Re: Reaching out beyond text MUDs
Perhaps, perhaps not. I really don't know. I'm not really aware of anyone that has tried this and kept good stats on the process. I suspect the trick may be (who knows though of course) trying to 'fuzz' the line so that it isn't just a jump from some graphics to no graphics. I imagine, for instance, displaying attractive pictures that are illustrative of the general environment one is in (rather than trying to illustrate specifics or actions) that are displayed more frequently -> less frequently over time (probably over a not-very-long period of time for pure practicality reasons).
I just strongly feel that there's a point at which the text interface ceases to become a burden for people, allowing them to enjoy the world/game itself and getting to that point takes time. That this point exists for most people is speculation on my part, but if it does exist then I think that if you can keep people long enough to reach that point you're going to keep a lot more of them.
--matt
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