[KaVir]

There are certainly many muds that shut down soon after (or even before) they launch, but whether those muds would have eventually become commercial or not is something we can only speculate. A number of today's commercial text-based muds started out non-commercial, after all.

If you were to replace the word "hobbyist" with "stock" then I'd agree, but a mud doesn't suddenly become more difficult to develop just because the players start sending you cash.

While all it takes for a commercial mud to decide to shut down the world is that it's no longer profitable. The difference is that, while a hobbyist may never tire of their game, sooner or later every commercial mud will cease to be profitable.

Having said that, in my experience hobbyist muds are more likely to be handed down to someone else when the original owner gets bored. I imagine the same would be true for commercial muds, although the arrangement would likely involve a formal contract. Once again, however, if the objective of the mud is to turn a profit, then as soon as it stops doing so it will be cancelled.