Top Mud Sites Forum Return to TopMudSites.com
Go Back   Top Mud Sites Forum > Mud Development and Administration > MUD Builders and Areas
Click here to Register

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 07-24-2002, 04:16 PM   #1
Ostoles
New Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 17
Ostoles is on a distinguished road
Send a message via ICQ to Ostoles Send a message via AIM to Ostoles Send a message via MSN to Ostoles
Just wondering, but a while back I had a poll about What do builders want. And now back to
that subject, I have a somewhat similar question. What is it that makes a builder want to
build?

Is it a release from everyday life?
An extension of yourself helping to createa virtual realm?
Just the thought of doing something that could be considered a challenge?
Something to do when your bored?
A way to escape reality?
Something else?

Just something I have been wondering. Also, while we are on the subject of what builders
want and why they build. Is there anything that you, the builder, would like from the
rest of the staff? Like how would you be best enticed into building more, etc.

What brings up my curiosity in this subject is that, I am always looking for more ways
to give my staff something else todo, while trying to keep it fun etc. Currently, I have
a building staff of 18 people, and only 2 are actualy activly building. So, i also hope
that by learning this information i can have some more of them be active again. I want to do
everything for the builders that they want, and i am wanting to do it before they tell me
they want it. I do this for basicly one of my strongest beliefs about mudding, a builder
is the most important thing to have when running a mud.

Anyway, thats all for now.
Thank you and have a good day, and have fun.
Ostoles is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-24-2002, 08:38 PM   #2
Kyrene
New Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 27
Kyrene is on a distinguished road
Kyrene is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-24-2002, 11:27 PM   #3
Dionae
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Littleton, CO, US
Posts: 123
Dionae is on a distinguished road
Send a message via AIM to Dionae
Why do I build? To take that world I imagine in my head and transform it into an actual, tangible thing, in a sense, that you can walk through and see from a different perspective. I do it for the same reasons that I write: to put my ideas and visions on paper, so to speak.

Why don't I build? Because sometimes, I am more content with exploring the world in my head, instead of actually taking the time to make it into a tangible thing, that may not live up to the way I had imagined it. And, like Kyrene said, at times it can seem more like work, and I need to be in the right mood, and get the right inspiration in order to continue building.

That is why a lot of my projects start out moving smoothly, and then slowly die out as I lose my creative motivation. So how would I keep motivated? Maybe take a break for a while, and then come back to it when I'm feeling more in the mood to build. Or maybe start on a side project, to help inspire me with my main project. Or maybe think "Hm.. we need better equipment for sheath, forearm, elbow, and shin slots.. I should start working on my area so I can make some..." *smile*
Dionae is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2002, 01:10 AM   #4
Iluvatar
Member
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Mississippi USA
Posts: 142
Iluvatar is on a distinguished road
I've read tons of books from sci/fi fantasy to swords and sorcery ever since I was knee-high to a Hobbit before Star Wars was invented. My real life entailed writing and proofing as a profession as well as instructional development of the writing skills of others among other things.

I don't have the patience to write my own book, but as a hobby, the incremental creation of an actual story line that we can make "come to life" is awesome to me. To watch the mortals interact as I planned and figure out the challenges or lose from inadequacy in spite of how "buff or smart" they are is something that seriously tickles my ego.

I think a lot of builders build from a variety of reasons, some because they want power among their on-line friends as an immort. Others because they want special favors they perceive as normal fare for Immortals. The good ones build because they love the world they are playing in and want to make it a better place as well as love to write. Like me, they find building a room easier than a novel and at their leisure in the hectic real life of "earn a buck" today.

Stimulate a builder? Challenge them with something that doesn't exist, convince of a concept only they seem to be qualified to do yet you express doubt. If they respect you and consider it a true beneficial addition to the world, they will build 'til their fingers hurt just to impress you and the mortals. You really might find some innovative concepts too and never, never, never discriminate because of "age" of the builder, maturity they display is the ruling factor. Treat them all alike as earned and let them all "play" with testing abilities to create concepts even if it doesn't meet your base theme. If at any time you stifle creativity, they will get dejected so it's far better to see what they come up with and evaluate to modify to fit your theme and they will be happier.

LEARN your builders, what makes them tick, what are their moods, learn to predict them. Know yourself and what ticks you off and learn to deal with it so the others don't know. A mortal is just a player, though we do all this work for them as well as some factor of mutual enjoyment, Immortals are both real life personalities to deal with as well as the role play aspects and as such are way way more complex an issue since they are not as transient.

I probably ranted a little here and I apologize, but it's a complex subject that is very worthy of competent Admins to explore, Owners to heed well since typically so arrogant and Coders to understand. I hope my "Dennis Miller" rant was helpful.
Iluvatar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2002, 01:14 AM   #5
AnnOnimous
New Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 14
AnnOnimous is on a distinguished road
good question.

why do i build?
for me it's an extension of rp, i've just started on my second area, which is based on the histories of a few chars who i rp with, me and one of the others have been working together on it. I find it interesting to see how what i have envisioned looks when it's all written out and explorable. It makes me think about my character (at least the one who lives in this village).

I build to expand, to help with the mud in any way that i can (this is also why i became an Imm in the first place), and last, but not least...

