After discussion, we've decided that we'll be posting to MSB to promote Optional Realities in the following way, from now on:
We'll post within the first week of each month, only with links to content on OR that we believe will be interesting to MSB users. Each piece of linked content will be described in a way that explains why that content might be of interest to you, as a MSB user.
ETA: October 2015's Optional Realities News for MSB
New Article: Evennia Illustrated
Evennia is a new, Python-based open-source MU* creation engine. This article by Evennia's creator uses visual aids to help you understand the interactions of Evennia's basic systems. The engine comes packed with a lot of flexibility, and has a large (and growing) community centered around its improvement and implementation. It has modules to allow for more MUSH-like game creation as well as RPI-like game creation, as well as custom web-client implementation.
Why should you consider taking a look into Evennia? One of the biggest issues with older MU* Engines is their restrictive licensing. Not only is Evennia modern and based in an extremely powerful and easy-to-use language, but it can be used to create games that are legally able to make a profit. That means that you can sell merchandise on your website, charge players a one time fee, charge a monthly fee, or monetize however else you'd like. Even if you aren't looking to make a living off of running a MUSH (because who would be so crazy?), a few fair monetization tactics can create a means for expanded marketing and advertisement to help draw in new players to the genre ... without you having to pay out of your own pocket.
Currently, I know of one MUSH (OtherSpace) that is in the process of porting their game over to the Evennia engine.
"Your Cthulu" Monster/Antagonist Contest Results
The results of OR's monthly cash contest are now published. We had some pretty fantastic submissions, with some rather innovative ideas for antagonists from various genres that go beyond your standard hack+slash boss fight. You can check out all of the submissions here.
Though we didn't have any submissions from MSB users in September, for our Design-an-Antagonist contest, we do feel like the characters created for the contest might be of interest to the folks here!
October Contest: Create a Short Interactive Fiction Game
Though we had some great submissions for last month's Design-an-Antagonist contest, it was our smallest month for submissions by far. This month, our contest is for creating a short IF game. It could take place in the mythology of your favorite MUSH, or it could be entirely original. Like all of our monthly contests, there are money prizes for the top three submissions.
I know that the MUSH community is just as interested in Interactive Fiction as our community at Optional Realities. Take a look at our guidelines at the link above, and take a stab at creating writing cool this month! The Quest Engine that we're asking contestants to use requires no programming knowledge, and is very easy to get started with immediately. Anyone with a flair for writing can use it to write an awesome little interactive novella or text-based adventure, and potentially win a few bucks and internet glory.