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I've not played Medievia so I've not got a first-hand opinion on it, but clearly a lot of people really enjoy it. I personally find World of Warcraft to be somewhere between tedious and painful, but 6 million people around the world disagree with me to the tune of up to $15/month.
Marketing makes a big difference, but marketing only gets people there. One has to have a game that appeals to people to keep them there once the marketing gets them there. Otherwise instead of an operating business, you just have a dot-bomb.
I've also said before, and I'll say again: Medievia's marketing kind of sucks unless part of their conscious strategy is to use the people who hate them to market for them. It's certainly what happens, but I kind of doubt that it was a pre-planned strategy on their behalf. They're happy to sit back and watch some forum posters ensure Medievia remains one of the most visible text MUDs.
(And in any case, I'll bet that, as with games generally, the single most powerful marketing tool for them is word of mouth from people who like their game.)
--matt
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