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Old 01-04-2009, 01:35 PM   #27
Tezcatlipoca
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 46
Tezcatlipoca is an unknown quantity at this point
Re: In defense of all MUDs. Our genre's noteworthiness is being questioned.

So what is the community to do? First forget about Wikipedia as mentioned. It isn't and should not be used as an advertising platform or primary resource location for MUDs, specific MUDs, or the mudding community. Furthermore, you don't want it to be since it isn't under our control.

But what else? One of the earlier posts was flirting with it. It would take a social revolution which is hard, and usually next to impossible. But we have to change our state of action. Players and development/administration resources are so rare compared to the number of MUDs that advertising is paramount to the community, and that I think is very damaging (but unlikely to change). This advertising (I've tried it myself) is actually pretty useless as it has very poor results because of the conditions that created it in the first place. Ideally this would change, but it will not and shouldn't anyway (that would significantly decrease the traffic to these two sites). We basically need to--as a community--create a resource where all of those above items and more can be found quickly, easily, properly, unbiasedly (quite possibly a contradiction). This website needs to have a very good design who's purpose becomes immediately clear. While TMS and TMC have some of these elements that it would need, it is not their primary focus. The layout of the site makes it very clear what *is* their primary focus, and so those elements are not well developed at all in both a content sense or a site layout sense. I thought that the MU*Wiki might help in this regard, but Wikis just are *not* designed for that purpose, so it serves a role only as a catalog of information that is easy to use if you're looking for something specific; it doesn't have the website design and layout that it would need for this venture.

TMS I don't think should spearhead this effort, mostly because it doesn't need to. It does just fine doing what it does I think. The best chance might be actually having TMC upgrade it's purpose and existance (along with a much needed website reconstruction), as it has a good traffic flow, but is the "lesser" of the two sites attempting to do close to the same thing. Let TMS focus on forums, player and mud advertising, reviews and rankings. TMC can retain these features, but should not focus on them. Let the MU* Wiki focus on a general encyclopedic listing of MUDs and MUD terms, concepts and other information someone coming across a name or term would want quick basic information on. TMC can link back and forth between these items and information if the owners cooperated. I say that TMC should do so, simply because we know how a non-established venture would fair in this market as it currently is.

Finally, mentioned again and again and again on these forums is the attempt to advertise *outside* of the community. Adverts inside don't do much good. Generating traffic and attention outside is what we need. The commercial ventures will naturally spearhead this activity simply because they are the ones with the resources to do so, and the business plans that necessitate it. They obviously shouldn't be pressured or given special requests to do charity work for the rest of the community. We'll get enough kickback off of their efforts naturally that we should be happy with what they have done and continue to do naturally. It's the "non-commercial" (and I know this isn't true in it's strictest sense) community that should attempt to do more leg-work in this regard, including this site, TMC, MU* Wiki, individual MUDs and any commercial MUDs that feel it is in their best interest to do so that can budget for it. This doesn't necessarily mean spending money, although sometimes that is necessary. But hitting up local universities with a butt-load of fliers can go a long way. Learning how to work it into fun side-projects of class plans for those of you that are TAs or teachers of appropriately aged canidates (late-highschool and primarilly upper education). Involving friends and family; using it as a learning tool for our children, or a social opportunity alternative to going out and drinking again. Holding community gaming events, equviliant to LAN parties where you do a few games, lead up to it and introduce a specific MUD with a non-character developing event (like an instant setup PK environment, or other competition). I'm not saying these are necessarilly good ideas, but just that there are ways that can be explored for free.

I don't really have a good conclusion at this point so that's that, and sorry for partially redirecting the thread; I mean no disrespect to the original posters.

-Tezcatlipoca
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