Re: New mud client in the works: ScapeFx
 

I feel warm and cuddly inside after all of this..

Re: New mud client in the works: ScapeFx
 

I must say, I can vouch whole-heartedly for Hephos' work. This client is a fantastic piece of work, and the gaming experience can be vastly improved for players.

I have been involved in Sharune MUD (Hephos' own MUD, using Firebolt client which uses ScapeFX) for many years now, and Hephos' work is sound and professional. He is regularly adding new features, updating current features, and if any issues do arise he is quick to fix them.

Firebolt client is brilliant! Give it a try if you don't believe me.

Re: New mud client in the works: ScapeFx
 

We think this looks rather promising and are going to give the free trial a try.

I'm still not sure if we could afford it since we already pay close to $1100 per year out of own pockets in support of the game...

SlothMUD

Re: New mud client in the works: ScapeFx
 

Actually, I read Hephos' statement as a common approach that all admins take in not trying to screw their existing players around - e.g. don't force your entire existing playerbase to use a new client, just keep them happy and work on getting new players instead. Perhaps the word 'incestuous' would have been a better choice? Best to at least ask what the poster meant than assume their intent and go full thottle on the flamethrower. :\

I'm glad the cost has come down. I guess my own preference would be some kind of cross-promotion deal rather than money, but everyone has to pay the bills somehow so I don't begrudge someone running their business the way they see fit.

Are all plugins developed by any MUD sharable with anyone else? Between each other and/or via ScapeFX as a repository? If a MUD's plugins are normally their own and a closed development, would a MUD that donated all their plugins back into the ScapeFX repository be of interest? I guess I see it as 'if there's a MUD you'd never make a sale with under your current model, what do you lose if you let them contribute to the resources that all your other clients would then get to enjoy?'... I gues the answer is EU$249/year, huh? The $1100 figure mentioned earlier is a very clear explanation of why the whole "get a few players to donate $10 a year and you're sorted" doesn't work. MUDs are very rarely a profitable enterprise, period.

Alas, it's a pity everyone is busy building their own empires and protecting their own 'turf'. I believe web-based click-to-play clients will soon be a necessary (if not the only) method to expose MUDs to a huge, new audience - installed clients will only be a preferred stepping stone for players that stick around (assuming they are technically capable). Over time, simple platform diversity will inhibit installed clients too... e.g. how many MUD websites have preferred client statements for Windows 7?

Re: New mud client in the works: ScapeFx
 

I'm sure we could arrange some promotion deals to get away from the license fee for muds. We've offered free clients (that we could get promotion with) to both TMC and TMS (customized for their game lists, graphics etc) but haven't heard from any of them. (Click on the link in their mudlisting and open the game in a customized scapefx).

We've also contacted a few muds to give them opportunity to get the client for free so that we could use it as demo on our site, and are working to get some of them ready.

We will have a page with sample plugins on the wiki. Currently there is only a sample of a portal MIP reader there. But we plan to expand it to include more plugins in the future. If some mud would contribute with plugins that are of value to other games, I'm sure we can make a deal so they get their license for free, as you say.
The plugins are shareable, as long as they do not use any particular code that is not inside the plugins or any jar files that are shipped along with it.

We'll see in the future. Perhaps we'll simply allow free muds to use scapefx under a free license... Just to make the use of it more spread and get more plugins available.