IRE Sci-fi Mud: Tears Reborn?

Dortheron

So I was checking one of my email accounts for another project when I see this:

Hello, citizens of the Iron Realms!

Over here at HQ we're throwing around the idea of creating a sci-fi MUD and wanted to gauge interest in one. 

If you have any interest in a sci-fi MUD, could you please fill out this survey? 

http://goo.gl/forms/HbLYv6N8cc

 

Thanks much!

Frankly, I'm really excited to hear about it. I was always interested back when Tears of Polaris was a thing before it got scrapped and even participated in one or two of the beta intros and the occasional forum lurked. I highly enjoy some science fiction authors like Asimov and Card and would love to jump on board.

But I'm worried that this will be

1. A tease because of lack of interest from the survey
   
2. A tease because of lack of resources/IRE player base to support a 6th game
3. Another ToP with a lot of work, thought, and hope put in but fizzling out
   

Either 2 or 3 would be a real bummer. I'll keep my hopes up and pray I get to shoot some of you with an txt phaser.

@Sarapis feel free to jump in and give any additional info about the possibility. I doubt I'm the only Achaean who got this survey and would love to hear more about the prospect about it.

Jukilian

Yesssssss.

Shimi

I got this too and I'm really sort of excited! Especially when they made a point of referencing Firefly as one of the possible sci-fi interests

Tahquil

Ohhhh god I would love this. Atonement was a little hobby mud that was sci-fi theme and far and beyond my favourite mud I have ever played (Sorry IRE.) It had an ongoing plot and a common enemy everyone had to face but the frictions between the player personalities because they were forced to work together was just delicious.

Kayeil

If this is going to be a real thing I am totally sold if we get space ships and laser guns.

Tahquil

ALSO!
Post apocalyptic please!

Shimi

Yesyesyesyes! ^^

Razzlo

I wonder if they will be working with old Tears of Polaris mythos or starting fresh.

http://www.ironrealms.com/tears-of-polaris

Mishgul

I would love to actually be able to work on something like this.

Jukilian

Same here.

I'd love to volunteer as a coder, really. But I still want to play the game as well, and that's not realistically possible.  

Athelas

An open ended realm without gods or impossible ideologies, where you can't hide behind the "It's magic" banner?

Hmmm, could work, could work, hmmmm.

Hey, I'll try any mud at least once.

Tillie

I would definitely try this out. I've played multiple IRE games for brief stints, but I always end up coming back to Achaea because of the type of fantasy-feel is has. 

But I also get insane sci-fi urges every now and then (randomly replaying Mass Effect or KOTOR, mostly) and there are SO MANY COOL CLASSES you could make in a sci-fi realm.  Mapping, uh, space sounds ridiculously daunting, though.

Random note: it would be cool if there were race-homeworlds involved, with specific factions/organizations exclusive to certain races. Not all though! 

Nicaara

The possibilities for player-created content is exciting too, space being enormous and all.

Dortheron

Tillie said:

Mapping, uh, space sounds ridiculously daunting, though.

From what I saw during the ToP creation, planets would work like normal rooms/areas. Space ships would be like normal ships and Space would be similar, but not the exact same, as the wilderness map.

Dhurga got me to try a sci-fi mud that he use to play (before bad RP by the Admin pretty much turned the entire player base against him) and used the same idea as 3-diemensional space with X, Y, and Z coordinates that ToP was going to use. Took a bit I got use to thinking in 3-D to fly around in.

Sarapis

@Dortheron It's exactly what it said: Gauging the interest in a new sci-fi MUD. I have no opinion right now whether it'll happen or not.

Herenicus

Please take my money. I'm no Ernam, but I get by. 

Sarapis

Dortheron said:

Tillie said:

Mapping, uh, space sounds ridiculously daunting, though.

From what I saw during the ToP creation, planets would work like normal rooms/areas. Space ships would be like normal ships and Space would be similar, but not the exact same, as the wilderness map.

Dhurga got me to try a sci-fi mud that he use to play (before bad RP by the Admin pretty much turned the entire player base against him) and used the same idea as 3-diemensional space with X, Y, and Z coordinates that ToP was going to use. Took a bit I got use to thinking in 3-D to fly around in.

Miriani is the MUD you're talking about, I believe. ToP directly copied their 3d space coordinate movement. It was one of the worst things about ToP in my opinion. Here's a screenshot I pulled from the archived ToP wiki. No idea why there's greyed out text behind the ascii stuff. I believe the way they did space was dividing it up into sectors of X by Y by Z.

I find this interface so horrible that it's like someone saw a text interface and said to themselves, "How can we make this even less user-friendly?"

Ruth

I enjoyed the Tears of Polaris introduction when they released it to judge the reception of the sci-fi themed MUD. I heard that the plug was pulled because the producer and the crew of people behind it couldn't meet deadlines.

I think I would definitely enjoy a sci-fi MUD for sure. I love spaceships and phase guns and teleporters and stuff, if done well. I would help with designing and programming if it ever got off the ground!

Sarapis

We pulled the plug on it because the entire project was a mess and when I reviewed it it didn't look like it was worth the expense and effort of trying to salvage it. 

Twilight

Take My immortal money, @Sarapis! I'll be in line with Herenicus.

Aodfionn

I just want a goddamn Dune-universe MUD. 

Dortheron

@Sarapis actually I looked in my old files for the one Dhurga showed me was called Star Conquest, but it was pretty much the same thing. I even think the ascii space map is the same style and formatting. Not up to IRE standards.

Riashain

That image is confusing as all hell.

Bluef

As cool as this may be, I'd rather see more staff hired for existing games, where development, roleplay, bugfixing, and administration are still in high, if not ever-increasing, demand. 

Amranu

Aodfionn said:

I just want a goddamn Dune-universe MUD. 

So much this

Merriweather

As long as I can be an intergalactic bounty hunter and explorer.

Nizana

Just make a rift to an alternate reality where our current classes get converted to sci-fi themed counterparts and we can explore Achaea 10,000 years in the future when the Gods were destroyed by super-weapons developed by aliens who then opened up the planet to galactic.. stuff..

Yeah.. stuff.

Tharvis

I have a feeling this'd just fragment already small communities even further, possibly even draining some to the point where there are no longer numbers able to sustain them.

Herenicus

If and when the Big Crunch occurs, I bet Achaea is the last red giant; so I'm not worried about our numbers. And Tears of Polaris could (and would have to) occupy the sci-fi genre, just as Achaea dominates high fantasy. There's an unsatisfied market for this.

Ayami

How big is the market for muds realistically, though? The other IRE games are already noticeably underpopulated (Lusternia especially, given their like 40+ guilds and refusal to consolidate). That said I do love sci-fi so the idealist in me would love it.

Sarapis

Ayami said:

How big is the market for muds realistically, though? The other IRE games are already noticeably underpopulated (Lusternia especially, given their like 40+ guilds and refusal to consolidate). That said I do love sci-fi so the idealist in me would love it.

It is, literally, at LEAST as big as the market for buggy whips!