-= MajorMUD NEWS =-



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Moderated by:                                       Published by:
Shannon Stewart & Jeff Hinds                       METROPOLIS Inc.
mailto:[email protected]                          www.majormud.com

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June 27, 2001                                       Issue # V
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Recommend a friend & be entered to WIN $10,000 and a Sony DVD Player!
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= C O N T E N T S =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

-=The Real Realm
	-=NetVillage and Metropolis Partnership
	-=Pay vs. Free Boards
	-=MajorMUD Survey
	-=Music Poll
 

-=Latest Version Updates
	-=Mod9 Developer Interview 
	-=Mod9 Preparation


-=WorldGroup Sysop News Update
	-=Metro Expands World Group Games
	-=News from Worldgroupware


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-=-=-=-=-=-= NetVillage and Metropolis Partnership =-=-=-=-=-=-


NetVillage owners of WorldGroup software and
Metropolis owners of the fantasy text based
game MajorMUD are teaming up to create a bundle
for the two products.

Nate Hammond, President of Netvillage says he's excited
about making our WorldGroup addons successful.
Both companies are working out details and more
information will be released soon.


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= MajorMud Rating =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



Please rate the link MajorMUD Realm of Legends 
at the MudRanger.com web site.

Ratings are from 1-10 with 10 being the Highest.

http://www.mudranger.com/cgi-bin/rate.pl?ID=1409



-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= PAY vs. FREE BOARDS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In a recent MajorMUD survey 71% said they play on paid BBS vs. 
a Free BBS.

One of the major debates for sysops is free vs. paid BBS's. Most 
BBS's charge a small fee for access to their online community.  
This gives users access to a friendly community, which includes 
games Like MajorMUD, Crossword Puzzles, and chat forums. 

BBS Community Building is a lot of work and very expensive. 
When you add up the cost of the WorldGroup Personal Server software 
256 user system well over $1000 to run a BBS and MajorMUD $1550 
for a 256-user license you have to charge something to at least 
break even. On top of that, your sysop has the cost of Internet 
access, being it DSL, T-1 or T-3.  Explains why many do not want 
to give it away for free.

"MajorMUD is one of the only money makers that BBS's have these 
days," says one of sysop on the sysop forum who was angry at an 
advertisement for a very low price.

"I kinda do it both ways", says Rich Leaf Sysop at Digital 
Playground Interactive [http://dgpi.com],"anyone can have an 
account for 2 hours a day free with my system.  If they want 
more, they pay - I charge $7 for 31 days.  I offer bigger 
discounts as people buy time in larger chunks."

Leaf's system used to be totally free and found that he had 
about 15 regular users, and 400 undesirable users.  "Once I 
started to charge, the VALUE of the BBS increased as more and 
more people started to sign on; see that it was a quality system 
with quality users. "Leaf says his system pays for itself.

On some of the free boards players contribute money to purchase 
modules they may not have. This also gives players a feeling of 
ownership to that particular BBS community and will do what they 
can to keep it running fairly and active with new players.



-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= MajorMUD SURVEY =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


Please take our 1-Minute Survey.

http://www.majormud.com/cgi-bin/survey/survey2.cgi




-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= MUSIC POLL =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Recently there was a Music Poll posted on the message 
forums and the most popular bands rank from the highest 
to lowest.

Linkin Park, TOOL, Metallica, KMFDM, Sublime, and the 
rest were tied.Staind, NOFX, KISS, Bad Religion, Everclear, 
Incubus, The Cure, Anti-Flag, Bone, Rancid, Mudvayne, Eagles	

Post your favorite Band
http://www.metropolis.com/dcforum/DCForumID4/48.html


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Latest Version Updates =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


	-=Mod9 Developer Interview 

Jeff Hinds, Web Marketing Representative for Metropolis, began his quest 
with MajorMUD in February 2001 after five years as an independent 
internet marketing consultant and web developer. 

