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Kavir basically has the right of it.
The only real expenses involved in starting a MUD is human labor. Yes, you might license an engine from someone (what I did starting out), may have to get a server, etc, but those all pale in comparison to what you'd have to pay yourself if you were doing that.
I don't know your personal situation, Fifi, but what you can expect is to have no life beyond garnering money to live and working on your MUD, for a couple years. I tell you, I can't say I look back with great fondness on that period of my life. I often wasn't sure how I was going to pay my rent or eat next month, and lived in basically one room where I slept and worked...and worked...and worked. I had to teach myself to code too, as the last time I had done any coding was 5 years earlier, in high school, and then only in Pascal.
So...
1. Work work work work. Work some more. Sleep is for the weak.
2. Open as soon as you have a semblance of a MUD. Don't really advertise at first as you don't want lots of people seeing the rather poor MUD you'll probably have at this stage, but do get some people who are willing to help and maybe some people who just want to play with whatever you have there. Psychologically, I found that it was very difficult to spend literally almost all my time working on a MUD for a couple years without any player feedback. I started feeling like it was just NEVER going to open, and that's a difficult feeling to deal with when you're working by yourself. So, involve other people as soon as possible. Teamwork is more fun.
3. Work some more. Keep working. Most important thing is not to give up. You definitely will not succeed if you give up. You can be pretty darn sure of that.
4. Remember that you're there to serve players, not the other way around.
I realize that my advice is so general as to feel like I'm holding some secrets or "real" advice back, but I'm not. There are only a few factors: How much you're willing to work, how capable you are at performing that work, how much what you've worked on appeals to players, and how well you can get the word out to players it will appeal to.
--matt
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