On Metaphor

Why don't game designers make use of metaphor?

In the original MUD, way back in 1978, time-period was a metaphor and hint at danger. A scene populated with contemporary artifacts might be perfectly safe: fax machines and television sets signal the modern day. A 1930's gramophone and tube-amplified radio set would indicate greater danger. An abandoned tin mine from the post-war Wild West would be even more dangerous. A medieval castle even more so. A neolithic stonehenge populated by picts and druids might be the most dangerous time yet.

Why don't designers use metaphor? I understand projects are now implemented and designed by a plurality of people, but there is still ONE and ONLY ONE ``lead designer''. Why can't he pick a set of metaphors and stick with them? Metaphors can communicate more than just danger or difficulty.

It seems like the artistry of the craft is diminishing.

The Lord of the Rings Online had an interesting metaphor. Depending on the danger and malice of the foes, the colours would fade and even the screen would darken. This was a brilliant (or should I say gloomy?) metaphor for danger! It offered immediate information, in the setting if LotRO was not ambiguous, and could even have been made to offer real-time feedback as the fortunes of the battle waxed and waned. Now in a Mud where night was actually dark rather than just applying a blue wash to the scene, and deep caves were as impenetrable as pitch, this metaphor wouldn't quite work. Is the Balrog really going to kill me, or is it just dark in Moria? Being that as it may, there are no reasons why metaphor, especially clever metaphor, cannot be applied to the Muds of the modern era.