Facts are people are leaving. I know not all of 'em leave because it's harder to practice now but most of them do.

Personally, I think it's quite impressive that in a time when:
- Commercial mass-market graphical RPGs are out there, right in our genre
- PCs, Xbox, PS2, GameCube, and other platforms offer a limitless variety of other multiplayer gaming
- Large companies have entered (and done well in some cases) the text-based MUD genre with large startup budgets and advertising outlays
- Most games have walkthroughs, cheat codes, etc... and even without them you can "win" in a long weekend

... that an all-text, highly challenging, free game that you can't "win", staffed entirely by volunteers still exists, let alone at 80%+ of its lifetime average playerbase. Frankly, we do a pathetic job of advertising (I promise this will change), and somehow we still haven't suffered much.

Why? Because we have great content. It's really that simple. We're not a MMORPG. We're not trying to be a MMORPG. We know we're a niche product. Our niche may shrink a little, but that doesn't necessarily mean we start offering a more bland, easy-to-digest product to expand that niche.

I read a book a week, sometimes two. I own a DVD player, digital cable, DSL, etc. My income is comfortable, and I could easily afford all sorts of hobbies. My job has fairly structured hours, and I have time for various hobbies. Why do I usually read books instead of going to the movies, renting DVDs, or watching whatever the networks cough (*) onto the TV each week? Content. Why is CF one of my other hobbies, as it was before I was on staff? Content.

(*) I except HBO from that unflattering verb. HBO original programming is a wonderful thing.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com