[KaVir]

I've heard that sort of view quite a few times over the years. The problem is that nobody really starts up a mud with the intention of creating a stock clone - everyone thinks that they are special, that their game offers (or will offer) something new and innovative.

Of course you could argue that it's the same with browser games and graphical MMOs - but they have a far larger crowd of players to draw from. That's part of the reason why I'm so interested in community advancements in the areas of protocols and clients...it makes it easier for muds to start nibbling at the edges of those other markets - and in those markets, we're far more likely to stand out from the competition.

Raph Koster wrote an interesting article about back in 2007, and it's well worth a read.

According to figures posted by the client developers on , the annual downloads per client are:

MUSHclient: 56,438
CMUD: 53,922
zMUD: 52,962
Tintin: 20,000
MUDlet: 12,000