Get your lazy asses working

Someone needed their diaper changed.

My two cents is it is just futile to try and open a MUD in this current environment without it being a leak or a shard of a more popular MUD.

That way, you get 10 or 20% of an already established population interested in your program.

Getting back on topic, since couple of you have stated that this can be done, I will drop a few suggestions to make a mud dynamic without staff intervention.  Though, what I have in mind is just a suggestion, the idea is to force PCs to get resources which will create tension itself.  At the same time, put in game coded mechanisms to put obstacles in getting "cool" or easy resources as well as, have an automated method to define the dominating clan in a 3 coded clan place.


1) Small world:

You should have a reason why the game world is small.  This can be achieved by putting a supernatural border around the world, such as a magical mist.  The mist could start halfway from the city to the edge of the world and could keep getting thicker, thus limiting the vision more and more until it becomes so thick you lose all the visibility and get disoriented.  The mist could defy the laws of physics too.  Like, even if you tie a rope around your waist, you could still turn around and come back to the same spot or a different spot.. Or you could be teleported to a different border location.

Also, have a magic effect of the mist.  The rooms that has mist could have a timer on them.  Like every minute you spent in, there is 1/1000 chance there will be a mist effect.  This effect could be 80% no effect, 15% a minor mutation, 5% a big mutation (I am making up the numbers, they can be adjusted).  Minor mutation could give a boost to your stats and adds a random mutation to your mdesc and your wear location.  But there is 1/10000 chance every minute something bad will happen.  Like you may just go frenzy and randomly attack something if it was your str that got affected.  Or you may spread a curse that drains other people's wisdom if your wisdom got affected, disease if your stamina got affected.
If the mutation is bad, your sdesc could temporarily change and you may have multiples of these negative effects or something worse.
If you are already mutated, having another mutation increases the chance that the next mutation will be worse, the negative effects more frequent.

Obviously, if you have a minor mutation, the NPCs guards at the gates will not let you in.  If you sneak, some of the NPCs (there could be like 1% for each encountered NPC without stealth) will shout at you to leave the city.  The merchant NPCs will not trade with you and the guards will either throw you in jail or throw you out of the city.
Mutations can wear off in several RL days and you could have a tent village outside of the city for mutated PCs.  Obviously there will be mutated NPCs there and they will not treat normal PCs (without mutation) with equal hostility (not let them in, not trade, throw them out of their village if sneaked in).

If the mutations built up in a PC, the duration could be longer.  Also, after a certain amount of mutations, the PC dies (in truth, the mutations are irreversible and they start to grow on their own until the character becomes a mindless creature of super stats).
There could be craftable cures that suppresses the minor mutations but they could be expensive or addictive.

2) History:

Fuck history.  We may like reading history, but what is more interesting is making history.  Just have a history of 10-15 years.  Enough time for those who got screwed over by a major cataclysm to get old and give way to the new generation, which has PCs in it.  PCs that will make the history of their own land.  So, make the history that some sort of magical cataclysm caused the impenetrable mist and mutations.  Those who tried to pass the mist came back as monsters, too tough to break.  People thought this is because of mages and started to burn the witches like in middle ages.  Now after 10-15 years, the madness settled down but the fear of the magic and the mist remains, bla bla bla.  From this point on, anything the PCs do will make the history of your gameworld and you can update accomplishments.

3) Outside the city:

So, have layers of outside.  Just outside the city, the mutant village where normal PCs are not allowed in.  A bit away from it, not much agro but lawless area, where foraging basic supplies gives a small amount of results.  Also, you could have non-agro NPC encounters, such as foragers who could sell their stuff cheaper than the city.
A bit further away the mist starts but the mutation chance is very small.  Minor agro NPCs could show up.  Forage gives better results.  Very very small chance some interesting ruin will show up.
A bit further away, the mist is thicker, the vision is more limited. Mutation chance is slightly higher. Agro NPCs more often, seldom non agro NPCs.  Forage gives even better results and a chance to find something rare.
A bit further away, the mist is so thick you only see 1 room away.  Even higher mutation chance.  All NPCs are agro and they are challenging.    Some of them could be challenging for groups of 2.  Foraging basic materials is easy here, but foraging stuff that makes good money is possible.  As well as a higher chance to find something unique.

In order to stop people from making throwaway characters and rushing to the edge to forage and try their luck there, you could make the code take into account their forage skill to find something unique.  Like, without high enough forage skill, there is no chance you can find something unique even if you are at the edge of the world.

