Question about starting a new MUD

Hi, my name is Steve Daniels, from Tucson, Arizona and I'm really intersted in game development. I've checked out a couple of sites on MUD design and programming (MUDMaker.com and cprogramming.com) and I was wondering if you had any suggestions on what I should do from here. I've been thinking about majoring in game design and starting a development company, so I figured I would start researching the methods and such. Anyway, thanks for any information you can give.

-Steve

I'm running a class on reddit on how to develop/run a MUD.

http://www.topmudsites.com/forums/tavern-blue-hand/6392-online-mud-class-how-run-mud.html

Sounds interesting! Try reading one of my posts:

http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=5959

I talk in there about some of the issues about MUD design, and also give some references (like the Bartle book).

There have been some interesting discussions on this forum about MUDs vs Graphical MUDs (is a graphical MUD even a MUD?).

There is a school of thought that a better user interface is needed now that everyone is used to their iPhones, Playstations, 3D graphics and so on. There is another school of thought that the better user interface makes a MUD a not-MUD.

There are other interesting factors (Bartle mentions quite a few). For example, a brilliant technical solution might founder on poor player management, or poor customer service. Or maybe low connection speed. Things you don't initially think about.

If you are thinking about making MUDs, or considering game development in general, you absolutely must read "Designing Virtual Worlds" by Richard Bartle. It is mentioned in the thread that Nick Gammon linked above.