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Old 04-15-2008, 02:40 AM   #6
MikeRozak
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Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: Are MUDs the clog dancing of online gaming?

I happen to like pretty pictures, but can easily understand why some people would want text-only.

Some random comments:

1) I should probably clarify "click on the word "orc" ". In my own game, I show pictures of objects (which text MUDs won't have, of course). There is a command line, but 90% of what a player wants to be done can be accomplished by clicking on an object image and selecting a menu item from a context-sensative menu. For example: Click on an orc's image and you'll see a menu with "Attack", "Say hello", etc. Click on a lantern and it'll have "Light/douse", "Add more oil", etc. A text MUD wouldn't have the images, but it would make sense to click on the object's word/name in the text and get the same menu.

2) As for character creation, or any other UI element: Imagine your mother (or appropriate tech neophyte) trying to play your game. Where would they have problems? It seems to me, that text MUDs have evolved and complexified so that there's a lot of stuff you need to know to play them. Z-Mud is an example of this, with a UI just as complex as Microsoft's C++ development IDE.

Raph Koster made a point (don't have the link) that game genres start out easy and accessible, and gradually get more and more complicated until only the illuminati know how to play. And then the illuminati die off, and the genre dies. He uses the example of table-top war games, which started out being fairly simple (Risk-like complexity), but by the 1980's had thick rulebooks and took days/weeks to play out. When wargames first appeared, they were so simple anyone could play. By the 1980's, only the hard-core would play. D&D is similar: It started out very simple, with the origianl D&D rulebooks and then Basic D&D. Now on the 4th edition, it's hugely complicated, especially compared to its origins.

If your MUD is so complicated that there are 50 races, 50 classes, 5000 items, 6000 spells, etc., then you'll find it hard to attract new non-MUD players. They'll find the whole thing overwhelming. Meanwhile, your experienced players are continually asking for more complexity. If they get it, they stay. But the extra complexity also creates a barrier that prevents new players from joining.

The same can be said about muds with 20K rooms. It's simply overwhelming to a new player.

As an example, a few years ago I saw Legend of the Green Dragon on the Internet. (?) It was almost a MUD. It had LOTs of players, partially because it was playable from a web page, and partially because it was such an easy game to play. It seems to have empties out since then.
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