[Valg]

Another broken link is Resident Evil:Outbreak at

Their hosting company doesn't have them as a client on their list, either:


I did a quick Google for it, but if there is a MUD by that name, it gets swamped by a PS2 game on the same name. Unless someone knows their address (or the correct name, if that's what is botched), might want to cut them for now.

[DonathinFrye]

The MUD's name is Residentil Evil: Reincarnate.

Outbreak was probably stuck in the posters head. The website's currently being remodelled, however the info on it is below. I'm not truly sure if the MUD should be added - while I have faith in my affiliates and staff members to do quality work, one of the pre-requisites for Anitra's list was that the MUD was established. RER has been open for a month in Alpha-Test phase and certainly shows much promise. Perhaps, though, it shouldn't be added to the list until it is out of testing-phase and 100% open and advertising?

Never-the-less;

Resident Evil: Reincarnate
zombies.servebeer.com Port: 8428

[DonathinFrye]

It should also be noted that certain other posters (who have players to lose by the advancement of the ideas and lists in this thread) are attempting to flood the forum with posts to keep this thread off of the main TMS page. I encourage everyone to actively discuss the future of a possible resource site for 100% Free MUDs, as well as the list, and possible advertising ideas that we can band together and work on for MUDs that do not have the same cash-flow as commercial leeching MUDs.

[Anitra]

[DonathinFrye]

Unfortunately, Leio's the one who runs the Clandestine page on TMS and got lazy. I'd whap him, but he's in Estonia and the like, making it difficult to reach him physically. What ideas do we have for the list's summary set-up and the like, Anitra?

[DonathinFrye]

[double-posted on accident, post removed]

[Threshold]

You know, I happen to be someone who thinks the list in this thread is an excellent idea, as well as the thread itself. People who want 100% free, no money-involved MUDs should be able to find them.

But using the TMS forums to plan out a competing site strikes me as pretty disrespectful towards Adam/Synozeer.

[DonathinFrye]

Competing and co-operative, just as TMS and TMC and MudMagic compete and co-operate. Adam has not joined in on these discussions and it is not in his financial best interests to do 100% Free MUDs a favor, therefor we are taking the next logical step after months and months of flame-arguments back-and-forth on the forums about how there should be seperate lists and the like.

I'm sure you can appreciate the new direction being taken as opposed to the old, less progressive, more head-smashing-into-brick-wall cycle this subject has been in for so long now.

[Anitra]

Threshold: April 14 2006,18:26

Why? We have requested over and over again to get a search option for the 100% FREE muds added to the search engine, and it's just getting ignored. It's a solution that seems both logical, fair and generally beneficial for both prospective players and the owners of FREE Muds, and it's a solution that most of us would prefer.

Yet one single person apparently manages to stop it, by leaning on Synozeer and derailing every single thread on the topic.

Heck - most of us would probably be content if the IRE Muds just stopped misrepresenting themselves as 'free' on the listing.

A separate website to promote the FREE muds is the second best solution. It may never come into existence at all, but if it does happen, I don't see it as serious competition to TMS, rather as an affiliate.

And there is still the off chance, that Synozeer might read this thread and recognise a true movement from the grass roots, were a lot of otherwise disparate people bond together over an issue that is really important to them. Who knows, he might even change his mind about the search engine.

And hey - nobody can say that we didn't try to get things arranged on TMS first.

And, on a side note, wasn't that closed discussion board of Matt's (the Mind's Eye or whatever it was called) also planned on these forums? You were a part of that, as far as I recall. Why wasn't that equally disrespectful?

[Baram]

Here we go again, IRE does NOT misrepresent themselves as being 'free.' They correctly represent themselves as being 'free to play' which is VERY different from 'free.'

[DonathinFrye]

Before we get off-topic again, remember that the point of all of this is to create a list that is more specific to the actual economic model difference betweens MUDs, than what many would consider to be an ambiguous(or at least, elusive) term "Free-to-Play" that would apply to nearly all MUDs.

Let's not get arguing about that again, if you get bored just go back a few pages and read what's already been said.

[Valg]

If you insist on twisting language away from common-sense usage, don't be upset that not everyone can keep track of what you're talking about.

Go up to someone unfamiliar with the industry, and tell them you have two games.  One is "free", and the other is "free to play".  I just did this for myself, and I suspect the reaction you will get will be similar to Ms. Valg's reaction: "What's the difference?"

Could you cite an unaffiliated source which draws this line?  I Googled a couple attempts, but kept getting stuff like this highest-ranked link:

Therefore, this site is fully devoted to listing only absolutely free games. You will not find any shareware games or demo games here. Nor do we accept games that involve real money. All games at GameHippo.com are free to download and free to play without restrictions.

I honestly tried to dig a bit, but I can't find any official-looking source which makes this distinction.  I did find a blog mention using the phrase Matt uses among other game developers ("Free To Play, Pay For Stuff"), but that strikes me as very different.  I can also find a couple games which are pay-for-perks and describe themselves as "Free To Play", but of course they have an incentive to (mis)represent their product that way.  Then again I find a lot of games like Urban Dead which describe themselves as "Free to play" but aren't pay-for-perks at all.

That said, this is probably worth its own thread.  Feel free to start one where this distinction is made.

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone. "It means just what I choose it to mean - neither more or less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master - that's all."

[nass]

Ladies, gents

I asked Crystal to set up a forum for us and she's kindly done so at - and I would like to invite anyone who admins or runs for a noncommercial MUD to register there, so we can take this discussion further. Now the only way this is going to work is if we work together so please leave egoes at the door and let's help each other.

The aim is a site which helps noncommercial muds gain publicity, players and advertising. I've already bought a top level domain and hosting, so it's going to happen, but the success of the entire exercise depends on people stepping forward.

Cheers

Nass

[DonathinFrye]

I think it benefits us to keep this conversation going here, as well.

[Anitra]

Here is a thought.

For the list to be even further useful to potential players, there should be a short characterisation for each of the game on the list.

So far most of the Muds on the list have been submitted by other people than the actual owners. This to me is a good thing, since it shows that solidarity and sense of community still exist among the free Muds. But the decision about which parts of the Mud to highlight in a description is best taken by the owners.

So we are asking the Muds on the list to submit a short description of it on this thread, which can later be used if and when the Website for FREE Muds gets set up.

Please try to be concise, and try to stick to the three headers below if possible:

1. THEME (Medieval, fantasy, scifi, timetravels, etc.)
2. FOCUS OF THE MUD (RPI, hack’n’slash, exploring, quests, PvP, PK etc.)
2. FEATURES AND QUALITIES (What particular features in the code and/or the zones would you like to highlight)

And if possible also try to submit a one-line description of the Mud.

[DonathinFrye]

I like that set-up, yeah Anitra. I'll work on it for my MUDs on the list.

[virthe]

[The_Disciple]

Not to sidetrack, but how can you have an RPI with OOC channels? At first blush, that sounds like a nun with a penis piercing.

[Lark]

[Ide]