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Parhelion · 03-20-2010, 02:32 AM

I want to do a little research and I'd like the help of willing participants in the MUD administrative community.

Basically, I am looking to talk to a few open people about whether or not they used any form of game design documentation prior to starting to build their game, and how those decisions affected their overall development. I would like to find examples of all sorts of scenarios -- successes AND failures, from those who had meticulously drawn-out plans to those who just winged it from scratch and from those who started out with MUD-in-a-box.

Other topics I may delve into include what sort of documentation was used (generic game design, story design, technical bibles for code, functional docs, etc) and to what extent was it laid out before development started.

Basically, use this thread to leave your tale of how documentation and pre-production game planning affected (or didn't affect) you. Did it play a role in administrative politics and staff hiring? Was it useful? How far did you take it? Was your MUD successful or a failure, and if so, -why-? Any sort of information you may want to throw in would be helpful.

I'll be using the bulk of this information in compiling statistics.

If you are open to later contact, please say so at the top of the reply. I'd like to get as many interviews or surveys done as I can to get a real feel for the community.

03-20-2010, 02:32 AM	#1
Parhelion Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Name: Sarah Location: Tempe, AZ Home MUD: Ethos Posts: 71	Looking for information on use of game docs... I want to do a little research and I'd like the help of willing participants in the MUD administrative community. Basically, I am looking to talk to a few open people about whether or not they used any form of game design documentation prior to starting to build their game, and how those decisions affected their overall development. I would like to find examples of all sorts of scenarios -- successes AND failures, from those who had meticulously drawn-out plans to those who just winged it from scratch and from those who started out with MUD-in-a-box. Other topics I may delve into include what sort of documentation was used (generic game design, story design, technical bibles for code, functional docs, etc) and to what extent was it laid out before development started. Basically, use this thread to leave your tale of how documentation and pre-production game planning affected (or didn't affect) you. Did it play a role in administrative politics and staff hiring? Was it useful? How far did you take it? Was your MUD successful or a failure, and if so, -why-? Any sort of information you may want to throw in would be helpful. I'll be using the bulk of this information in compiling statistics. If you are open to later contact, please say so at the top of the reply. I'd like to get as many interviews or surveys done as I can to get a real feel for the community.