[Parhelion]

Did the successful MUDs (and by successful, I mean games that have over 50 players on at one time) get to where they are now because of good, professional design or by pure luck? Saying that a game has survived two decades in a floundering niche does not make it successful, since most MUDs are run by hobbyists and the game only really dies when its last creator decides to throw in the towel.

Did the individuals behind Iron Realms sit down and write up a design document, nail out the algorithms and features of the game, and finalize the theme before ever starting work on the new product? What about the well-known RPIs like Shadows of Isildur and Armageddon (one of which I know went through a definite transitional period from where it began)?


I would like to say that design and success are intimately linked now-a-days; the proof is in the numbers when it comes to large-scale commercial games, but what about MUDs? My favorite MUD, which I've played for almost a decade if not longer, has been around since the early 90's and offers a unique play-style and complex mechanics... but still finds itself in beta and with a fluctuating playerbase of 10-20 players. It struggles with a lot of problems now; updating or designing new code is restricted by the fact that the codebase is a mess and many of the features are buried too deep to be altered, theme is highly conflicting due to years of writers adding parts to the story without communicating with other writers, and the administration struggles with policy.