with no thought behind giving it any actual value to potential players.

Milawe 04-13-2006 06:01 PM

Some things that do not have value to you may have value to others. Believe it or not, some people WANT to pay for a stable game with staff devoted to the game first and foremost.

I am truly boggled by why anyone would be offended by any of these lists. The free muds list, like you said, lists mud that come at no costs at all. I totally can understand why someone might be interested in that even if I, personally, would not be. The last 3 free muds I played all shut down with a lot of tears from the players. They also had multiple player wipes (which I absolutely hate). [Edit starting here. Forgot the second part of my point.] I now play only pay to play games run by big companies. That's a personal choice on my part, but I don't think I'm the ONLY person who thinks this way. Thus, there's value in both sets of lists. I'm sure there'd be value in any of the lists that people want to make on this information sharing site.

Heck, I'd love it if someone made a list of muds with were-hippos.

Anyway, why start flaming and taking offense when none was obviously meant?

Anitra 04-13-2006 06:02 PM

You forgot Medievia, the most 'professional' of them all.

KaVir 04-13-2006 06:03 PM

Right - so why not make a list of pay-to-play and/or pay-for-perks muds?

Threshold 04-13-2006 06:12 PM

How can you actually type those words and expect to be taken seriously?

Are you honestly going to claim that there are not players out there who prefer a completely PROFESSIONAL experience when deciding where to invest their gaming time and money? There is a level of comfort and security a customer has when they know the person providing the service relies upon that service for their livelihood.

Can you really not understand that there is a sizeable chunk of players out there who have more faith in a FINANCIAL MOTIVE (which exists on a commercial, professionally run MUD) than a good will motive?

Isn't the fact that commercial, professionally run MUDs send about 80% of the traffic to TMS pretty good evidence that there are indeed a lot of people for whom this distinction is actually quite meaningful?

The top Hobbyist MUD administrators often claim that their muds have as rich a feature set as many professionally run MUDs. I happen to agree that this is true in some cases. So why do the professionally run MUDs have so many more players? One of the reasons is because some people PREFER a professionally run game to a hobbyist game. They like knowing that the operators have a simple, basic, financial motive to do things like drive out to the server hosting facility at 4am if it has to be done, purchase redundant hardware and bandwidth, and a whole host of other things that are really not necessary, expected, or feasible in a non-professionally run MUD. Your proverbial burger-flipper can't reboot the server if he's pulling a double-shift at McDonalds. Many players are not comfortable with that fact.

You cannot reasonably or logically claim that the distinction of professionally run vs. hobbyist run does not matter to many MUD players. The proof is right in front of you demonstrated by the traffic of this site and the userbases of the games in the MUD community.

Now, I would appreciate it if you would stop engaging in amateur psychoanalysis in claiming I have some nefarious motive for this list. I do not. I was never critical of the free mud list, and there is no reason you should be critical of this list. Both lists serve very legitimate purposes and have value to players with difference sets of preferences. If one list is valuable, then both are.

Can't you just leave it at that? So far, it seems like all you want to do is turn everything into a flame war. That is disappointing.

Threshold 04-13-2006 06:17 PM

Why not stay on topic, avoid personal attacks, and stop trying to turn every thread you don't like into a flame war?

If you think such a list has value, make the list/thread yourself. I happen to know that for a lot of people, it is the professional/full time component that matters a lot to them, so I chose that as the criteria for this list.

If Blizzard, Mythic, or a variety of other professional game companies made a free game, I'd try it. It isn't the fact that they charge money for their games that makes me willing to try them, it is the fact that they are professionals and it is their job to make those games. They have a financial motive to try and run them well, and that makes me feel comfortable investing my increasingly scarce gaming time in playing them. Heck, I recently tried Horizons and Shadowbane because they have just become free and yet were run by the same professional staff, yet I don't have the time to try out free, hobbyist run games these days.

In short, for some gamers, "free" or "not free" is not the salient point that matters most. But knowing a game is run by professionals whose job is to make that game good (and are not distracted by the committments of a different job) IS something that matters a lot to many people.

KaVir 04-13-2006 06:27 PM

Okay. You tell me. What value is there to the prospective player to know that Bubba is now making his income purely through the mud, rather than from a mixture of the mud and flipping burgers at McDonalds?

A list of pay-to-play muds? Useful.

A list of pay-for-perks muds? Useful.

A list of commercial muds run by registered businesses? Useful.

A list of muds run by people who live off the income? Useless. It doesn't mean Bubba's going to put any more time into his mud, or that he has good programming or administrative skills or a professional attitude, or that his mud is going to be around for a long time, or anything else for that matter. I've seen muds like this many times over the years - some unemployed guy discovers that he can leech a bit of cash from his players. Is that really the sort of mud you want to promote?

Threshold 04-13-2006 06:33 PM

I already told you. Please read my posts more carefully.

Furthermore, you are derailing my thread, just as Valg (the moderator of this forum) cautioned other people not to do in Anitra's thread.

If you don't like this list, fine.

If you actually want to claim (and completly destroy your credibility in the process) that there are not players who value knowing if a mud is professionally run, also fine.

But your posts in this thread are 100% off topic and should be removed.

nhl 04-13-2006 06:34 PM

None of the MUDs on the list fall into the category of being run by an unemployed guy who just wants to ripoff players. I atleast find the list interesting and useful.

On the other hand, I find your comments in this thread to be totally idiotic, flamatory and unwarranted, so why don't you do us all a favor and get lost from this thread, since you obviously have nothing of value to add to it.


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