Didn't quite know how to categorize this so I did the best I could :)
I've just been sitting and wondering to myself, what does a player want in
a MUD, or more specificly what do I (or you) want in a MUD? Is there just
some little hidden code in the login that draw hundreds of plays to MUDs
like Avalon and Medavia? When I log onto a MUD what am I hoping to see,
what am I hoping to be able to do?
Well in my thinking I came up with a few things that I think most people
want in a MUD and I wanted to get input on this and see what others had to
add.
1) I don't want to see a stock MUD
The most boring thing there is (to me anyway) is when I log into a MUD
and the first place I see is Midgaard. It's the same place no matter what
MUD it is.. Sometimes all it is is a name change, but the layout,
descriptions, and NPCs are the same old thing. Very few MUDs take the
time to develope a world anew. They figure that if the MUD lasts they'll
add onto it with new areas for their players to 'discover' and new NPCs
for the players to kill. Give me a break! Why not give it to them
upfront? I would much rather be thrown into a world that I had no idea
where the Silver Dragon was or if there was even a Silver Dragon then have
to face another moment in Midgaard. I'm not saying drop them into the
world with no idea of what's going on but that goes into #2.
2) MUD Schools (Newbie Schools)
Where have they gone? More and more MUDs seem to expect their players to
know exactly what to do as soon as they log on. This isn't fair to any
player whether experianced or not, and it's not fair to the people on the
MUD who have to answer the same questions every 10 minutes cause Grand
Admiral Newbie wizzed through a stock Newbie School and still doesn't know
what he's doing. We need to learn to make or Newbie Schools more
interesting and intensive. How would you like it if you relized that
without the diploma the teacher gave you the executioner won't let you
leave the temple? Wouldn't you like to know what sets the MUD your on
apart from the rest? Tell them in the Newbie School. Give them a history
lesson, a language lesson, maybe even a 'fencing' lesson (you know that
little +10% to short swords). Instead of a bunch of room descriptions
telling the players everything get them involved!
3) Room Descriptions
I once visited a MUD that actually gave things when people looked at the
room descriptions.. Nothing big like an immortal character or the sword
of all mighty doom, but when a player looked he would notice a bird in the
tree. "look bird tree" would let the player know that the bird was not
real but made of gold. So a little *gold* bird in a tree that didn't show
as an object in the room just gained me 25 gold! But you can't just throw
stuff like that in their and expect the players to read. You have to
remember, we have to create thid world for them, our words, our ideas,
need to be conveyed through them in as few words as possible (I'm sorry, I
like room descriptions, but not 5 pages of them). Let's make our 'worlds'
more beautiful for the players to 'see'
4) Mobs & Hack -n- Slash
Have you ever wondered what you players would do if they relized that
fido wasn't coming back after they killed him? Wouldn't it just suck for
them if they actually had to go out and find new NPCs to hunt? And what
about if the kill the little boy on the corner of 1st and Main, maybe the
Armor Smith isn't to happy that you killed his son? Wouldn't it just be
awesome to be able to walk in to a virtual world? MUD's were not intended
to be hack -n- slash, (atleast not from what I understand) they just ended
up that way. What if we could get our players back into these virtual
worlds and make them become someone there, not a demi god who can kill
with reckless abandon. Have cities *all* band agianst someone who kills
in their town, have ransoms payed for the deaths of thieves and brigards,
we can make it all happen; if we want to. DG Scripting is an awesome tool
for something like this.
Anyway I think I've ranted enough.. Maybe this will help some new
Implementor seek direction in his MUD, maybe not. Either way what's your
2 cents?
-~=<< Brian A. Hartvigsen >>=~-
"Don't be irreplaceable; if you can't be replaced,
you can't be promoted." --Unknown
--
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| FAQ: http://qsilver.queensu.ca/~fletchra/Circle/list-faq.html |
| Archives: http://post.queensu.ca/listserv/wwwarch/circle.html |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : 04/11/01 PDT