Jeff's screen name, Sun Tzu, which comes from the Chinese General and War 
Strategist who wrote "The Art of War". The book itself, being the oldest 
formalized concepts and principles of (conventional) war and military 
strategy, was written about two millennia ago. Hinds says "It is still 
applicable today, not only in military but in business management and 
marketing strategies."

Jeff loves a challenge and said, "I've never been much of a gamer until 
recently.  I've always loved the internet and started out on CompuServe 
when it was the at the forefront of the internet. I've been on a BBS in 
the past, but it was small and lonely. I can't even remember the name.
A buddy of mine used to run a BBS that had Trade Wars and other games 
but unfortunately never had MajorMUD." 

Jeff says he's logged on and played MajorMUD several times but doesn't 
have the time to play at work. However, he now has a much better 
understanding of the game than ever. "I get the most help, like everyone 
else, from Shannon Stewart, Metro's Sysop, support and Customer Service 
Queen, and from John Burch, Metro's MajorMUD programmer. 

Jeff say's he gets a real player perspective from a couple of friends 
who met on Masterpiece.com and are now married. Jeff says he reads the 
sysop forums to have a better understanding of the needs of sysops. He's 
often amused by the variety of subjects in the Off Topic forum when plowing 
through the message forums for news and information to include in the 
MajorMUD newsletter.

"Listening is the most important part of my job", says Jeff. Having an 
understanding of the needs, wants and desires of the community and 
creating a plan to meet those goals are his highest priorities.

"I definitely want to find more time to play the game. I have also been 
hesitant because of my not understanding all of the commands. 
But most of it is being afraid I'll be adding my own two cents to the 
'You know you're an addict when...' thread," Hinds jokes.

Jeff continues his story, "Everyone has been so helpful. I logged on one 
Saturday morning and two players were really friendly. They were ready 
to help me build my character."

"Unfortunately, I had to be at a wedding. I wasn't going to be late 
like Lil Mage, delaying his cousins wedding by 40 minutes because he was 
too busy dying on the phoenix run.(http://www.majormud.com/addicted.html )"

Jeff says "I love my internet marketing job with Metro. They've got 
great products and services. They gives me the freedom to explore new 
marketing techniques, and it's great having a programmer on one side and 
a graphic artist on the other."

Jeff says he's always looking for new ideas of how to improve and expand 
the visibility of MajorMUD.

The number one question Jeff gets asked is: "When's mod 9 going to be out?"
"I don't know either." he says, "every time we get closer they find 
another bug. Mod 9 won't be completely bug free, that's impossible, 
but we're working day and night on it, making it the best it can be."  

"We're excited about some of the free promotional items offered with 
the release of Mod 9. We'll be offering more details in the near future."

"In fact" Jeff continues, "this March someone in the sysop forum asked 
'when would Mod 9 be ready'. I replied 'April 1 ;)', , thinking 
they would see that April 1st is April Fools Day."  "Well" laughing out 
loud, "that didn't go over very well; but we did have some sysops see 
the humor in it. :)"

Jeff says he takes full credit for the attention the MajorMUD Email 
banner, which he created, generated in the message forums. 

When he first saw the post, he didn't think it related to the banner. 
However, the next day he saw about 200 posts and was curious about the 
excitement.  "Oh?!" he exclaims, "They're talking about me. That was 
the first debate I'd ever seen on the word FREE. I now know with many 
of you, what that meaning of 'Free' is", he laughs.

"Well, I didn't want to do an interview about me; just kinda shy", 
Jeff continues, "I'd rather promote the other terrific people I work 
with or even our products than see something on me."

When asked about his job, Jeff adamantly says, "I do have to tell you 
that I've never felt more welcome with any company before.
The administration and human resources go out of their way to help make
work enjoyable. The management is fantastic and always have an open door.
Everyone's always excited about working to make Metropolis and MajorMUD 
a bigger, stronger community." 

