Theoretically speaking

1) Wasn't the question....every game is competition.
2) People are very passionate about Armageddon, that's why this forum exists.
3) lolwhut? That's like saying they'd ban players for starting a board about Armageddon. How well would that really work?
4) I know coders and people dream, Arm 2.0 didn't have any direction from what I've seen. From your own board there are people that are making their own mud *cough* *cough* LABMUD. So it's not like it doesn't happen.
5) Wrong. Armageddon "functions" because it has no "competition" no other game does what Armageddon does, but better. You should know that because you're trying to build something like that. Competition is actually very healthy and leads to innovation. 
6) You never played Black Sands, it was nothing like Armageddon...like at all.


So again, in theory....how come nobody hasn't come together to make a better Armageddon even just as a fuck you

There is a difference between the competition of Burning Post II versus The Inquisition and Armageddon versus Shadows of Isildur. One is direct competition because it's the same setting/world/theme. The other is just the competition of RPI games competing for players.

People are passionate about ARM but if asked "What game would you make?" would they say Arm clone or would they say steampunk invention game!

I have about 10 7 people who have said they won't make accounts here or on Optional Realities because they're concerned their characters will be marginalized on Armageddon. Maybe those people are lying to me to spare me the pain of telling me they aren't interested in posting here or OR, but they do seem to read both websites.

New MUDs definitely happen! There are currently 4 games in some form of development which will hopefully be more public about stuff in the future. Of those 4 games, I expect one to see completion.

I'll give you that. It doesn't appear any RPI has managed to do what Arm does but better enough to draw players.

I never did play black sands which is why it was a question!

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So my question to you is that are you interested in starting an Arm clone/inspired game? Are you asking purely hypothetically or are you testing the waters for interest? Would it surprise you to know that some former staffers from ARM are making their own games in different setting?

I don't think MUDs are dead, it's just not 1994.

Because it takes a lot of time. I guarantee you that a lot of Armageddon's staff probably put as many hours into working on the game and keeping it running (however we might disapprove of some of their designs/decisions) as I do into my RL job. Maybe more, in the case of a few.

It's hard to put in that kind of time unless you're super passionate about something. Most of us are barely passionate enough to play. Let alone devote our lives to realizing a slightly improved vision of it.

I think a competing Arm II is an interesting idea.   I'd have a few concerns, including:

People have invested years into getting to the point of playing templars, psions and sorcs.  If a new Arm iteration opened but karma wasnt transferred, how many of you would find this a barrier to transfer?

Arm is successful because of social groups.  Players leave the games in groups when one of theirs is wronged, and make characters to play in groups based on ooc connections all the time.   What would it take to get whole social groups to move over at the same time, so that the new game could get to a population "critical mass"?

If I were to be the party that remade the game, I'd be really tempted to change a few of the really dumb things like removing instant death traps.   I'd be curious to set up a feedback method with the playerbase to see if we all agree some of these things are ridiculous.

I dont know what legal resources or recourse the Arm owners would have in the way of copyright infringement.  Any guesses?

I wouldn't even have more than three tiers of karma.

'Karma 0': Complete newbs. All mundanes are available.

'Karma 1': You get this as soon as you prove you have even a basic grasp of roleplaying, theme, the code and ethics. I can not imagine normal people taking long to get here. The stuff gated by karma 1 is the kind of things that would just hurt a newbie to try and wrestle with while dealing with learning the game (like gickers, half-giants, desert elves, etc).

'Karma 2': Important leadership roles. Templars, nobles, tribal leaders. And look...I don't care how important or great someone thinks they are. If you can credibly build, inspire and lead a unit of Byn, Salarri or whoever, you're good enough, capable enough and knowledgeable enough to be a templar.

The way everything else is gated, is that depending on the race/guild/whatever:

1) You have to wait a certain number of months before applying for one again.

2) There might be a cap on how many are allowed in the game at once.
2a) If there is a cap, you will be force stored if you drop off the and don't log in for too long. You'll have a one time opportunity to get the character back right away, but will be force stored permanently if you disappear again. (I'm talking like a month without even a warning).

Furthermore, I would not have something like a sorceror be a guild you can app into. It would have to be something discovered or acquired through IC means, or some object of power. I always thought that lead to the most fun sorc-related plots in Armageddon.