This function is only called when the object is first loaded by being inherited. However, /std/base::create_inh() calls create() then (for compatibility reasons).
Reason is that inherited objects don't need to initialise anything - they just have to provide the code. Unfortunately this feature might break code in the existing mudlib, so it's effectively not activated at the moment.
inherit "/some/object";
void create_inh () {
return; // No need to initialise anything.
}