Text based games (forum/MUD/MUSH/MOO/Custom) are still there and thriving with small communities. They never went away really. I run a small community text based game, and have for a decade and still get players through the door.
A lot of what people said is true, the newest generation of players don't even understand what it is, or have never played paper & dice games. It's just the way it goes. I prefer the text based for real community, role play and writing. Writing is a fundamental process in text based games that is often overlooked.
I've played Achaea and still log in from time to time, glad to see it mentioned by other posters here. Really stellar roleplay, recommend to anyone who's interested in trying MUDs. Its also like the only MUD that has a listing here on MMORPG.com http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/722
3 Years of Warhammer online behind me (came back with 1.4.0 to try it again and liked it) and 2 weeks before they put down the 2 remaining servers I was back playing wotmud.
Like it, hate it but for me wotmud (Wheel of Time mud) is still, and by far, the best PvP/PK game out there fantasy IP based. It's brutal, nasty, mean but it's the only game that gives me the PK shakes.
As for roleplay.
Peeps always think it's about tea-time roleplay while the first purpose of role playing is just staying in character and behave as your toon should behave.
The oldest commercial MUD on the internet, still limping along, but turning toward F2P-style monetization.
I'm afraid that the journey's over, and all roads lead (eventually) to the same dreary destination.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
A lot of what people said is true, the newest generation of players don't even understand what it is, or have never played paper & dice games. It's just the way it goes. I prefer the text based for real community, role play and writing. Writing is a fundamental process in text based games that is often overlooked.
Each to their own.
Yeah,
Most peeps have no clue or no idea what a MUD actually is.
They think we're playing text adventures from the 80's online. Others think we're spending our time reading descriptions or telling flower power stories all in the same room. Or they think mud's are only for hardcore roleplayers and people writing stories or books.
And of course MUD's are completely ignored by all the medias.
The good thing about non commercial mud's is that they don't need a big player base to survive and being fun.
I have been thinking about this the past few days, and I'm thinking there's no reason it couldn't work. I mean, if hundreds of people will spend time on internet forums typing at each other, why wouldn't they spend time in a game typing at each other?
I was also thinking about a forum system that worked the way the text based adventure games worked. People would walk around a building or something to get to the sub forums, and they could "see" the people in the same forums with them. That kind of thing.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Why would you settle for a half ass effort,there is no reason you can't have a role playing game and good graphics,no reason at all.You do not need to start making low budget text based games to pull it off.
All that would do is carry the same effect as Farmville,a super cheap game making millions and tons others copying the idea.
I am all for any business trying to get rich and make a living,but i am not in favor of seeing 1-2 guys writing a bunch of text and calling it a game and making millions from it.That would not encourage developers to go triple A,instead they would see that 10k game and jump on the bandwagon,which is exactly what has been happening.
I understand there will be some very creative or brilliant writers that cannot do computer code but if they are going to try and run a business off of MMORPG gaming,they had better hire some people who can handle code.
Bottom line is you can find some great creative writers for the text portion of a game but just add in some voice overs and it becomes a more professional effort.ANYONE can add in voice overs,it takes very little effort and almost no cost unless hiring real life actors.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Originally posted by Wizardry Why would you settle for a half ass effort,there is no reason you can't have a role playing game and good graphics,no reason at all.You do not need to start making low budget text based games to pull it off.All that would do is carry the same effect as Farmville,a super cheap game making millions and tons others copying the idea.I am all for any business trying to get rich and make a living,but i am not in favor of seeing 1-2 guys writing a bunch of text and calling it a game and making millions from it.That would not encourage developers to go triple A,instead they would see that 10k game and jump on the bandwagon,which is exactly what has been happening.I understand there will be some very creative or brilliant writers that cannot do computer code but if they are going to try and run a business off of MMORPG gaming,they had better hire some people who can handle code.Bottom line is you can find some great creative writers for the text portion of a game but just add in some voice overs and it becomes a more professional effort.ANYONE can add in voice overs,it takes very little effort and almost no cost unless hiring real life actors.
