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| makeamuck [2022/07/26 15:31] – created ari | makeamuck [2022/07/26 15:35] (current) – ari |
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| And I think I need to start by telling you why what you want to do is a bad idea. You probably won't listen, but I implore you to read this section before reading the rest out of respect for the person who took the time to put this information together for you. | And I think I need to start by telling you why what you want to do is a bad idea. You probably won't listen, but I implore you to read this section before reading the rest out of respect for the person who took the time to put this information together for you. |
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| First off, usually the request for information is accompanied with an assurance. "I'll still play hear", they will say, or "I won't take players from here" they might say. That's actually a fallacy. I believe the best way for a roleplay based MUCK to survive is to gather as many people as possible under a loose theme so that you can have the largest possible population of people that want to roleplay under one roof. | First off, usually the request for information is accompanied with an assurance. "I'll still play here", they will say, or "I won't take players from here" they might say. That's actually a fallacy. I believe the best way for a roleplay based MUCK to survive is to gather as many people as possible under a loose theme so that you can have the largest possible population of people that want to roleplay under one roof. |
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| Hope Island is reasonably close to being that, and that is why it is "successful" (arguably). The more splintered MUCKs and the more specific themes get, the more spread thin the pool of people who want to roleplay, and the less people show up on these MUCKs. And ultimately, the whole batch of them die due to people leaving MUCKing or going back to the big ones. | Hope Island is reasonably close to being that, and that is why it is "successful" (arguably). The more splintered MUCKs and the more specific themes get, the more spread thin the pool of people who want to roleplay, and the less people show up on these MUCKs. And ultimately, the whole batch of them die due to people leaving MUCKing or going back to the big ones. |
| So this is going to get into some armchair psychology here. However, I've been MUCKing for around 30 years so I have seem a lot of stuff. And the first thing to understand, is people MUCK for different reasons. More or less, the reasons are: | So this is going to get into some armchair psychology here. However, I've been MUCKing for around 30 years so I have seem a lot of stuff. And the first thing to understand, is people MUCK for different reasons. More or less, the reasons are: |
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| * Showboating. Some people like an audience for antics of various sorts. These are the people in the Plaza on Tapestries, for instance; you'll notice there's two distincts groups in that plaza. Those that pose publically and those that are whispering others. There's a little bit of overlap; sometimes you get someone that will pose a couple times in public, but mostly stick to whispers. The ones that go into the plaza and make a lot of noise, I call them Showboaters because they're out there for the audience and sometimes wrestle amongst themselves for the crown of who can pull the most attention. Showboaters only have fun if they have a big audience, and while what they do might be RP, they won't stick around on a small MUCK. Trust me, I know. | * Showboating. Some people like an audience for antics of various sorts. These are the people in the Plaza on Tapestries, for instance; you'll notice there's two distincts groups in that plaza. Those that pose publically and those that are whispering others. There's a little bit of overlap; sometimes you get someone that will pose a couple times in public, but mostly stick to whispers. The ones that go into the plaza and make a lot of noise, I call them Showboaters because they're out there for the audience and sometimes wrestle amongst themselves for the crown of who can pull the most attention. Showboaters only have fun if they have a big audience, and while what they do might be RP, they won't stick around on a small MUCK. Trust me, I know. |
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| * Sex. Let's not kid ourselves, here. A lot of people are on MUCKs just to find partners for this. There's nothing wrong with it, either, but this isn't really roleplay and these players are kind of like a drag on a roleplay MUCK. They don't contribute much, but they take people who might contribute out of action on occasion and may even annoy people to the point they leave. | * Sex. Let's not kid ourselves, here. A lot of people are on MUCKs just to find partners for this. There's nothing wrong with it, either, but this isn't really roleplay and these players are kind of like a drag on a roleplay MUCK. They don't contribute much, but they take people who might contribute out of action on occasion and may even annoy people to the point they leave. |
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| * OOC stuff. Some people just aren't interested in roleplay. I've seen RP MUCKs that have turned into OOC MUCKs because nobody feels like playing the theme and they all hang out in the OOC zones. More likely than not, these people won't be usful to a new MUCK. | * OOC stuff. Some people just aren't interested in roleplay. I've seen RP MUCKs that have turned into OOC MUCKs because nobody feels like playing the theme and they all hang out in the OOC zones. More likely than not, these people won't be usful to a new MUCK. |
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| * A Very Specific Thing. Some people have a kink or some such that they are totally all about, and they'll pursue the ends of the Earth to find it. I'm not going to make a list, because that will make people feel singled out, but we've all met one of these before where all they're interested in one thing (not counting sex). These types will stick around as long as their one interest is being tickled, but usually aren't very useful for RP. | * A Very Specific Thing. Some people have a kink or some such that they are totally all about, and they'll pursue the ends of the Earth to find it. I'm not going to make a list, because that will make people feel singled out, but we've all met one of these before where all they're interested in one thing (not counting sex). These types will stick around as long as their one interest is being tickled, but usually aren't very useful for RP. |
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| * Kids. This is related to A Very Specific Thing, but it deserves being called out specially. There is a very large percentage of the MUCKing population that's just out there to play child characters. Some of them play children in a child-like fashion, but the majority of those are after sex. This is, possibly, the most devisive issue in MUCKing as it is one of the few things that will make players up and leave if they don't like your MUCK's treatment of them. These players are toxic and usually not useful for RP; if anything, they'll drive other good players away. | * Kids. This is related to A Very Specific Thing, but it deserves being called out specially. There is a very large percentage of the MUCKing population that's just out there to play child characters. Some of them play children in a child-like fashion, but the majority of those are after sex. This is, possibly, the most devisive issue in MUCKing as it is one of the few things that will make players up and leave if they don't like your MUCK's treatment of them. These players are toxic and usually not useful for RP; if anything, they'll drive other good players away. |
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| * Roleplayers. People actually looking for roleplay. The players you want to court! These are different from showboaters because they don't care about the audience, they just want to play a game and escape the RL world for a bit. They're different from the Very Specific Thing crowd because they want to play a wide variety of experiences. Sex may be part of it, but it isn't all of it. | * Roleplayers. People actually looking for roleplay. The players you want to court! These are different from showboaters because they don't care about the audience, they just want to play a game and escape the RL world for a bit. They're different from the Very Specific Thing crowd because they want to play a wide variety of experiences. Sex may be part of it, but it isn't all of it. |
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| There's probably other reasons, and sometimes you have someone out there for more than one reason, but I think those categories are broad enough to get the major use cases. | There's probably other reasons, and sometimes you have someone out there for more than one reason, but I think those categories are broad enough to get the major use cases. Why do I mention these? To show that the people actually interested in playing on your MUCK are actually a sliver of the pie. So how big is the pie? Let's consider that next. |
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| ===== How many MUCKers are there? ===== | ===== How many MUCKers are there? ===== |
| ===== Technical Skills ===== | ===== Technical Skills ===== |
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| * Break down tech skills | * Break down tech skills |
| * referal link to my digital ocean | * Policies and theme (and how these can shoot you in the foot) |
| * link to different guides, etc. | * Attracting differnet player types |
| | * referal link to my digital ocean |
| | * link to different guides, etc. |
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