I remember years ago seeing a lot more gechos. Some of it was global quests, Immortal fights / deaths, and sometimes just random stuff. Players go bat #### crazy for that kind of thing. It just seemed like there was more going on.

These days, it seems like we suffer from: Fewer active Immortals with less free time (or they are spending their free time doing things we don't see) and the fact that the MUD isn't nearly as developmental as it was before. Years ago many of the major aspects of the game (cabals, classes, religions, areas, etc.) seemed to change far more often. Cabals were getting blown up, Gods were duking it out in Asgaard, classes where getting re-tooled (sometimes through global quests), and major features were being added, usually through some epic event.

Having Immortals do things like take over NPCs (to RP, not flurry), use gechos, host events, etc. is not as common anymore, or so it seems in hindsight.

My idea: Focus less on "lurking" and "spying" on people then rewarding them for that. Instead, get involved with the characters. Use the many tools you have available to interact with multiple people at once. Involve people in mini-quests, RP discussions, etc. That "spark" might encourage other people to take RP more seriously.

Basically, what I'd like to see is the Immortals become more like Dungeon Masters that Santa Clauses who spy on us all year and bring some of us a present or two if we're good. Plus, focus less on individual attention and more on groups of characters to more effectively use what "RP time" you have.

EDIT: And I don't think snooping us all day long is bad. The point was that interaction is, in my opinion, WAY cooler than being rewarded for saying something cool or properly acting out my role (which should be mandatory, but exemplary).