4) Clans:

In the game, what people want, is take control of their clan and improve it.  So, automate the power of the clan.  You could have a power scale and divide the virtual power/needs into 3-4 categories such as, military/crafters/administration/merchants.  

Military power controls the number of warrior NPCs your clan will have, which can patrol the clan's district in the city, or be placed inside the compound.   PC leaders can control and move them.  But a certain number of NPC warriors will never leave the compound, another number of them will never leave the city district that the clan controls, simply for defensive reasons.  If you have excess warriors, you could take them as guards with you.  But, the number of NPC warriors are fixed and if they die, they do not spawn.  Instead, they regenarate over a time.  Like if you lose 5 warrior NPCs because you were too stupid, then new warrior NPCs could come every 2 weeks.  So you will get the total NPCs in 10 weeks time.  This will force the leaders to play smart or if they are not smart, other PCs in their clan may try a coup (or other clans could take advantage and assault your clan).

Crafters could be virtual or NPC, but they maintain or make new clan equipment.  You need weapons/armor/outfit or tables, chairs for your clan?  You need to spend 5 or whatever crafter points and the items will appear in 1 week or 2 in your clan's compound.  You need them sooner?  Then spend more points.  The points will regenerate in time and you can craft new stuff.  But also, your clan has a maintenance craft point that you need to spend to keep your clan items in good condition.  If you do not meet the maintenance points for a while, the tables in your clan could start to have less chairs, or the sparring weapons could disappear.  It could start from the low priority items but could go on about the items laying around in the main halls/mess halls of your clan.

Merchants could determine the amount of money your clan makes.  That money could be used for clan stuff.  You could for example, buy things from other clans instead of crafting.  Or you could use it to buy food/water/salt for your clan members.  Again a certain amount of consumption already exists due to feeding NPCs and virtual NPCs of your clan.

Administrative power determines how fast you regenerate the virtual power of your clan and is affected by how long your clan leadership has been staying steady.  If a leader dies, the administrative power falls significantly, but as the new leader survives, month after month the administrative power improves to a maximum number determined by the wisdom score (maybe also the class has effect as well) of your clan leader.

So, if you want to improve a certain part of your clan (military/crafters/merchants or administrative), you could determine the focus of your clan.  Let's say the PC leader wants to invade another clan's territory.  He could set the focus of the clan to the military, which will improve the maximum point of military points and as a result, you will get new NPC warriors (again in time, entirely automated) and thus, you get a few extra warriors you could use during your fight.  Also, this focus could be like an IC board only visible in the clan's headquarters.  A sneaky PC from another clan could sneak in, read your focus and try to understand your future plans.

5) City.

I think there should be only 1 city, at least in the beginning.  You could have different areas.  Like, each clan could have their own district.  There could be neutral district, which favors the dominant clan and there could be lawless slums.  Lawless area should have everything cheaper, but it is lawless.  Lawful area (but neutral) can have crime code which is enforced by NPC soldiers.  The clan districts favor their own clans.

Though, NPC reactions should not be fixed.  Instead, NPCs should have reaction chance.  Everytime there is a crime witnessed by NPCs, there could be a dice roll that determines if the NPC will keep quiet or will call for guards (i.e. you become wanted).  If the NPC witnessing is a guard, the chance to react is doubled or trippled.  Let's say, there is a 20% chance an NPC will react in the neutral zone.  If a dominant clan member's item is stolen there, the NPCs reaction chance will be 30% (since they side with the dominant clan in the neutral zone).  But if the dominant clan member is the one committing the crime, the reaction chance instead will drop to 10% (still, there is a chance they will not tolerate the crime).  If it is fighting, whether the NPC will join the fight or will simply keep walking is also determined by this reaction chance. This could be kept the similar in the clan districts as well, instead the NPCs favor their own clan members.  But favoring does not mean blindly siding with.  NPCs still may not tolerate one of their own doing something stupid and obvious.

6) Power changing hands:

The dominant clan name could be posted on the boards.  The dominant clan most likely will have higher player base and newbies can be encouraged to start there.  It will be easier for them and the dominant clan members can teach the newbies.  But which clan controls the neutral zone can be determined by PC actions.  A clan can storm the city hall, force the dominant clan into handing over the city.  Or, kill their way through and capture the city hall.  You could make an IC board there, where you set your clan's name and if it stays that way for 48 hours, the city is yours.  During this time, the dominant clan can retaliate, and the NPCs will still favor them since they were loyal to you.  But after a while, they will probably accept the change of power.

