|
Well, that's not necessarily true, at least as far as the social aspect goes. Different MUDs have different cultures and social scenes. It's possible the Med culture is appealing to a wider variety of people.
Personally, my theory is that Med thrives, essentially, by being populist. It's the McDonalds, Wal-Mart, or vanilla of MUDs. McDonalds isn't the only place in the world with chicken sandwiches or salads, but you can bet they get people in the door by advertising them.
More people would want to play a no-RP MUD than a RP MUD, so that's what Med is. More people want to play a simpler game, so that's what Med is. More people want to play a game where you never are forced to take real PvP risks or seriously compete. so that's what Med is. (But there's bits of risky opt-in-only PK so people who want to be badass posers can -- just as McDonalds has the Filet-o-Fish for those seafood cravings.)
It doesn't make design choices that strongly appeal to niche audiences, doesn't do anything particularly distinctive or daring. That philosophy, ironically, is what's distinct. I personally can't stand vanilla, but you know, a lot of people think it's great. If you're only going to sell one flavor, you're not going out of business selling vanilla. It's the same way with Med, and its mainstream appeal is as incomprehensible to MUD connoisseurs as Budweiser as the King of Beers is to beer aficionados.
|