02 Nov, 2013, Otviss wrote in the 1st comment:
Votes: 0
(Note, this has been posted on mudconnect.com also and can be viewed by clicking the link)

Hello

So, I have been playing MUDs for 3-4 years now. Ive played MUDs including : Armageddon, Ateraan, Achaea, Threshold etc.(All the big names)
and ive also played some of the lesser known for experimenting purposes and thanks to my curiousity.
One which is "Coffee MUD" which i found VERY interesting and enjoyable. Though, it was only me online (All the time).

Anyway, what ive played isnt so important really.

I woke up this morning with an idea, which might seem crazy and unlogical for some, but to me very reasonable.

Not very long ago i played a few "Interactive Fictions" and stumbled upon a partiular one, which was very abstract in its story-telling. This has been the most intriguing way to play
text games for me. Since sometimes, logical paths to a goal, is too stupid and unsatisfying.

Perhaps, the reason why these type of game mechanics have not been converted to MUDs is because they "DONT WORK".
But I am still eager to know if this is true or not.

To make things clear again..
What i want to know is if an "Abstract" MUD is possible to script and design. I know what youre thinking, Why? Mudding is surely about immersive fantasy worlds and such.
But, if an abstract MUD existed im convinced that the player satisfaction would be much much higher than that of a popular and plain MUD.

So to make things even clearer.

- Abstract MUD - Possible or not?

- If possible, Is there an audience for it?

- If not, what can be done to try to achieve it alteast.

- Would i get help?.

Even this post is slightly abstract, But maybe it is meant to be. Maybe you abstract thinkers out there can make something out of this mess and understand my important message.

With enough feedback i could explain how this is beneficial to the MUD culture and future MUDs.

Pet a donkey.
-Otviss
02 Nov, 2013, khyldes wrote in the 2nd comment:
Votes: 0
Don't know about abstract style muds, but I just wanted to chime in that I <3 CoffeeMud and its most recent update has just made it that much better.

I have a new install running at skmud.com 9100 with default areas installed until I can convert our old ones to .cmare format.

Come check it out if you get the time.
02 Nov, 2013, lurker_veteran wrote in the 3rd comment:
Votes: 0
Otviss said:
Not very long ago i played a few "Interactive Fictions" and stumbled upon a partiular one, which was very abstract in its story-telling. This has been the most intriguing way to play
text games for me. Since sometimes, logical paths to a goal, is too stupid and unsatisfying.
-Otviss

Can you name that IF game?
02 Nov, 2013, Otviss wrote in the 4th comment:
Votes: 0
lurker_veteran said:
Can you name that IF game?

Absolutely - Here is a link to the game on the interactive fiction database. Beyond the Tesseract is the name of the IF.

One of the most popular IFs is called "Photopia" which also has some surreal features which i would like to see in a MUD. And imagine it, "Photopia" really is one of the most popular if not THE most popular IF (Modern IF). I would appreciate if you take a look at the discussion going on at "Mudconnect.com". I would just really want help with being put on the right path in to the right direction so to say, Regarding what source code to use etc.

I myself have no skills or experience in programming or any source code at all really, it is a shame. But i would first like to see how this idea turns in to some practical material. oh im just talking nonsense.

Apart from that i would also like to ask again a very important question :

-Is there an audience for this type game?
03 Nov, 2013, donky wrote in the 5th comment:
Votes: 0
I don't really understand this thread. But the mud-dev mailing list refers to implementations of surreal features, in live muds. Google for: mud dev blue grass path lawrence. For one example. :surprised: :thinking: :grinning: :cyclops: :biggrin: :tongue: :robot: :alien: :wink: :mad: :mad: :mad: :cry: :wink: :cool: :smirk: :smile: :alien: :stare: :blues: :robot: :devil: :tongue: :biggrin: :redface: :cyclops: :rolleyes: :grinning: :unclesam: :thinking: :ghostface: End of post.
03 Nov, 2013, Otviss wrote in the 6th comment:
Votes: 0
So for a further explanation of this topic, please visit the same thread at "Mudconnect.com"
But for those of you who want a little quicker explanation.
I am looking for a few answers, it concerns the creation and exploration of "Abstract and surreal MUDs".
There are a few IF examples of this, but is is possible to implement this on to multiplayer gaming, and if so, is there an audience for it, would people play it. I consider yes.
02 May, 2014, hitsuzen wrote in the 7th comment:
Votes: 0
Your base mud audience is already very small. Sub 25k concurrent players probably, which makes for about maybe 125k total active players year round; rough estimate of course

Of all those users, how many want to roleplay (or level up characters or something) in an environment which does not invite escapism? Escapism is one of the biggest draws of muds – a surreal world is kind of hard to escape to.

It really depends on the implementation. How close to reality will your world be? In what ways will it be surreal? Even in a case where the gameworld and its mechanics are still very relatable, I think you will have a challenge developing a core audience.

Finally, a mud is a world where humans interact. We are not really all that surreal in the context of a mud - your world might be surreal, but your players will be saying "lol" and "hi waht's up" all the damn time - mundane stuff which even in an odd context is not very surreal. You'll need to consider the social factor when designing a surreal mud - perhaps adding heavy chat filtering so players have difficulty communicating with each other. This makes your game very difficult to break into though.

A sort-of surreal and yet very popular (and old) game would be… Kingdom of Loathing I guess. Maybe more silly than surreal though.
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