I build so that the players (including myself) have something new to play around with. Of course it might help if i can finish my mprogs on my first area, but that's one of the reasons i started the second, to take a break without losing focus.

*glances around*

I swear i'll get done with one of them before moving on with my third!

as for what to do to get a builder to build again... i have absolutely no idea, I personally can't see myself NOT building, and i don't understand why others don't. I've been working on my first area for about four months, apologizing to the head honchos about how long it's taking me, and being laughed at because my area is coming along quicker than most others that have been worked on for over a year...

so i guess that's good.

anyway, i'm tired. bed for me... hopefully i don't dream of creating rooms before i can go into them.
AnnOnimous is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-26-2002, 12:43 AM   #6
smadronia
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Coeur d'Alene, ID
Posts: 65
smadronia is on a distinguished road
Send a message via ICQ to smadronia
I build mostly because it's one of the few creative outlets I have. My college is a tecnical college, you're either a medical major or an engeineering major, and there's not a lot of creative outlets there. So, I use building as an escape from "normal" life. I can develop stories and plotlines and everything for my areas, put in things that are out of the ordinary, and generally just have fun.
smadronia is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-28-2002, 03:42 AM   #7
Molly
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Sweden
Home MUD: 4 Dimensions
Posts: 574
Molly will become famous soon enoughMolly will become famous soon enough
Ostoles, I don't think that you really want to know what motivates us all, but rather how you could make your own Builders more motivated, right?
Regrettably there is no easy answer to that question. The replies you've got sofar pretty well reflect my own motivations as a Builder, which I think are also the motivations for most good Builders on the net. But as for the rest...

During my time as Head Builder I have identified three main types of Builders, grouped by their results:

The really good ones, who are driven by creativity and love for the game, and who will keep working and creating awesome zones, as long as Real Life conditions allow them, out of the sheer joy of creating something unique. These are rare and far behind, and if you've got any of those on your staff - treasure them.

The hopeless ones, the wannabes, which I call 'non-builders'. They are driven by greed for power, they usually totally lack both imagination and typing skills - (some of them seem almost illiterate). And they very rarely complete more than 5 rooms, once they find out that building isn't just an easy way to power, it also - and above all - requires hard work. These are by far the largest group, they are truly hopeless, nothing you could do would help, and they are best kicked out as soon as you identify them, because if they ever log on to the Build Port at all, they do it just to disrupt the work and disturb others, so they could actually cause whatever serious Builders you have to leave.

The third group in between consists of the ones that usually complete one single zone, and then stop building. A few of these are really good players, who like to try their hand at building, as a new challenge, or to create a zone that they think the Mud lacks. The zone they make might be pretty good, but their main interest is the mortal game, so they rarely stick to building. And the main part of this group are driven by the desire for power or whatever substantial game rewards you may have put up (an imm char in the Game Port, a crash-proof house, some piece of good equipment, Quest points or whatever). They usually complete their zone pretty fast, because their motivation is strong. But as soon as they got the reward they were after, they stop working.

You may end up with a pretty bad zone, or a fairly decent one, depending on their skills. But you may also end up with a bad imm or an overpowered player, because lust for power is usually a very bad motivation both for an imm and a mort. So you have to weigh the consequences, when you put up the rewards; is the zone you get really worth the negative side-effects? The bigger the reward you put up, the greater the chance that the 'wrong person' jumps to the chance of getting it - and the greater the chance of disrupting the balance of the game.

So mainly, I think that offering the Builders big rewards to keep them motivated is a bad idea. As long as you run a mud that is decent and original enough to attract and inspire the potentially good builders in the first place, as long as you provide them with the right manuals and tools and reasonable freedom for their creativity, as long as you treat your staff right and listen to their opinions, give the proper credits, allow them the copyright to their own work, and back them up with any support from the code they might need or ask for, there is not really much more you could do.

The good ones will keep building, the bad ones won't. It's mostly a matter of luck which type you attract. If it's any consolation, sooner ot later the right type might come along, if you have the patience to wait. Until then you have to adjust to the fact that you may have to build most of the important zones yourself, if you want to make sure that they ever get completed.
Molly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2002, 09:04 PM   #8
Nostrum
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 47
Nostrum is on a distinguished road
Send a message via ICQ to Nostrum
I am making attempts to learn the basics of building because it is a greater extension of my real life rpg activites. See AD&D is great, but we always have troubles keeping parties together. So, when I discovered mudding, the game was always there and people from all over were playing. It was the social aspect that did it for me. Sometimes people from different countries were playing in a game made by someone elses imagination. I knew then I had to learn and create. As a DM/builder it is a dream to create and tell my story while others adventure in the realm of imagination. The ability to make my fantasy world come alive is a great experience!
Nostrum is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools


Builders, why do they build? - Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Build it and they will come.... Myra Advertising for Players 4 02-23-2007 05:28 PM
Looking to Build. WarHound Advertising for Staff 5 09-13-2006 05:41 PM
Build things YOU actually want to build...(and run soulsinger Advertising for Staff 0 10-09-2003 01:27 AM
Looking to BUILD SupremeMUDDER Advertising for Staff 0 07-30-2003 07:05 PM
Starting to Build Curuthol_Lasgalen Newbie Help 8 07-14-2002 01:21 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:13 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Style based on a design by Essilor
Copyright Top Mud Sites.com 2022