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Old 11-23-2008, 01:57 PM   #7
Estarra
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Home MUD: Lusternia
Posts: 191
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Re: When is big too big?

Your world can never be too big! That said, if you are sacrificing quality just to be big, then there is a problem. Well-written areas with a theme, interesting mobs to bash and interact, and (most importantly IMHO) exciting quests that tell a story should always be the goal.

If you are in the design stage and find that you have mapped out a huge world with hundreds of areas, believe me that you will be forever in the building stage trying to flesh it out (at least if you want to maintain high standards of quality). In this case, pick a focal point on your map and draw a circumference around it to target your opening world (maybe a dozen areas?). After you open, you can expand outwards at your leisure--and players always love when new areas are added.

If you are just wondering what size to aim for to open, you can look to the TMS categories of "world size": small (<3000), medium (3001-6000), large (6001-10,000), huge (10,001-20,000), and gigantic (20,001+). A good goal may be medium to start (though large may be doable for the ambitious). Most of the huge and gigantic worlds grew to be that big over time.

Last edited by Estarra : 11-23-2008 at 02:06 PM. Reason: typo
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