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The very first thing I look for on any mud is ways to progress.
I'm very goal oriented, so I need ways to feel like my character can achieve something. The ways to achieve should be clearly defined even if it's as simple as kill X mob for xp to get to next level. If I have to stumble around and try to figure out what the point of the game is, then I'll log off.
The next step, naturally, is to examine the ways I can progress in the game setting. I prefer to have several ways to progress, and I like a lot of choice because I'm NOT one of those people who likes to be able to do EVERYTHING in a game. I like to be able to pick and choose what suits my character. Thus, if there's not several ways to progress within the game, I'll generally end up logging off.
Last but not least, the progression system has to make sense to me. This is a matter of taste, but poorly designed systems really bother me. I haven't seen this as much on muds, but it's very plentiful on MMOs. Some systems in major MMOs are very clearly tacked on and barely mesh with the game. Stuff like that will have me logging off never to return faster than anything!
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