You think it would be easy to write a text based MMORPG that actually worked well? Sure, you eliminate the time consuming graphics portion of development, but you have a whole different set of issues to deal with. Not the least of which is not writing too much descriptive text, but at the same time getting enough information across to the player. Another is the limited amount of positions the player can be in any given "room". In a 3D or even 2D game, player can spend time just moving about in a room or jumping on the bed. Not so with a text based game. There are similarities, but there would be a whole different set of challenges to overcome before the developer could make a good game.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Clearly Wizardry has no idea what MUD's are and how advanced and complex the top-ends are. Wizardry just see it as some bunch of big text put together and that's it. Not a flame Wizz but that's how you and so many others think about the subject, sadly.
Let me explain to you what wotmud is. (Wheel of time mud)
May be it'll help you to see the light through the MMORPG darkness surrounding our lives. ;-)
3 Factions (Light Side, Dark Side, Seanchan) Aiel aren't implemented
Full PvP, no safe rooms and same side killing + Darkfriends. Full loot, xp loss up to losing level(s) and TP's loss on PK death.
Darkfriends are LS and Seanchan that have turned their back on their side and help the Dark Side. Fully implemented with hidden, to protect them, Quest Point system that will have them remort, become full Dark Side as Fade or Dreadlord, if they succeed and reach the needed amount of Quest Points. This doesn't exist in any MMORPG I know of.
Rare and unique items in game, weapons and equipment. Rare means only a couple in game, unique only one in game. Doesn't exist in any PvP MMORPG I played.
Clans (MUD) vs Guilds(MMORPG). Guilds are always generic, always the same for everyone, while clans are in game build custom designed. Every clan is different with different bonuses at rank 5 and 7, being PK bonuses or RP bonuses.
20K + rooms, 50+ implemented clans, 100+ Smobs, Hundredes of weapons, Hundreds of pieces of equipment., 20+ different kind of mounts excluding rank 5 clan mounts of course, coaches, boats. And so on and so on. Way too much to tell all the stuff put in game over the years.
Warrant system for Clans in their respective region.
Different aggro for the 3 factions.
Light Side has 3 specific dedicated RP clans with typical roleplay bonuses. (Wisdoms, Illuminators, Gleeman) and White Tower is RP heavy.
Remort system for Dark Side. At some point Dark Side players (trollocs) have to possibility to be turned into Dreadlords or Fades. Doesn't exist in any PvP MMORPG I've played.
Assisting patrols at some strategic places to help balance the PK (PvP). MMORPG haven't found out a way to properly balance PvP out for the outnumbered, outgunned side while it works perfectly in PK muds.
I can go on and on and on. I would right a book here if I had to explain everything but this should already show you that wotmud isn't just 2 peeps putting together a bunch of text together.
Last thing.
If you think MUDding is all about telling big stories in one room and writing books I suggest you have a look at our AoR (Art of War thread). A place where our peeps post their PK/PvP logs they think could be interesting or fun to read.
Honestly there's some decent MUDs listed @ topmudsites.com, just not the #1 ranked MUD (Aardwolf) they own the site and fix the votes, really horrible example of a MUD.
I have come to the same conclusion as the OP, and am getting my fix on a MUD now. If I had known, I'd have gone there earlier, instead of trying in vain to find creative gameplay on the shallowness that is contemporary graphic MMORPGs.
It would be nice to find immersive and creative gameplay in a graphical engine (and I found it many years ago on privately coded and hosted Neverwinter Nights (1) servers). But since the graphics of NWN are getting very old too, and since newer graphics come with boring and flat gameplay, I have reverted back to pure text. There seems to be some RP going on in graphical games too, but they are all combined with rules and game-mechanics that don't appeal to me and break my immersion. (Most of all: I want to fear death. Besides the RP I like the drama and thrill of serious death-consequences.)
Just a little back-up for a game that was mentioned in an earlier response here and recommended: ARMAGEDDON (http://armageddon.org/).
I find amazing quality of immersion and interaction there. Combined with a harsh setting that goes with merciless rules and mechanics. It's a thrill and an adventure!
The downside of MUDs for me is the language-barrier. As a non-native in english, I often curse my limited abilities, since all and everything regarding gameplay is acted through text. I guess the upside is that my english is getting a polish while I MUD.
... and if text-based MUDs are the only games where I can find what satisfies me in online RPGing, then so be it. 2014 and spiffy graphics available or not.
