Re: The "Health," of Muds
I think (but could be wrong) that one thing we would all agree on is that, as a percentage of the total number of active internet users, the number playing traditional text MUDs is massively lower than 10 years ago. Your "market share" can decline 90% but if the market increases 10-fold you look like you're staying even : 1% of 10,000 == 10% of 1,000, etc.
I still believe a big part of the problem is awareness. Someone made the light-hearted comparison to clog dancing in another thread. The difference is, while I don't know much of the details of clog dancing, I know it exists and have enough of an idea of what it is to know I probably don't want to join a clog dancing forum.
Anecdotally, 2005 sounds about right for the start of the decline, but I wasn't involved in TMS then other than as a member and when your focus is a single mud you never really know if it's just a local decline or a wider issue.
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