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Old 01-22-2012, 08:47 PM   #1
Maldrantus
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Seeking Writers

Hello!

If you happened to read my introduction post, you know that I'm creating a science fiction MUD that leans towards hard science fiction more often than now. If you hadn't read it, know you know what I'm doing too!

One of the main parts of creating this universe is the lore. Which is where you come into play. While I've actually been the head writer on a very large MUD for a very large MUD company, being the producer limits my time and ability to do much writing. So I need someone who is interested in science fiction and enjoys writing.

Writers will be tasked with:

Applicants are free to focus on a single point or as many different areas as they like. There is a lot of writing to be done for a project of this scale, so if you believe you have the capability, I'd love to speak with you.

Feel free to email me at maldrantus(at)projectamaranthine(dot)com to learn more about myself or the project or to just send a short sample of your writing ability (preferably in a science fiction setting).
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Old 01-22-2012, 10:33 PM   #2
Ide
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Re: Seeking Writers

It would save everyone a lot of time if you talked a little more about what kind of mud you're making. What are its influences as far as theme, setting, and mechanics. Is it a RP mud? Hack and slash? Star Wars meets Star Trek? Culture Wars? Starship Troopers?

I'm guessing your background is in IRE or Skotos muds, but more on that too would be good.
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Old 01-22-2012, 10:48 PM   #3
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Re: Seeking Writers


The MUD itself is set in the very distant future featuring high technology. I don't want to give too much away here and now about the setting because I want to reserve those announcements for a later date, but my inspirations have been many, including quite a few classic science fiction novels as well as games like Mass Effect and Battletech. Overall, the theme is more space opera than it is straight edge science fiction.

Thankfully, someone told me long ago that if you can't sum up your game in a concise description, you have problems. So here is basic idea of the game: Three empires, founded by several races, compete for resources on a variety of planets via war, trade, theft, and political maneuvering.

The point is to give players a multitude of ways to play and contribute to the well being and advancement of their empire through other ways than pure PvP. Things such as exploration, creation, trade, politicking, maintaining proper flora and fauna levels as well as resource gathering to ensure the highest yield will all be viable ways to contribute to your empire's cause and, in most cases, advance your character as well.

Mechanically, combat will be balanced based. However, infantry units will play vastly differently from ship and mech combat, as can be expected. I won't go into too much detail now, but I will say that the system I'm using should allow for people who wish to manually fight to be important and viable as well as offer people who wish to code systems.

Personally, I come from role play intensive games like Armageddon or Inquisition to role play required games, I suppose you could say, like Iron Realms Entertainment games. My game will lean towards the IRE model where publicly role play will be enforced, but if players wish to be out of character in private channels, it is not prohibited.
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Old 01-22-2012, 11:47 PM   #4
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Re: Seeking Writers

Cool, that's good info. A few more questions if you don't mind.

Are you planning to sell in-game awards to players, or have some other commercial model, and what are your plans as far as ownership of material made for the mud?

As you call yourself a producer, I'm guessing you already have programmers on board. How many? What kind of timeline do you project for when the mud will be playable, ready for beta, and released?
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Old 01-22-2012, 11:56 PM   #5
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Re: Seeking Writers

Work done for the MUD would belong to the MUD, and I'd be very upset with staff members who copied work from another MUD and inserted into mine or vice versa. Termination would be immediate, and if material was copied into my MUD, it'd be replaced. If material was copied into another MUD, I'd just hope that the producer would extend professional courtesy and work with me on some solution.

I plan on offering in game bonuses and items to players for money a la pay-for-perks, however I do not plan on going as far as Iron Realms Entertainment, just to use an example. While I've spent a lot of money as a former player, I think that the benefits are greater to the players and to the MUD as a whole if the rewards are on a much smaller scale with less game effecting results that are also much cheaper in dollar cost.

It is my -hope- that most, if not all, items that can be bought with real money can also be bought with gold, but that may change as the economy becomes more fleshed out and I have a better picture of economical balance and how that would affect it.
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Old 01-23-2012, 12:03 AM   #6
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Re: Seeking Writers

So how do you envision compensating content creators, like what kind of reward structure were you thinking about?

Also to add to the question about the timeline, were you planning to write a server from scratch? If not what will you use? Are you planning on writing a custom client? Do you have plans to add graphics or other visual aids for things like space combat and so on?

Lots of questions, but I think everyone will benefit if these basic questions are already asked and answered here.
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Old 01-23-2012, 12:23 AM   #7
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Re: Seeking Writers

Yes, contributors will certainly be compensated for their work on a reward per contribution scale (ie, one story = 10 reward, one room description = 2, etc). This will be counted mechanically so staff members can check their current pay at any time. The exact amounts paid has not been determined because I'm not brainstorming on the things that can be bought for real money until the game is nearing it's completion. I don't want the pay for perks system to begin to change my design of the game itself, essentially.

Currently, I'm deciding between two code bases and am not at a point that I want to announce it yet, although it will be public as soon as I come to my conclusion. I can say that both code bases are modern, the older of the two only being about two years old, and are vastly superior to other code bases on the market in many ways.

I hope to be able to include graphical support for space and combat, but it is not high on the priority list and may not be included before the game releases. The game will be fully featured with absolutely no client-side graphical support and having graphics will offer no real advantage. However, I do plan on crafting a Mudlet GUI with various components using the Vyzor system that will be free for players at the launch. Again, however, this is very low on the priority list and is not necessary (as in-game ASCII characters will be able to handle any overly complex information) and may not receive full-time support.

Last edited by Maldrantus : 01-23-2012 at 12:44 AM.
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Old 01-23-2012, 12:39 AM   #8
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Re: Seeking Writers

Great, I appreciate you answering openly as you're doing. Don't mean to derail your thread too much but on the subject of ASCII, one thing you definitely should consider from the outset is your game from an accessibility perspective (i.e. for people who are blind or visually impaired). Miriani for example, a space mud, has a large sound pack they use to aid mudders who want other kinds of feedback than text/visuals. Since choices for accessible games can be rather limited there's a significant reward for investing time in accessible features.
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Old 01-23-2012, 12:59 AM   #9
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Re: Seeking Writers

Interestingly, one of the creators of one code base I'm considering is blind, and so the thought has been on my mind. However, with the way space combat works, I don't see any way it can be translated into audio effectively. I'd love to be proven wrong, but I don't have enough experience right out of the gate with text to audio to do something like this without help from someone else who has worked extensively with the topic. I'll look into Miriani and see what they've done, but as of now, I'm not sure how it could be done well.

It may be possible for basic, simple flight information to be auditory so that basic transportation can be made, but if a visually impaired player were attacked by a skilled enough pilot, I don't see much that can be done.

Hopefully I can release more information regarding space mechanics very soon, which may clear up the ways it can be implemented effectively. I would, of course, love to hear some ideas when I reveal space/mech combat from those who have experience dealing with text to audio in MUDs.
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Old 01-23-2012, 09:33 AM   #10
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Re: Seeking Writers

When you are looking for feedback on text to speech and so on I highly recommend asking at forum.audiogames.net.
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Old 01-23-2012, 12:58 PM   #11
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Re: Seeking Writers

Thanks for the tip. When I've completed the space and mech combat to a point it can be used in a basic sense, I'll be sure to try and get advice from that community.

But, the first hurdle I need to jump is still writers! So, if you're looking to stretch your narrative muscles, feel free to contact me!
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Old 02-11-2012, 12:17 AM   #12
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Re: Seeking Writers

We've added two great writers, but there's still a lot to be written about and a lot of fun to be had!

If interested, please email me at maldrantus(at)projectamaranthine(dot)com!
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