Jeff says "The happier MajorMUD players are, the happier we are. I'm 
always open to new suggestions in improving our BBS's and games. Please 
send me an email if you have an idea, a product or want to work on 
partnerships, joint ventures or other entrepreneurial quests. Metropolis 
wants to see other BBS's succeed and the MajorMUD communities grow."

You can email Jeff at [email protected]



-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= MOD 9 PREPARATION =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


10 things a person can do to prepare for Mod 9?

1. Get used to traveling in a party
2. Store up your healing potions
3. Bring a priestly caster
4. Try walking around dark area's without any light
5. Try to be above level 50
6. Leave your runic at the bank
7. Play without any eq for a day
8. Race from your exp spot to your quest leader
9. Sturdy walking shoes
10. Remember to look in old places for new stuff too!


-------------------------- SPONSOR MESSAGE ---------------------------

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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= WORLDGROUP NEWS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Metropolis offers more games for worldgroup sysops through reselling 
popular entertainment add-ons from Infinetwork and Jabberwocky.

Infinetwork/Jabberwocky pioneered entertainment add-ons with immensely
popular add-ons such as Brawl and Foodfight. They are now back on the 
market and available from both Metropolis and Worldgroupware. 

Now you can offer users exciting games such as:

- Foodfight. Throw food in your teleconference!
- Brawl. A wild west shoot'em up in teleconference!
- Trivia Chat. Play Trivia directly in your teleconference.
- Ringmasters. On-line boxing game as mentioned in BOARDWATCH magazine.
- The Major Jail. Throw your users in the clink.
- Cybertank. Strategic land-based war game
- Flowershop. Send ANSI flowers (w/ birthday option)
- The Doctor. An AI teleconference personality.
- Big Brother. Keeps an eye out on your BBS. Tracks what people do.



The News from Worldgroupware 
www.worldgroupware.com
 
Piracy Issues.
It has come to our attention that an ex-NetVillage employee (Bill) has 
been offering copies of Worldgroup for sale on E-Bay, along with a 
little note "for an ADDITIONAL $495 you can upgrade this product to 
v3.20, 256 User".  We have checked with NetVillage, and this is 
definitely NOT LEGIT.  
According to NetVillage, "Bill has no resellers agreement or 
authorization of any kind to generate activation codes or sell upgrades".  
While the issue of whether or not the Worldgroup 2.0 systems are 
legitmate or not is still open (they were unsold copies, supposedly 
taken from the "trash" at NetVillage) - there is no question at all 
as to whether or not Bill has the ability to issue you a legitimate 
upgrade to Worldgroup 3.20, and the answer to that is a resounding NO.
All we can say here is "buyer beware".  Our policy at Worldgroupware 
will be to not sell add-ons, support, or upgrades of any kind to pirated 
Worldgroup systems.  Newsfeeds and Worldlink access will be similiarly 
restricted.  
 
Development Forum Open.
We've opened a Development forum on Worldgroupware, and would like to 
invite sysops to join and let us know what enhancements they would like 
to see to Worldgroup.  We are doing an top-down review of the entire 
Worldgroup product, so now is the time to make your thoughts and wishes 
known!  
 
Developers.
Worldgroup 3.20 development kits are now available.  If you would like 
to do some Worldgroup software development, or have been itching to write
an add-on, send an email to [email protected] and we'll get you 
started.  Please be sure to include your name, address, and worldgroup 
registration number with your request for a development kit.
 
Happy MUDing!
 
Don Barr
 www.worldgroupware.com
(410) 850-9019 Voice
(410) 850-0486 Fax
[email protected]
 

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GET EXPOSED!!!

Interested in Advertising in the MajorMUD Newsletter or on Metropolis
web sites. 

E-mail mailto:[email protected] for an automatic response for more info.

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Copyright 1996-2001 All Right Reserved. [email protected] 
Metropolis Inc. 8650 College Blvd. Overland Park, KS 66210