Its not my intention to start a debate about what defines a mud, but I would say that most people who frequent these forums use it to refer to text based muds specifically, as opposed to the 3d graphics games pitched at mass audiences.
In terms of the average text-based mud player, I tend to think they do care about more than a pair of stats. Many use it for cues about how to act, and how to imagine their characters.
To chime in on the other questions, my personal preference is for a range of 5-10 races. In those, I would suggest making about half of them familiar, and about half of them original and weird to accomodate a range of tastes.
Ryan
|