View Single Post
Old 06-10-2003, 05:03 PM   #1
Wik
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Home MUD: OtherSpace
Posts: 140
Wik is on a distinguished road
In my travels, I have stumbled upon several muds that call themselves free, but upon further evaluation, have found  them to have voluntary 'donation programs' that reward your character in-game for this out-of-game payment. As anyone with a pocketbook can figure, the people with more money to spend out-of-game end up better off in-game.

I find this to be fundamentally different than a free mud, and as I think about it, categories seem to emerge in my head.
Some places don't offer anywhere for you to pay. Some places have gift shops and the like where you can buy T-shirts and Frisbees and other merchandise that doesn't affect your character. Some places have a place to accept donations, but don't offer anything in return but gratitude. Some places have a monthly fee.

Consequentially, I'm wondering if we would be well-served by coming up with classifications in the mud community to define the different sorts of payment issues. Do you think that this is an issue, or do you believe that we'd be better served with a find-out-for-yourself kind of system? I've noticed that a good amount of mudders here have problems with for-pay muds, so obviously some people have given some thought to the differences. I'm just questioning whether those differences need to go beyond pay-to-play vs. free. What say you?
Wik is offline   Reply With Quote