Planet M.U.L.E.

this has been an idea of mine for a while. (NOTE: for a new MULE concept ONLY. Do *NOT* tweak the version of this game that is supposed to be close to the original)

What if it took longer to travel on the map, except for places where players built roads? Or that you couldn't sell goods unless there were roads connecting the plot in question to the store? Right now the only disadvantage to plots of land far from the store is the fact that it takes more time to travel there to install a mule, and the only distance that matters is the distance for your player to walk in whatever path it takes. Building a road would cost money/time initially, but it would be a way to make travel to further places go faster.

I could see this in a version of the game where the terrain was largely mountainous, making roads essential to quick installations and refittings...

...or a game with a larger map size! ;)

My prime example for discussing ideas like a new commodity or increasing map size (needn't necessarily apply here, but is worth a thought) would be chess:

Does
a) increasing the chessboard size or
b) introducing new pieces would make chess any more fun/exciting?

What could a larger map size bring to the game?
How would it affect gameplay and force other parts of the game to adapt as well?

The idea of roads may be good for games like Settlers, Anno, ...
MULE is a game of simplicity where strategy is the key.
Adding features to the game which are barely as significant as all the other features doesn't make the game more interesting. It gives either an advantage or not, and from the moment that is known, everyone does or doesn't use it.
I guess the idea is not very profitable in any way, how often would you walk such a road? (or: how often would you walk the same route to a plot?).
And then you should also distinguish between the people who made that road and people who didn't.
That makes it all so much more worse.

But luckily this has already been said by data2008