[MUD-Dev] Forks or Frameworks?

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Wed, 20 Dec 2000, Koster, Raph wrote:


> I wrote (grumpily):

> > Personally, I have a difficult time understanding why anyone who is
> > setting out to make a good mud would use _any_ copycatted content.
> 
> 1. Because they want a platform they are familiar with.
> 2. Because they want to do "X mud but better"
> 3. Because they want a rapid prototyping platform to test concepts
> 4. Because they don't have the chops to make everything from scratch
> (which doesn't, IMHO, preclude their being able to make a good mud).
> 
> Much as we might like to decry stockmud syndrome, it's not a bad thing
> for the community, IMHO. If they didn't exist, then we'd just have
> fewer people who created new codebases.

The above are all valid reasons for using a stock mud, I agree. BUT,
what I disagree with is your statement that it is not a bad thing for
the community. I think it is a very bad thing for the community, and,
more to the point in my mind, it is a very bad thing for me. I should
not have to be embarassed when I tell people that I run a MUD for a
living, yet I feel twinges of embarassment if the person I'm talking
to is familiar with text MUDs, because most of them are so bloody
awful.

The fact is, while the above are valid reasons, in the end, I believe
that endless DIKU clones hurts those of us trying to do quality
products, not just take the easy way out. Further, I believe they are
detrimental to the community because they cause people to look at a
few random MUDs, think "MUDS ARE CRAP!" and then go away, never to
play MUDs again. I have only anecdotal evidence that this happens, but
given the number of my players that have told me they would have quit
mudding had they not found Achaea (I'm sure you could substitute a
number of other quality muds for Achaea in this sense), I think it's a
reasonable assumption that many people think all MUDs are endless DIKU
clones.

--matt

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