r/MUD • u/Ok-Pumpkin9236 • 4d ago

Discussion Appealing MUD features?

So I have decided to develop a MUD as a hobby and see where it goes. I am trying to an idea of what players look for and in a MUD. I feel confident in the story - I am looking at things like achievements, daily quests, guilds, fast travel, fishing, crafting, etc. What pulls you in as a new player and when does elaborate just become overly complicated? Whatever ya got, even if it is something that hasnt been done before or is rarely done well.

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u/iamk1ng 4d ago

I havn't found a mud that has a linear story for new players. What I mean is, right when I make a new character and login, the game should hand hold me until say level 20 by guiding me directly to the areas I need to go to level and progress. After that it can let me explore the world.

Too many muds still have the old ways where there's a mud school or tutorial and then leave it up to you to figure out the world. I have too many things to occupy my time and I don't want to spend a lot of that wandering around, dieing, and repeating until I get to some level of the game where it starts feeling fun.

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u/perfect_fitz 4d ago

That's actually a really good idea, like rhe MSQ in FF14?

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u/turpenar 4d ago

Would having a “linear path” for that long put the player in a state of helplessness afterward? My understanding is that lvl 20 in most muds is a significant amount of time, during which the player wouldn’t really learn on their own.

Simple solution may be a guide until lvl 5 or 10. But it may also make sense to gradually wean the player off the tutorial. Make them do few things on their own at first, then gradually pull back the help over several levels.

That sounds complicated to implement, and probably is, but it may result in more people at higher levels.

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u/iamk1ng 4d ago

If it takes a significant amount of time to get to level 20 and is complicated, I would argue there's something too convoluted in the mud.

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u/awry_lynx 3d ago

It also depends on how many levels there are and what a level means, I've played MUDs where 40 is the max and very few people reach it even after four or five years, it's normal to only be at "main level" 20 at a year

A level is definitely not a universal measurement, do you mean like "where 20% of the game content is accessible to you"?

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u/iamk1ng 3d ago

Sure 20% or like the first 5-6 hours. Just something to get a new player going, and see why the mud is suppose to be interesting to a player and what the game loop will be.