More about MUDs for the MMO curious
by Krystalle Voecks 
Dec 27th 2009 at 8:00PM
Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Opinion
Their illuminating article, simply titled "The making of: MUD" talks not only of what started the system we know, but also how the thinking behind it progressed into the MMOs we know now. Additionally, sprinkled throughout the second half of the article are some really interesting quotes from Bartle. One such example is Bartle's explanation of his current levels of involvement and why he'd rather "...focus on the health of the forest than on individual trees" in terms of the massively multi-player game market. If you're a veteran or a newcomer, the article is well worth a read if only to give a perspective on our favorite genre that you may not have had before.
[Via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ethereal.wolf said on 10:21PM 12-27-2009
ahh MUDS. the reason i dropped out of college the first time. lol.
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SgtBaker said on 11:48PM 12-27-2009
They were also the reason I ever bothered to learn C and switch my major to CS and get into IT.
Oh the countless hours spent on debugging the Diku source..
MUDs made me a whitecollar codeslave!
Seffrid said on 5:49AM 12-28-2009
For me MUDs were a natural graduation from offline text adventures, I relished the chance to play such games with other people the moment I got an internet connection. Of course, they turned out to be but a stepping stone to MMORPGs, but I enjoyed immensely my couple of years or more playing Avalon, Orone, Cardea, and Archaea - they were the main ones for me, as I recall. What impresses and surprises me is the extent to which MUDs were, and still are, cult games for the college and university crowd.
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Dread said on 7:08AM 12-28-2009
Ahh MUDs...I lost countless days sleep playing TrekMUSE and about 9 different Wheel of Time themed MUDs...and about another half dozen Diku standard clones...good times....Gen Y numpties don't know what they missed :p
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curiousorange said on 1:11PM 12-28-2009
The amazing thing is that MMORPGs aren't much different than MUDs were 15-20 years ago. Back then, we MUDders used to complain about level grinding, spawn campers and lack of end-game content! Funny how little things have changed over the years.
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Nearly Nil said on 2:43PM 12-28-2009
I hardly realized the significance of MUDs back when I played them (1995 or so). They were, in my opinion then, an inferior version of games like Zork, that had the single advantage of being persistent. In fact, they were the future. By the way, I played MirkwoodMUD.
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