> A really curious thing about muds is more people seem to want to make new ones than play them. I think it makes a lot of sense that the remaining MUD players

> A really curious thing about muds is more people seem to want to make new ones than play them. I think it makes a lot of sense that the remaining MUD players are those that have the most complete affinity for the system. While MUDs draw a technical distinction between making and playing, I think psychologically the lines are very blurry, because part of playing is making. One reason Minecraft really took off is that embedded in the choice to "live" in an expansive virtual world is a desire to affect that world. It mirrors the malleability of our world but on a larger scale. Climbing up an RPG power curve is only a pseudo-satisfier of that desire; you're not actually changing the world, just changing your position in it. Actually being able to modify the world you occupy is the base desire. In that respect, Minecraft is really the spiritual successor to MUDs.