Top Mud Sites Forum - View Single Post - Do MUDs need to be "brought into the 21st century"

plamzi · 04-20-2013, 05:31 PM

One small real-world detail: above all, kids want to fit in and socialize with other kids their age. This applies to even the most creative and intelligent ones among them. They may eventually love a text-based game, but they're not even going to try it if they fear they'd be labeled as geeks by their peers.

Another small real-world detail: generations of gamers set the bar of what kind of entertainment they would even consider trying. Even in 1996 when I first discovered MUDs, a game with no graphics was below that bar for 90% of my social group. The bar is much higher now, and it includes not only graphics, but also accessibility and social networking. At this point, MUDs as they are, fall below the bar for 99.99% of the gamer population, at least. That includes many millions of people "interested in creating and participating in an interactive storyline" and at least a few million people much smarter and more imaginative than you and I. Yet, they will not pick up a text-based game.

04-20-2013, 05:31 PM	#53
plamzi Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Home MUD: bedlam.mudportal.com:9000 Home MUD: www.mudportal.com Posts: 292	Re: Do MUDs need to be "brought into the 21st century" One small real-world detail: above all, kids want to fit in and socialize with other kids their age. This applies to even the most creative and intelligent ones among them. They may eventually love a text-based game, but they're not even going to try it if they fear they'd be labeled as geeks by their peers. Another small real-world detail: generations of gamers set the bar of what kind of entertainment they would even consider trying. Even in 1996 when I first discovered MUDs, a game with no graphics was below that bar for 90% of my social group. The bar is much higher now, and it includes not only graphics, but also accessibility and social networking. At this point, MUDs as they are, fall below the bar for 99.99% of the gamer population, at least. That includes many millions of people "interested in creating and participating in an interactive storyline" and at least a few million people much smarter and more imaginative than you and I. Yet, they will not pick up a text-based game.