Honestly there's some decent MUDs listed @ topmudsites.com, just not the #1 ranked MUD (Aardwolf) they own the site and fix the votes, really horrible example of a MUD.
actually i would say aardwolf is a great mud if you are casual player and love leveling up
Honestly there's some decent MUDs listed @ topmudsites.com, just not the #1 ranked MUD (Aardwolf) they own the site and fix the votes, really horrible example of a MUD.
actually i would say aardwolf is a great mud if you are casual player and love leveling up
but their roleplay is absolutely nonexistent, most of the player's titles are cringe-worthy when you're coming from an RP based MUD.
Comments
Text based games (forum/MUD/MUSH/MOO/Custom) are still there and thriving with small communities. They never went away really. I run a small community text based game, and have for a decade and still get players through the door.
A lot of what people said is true, the newest generation of players don't even understand what it is, or have never played paper & dice games. It's just the way it goes. I prefer the text based for real community, role play and writing. Writing is a fundamental process in text based games that is often overlooked.
Each to their own.
Thin Oxygen RPG
http://www.thinoxygen.com
Currently playing: Eldevin Online as a Deadly Assassin
Good thread.
3 Years of Warhammer online behind me (came back with 1.4.0 to try it again and liked it) and 2 weeks before they put down the 2 remaining servers I was back playing wotmud.
Like it, hate it but for me wotmud (Wheel of Time mud) is still, and by far, the best PvP/PK game out there fantasy IP based. It's brutal, nasty, mean but it's the only game that gives me the PK shakes.
As for roleplay.
Peeps always think it's about tea-time roleplay while the first purpose of role playing is just staying in character and behave as your toon should behave.
https://store.play.net/store/purchase/gs
The oldest commercial MUD on the internet, still limping along, but turning toward F2P-style monetization.
I'm afraid that the journey's over, and all roads lead (eventually) to the same dreary destination.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
Yeah,
Most peeps have no clue or no idea what a MUD actually is.
They think we're playing text adventures from the 80's online. Others think we're spending our time reading descriptions or telling flower power stories all in the same room. Or they think mud's are only for hardcore roleplayers and people writing stories or books.
And of course MUD's are completely ignored by all the medias.
The good thing about non commercial mud's is that they don't need a big player base to survive and being fun.
I have been thinking about this the past few days, and I'm thinking there's no reason it couldn't work. I mean, if hundreds of people will spend time on internet forums typing at each other, why wouldn't they spend time in a game typing at each other?
I was also thinking about a forum system that worked the way the text based adventure games worked. People would walk around a building or something to get to the sub forums, and they could "see" the people in the same forums with them. That kind of thing.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Why would you settle for a half ass effort,there is no reason you can't have a role playing game and good graphics,no reason at all.You do not need to start making low budget text based games to pull it off.
All that would do is carry the same effect as Farmville,a super cheap game making millions and tons others copying the idea.
I am all for any business trying to get rich and make a living,but i am not in favor of seeing 1-2 guys writing a bunch of text and calling it a game and making millions from it.That would not encourage developers to go triple A,instead they would see that 10k game and jump on the bandwagon,which is exactly what has been happening.
I understand there will be some very creative or brilliant writers that cannot do computer code but if they are going to try and run a business off of MMORPG gaming,they had better hire some people who can handle code.
Bottom line is you can find some great creative writers for the text portion of a game but just add in some voice overs and it becomes a more professional effort.ANYONE can add in voice overs,it takes very little effort and almost no cost unless hiring real life actors.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
You think it would be easy to write a text based MMORPG that actually worked well? Sure, you eliminate the time consuming graphics portion of development, but you have a whole different set of issues to deal with. Not the least of which is not writing too much descriptive text, but at the same time getting enough information across to the player. Another is the limited amount of positions the player can be in any given "room". In a 3D or even 2D game, player can spend time just moving about in a room or jumping on the bed. Not so with a text based game. There are similarities, but there would be a whole different set of challenges to overcome before the developer could make a good game.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Clearly Wizardry has no idea what MUD's are and how advanced and complex the top-ends are. Wizardry just see it as some bunch of big text put together and that's it. Not a flame Wizz but that's how you and so many others think about the subject, sadly.
