[tommi]

A custom client is the ultimate way to go. Muds need to come into the 21st century and use all the tools available to them and a custom client is certainly one of those tools.

That said, if all your going to do with the client is to offer a dull black screen and a connect button aka any telnet app out there, and by app i mean everything from windows telnet to zmud and mushclient then you might as well just embed some dumb java app into a website and call that connectivity.


Take a look at the Bat Mud Client for inspiration, those guys have written a truly amazing client for their mud. Its has good features and is easy to use and enhances the game play experience.

If you ever wish to gain players from outside the mud community you need to start offer non mudding players something that they understand. The understand download client, or click here to play, they don't need confusion of telnet or download someone else's client and try and work out how the hell to connect to the game you wanted to play. A mud client should be like every other game out there, you click start and your in the welcome screen with the press to connect button.

I have run some small scale tests on this with my children, their friends and with 2 classes of year 7 students (12 year olds) at school i have access too, using my own test muds website as an example. I found from talking with them that they find it confusing to have to download a 3rd party program and connect to a mud, 85% of them were happy to click the play now and use The Bean Client and none of them could work out how to use mushclient even when it was installed already for them.