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Molly · 02-02-2003, 04:35 PM

Paying for in-game-benefits has always been a pet peeve of mine. I have no problem with P2P muds in general, as long as they are up front about it.

If someone, who has spent an enormous amount of time and energy to develop a totally customized codebase and a unique world, wants to charge money for playing the mud; - I say; More power to them! Their product must obviously be good, or people wouldn't pay for something that they can get for free in other places.

Monthly fees, or a one-in-all entering fee is both good, since you know from the start what you are getting yourself into, both systems seem okay to me. I am less fond of muds where you have to pay per the hour or minute, even though that is what I have to live with all the time myself, since I have a dial-up connection, which does just that.

But Muds that squeeze as much money as possible out of their players by having them pay RL $$ for weapons, equipment, skills & spells or other in-game-benefits - YUK!

Especially if they at the same time have the nerve to claim that they are free of charge. I've seen the Admin of one of the top ten Muds here crow about his smart system on another discussion board. I don't recall the exact wording, but the gist of it was, that there would always be morons willing to pay extra for shortcuts, since they always wanted the biggest, strongest, most bad-ass equipment available. It sort of illustrated how he looked on his players.

But there is another reason too, why I dislike paying for equipment with RL money. A Mud, IMO, should be a skill game, meaning that the best player also should be the most successful. Meaning the one who has a thorough knowledge of the game mechanics and combat technique, who knows his way around the world, because he has explored all corners of it, and who is smart enough to solve the Quests and get the special rewards for this.

Some people who advocate the pay-for-benefits system use the argument that a 'good' player who hasn't got time to play more than a few hours a week, gets beaten by the Twink, who hasn't got a real life, and so spents 10 hours a day on the mud, bashing mobs and getting stronger all the time. I guess they always see THEMSELVES as that 'good' player with limited time.

To me this is a bad argument. What about the 'Richie Rich' Twink, who plays the mud for two hours, then buys all the best equipment available, and kicks the butt of the veterans, who have been in the mud for ages. Is that any better or fairer?

There is no way to really get good in a Mud, unless you are prepared to invest some time and work into it. All else is just cheesy shortcuts. And so what, if some out-of-job person without a 'real life' gets to be the best player in the mud? Is that so terrible? At least he worked hard for the position, and maybe it can also give him some of the self-esteem he lacks in real life.

02-02-2003, 04:35 PM	#5
Molly Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Sweden Home MUD: 4 Dimensions Posts: 574	Paying for in-game-benefits has always been a pet peeve of mine. I have no problem with P2P muds in general, as long as they are up front about it. If someone, who has spent an enormous amount of time and energy to develop a totally customized codebase and a unique world, wants to charge money for playing the mud; - I say; More power to them! Their product must obviously be good, or people wouldn't pay for something that they can get for free in other places. Monthly fees, or a one-in-all entering fee is both good, since you know from the start what you are getting yourself into, both systems seem okay to me. I am less fond of muds where you have to pay per the hour or minute, even though that is what I have to live with all the time myself, since I have a dial-up connection, which does just that. But Muds that squeeze as much money as possible out of their players by having them pay RL $$ for weapons, equipment, skills & spells or other in-game-benefits - YUK! Especially if they at the same time have the nerve to claim that they are free of charge. I've seen the Admin of one of the top ten Muds here crow about his smart system on another discussion board. I don't recall the exact wording, but the gist of it was, that there would always be morons willing to pay extra for shortcuts, since they always wanted the biggest, strongest, most bad-ass equipment available. It sort of illustrated how he looked on his players. But there is another reason too, why I dislike paying for equipment with RL money. A Mud, IMO, should be a skill game, meaning that the best player also should be the most successful. Meaning the one who has a thorough knowledge of the game mechanics and combat technique, who knows his way around the world, because he has explored all corners of it, and who is smart enough to solve the Quests and get the special rewards for this. Some people who advocate the pay-for-benefits system use the argument that a 'good' player who hasn't got time to play more than a few hours a week, gets beaten by the Twink, who hasn't got a real life, and so spents 10 hours a day on the mud, bashing mobs and getting stronger all the time. I guess they always see THEMSELVES as that 'good' player with limited time. To me this is a bad argument. What about the 'Richie Rich' Twink, who plays the mud for two hours, then buys all the best equipment available, and kicks the butt of the veterans, who have been in the mud for ages. Is that any better or fairer? There is no way to really get good in a Mud, unless you are prepared to invest some time and work into it. All else is just cheesy shortcuts. And so what, if some out-of-job person without a 'real life' gets to be the best player in the mud? Is that so terrible? At least he worked hard for the position, and maybe it can also give him some of the self-esteem he lacks in real life.