Let me explain to you what wotmud is. (Wheel of time mud)
May be it'll help you to see the light through the MMORPG darkness surrounding our lives. ;-)
3 Factions (Light Side, Dark Side, Seanchan) Aiel aren't implemented
Full PvP, no safe rooms and same side killing + Darkfriends. Full loot, xp loss up to losing level(s) and TP's loss on PK death.
Darkfriends are LS and Seanchan that have turned their back on their side and help the Dark Side. Fully implemented with hidden, to protect them, Quest Point system that will have them remort, become full Dark Side as Fade or Dreadlord, if they succeed and reach the needed amount of Quest Points. This doesn't exist in any MMORPG I know of.
Rare and unique items in game, weapons and equipment. Rare means only a couple in game, unique only one in game. Doesn't exist in any PvP MMORPG I played.
Clans (MUD) vs Guilds(MMORPG). Guilds are always generic, always the same for everyone, while clans are in game build custom designed. Every clan is different with different bonuses at rank 5 and 7, being PK bonuses or RP bonuses.
20K + rooms, 50+ implemented clans, 100+ Smobs, Hundredes of weapons, Hundreds of pieces of equipment., 20+ different kind of mounts excluding rank 5 clan mounts of course, coaches, boats. And so on and so on. Way too much to tell all the stuff put in game over the years.
Warrant system for Clans in their respective region.
Different aggro for the 3 factions.
Light Side has 3 specific dedicated RP clans with typical roleplay bonuses. (Wisdoms, Illuminators, Gleeman) and White Tower is RP heavy.
Remort system for Dark Side. At some point Dark Side players (trollocs) have to possibility to be turned into Dreadlords or Fades. Doesn't exist in any PvP MMORPG I've played.
Assisting patrols at some strategic places to help balance the PK (PvP). MMORPG haven't found out a way to properly balance PvP out for the outnumbered, outgunned side while it works perfectly in PK muds.
I can go on and on and on. I would right a book here if I had to explain everything but this should already show you that wotmud isn't just 2 peeps putting together a bunch of text together.
Last thing.
If you think MUDding is all about telling big stories in one room and writing books I suggest you have a look at our AoR (Art of War thread). A place where our peeps post their PK/PvP logs they think could be interesting or fun to read.
http://www.wotmud.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=13&sid=d9b4812a6eae6b5e6ad4cecffd5cf7f5
^thanks for that wall of advertisement
Honestly there's some decent MUDs listed @ topmudsites.com, just not the #1 ranked MUD (Aardwolf) they own the site and fix the votes, really horrible example of a MUD.
Currently playing: Eldevin Online as a Deadly Assassin
I have come to the same conclusion as the OP, and am getting my fix on a MUD now. If I had known, I'd have gone there earlier, instead of trying in vain to find creative gameplay on the shallowness that is contemporary graphic MMORPGs.
For a lengthy rant of mine see http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/407566/We-are-writing-the-year-2014-and-the-only-place-for-roleplay-seem-to-be-MUDs.html
It would be nice to find immersive and creative gameplay in a graphical engine (and I found it many years ago on privately coded and hosted Neverwinter Nights (1) servers). But since the graphics of NWN are getting very old too, and since newer graphics come with boring and flat gameplay, I have reverted back to pure text. There seems to be some RP going on in graphical games too, but they are all combined with rules and game-mechanics that don't appeal to me and break my immersion. (Most of all: I want to fear death. Besides the RP I like the drama and thrill of serious death-consequences.)
Just a little back-up for a game that was mentioned in an earlier response here and recommended: ARMAGEDDON (http://armageddon.org/).
I find amazing quality of immersion and interaction there. Combined with a harsh setting that goes with merciless rules and mechanics. It's a thrill and an adventure!
The downside of MUDs for me is the language-barrier. As a non-native in english, I often curse my limited abilities, since all and everything regarding gameplay is acted through text. I guess the upside is that my english is getting a polish while I MUD.
... and if text-based MUDs are the only games where I can find what satisfies me in online RPGing, then so be it. 2014 and spiffy graphics available or not.
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
actually i would say aardwolf is a great mud if you are casual player and love leveling up
but their roleplay is absolutely nonexistent, most of the player's titles are cringe-worthy when you're coming from an RP based MUD.