Re: Reaching out beyond text MUDs
 

They were run on a selection of sites oriented around other online games, like MUHQ.com. We get greatly differing results based on where we run ads, as you say.

What do you mean by the standard MUD applet? We don't use anything that I'd call 'standard' really.

--matt

Re: Reaching out beyond text MUDs
 

One main thing gets people to stick around:

Empathy for their PC.

How you go about that is the key. I have many ideas that I'm just now starting to impliment on our mud. Whether or not it will work is the question. I seem to think it will.

Re: Reaching out beyond text MUDs
 

One thing I think people are forgetting is interaction with other players.
As you all know by now,I have been trying to get into IRE muds and specifically Achaea for some time,but because of RP requirements,I was never able to.
I switched to BatMud,but somehow I got bored of it or something.
Anyway,I am still playing BatMud,but this week,I decided to give Achaea another try and I have to say that this time around,I like what I am doing. Much of this change is due to me being a Monk,instead of a Ranger or Paladin.
At least in Achaea, the Monk provides much more interest(at least to me). In addition, there is the interaction with other players. In the Monk clan, people are helping at all times. They guide newbies during their first steps and further.
Contrary to the Monks, what I have found is that the paladins and the rangers(which I have experienced) only give the reading material and let you deal with everything alone. And that is something that doesn't help newbies.
A solution to this problem is to have more official helpers per users number

Re: Reaching out beyond text MUDs
 

In response to the OP, I recently posted my thoughts at WGfriends, and...

To sum it up, I wouldn't have ever discovered the world of muds if it wasn't through a famous, populated, graphic-client-enriched mud, which is Achaea.

The nicely designed, colorful client helped to balance the influx of text without overwhelming me. But it still took me a few months to dedicate myself to the game. I kept coming back, getting repulsed, and coming back again with greater determination.
Even though I no longer play Achaea, for me it was a gateway, a gentle teacher, and an enlightening messenger.

Perhaps you could use this information to bring in more players from the netherworld? :p

Re: Reaching out beyond text MUDs
 

I think this is the case with many players that come from the outside who didn't know about the wonderful world of MUDs. It was similar to me when I first started, but on a cheesewiz client and not an ounce of graphics. Loved it though.

Re: Reaching out beyond text MUDs
 

Another thing that I think is a problem is that in some MUDs, many important NPC disappear and get killed by adventurers,which wastes players time in quests and such.
I don't recall seeing NPCs in graphic MMORPGs,especially important NPC disappear or be killed
An example of that is found in Achaea,where the pygmistress is killed so much by players that there is absolutely no point in killing any hellcats to try and sell them for gold.

Re: Reaching out beyond text MUDs
 

Yeah, that's kind of a battle between immersion and playability and I can see where you'd prefer us err on the side of playability.

--matt

Re: Reaching out beyond text MUDs
 

Not just IRE Matt.I have noticed the same issue with many other games.
And if the Muds want to attract more players and get more of a higher playerbase, yourself and all the MUDs devs need to start paying attention to playability,instead of immersion.And by the way,immersion can be accomplished along with playability.You don't need to sacrifice playability nor immersion.
For a player that wants to play for like 10 minutes,having to deal with a dead NPC is a waste of time

And if and you the other Muds devs don't want to fix that,then provide a specific time when the NPC in question is available and the amount of time the NPC will be available

My point is that for MUDs to gain more players,MUDs need to think about both playability and immersion,but especially playability.
There is no point for a player to be immersed if playability is not there

Re: Reaching out beyond text MUDs
 

Pardon my joining the thread hijack, but I hope I am at least in context with the last few posts of the thread.

It is a weighted balance. Differing styles of MUD call for weighting more toward one side (or sides, as there is more to consider then just those two posted options) based on what the designer is attempting to accomplish.

I agree a dead NPC needed for a quest seems rather bothersome. Without knowing the specific need for the NPC, why the NPC is able to be killed, the code behind the game or the reasoning behind the design it is hard to state why it cannot be taken care of with ease.

It should be possible to deal with by:
1) Making the specific quest NPC unattackable.
2) Make attacking the specific quest NPC less desirable to attack (harder to kill, less reward, consequences, guards).
3) Have the NPC re-spawn quickly if killed, possibly with a limiter to make immediately killing it again a lot less worthwhile.

Just 3 off the top of my head, and I am sure that the team on that game could come up with many more (and likely a lot better ones!). My coffee is just a little to strong today, and I could not resist.

Re: Reaching out beyond text MUDs
 

I like your thinking.
Those are the perfect solutions.