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Old 08-03-2010, 03:51 AM   #12
Threshold
Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Home MUD: Threshold RPG
Posts: 1,260
Threshold will become famous soon enough
Re: Developing from scratch

That license is also what pretty much doomed MUDs to never be more than a niche hobby. Look at everything else that exploded on the internet. Most of it was open source and allowed people to take a concept, run with it, and if it did well commercialize it.

But for MUD designers, as soon as they could get a job anywhere else in the gaming industry they jumped at the chance. I've spoken to a lot of old game developers with 10-20+ years of experience over the past few years at gaming conferences and other gatherings, and it is a common point. MUDs were awesome, but since most people couldn't make a living at it they moved on. Some really brilliant programmers and designers totally left the MUD market out of necessity due to license limitations.

And as you mention, the flamewars and vitriol that evolved from the license issue was poison for our "community."
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