Midkemia
 

Just wondering...

Who's planning on playing it and have you played other IRE games?

I have a home MUD now I think but I'm probably going to check it out since I've tried every IRE game so far...

Re: Midkemia
 

I absolutely love the Feist books (with some large exceptions) and hope that this game has the rich characterization of the books while also having some enjoyable game play. I will likely review it at least.

I say exceptions on some of Feist's books because he fell apart after the 10th book (Serpentwar Saga) and his latest installments are embarrasing (for hard core fans) at best. My understanding is that the game centers around the era of the beginning books which is terrific.

Re: Midkemia
 

I think it's pretty awesome that a well-known author has officially and enthusiastically embraced the MUD medium (i.e., sanctioned and collaborated). Sure, there's WoT, Tolkein and Discworld MUDs, but I don't think the authors view them as much more than fan sites, much less encouraging them and providing background material. I often read books and think they'd make for a neat MUD. Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar would be awesome (wasn't there a popular Valdemar MUD at one point), and so too would Steven Erikson's Malazan series (which I have a love-hate relationship with), Piers Anthony's Adept series (yeah, yeah, everyone loves Xanth), and Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel world (though all characters would probably be courtesans!).

Hmm, what other novels would make for neat MUDs?

Re: Midkemia
 

George R. R. Martin baby.

Man I love those books. It would be a hard mud to tackle though for several reasons though. No spell users, there are very few monsters you could use, lots of events set in stone, etc. You could go with warrior, thief, ranger, and other non magic classes. Not sure how well it would work. The game would probably have to revolve more around politics and backstabbing. Ahh, fun stuff.

Re: Midkemia
 

There's a MUSH based on his Song of Fire and Ice (I think that's the title, not sure though). I haven't read the books, though they have been recommended to me several times. If it has to do with politics and such, a MUSH would be perfect for it.

Speaking of MUSHes, I read the Godspeaker Trilogy (Empress, The Riven Kingdom and Hammer of God, by Karen Miller I believe) and would love to see elements of that university in someone's fantasy MUSH.

Re: Midkemia
 

I love Empress! That has to be the greatest antiheroines ever created. Not often is a novel devoted to the development of an evil overlords from cradle to grave...

(The entire trilogy was good, but I think Empress overshadowed the other books.)

Re: Midkemia
 

I agree! I loved Empress, too! Ever since, I've been on the look out for other books that focused on the bad guy's side of the story. Empress was indeed the best in the series.

Muds based on novels
 

I think in many cases it's good writing and interesting characters that make a novel what it is - things that don't really carry over well to a mud. Many novels also seem to have a relatively small bestiary, which could prove quite limiting for a mud that emphasises combat.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen series you mentioned is interesting in that (at least IMO) the stories seem to focus more on the history of world than on the characters, and there's clearly plenty of room for adding powerful and important individuals (rather than a typical fantasy novel where the villain is the biggest badest wizard in the world, and the hero is the "Chosen One" prophecised to defeat them). My main concern with using the Malazan setting would be that although there are lots of races, there don't seem to be many non-humanoid monsters.

Compare that with a D&D setting such as Forgotten Realms or Eberron, where the players can go out and fight monsters in a huge variety of shapes and sizes. From the perspective of creating a combat-oriented mud (which admittedly isn't a goal for all muds but which is important to me personally), I think such variety can add a great deal of value to the game.

Re: Muds based on novels
 

Recently I read the first couple books of Monster Blood Tattoo, sort of D&D to the max. It's a human vs. monster racewar with all sorts of interesting geography and character types.

Re: Muds based on novels
 

The Drenai worlds of David Gemmell (Legend, Waylander, King beyond the gate, Druss the Legend etc)... has all the staples needed for a great mud environment and is dripping with history, a well designed world, fabulous locations and great characters.

ON the topic of Midkemia books.. the first three were of course awesome, but I hated every single book after that until the amazing ASTOUNDING GRIPPING book .. Honoured Enemy (written with W Forstchen.

Reminds me of David Eddings Belgariad Series... an amazing book.. but the second five were utter pants, however then he bounced back with Polgara the Sorceress and Belgarath the Sorceror... great books!

Re: Midkemia
 

As much as I love reading, and as much as I love playing MUDs, I find it very difficult to wrap my head around playing MUDs that draw deeply from a literary source.

Most well-written books are so excellent because of the characters. Some characters are good, some characters are bad, some are weak, some are strong. But I read the books because of the compelling characters. If I were to play a MUD that's heavily derived from some of my favorite books, I'd want to -be- those characters.

How do you create a successful, well-populated MUD where most people will realistically want to be the awesome characters. I want to be Ned Stark, but not everyone can be Ned Stark. I want to romp through history as Belgarath, but realistically, we can't all be Belgarath.

Sorry to take this thread a bit off track, but for those of you who'd like to see MUDs based on your favorite books, how would you make a game that's centered around the players (as all games must be), but allows you to capitalize on the rich and compelling character development that's coming from those books?

Re: Muds based on novels
 

I was a fan of the serpent war saga by Feist as well.

Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman could be a good starter for a MUD. Lots of potential for creatures to battle and events, lots of magic, etc.

Re: Muds based on novels
 

I remember when the rights were acquired by IRE. Before WoW, before online RPGs (MMOs) were considered more mainstream. I don't know if IRE has relicensing or resale rights (and don't expect them to tell us), but as an investment, it was a genius move.

As a game, I was surprised to see it become a MUD rather than using the Earth Eternal technology to make it a more mainstream game. Not a criticism, and I'm sure there were extensive discussions within IRE/Sparkplay on exactly this subject, just something that surprised me.

Mercedes Lackey MUD?
 

Was there an official Valdemar MUD?

I remember when Shattered Kingdoms in the 90s seemed to be a Valdemar themed MUD. At that time, I wasn't familiar with the Mercedes Lackey books and I remember being grouped with a staff member who was currently playing his mortal character. He told me to help him search for any reference to Mercedes Lackey names in the rooms we visited. He gave me a list of names to look for and to point them out so they could be changed.

Not sure if this was a simply case of CYA or not.

Re: Midkemia
 

Eh, I'd love to see MUDs paying homage to more original novels, with more original concepts. KaVir raises a good point about reasonable enemies, etc, but I think that you can get around this with a well thought-out design approach.

I'd play a good modern-themed MUD based around the fantasy of American Gods, for instance.

Re: Mercedes Lackey MUD?
 

I seem to recall seeing a Valdemar MUD (a LOOOONG time ago). I just think the magic system would lend itself extremely well with different talents and getting "chosen" by special familiars (horses, cats, birds, etc.) that correspond to different cultures. Not to mention the huge built in fan base!

Re: Midkemia
 

I heartily second an American Gods themed MUD, Gaiman always has a great way of bringing characters to life, but sometimes I worry about whether a lackluster staff would lead to a watering-down of characters that authors might not like to see happen with their work.

Re: Midkemia
 

I'd actually rather see a MUD based on Neverwhere. The combination of modern elements and the fantasy-esque Underground is really cool. Plus the traveling via Door's abilities is neat, and there are plenty of enemies around as well.

Re: Midkemia
 

With all the books I've read, only a few could make a good "foundation" for a mud. As stated before, what makes a book good to read is character interaction. Who would read an Eddings book if Sparhawk was a bit more of a git? With that said........

You know....

I just looked above, and realized I was thinking the same thing as Dranor.

OK!

What books I wouldn't mind seeing turned into muds, or even cartoons for that matter are the books written by Elizabeth Moon. Particularly the Sheepfarmer's Daughter trilogy. She made those characters stand out. >.> <.< ^.^