Epiphany

I just had a sudden realization that it would be foolish to stop development on Meat MUD Classic just because I want to preserve it the way it is now, and not improve upon the original. You would think that by now I would pick up on the fact that while I may miss the original Meat MUD from the early 90s, there are not many other people who do, and even more importantly very few new players who want to get into such a game.

For example, this would be like current World of Warcraft players going back to Ultima Online - it just ain't gonna happen. I made the mistake of assuming that because I miss the old goofy group of players of the original Meat MUD then lots of people would love to jump into a practically stock MUD with the same tired features and gameplay that have been MUD staples for decades. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) things have changed - drastically - on the internet and elsewhere.

So where am I going with this line of thinking?

Well, for starters, I have decided to put the Changeling MUD project on hold, probably indefinitely, unless there's a consensus to change the name of Meat MUD. In addition, I would like to propose a series of changes that I would like to see implemented over the next year or so. This will probably require us to revert to Alpha development stage, until the majority of these changes are implemented. Before we start down this path, however, I would like to see Meat MUD Classic flushed out enough to establish an official 1.0 release (currently I think we could consider ourselves at version 0.9). This will require the completion of Castle Dracula - or at least enough completion to allow it to be connected to the rest of the game. I also wish to finish the Quest for Immortality, and I plan to remove any areas from the game that are sub-par, such as the Highlands zone (which is quite frankly terrible), unless they can be improved. I would also like to import Rome and Castle Welmar which were originally part of Meat MUD, and if any former builders of Meat MUD still have their original areas that they added to the MUD I would love to incorporate those as well. My final requirement for 1.0 status is completed help files.

To accomplish this goal by the end of the year (which may be an unrealistic goal) I will need help. Any current players of Meat MUD Classic who would like to help, please let me know by leaving a comment or contacting me directly.