A lot of it is just that there's only so much free time, and those of us that really want to create MUDs wind up putting our time into that instead of playing as we find it more enjoyable and rewarding. In fact, for some it is a hobby in and of itself, ballooning into a passion project that may never see the light of day, like restoring a car you have no intention of ever driving.
People who are active in the "meta" community outside a specific game tend to want to create MUDs. It's like how there are billions of people playing board games, but if you join a board game community you are far more likely to find others who want to create them; it's self-selecting for more interest in the guts of the hobby.
The difference is that people merely somewhat interested in MUDs have dwindled over time, leaving the die-hards behind and a small, small sprinkling of new players just discovering them.
If there was a MUD that got all of the coders wanting to build their own MUD to go "this is incredible, let's just work on this instead, everyone we're moving house" -- I think people willing to do that join teams at extant games instead.
A lot of it is just that there's only so much free time, and those of us that really want to create MUDs wind up putting our time into that instead of playing as we find it more enjoyable and rewarding. In fact, for some it is a hobby in and of itself, ballooning into a passion project that may never see the light of day, like restoring a car you have no intention of ever driving.
People who are active in the "meta" community outside a specific game tend to want to create MUDs. It's like how there are billions of people playing board games, but if you join a board game community you are far more likely to find others who want to create them; it's self-selecting for more interest in the guts of the hobby.
The difference is that people merely somewhat interested in MUDs have dwindled over time, leaving the die-hards behind and a small, small sprinkling of new players just discovering them.
If there was a MUD that got all of the coders wanting to build their own MUD to go "this is incredible, let's just work on this instead, everyone we're moving house" -- I think people willing to do that join teams at extant games instead.