7) Special PCs.

Every once in a while a special PC could join.  For example, a crafter who can possibly branch wagon making could be introduced through a special app process, that has very very little staff intervention.  Let's say the staff made it possible that wagons can be crafted.  So, they make a crafter role and put it on the special PC slot.  When you are creating a new crafter PC, if you have the karma (or the equivalent) the game could ask you if you want to spend your karma (which will regenerate) for a special PC.  If you accept, the game will give you background that may say you are very very talented with a few vague implications that you may learn wagon making.  The character's background will be precreated, but you can control the description.  The reason is, where you will start will be determined from an automated system.  At the time you create the character, the game will take into account which clans have which focus.  The ones who has crafter focus will have a higher chance of getting you.  So, you will probably start clanned already.  Or, maybe by chance you will be independent.
If you survive long enough to branch it, you can teach it to others.  But to teach, you need to improve your skill to a certain level first.  Then, in a crafter place, you can use "teach" command followed by craft the wagon.  If you are successful in crafting, that is one lesson.  You could make the ruling that you may attempt to teach every 24 hours on the same person and after 5 successful lessons (if you fail in crafting after using the teach command, that is not a successful lesson) there is a cumulative 5% chance the PC you are teaching will learn the skill.

It does not have to be a crafter.  It could be a super warrior who learns every fighting skill 3 times faster (thus improving the military strength a lot).

Thus, these special PCs will be very important.  Clans will try to get them, or try to hire them temporarily.  And these skills could be costly too.  Each failed or successful wagon will cost a significant sum of resources as well.

8) Magic

Magic could be added later.  And there could be real reason to fear and hate magic.  Like, every time you cast there could be 1/1000 chance you will develop a curse, similar to mutations in effect but different visible effect on how it changes you.  You could glow, your hair could be like flames, you could be leaking water etc...  So, if you cast a lot to skill up faster, you will have to stay in the wilderness, away from other PCs.  Cause, your magical mutation has a chance to curse other PCs.  Also, 1/1000 chance you could hurt someone near you unintentionally.
Thus, any PC with magic mutation will be burned on a stake.

After all this said and done, if nobody is making a mud then fuck you asshats

Horror setting is a very good idea.  In fact, the way to limit the game world with mist is pretty similar to ravenloft setting.  However, some players may want to base their PCs in a city, so if the claustrophobia has any coded effects, I don't think it should limit the PCs.

As for the "dealing with the devil" part, I like that a lot.  But the downside is, that is going to bring staff favoritism, or at least the rumor of it.  Enough rumor of it could wear both the staff and the players down quickly.  That is part of the reason I would like a mostly automated world, where, the staff does not even control most of the added content (such as PCs with a new skill, who is in charge of the city)

Your opinion of the city is good as well.  As I said, my suggestion is one of the ways.  Yours is another I find good.

Research/technology, I do not agree.  The problem with that is, the players could research faster than you could implement.  And that could burden your staff.  Eventually that too could bring "favoritism", unless I misunderstood your point.

Mage friends having penalties is a good idea.  In fact, my idea of curses in a way will bring similar effect.  If your mage friend is cursed, that curse has a chance to affect you.  It may not be visible, but you will suffer, your stats could go down, you could get a disease or start to mutate like your mage friend.  But if a mage wants to hide his identity by casting very very seldomly to make sure he never gets mutations, he should be able to hide among others.  But if he gets cursed, he will have to hide away until the curse effect wears down and he can socialize again.  If there is a way to track someone being a friend of a mage and thus giving them a stigmata, that would be awesome.  But, it should be coded and automated, should not be decided by someone.

If you can give coded reasons to fear and hate certain people, they will fear and hate or live through the consequences.  That would be the ideal game I think.  Staff should only award with karma which could be spent to slightly increase starting skills or play something special if there is available special PCs, and the spent points could regenerate in time.

I'm so fucking down for gothic horror. Just.. please no vampire/werewolf garbage. If you must have lycanthropes - wererats!

But in all honesty, I played on the (alpha?) for that space ship horror game  a few years back, and it was pretty freaking cool. I would love a horror themed MUD. 

Bitter, those are good.  Now what is needed is someone to code (if they do not agree, they can code the parts they like anyway), and builders to start making the game is not it?

FUCKING GRAY YOU ASSHOLE ITS GRAY