It's funny, because I logged in this morning to make a post very similar to this one.
I am really liking this codebase! It's got enough familiar code in it, that I am comfortable, yet enough new stuff (improved!) that I am like a kid in a candy store.
After almost 20 years of MUD admin and building on another code base, when I found this one and got it installed about 6 weeks ago I fell in love. Immediate, giddy, kid in a candy store, love. It's familiar enough that I don't feel alien, and yes, this is a big improvement over the other stuff.
My intention was to build a zone in TBA to see how fast I could build it, test its user intuitiveness, etc. I was about ten rooms into it when I decided to scrap that field testing and make a commitment. Downloading and installing the code was a bit challenging because I am not a coder, so even the explanation terms were a bit over my head, but I stuck with it and got it done.
Then I dove into the actual code, realized I'm not as dense as I thought I was. I downloaded two basic C++ books off Amazon, read them in a week, returned to the code, and I get it enough to understand how it works.
Six weeks after install I have ten zones finished and I'm populating them, writing quests into them, and generally fine-tuning them. I've done it all with minimal reference to the documentation, just to see how intuitive it can be. It's amazing how easy it is to do the basic stuff from the standpoint of building.
So in a way, I'm back - back in love with building a MUD, at least. This is a keeper!