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07-20-2002, 05:10 PM

I have been playing MUDs for many, many years, and started when I was 10 years old, and now I am 18. I have gained certain insights over all those years. I would like to address a subject which recently has been causing me great frustration. It is MUD admins who are cuckolded by the players. I'm sure most of you have experienced these at some time or other. Let's say there is a mob who gives way too much experience points. The immortals fix the mob to give only normal experience points. The players complain, and instantly, the head imm gives way and un-fixes the mob. This is a short-term concession which sacrifices the long term in order to stop complaints in the present. It's the equivalent of owning stocks in a company which you know will only gain value, but you sell all those stocks anyway. There are many common short-term concessions which alot of new MUDs these days make, here is a list:
* Super duper easy levelling
* The default newbie equipment is on par with the best level 30 or even 49 stuff
* The ability to use color tokens *EVERYWHERE*
* Free spellups from mobs, including sanctuary and stat-increasing spells
* A corpse-retrieval system that lets you easily get your corpse back when you die
* The list goes on and on

Why do new MUD admins do this? It is to attract players... what kind of players does it attract? It only attracts bad players. When a good player sees these in a potential new mud, it disgusts them. MUDs with these short-term concessions end up filled with lamers. And since the entire playerbase is made up of people who want everything for free, it is impossible to ever do any enhancements which involve making the game more challenging.

Is it necessary to do these things to get any playerbase at all? That depends entirely on the skill of the MUD creators... if the answer is yes, then why the hell are you creating a MUD in the first place?? Go back to McDonalds, you're late for work. If the answer is no, then you probably are smart enough not to do these things to begin with...

Please, if you are considering making a new mud... DONT make levelling super easy... DONT give people free level 50s during the first month the mud is open.. DONT add code snippets just for the sake of code snippets, when all they do is destroy game balance... for the love of god, DONT delete the "send_to_char" function and replace it with a copy/paste of the "send_to_char_color" function... and if a player tells you otherwise... then that player isnt worth having on your game.

07-20-2002, 05:10 PM	#1
erdos Posts: n/a	I have been playing MUDs for many, many years, and started when I was 10 years old, and now I am 18. I have gained certain insights over all those years. I would like to address a subject which recently has been causing me great frustration. It is MUD admins who are cuckolded by the players. I'm sure most of you have experienced these at some time or other. Let's say there is a mob who gives way too much experience points. The immortals fix the mob to give only normal experience points. The players complain, and instantly, the head imm gives way and un-fixes the mob. This is a short-term concession which sacrifices the long term in order to stop complaints in the present. It's the equivalent of owning stocks in a company which you know will only gain value, but you sell all those stocks anyway. There are many common short-term concessions which alot of new MUDs these days make, here is a list: * Super duper easy levelling * The default newbie equipment is on par with the best level 30 or even 49 stuff * The ability to use color tokens EVERYWHERE * Free spellups from mobs, including sanctuary and stat-increasing spells * A corpse-retrieval system that lets you easily get your corpse back when you die * The list goes on and on Why do new MUD admins do this? It is to attract players... what kind of players does it attract? It only attracts bad players. When a good player sees these in a potential new mud, it disgusts them. MUDs with these short-term concessions end up filled with lamers. And since the entire playerbase is made up of people who want everything for free, it is impossible to ever do any enhancements which involve making the game more challenging. Is it necessary to do these things to get any playerbase at all? That depends entirely on the skill of the MUD creators... if the answer is yes, then why the hell are you creating a MUD in the first place?? Go back to McDonalds, you're late for work. If the answer is no, then you probably are smart enough not to do these things to begin with... Please, if you are considering making a new mud... DONT make levelling super easy... DONT give people free level 50s during the first month the mud is open.. DONT add code snippets just for the sake of code snippets, when all they do is destroy game balance... for the love of god, DONT delete the "send_to_char" function and replace it with a copy/paste of the "send_to_char_color" function... and if a player tells you otherwise... then that player isnt worth having on your game.