[Vanth]

I'd only build at a MUD I'd want to play (or preferably, currently play). I prefer RPIs. As a builder, that preference is still there because I want people to actually read my descriptions and interact with my writing, rather than my writing just being background noise while they interact with the code.

I prefer areas that are neither black nor white, but gray. I do prefer writing city areas to wilderness ones, in great part because cities have lots of people, and (to me) it's more interesting to write about people than animals.

4 lines minimum, 8-9 max. Anything less than 4 and I don't think enough is said about the area. If you can engage at least 3 of the 5 senses in less than 4 lines, my hat's off to you. But too long a description and my own eyes glaze over, nevermind the players'.

As stated above, I prefer humanoids or those who have human characteristics. And again with the gray rather than black or white. Every otherwise nice character should have a flaw, every otherwise odious character should have a redeeming or endearing quality.

How the system is handled is less important to me than the following 3 qualities: 1) Intuitiveness of use--commands or procedures should be consistent and easily understandable. 2) Ease of quick building--if I'm on a roll, I don't want to have a lot of extraneous typing or need to create a macro to make my life easier. 3) Idiot proof--I don't want to have to worry that rolling back a mistake will be a laborious process.

I don't like high fantasy. I like a setting with some 'grit' to it. I guess my taste is the same as my taste in TV shows: gritty realistic drama like Deadwood, BSG, or Rome.

There has to be an overarching vision and a system of oversight that makes sure individual builders are all working toward that vision. But I don't need to be micro-managed. It helps a lot if I can come up with my concept, spell it out to whoever's providing oversight, then be left to my own devices to implement it once I'm given the go-ahead.

The less color, the better. But that's also my preference as a player.

I'm currently building for an established MUD, which has certain benefits:
The style of the MUD is already well-established, so I'm reasonably certain that what I build will fit in.
I know and trust that what others build will also be of good quality.
I know the rest of the staff and am sure that interpersonal drama will be minimal.

I don't know if I could build at an up-and-coming MUD unless I was sure that the head admin(s) could ensure those kinds of things. Most can't get that kind of positive momentum early on. If I did build at a starter MUD I'd want a lot of creative control/license. As someone else mentioned in this thread, I don't want to be just a writing slave.

As I touched on in #9, interpersonal relations are a big deal. If you want people to stick around they need to feel like they're part of a team, not an isolated cog in some impersonal machine. Oh, and there's little a builder hates more than being made to feel like they're a second-class citizen and not as important as coders.