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Zhiroc · 08-25-2007, 10:31 PM

I have found the games I want, and I only play MUSHes now. It turns out that I haven't found one that charges anything, or even accepts donations. But the point is that there's something wrong with needing to take hours to figure out what I'm going to pay. I don't mind paying, but I want to know how much.

And what I want to take my time figuring out is whether I'd like the theme and gameplay. Not the cost. And, if you look at some of these sites, they have purchase options of over $500 in OOC money. That isn't chump change.

There are these so-call contests out there where you compete in puzzles and if you want, can buy "help" from the company. They are considered by just about everyone to be scams, much for the reason that they rope you in little by little without ever being up front about costs.

No, MMOGs charge what they do because that is the "going market price". If volume counted, then WoW with 8 million subscribers would charge radically different than the great bulk (and looking at the numbers, all but about 10) of those with under 100K.

My point is not against "paid-for MUDs". It's targeted at pay-for-ingame-perks MUDs, and in particular, those that have an extremely opaque fee structure.

Actually, I fled MUDs after playing a paid one, and found the MUSHes--not because they are free, but because they provide infinitely more entertainment value to me than a MUD. So, I do not agree to your adage for gaming. Or in software, as Open Source and free is now almost the norm. Or necessarily in board games (if you ever checked out a company called Cheap Ass Games).

But that is what I like, your mileage may vary.

08-25-2007, 10:31 PM	#85
Zhiroc Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 92	Re: What does "Free" Mean? I have found the games I want, and I only play MUSHes now. It turns out that I haven't found one that charges anything, or even accepts donations. But the point is that there's something wrong with needing to take hours to figure out what I'm going to pay. I don't mind paying, but I want to know how much. And what I want to take my time figuring out is whether I'd like the theme and gameplay. Not the cost. And, if you look at some of these sites, they have purchase options of over $500 in OOC money. That isn't chump change. There are these so-call contests out there where you compete in puzzles and if you want, can buy "help" from the company. They are considered by just about everyone to be scams, much for the reason that they rope you in little by little without ever being up front about costs. No, MMOGs charge what they do because that is the "going market price". If volume counted, then WoW with 8 million subscribers would charge radically different than the great bulk (and looking at the numbers, all but about 10) of those with under 100K. My point is not against "paid-for MUDs". It's targeted at pay-for-ingame-perks MUDs, and in particular, those that have an extremely opaque fee structure. Actually, I fled MUDs after playing a paid one, and found the MUSHes--not because they are free, but because they provide infinitely more entertainment value to me than a MUD. So, I do not agree to your adage for gaming. Or in software, as Open Source and free is now almost the norm. Or necessarily in board games (if you ever checked out a company called Cheap Ass Games). But that is what I like, your mileage may vary.