Zugg Software :: View topic

Newbie Joined: 13 Dec 2003 Posts: 1 Location: USA

As a casual MUD'er who recently got back into playing around six months ago after a three year hiatus playing unfulfilling MMORPG's and beta testing, I'm now looking forward to where MUD's will be in 5-10 years, even as the Mud that I am active in has been around for a decade.

One of the biggest advantages of MUD's has been the ability to play from nearly any computer that has an internet connection. Simply load up Telnet and you're there. Even the slowest computer can handle it. Of course if people thought Telnet was superior to Zmud, we wouldn't have it. No, the additional features such as expanded aliasing, triggers, scripting, and of course Mapping make Zmud very much worthwhile.

Where I believe Zmud should go next is to look at Valve's 'Steam' technology wherein a small resident client can allow any player to login from any computer and have access to any games they own/subscribe to. Sony uses something similar to this called PlayOnline. Regardless of the computer that people are logging into from, they can simply go to www.myzmudonline.com (or something like that). Login to a secure server and download an ActiveX program that integrates into the browser, and all of your maps, aliases, friends lists, perhaps even Z-Mail, a sort of internal e-mail system that would allow individuals to keep in touch with other MUDers.

Now I know one of the most defensible aspects of Muds is that they are all mostly 'free', contrasting other MMORPG's, since there would be bandwidth considerations along with online storage to keep in mind, a small monthly fee would be understandable. This could scaled to the amount of space being used. $5 a month for 50MB, etc.

So, what this really gives Zmud and Mud'ing itself is a new lease on life. People can play at work during lunch hour, at CyberCafe's, at friends, etc. This would also unify the MUD community under one roof, drawing people together in new ways. People could even exchange maps if they liked, or scripts in a much easier fashion.

I did some preliminary searching before posting this, so if I am not the first person to make this suggestion then I apologize. Otherwise if you would like to add your comments or criticisms, feel free to do so.

Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2003 10:54 pm

Generally I am anti-thin client, and in a way your suggestion is of a thin client. However the ability to pick up your settings from a central storage facility does sound as though it has some benefits (though I don't go out, so it wouldn't affect me *grin*)

I can't imagine playing a mud in an internet cafe - I have spent so long getting to a stage where I have unmetered internet access, going back to paying(line time) to play a mud seems abhorrent!

Also worth considering is that most MUDs are perfectly capable (with a lil' bit o' coding) of storing settings and stuff (inc maps and things if they chose to) for players - very few have a problem with disk space, just with bandwidth. It would still leave a problem with having a decent client though.

And this is where I think the strength of your suggestion appears - being able to use ZMud from any (internet enabled - but then what's the point if you aren't...) computer would make - actually it would make my Uni computer lab time useless - life much more fun.

Magician Joined: 10 Oct 2000 Posts: 356 Location: USA

Personally, i wouldn't sign up for such a service. i carry my laptop any where i go. Whether it be out of town or at work. I use Zmud for more than Mudding. I have scripts written for my routers, switches and firewalls and a few Unix servers. I wouldn't want to store this type of information on a remote server that i have no control. Needless to say, i'm sure my company wouldn't want the enable passwords to all our internal networking equipment stored there either.

This is just me. If Zugg even considered such, i'd hope he'd continue support of the full installed client as well.

Also, from a business aspect, it's taking on a huge liability. Zugg is a one or few men shop. He wouldn't be able to feesibly maintain all the hardware (yes, at first it might be one or two servers). Not to mention the added cost of hardware, dedicated circuits to gaurantee 24/7 capability of getting your "myZmudOnline" connection. Then there is the worrisome data recoverablility if a server went down and 10 users settings where unable to be restored.

Just a few thoughts to consider.