Re: Barriers to commercial MUDs
Some of the reasons, I think, that you don't see too many commercial MUDs (ignoring the fact that the market is a niche market already controlled by one or two goliath companies) is liscencing. Most people interesting in running a MUD do not have the experience necessary to pull a completely custom base out of their arse; most code in the MUD world is either derived or based off of other code with restrictive liscences.
Out of those who have the experience to fully code a MUD from scratch, few have no intention or are foolish enough to spend the overhead required to get started when you have such a high-risk investment. At best, you can hope to break even.
|