Review Submitted By: Avarice the merchant
Author Status: Player
Started on The Builder Academy: 2005
Submission Date: Dec 17, 2007
TMC Listing: The Builder Academy
The following review is the opinion of the review's author [Avarice the merchant]
and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff.
I joined TBA because I was considering building for another MUD and
wanted to see how things worked. I saw TBA as a resource that would
let me try building in a supportive (and sandboxed) environment.
I found the tutorials easy to follow, logical, and comprehensive. The
sections on writing descriptions were really good and I have found
that the principles taught there have stood me in good stead across
three different MUDs. I am very grateful to have had TBA place writing
style guides in one easy place. I now code for a mudlib derived from
LPC and encourage anyone who wants to code LPC to complete the writing
style guidelines on TBA before considering building.
I needed a lot of help from the staff to learn how the scripting of
triggers worked. Rumble was always helpful and gave me personal
attention. There are a few web resources dedicated to scripting
triggers but the ability to practice it live was essential to
learning. I was also happily sandboxed and didn’t need to fear too
much about breaking the mud.
Without meaning to toot my own horn (I’m tooting TBA’s horn here) I
scripted some very interesting things on my first MUD, including a
necro guild that animated mobs that players could order around. I’m
not a particularly brilliant coder but with the support I received I
was able to learn scripting effectively.
Learning to script in an online multiplayer environment was valuable
and when I started to code for a different codebase I discovered that
a lot of the design principles could be transferred. I code LPC now
and although the syntax of the language is different the principles
are similar.
I think what really stands out for me about TBA is the freedom with
which they provide a really useful service to builders. Many of the
lessons they teach transcend codebases and are applicable for MUD in
general. They were really friendly, helpful, and seemed genuinely
pleased to be helping a new builder.
I pop onto a lot of muds just to have a look around and get a feel
for whats out there. I’m often appalled by the poor quality of
description. MUD is a text game and the richness of the experience
must be conveyed through words. TBA teaches which words to use, how to
use them, and what to avoid. If you’re already building for a MUD you
will profit from doing at least the first part of the TBA course.
If you’re a new builder and thinking of building (for any codebase)
do yourself a favour and check out TBA. I got my first builder
position by a MUD owner coming onto TBA and looking for builders. That
started off my ‘career’ as a builder.
