What is the purpose of race for a mud?

Since most MUDs have classes to determine the main play style of a character, race is often something that is selected when a player is created, and then is of limited importance from that point on. Sometime, race will mean the difference of an extra attack (such as a bite), or will mean a few extra points of one stat at the expense of another. The effect is that most players will either just pick human, or they will pick a race that maximizes their class. That approach leads to race becoming little more than a minor boost for players who know what the best race is for a given class, and simply select that race.

Race should be both balanced, and meaningful. This means that race should confer benefits or weaknesses that are equal for all races. A hobbit warrior should be just as strong as a canis warrior. Just not in the same way. The same with a human; human cannot simply be a default race.

Creating this balance is the only way to ensure a diversity of race and class combinations. It is also the only way to make race worth the time of having it. If one races is better than the rest for a mage, all the best players will make mages of that class. If every class has a best race, there is no reason to have race at-all.

PVP - Player verse Player

To PvP or not to PvP - that is the question. Well, it is the question for today. The MUD community is divided where some want to PvP, and others do not.

The Case for PvP
Some believe that the only fair challenge for a human is to fight another human. They believe that, given enough time, the most devoted mudders will eventually be able to kill any MOB on their MUD and lose interest if they do not face a human foe. The only options, then, are to either continually build new and harder zones, or let the players fight themselves.

The Case Against PvP
Imagine that you are a new player on a mud. You work hard and get some decent eq, start saving up some money, and gain a few levels. Others help you out and you start to feel good. Then someone asks you to group with him, takes you to a dangerous area, attacks you when you are fighting a MOB, kills you, loots your equipment and takes you gold. Well, many in that situation would quit and find a new MUD, other would never group again, and still others would take every step afraid of death. The argument against PvP is that PvP has several negative side effects from discouraging grouping to driving away new players.

Is there Middle Ground?
Many MUD have implemented features to provide a middle ground. One that gives the benefits of PvP, while reducing some of the problems associated with it. Some efforts include:

• Allowing PvP, but marking those who do it as criminals
• Allowing PvP in some zones, but not others
• Allowing players to choose PvP mode or non PvP mode
• Allowing PvP only when a challenge is agreed to

In many cases these middle ground options provide the best of both words; in other cases they provide the worst of both worlds. That said, with MUDS available that allow PvP, that do not allow PvP, and that are somewhere in between, players are better off as they can choose the option that best meets their needs.

Group Play Is Good

Part of the enjoyment of a MUD is playing with others. A MUD with players who interact, work together, and even fight each other will better maintain its player-base than a MUD where players work solo.

Here are some ways to encourage grouping:

-Do not allow multi-playing, or limit it to 2 chars being allowed logged on at one time. If a person is able to take advantage of grouping without working with someone else, it reduces the need to work with others

-Do not reduce experience for killing a MUD when part of a group; especially when players in the group are close in level

-Make each class different, so that each char will have strengths and weaknesses.

-Do not allow, or place limits on the ability of to multi-class. A mage/cleric/warrior has less need to group than a pure cleric.

-Make sure that spells can stack to further help a team. For example, maybe give warriors 'dodge', mages 'armor', psions 'illusion', bards 'song of defense,' and clerics 'sanctuary' so that a warrior tank can receive the benefit of armor, illusion, song of defense, and sanctuary making him a much stronger tank if group with others. By allowing skills and spells of each class to make the other classes stronger, it further helps foster grouping.

-Design zones with groups in mind. Make zones where you need the skills of 3-4 different classes to clear the zone. Perhaps a door that needs picked by a thief, a strong mob in a silence zone that requires nonmagical strength, and another MOB that is too large bash, too tall to gouge but is susceptible to fireballs..

-Finally, make some zones too hard to clear without teamwork.

How Many Levels Should a Mud Have

Some Muds do not have a level-based system. Other MUDs, such as Diku or CircleMUD have 30 levels. Still others have 50, 100, or more levels. Is there a right number?

First, we need to realize that the number of levels cannot be looked at individually. We need to also consider if a MUD has a skill-based system, a remort system, and equiptment system, or other systems that act similar to levels. If a MUD uses a skill system, that is sort of like having a level or each skill. A remort system can effectively double or triple the number of levels. The same is also true for a MUD where equipment make a difference. While these factors are all important, the same general rules apply when deciding how many levels for a MUD to have. These considerations include:

Every Level Should Mean Something
It is not a good idea to double the number of levels and simply make every other level not matter. Many MUD have 50 or 100 levels, when only 20 - 30 of them make a difference. If the main gain for obtaining a level is an additional 10 hitpoints for someone who already has 500 hitpoints, that is not substantial. Likewise, if the main gain is to be able to use a skill that you may use one time for every 200 battles, it is not substantial. As a general rule, each level should allow someone to play in a new zone, defeat a major new MOB, or something similar.

Every Level Should Take Effort to Obtain
Gaining a level should be a major accomplishment. If a MUD has 100 levels, at any given time, the 90% of the players should not be level 100. Generally speaking, after the first few levels, one should not be able to gain a level every 30 minutes.

It Should Not be Too Hard to Level
Making leveling to hard is actually worse than making it too easy. Players will quit if they feel they are not making any progress. Players will get discouraged if they need to play 5 hours to obtain their first level. Early and middle levels should take no longer than 1 to 2 hours to game play each to obtain.

Leveling Should Include Consideration of Race, Class, etc.
A pure warrior should level more quickly than a mixed Warrior/Mage/Cleric. This is because the more complex and more advanced players should be given more of a challenge, while the newer players should be able to more quickly create an average strength char. The idea is that if your end result is better, it needs to be at the trade-off of having a much slower start.

Those are just a few considerations in regards to how many levels to have.