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KaVir · 01-26-2011, 07:03 AM

It's the combination of features that make it difficult, namely:

A. Unrestricted PK environment with a non-standard interactive combat system, but:

B. Gameplay that doesn't focus primarily on combat, and which emphasises roleplaying.

C. Pay-for-perks with limited impact, and no subscription fees.

D. A vivid and completely original environment with no Diku or Diku-derived elements.

E. A decent-sized playerbase.

Most muds have some variation of the standard automated combat system. Those that don't, that have gone out of their way to design something more manual and interactive, have usually done so because combat is the main focus of their gameplay. Conversely, the games which focus on roleplaying usually place less emphasis on combat - sometimes they even avoid hardcoded combat mechanics entirely, believing that it reduces the quality of roleplaying.

The only muds I can think of that try to do both are the old (or inspired by the old) commercial muds - the Simutronics and Skotos games, which require a subscription, or the Avalon/IRE style games, which are pay-for-perks. However a business can't survive on a pay-for-perks model if nobody buys any perks, and the more impact those perks have the more likely people are to buy them.

So that really only leaves the young up-and-coming muds. But developing an original world takes a lot of time, so these muds will usually either start out with a very small world, with a fairly bare world, or with some stock elements - and they probably won't have many players.

Over time those young muds, if they survive, will probably flesh out their content and (hopefully) build up their playerbase. But the Avalon/IRE style up-and-coming muds I've seen all seem to have the long-term plan of going commercial (perhaps because that's the "norm" for that family of mud?), so once they feel their environment is polished enough and their playerbase large enough, you're back to the same pay-for-perks situation as the other commercial muds.

I can think of plenty of muds that fulfill 3 or 4 of the above features, but none that fulfill them all, sorry.

01-26-2011, 07:03 AM	#8
KaVir Legend Join Date: Apr 2002 Name: Richard Home MUD: God Wars II Posts: 2,052	Re: Yet Another "LFM" Thread It's the combination of features that make it difficult, namely: A. Unrestricted PK environment with a non-standard interactive combat system, but: B. Gameplay that doesn't focus primarily on combat, and which emphasises roleplaying. C. Pay-for-perks with limited impact, and no subscription fees. D. A vivid and completely original environment with no Diku or Diku-derived elements. E. A decent-sized playerbase. Most muds have some variation of the standard automated combat system. Those that don't, that have gone out of their way to design something more manual and interactive, have usually done so because combat is the main focus of their gameplay. Conversely, the games which focus on roleplaying usually place less emphasis on combat - sometimes they even avoid hardcoded combat mechanics entirely, believing that it reduces the quality of roleplaying. The only muds I can think of that try to do both are the old (or inspired by the old) commercial muds - the Simutronics and Skotos games, which require a subscription, or the Avalon/IRE style games, which are pay-for-perks. However a business can't survive on a pay-for-perks model if nobody buys any perks, and the more impact those perks have the more likely people are to buy them. So that really only leaves the young up-and-coming muds. But developing an original world takes a lot of time, so these muds will usually either start out with a very small world, with a fairly bare world, or with some stock elements - and they probably won't have many players. Over time those young muds, if they survive, will probably flesh out their content and (hopefully) build up their playerbase. But the Avalon/IRE style up-and-coming muds I've seen all seem to have the long-term plan of going commercial (perhaps because that's the "norm" for that family of mud?), so once they feel their environment is polished enough and their playerbase large enough, you're back to the same pay-for-perks situation as the other commercial muds. I can think of plenty of muds that fulfill 3 or 4 of the above features, but none that fulfill them all, sorry.