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Old 03-07-2011, 04:10 PM   #4
plamzi
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Join Date: Nov 2009
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Re: The inevitability of GUIs in text-based mudding

I agree that MUD clients are evolving, but it seems to me that the evolution is rather slow, due to multiple factors, the most important probably being the vast number of servers most clients aim to support, the multiple protocols many servers do and don't implement, etc.

I also feel that, in many ways, the GUI shift has already happened (as implied by RP Kris's post). I learned from you, KaVir, that DikuMUD inspired and informed the devs of games like Everquest and WoW. The graphical MMORPG's had to shed a lot of complexity and flexibility for the sake of ever-more-detailed eye candy but, as we developers would guess, the server code is probably not that much different from that of a MUD.

I do see the trend you're talking about, but I think it's more of a different approach to GUI's. Let's say full GUI's that support one game server have already been around for quite a while. But GUI's that would support multiple servers of the same (loosely speaking) family, and GUI's that don't severely restrict the ability of the server to add content and features have not been done, or not done well enough yet.

I agree that the trend towards such GUI's is inevitable. But whether such a thing will ever succeed at striking an almost impossible balance and finding a strong player base, that doesn't seem all that inevitable, or even likely.

We should be cautious in assuming that the current fad of twitting and FB posting would benefit text-based games (I wish).

A twit-based RPG game will probably be able to attract a strong following for a while, because millions addicted to twitting would be looking for something to do while waiting for the next twit from a friend. But a MUD would have to make tons of sacrifices to support a simple twit UI, not the least of which is the real-time component. In the end, one is likely to re-invent the browser-based game server, which is basically a snoozefest as far as most mudders are concerned.

Also, one is likely to discover that Twitter is not eternally destined to be fashionable, and all the games riding on top of it may fade just as rapidly as they flourished. Same goes for Facebook apps.

What would undoubtedly benefit MUDs is greater cohesion in the developer community and more commercial projects that can spend on advertising and take stabs at advanced GUI's for feature-rich MUD's (rather than simple MUD servers for 3D engines, which has been done). All other corners of the computer game market have muscle to advertise and attract new generations of players. With MUD's, it's always been a game of hide and seek.
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