Free-to-Play MUDs checklist for MUDs

Create a monthly-updated page or in-game command showing exact hosting, domain, and software licensing costs versus incoming donations.

Formulate and publish a policy detailing how excess funds are handled, such as hardware upgrades, professional art commissions, or marketing spend.

Explicitly state the legal and tax status of the game entity to set donor expectations regarding tax deductibility.

Implement a progress bar on the website or login screen that resets monthly to show current progress toward server sustainability.

Maintain private, time-stamped records of all transactions for at least seven years to handle potential chargebacks or disputes.

Compare top-tier gear obtainable through standard gameplay versus any potential donor perks to ensure zero combat or statistical advantage.

Audit all purchasable items to verify they modify only descriptions, titles, or colors without affecting loot tables or XP rates.

Test convenience perks, such as increased inventory capacity, to ensure the base game remains fully playable without them.

Run a script to verify that no spells, skills, or class specializations are locked behind a paywall.

Verify that donor status is not a variable in automated rankings, seasonal competitions, or player-run leaderboards.

Integrate at least two payment processors (e.g., Stripe and PayPal) to accommodate international players and regional restrictions.

Script a callback listener to apply in-game entitlements or tokens immediately upon successful payment verification.

Publish a clear policy regarding the status of digital goods if a player is banned for violating game rules.

Ensure no payment data is stored on the MUD server; all financial information must be handled by tokenized external processors.

Perform end-to-end testing for every donation tier to ensure the correct database flags are set upon transaction completion.

Create an in-game help file (e.g., 'help donations') explaining the business model and how to support the game.

Present any new proposed monetization features to a group of non-donating veteran players to gauge community sentiment.

Implement a system to reward non-monetary contributors (builders, coders) with the same perks available to donors.

Log all modifications to the donation shop or perk costs in the public game-news feed for full transparency.

Ensure the website landing page explicitly states that all core content and areas are accessible without payment.

Tag accounts by donor status to analyze if monetization features correlate with higher or lower player retention rates.

Log which specific perks are selected most frequently to identify what the community values and what is ignored.

Measure the average time a player spends in-game before their first donation to optimize the timing of non-intrusive calls-to-action.

Verify through session logs that high-level content is being reached by non-donors at a statistically similar rate to donors.

Implement a system to identify if donors are bringing in new players, indicating a healthy community-funding loop.

Include a clause in the TOS stating that donations do not grant immunity from staff discipline or game rules.

Implement a mandatory age verification or guardian permission checkbox for all financial transactions.

Ensure the privacy policy covers how donor email addresses and transaction IDs are stored and protected (GDPR/CCPA).

Verify that any custom items requested by donors do not violate third-party copyrights or trademarks.

Explicitly state in the TOS that the MUD retains ownership of all data, including characters that have received perks.