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Old 11-07-2007, 10:53 AM   #10
Brody
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Re: A MUD from scratch

Something else I'd like to add in response to the OP's comment that "few people want to play text games."

I strongly disagree with this, and it's the kind of defeatist mindset that lets a lot of would-be MUD developers shoot themselves in the foot. If you're going into this thinking that no one wants to play, well, that's like embarking on the process of writing a book you're sure no one wants to read or developing a movie no one wants to watch. If your own confidence in the project's chances of success is so low, you just shouldn't bother working on the project.

I've found a lot of my own success in the MU*ing world by ignoring the little voices that suggest something won't ever work. Seriously. When I started in 1998, it was after reading the PennMUSH Guide for Gods that said things like: Making a game based on an original theme hurts your chances of success because no one's ever heard of it before. So, what did I do? I made a game based on an original theme.

I publicized the hell out of it, though, and put a lot of work into the ongoing storylines. Word of mouth from the players also helped a lot.

I love it when people tell me something can't be done: It just motivates me to do it anyway. If you don't thrive on that kind of challenge, then you really want to think twice about developing your own game.

Hrm. Sort of wandered off point there. Let's get back to it: I don't think few people want to play text games. I think a lot of people don't know about text games. Yet. But a huge percentage of people around the world have discovered graphical MMOs, and some of them never heard of MUDs and MUSHes, and maybe there's a decent-sized playerbase waiting for our text games to grab when they get tired of grinding and questing and raiding (all the while paying monthly subscription fees and constantly upgrading their graphics cards). I don't think we'll EVER have big MMO numbers on most MUDs, but any stream that comes from the MMOs gets our text genre known to a broader audience.

We could actually see a MUD renaissance of sorts.
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