Legacy:Mud
Version 1
Date: 2008-12-28 16:00:51 GMT Author: AndrewGronosky Comment: Initial version
'''MUD''' is an acronym for "Multi-User Dungeon." It's an old form of interactive, online role-playing game. MUDs are different from a modern MMORPG ("Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game") in that:
# A MUD has a text-based interface, so the world is described with text instead of pictures and players type commands rather than clicking a mouse
# MUDs have smaller player bases, usually dozens of players rather than thousands
# MUDs are usually hosted at universities or other not-for-profit institutions, and there is no fee required to play
=Ars Magica Related MUDs
* [[Tempora Heroica]]
Version 2
Date: 2008-12-28 21:06:50 GMT Author: pm Comment: Types, Delimitation & Popularity
'''MUD''' is an acronym for "Multi-User Dungeon." It's an old form of interactive, online role-playing game. MUDs are different from a modern MMORPG ("Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game") in that:
# A MUD has a text-based interface, so the world is described with text instead of pictures and players type commands rather than clicking a mouse
# MUDs have smaller player bases, usually dozens of players rather than thousands
# MUDs are usually hosted at universities or other not-for-profit institutions, and there is no fee required to play
= Types & Variants
While the original acronym simply denoted a kind of game, but not a particular style of play, inveterate experts of the matter distinguish several types of [?MUD|Multi-User Dungeon]s that have been known to exist to this day. According to the teachings of these authorities, [?MUD|Multi-User Dungeon] denotes a kind of online game in which it is the characters' primary goal to explore the virtual world they find themselves in. All along the way, they solve all kinds of riddles, perform quests, and prove themselves worthy in the context of the respective scenario, thereby gaining experience, skills and power. After having played several years, and having gained enough power to reach the highest level a character can obtain, a level usually referred to as Wizard, the player may start to forge the game world according to his will by being bestowed the responsibility for a part of that world.
On the other hand, [?MUSH|Multi-User Shared Hallucination]s tend to focus on the social interaction of the characters that are involved in the game. The idea of a [?MUSH|Multi-User Shared Hallucination] is that players, actors actually, thrive by just expressing themselves, and interacting with one another when being put together in the same (virtual) room. [?MUSH|Multi-User Shared Hallucination] players tend to lack the teeth grinding sobriety of [?MUD|Multi-User Dungeon] players who, unlike the latter, usually just hang out together to discuss (virtual) matters instead of teaming up to slay monsters.
There are other types of [?MUD|Multi-User Dungeon]s, like MOOs, MUXs, and derivatives that describe variants of the types above. However, most of them merely describe variants of the software that runs on the server rather than differences of what players or characters spend their time with.
= Delimitation & Popularity
According to many [?P&P|Pen & paper] role-players, [?MUD|Multi-User Dungeon]s come closest to what a proper computer based [?RPG|Role-playing game] should look and feel like. Unlike adventures, another kind of text-based computer game where players guide just a single character, and, while exploring the world, must solve countless riddles and interact with more or less creative computer-controlled entities, [?MUD|Multi-User Dungeon]s simulate the interaction of multiple characters, protagonists as well as antagonists, within the virtual world. A similar distinction applies to the type of game in which a single player controls an entire party that sets out to confront endless waves of malicious monsters.
The golden age of [?MUD|Multi-User Dungeon]s was during the late 1980s and early 1990s. [?MUD|Multi-User Dungeon]s mainly grew in university networks were students flocked to back & green terminals to celebrate their creativity. Due to the lack of Internet access for the major part of the populace at that time, [?MUD|Multi-User Dungeon]s were usually considered an academic phenomenon, featuring a high percentage of people with geekish finesse. When the Internet reached the masses in the middle of the 1990s, and was recognized as the commercial platform it is today, it went hand in hand with a change of the type of entertainment people spend their time with. As far as games were concerned, media-heavy, resource-greedy applications swept away the former charm of text-based adventuring, and although the mudding-culture never really died it never received the quantitive push that the online community could have brought. It therefore quietly lives on relatively isolated from the eyes of masses.
= Ars Magica Related MUDs
the original acronym
Version 3
Date: 2009-08-05 00:10:30 GMT Author: pm Comment: Mostly corrected typos and reformatting
'''MUD''' is an acronym for �Multi-User Dungeon�. It's an old form of interactive, online role-playing game. {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}}s are different from a modern {{abbr|MMORPG|Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game}} in that:
* A {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}} has a text-based interface, so the world is described with text instead of pictures and players type commands rather than clicking a mouse
* {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}}s have smaller player bases, usually dozens of players rather than thousands
* {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}}s are usually hosted at universities or other not-for-profit institutions, and there is no fee required to play
= Types & Variants
While the original acronym simply denoted a generic kind of game and not a particular style of play, inveterate experts of the matter distinguish several types of {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}}s that have been known to exist to this day. According to the teachings of these authorities, {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}} denotes a kind of online game in which it is the characters' primary goal to explore the virtual world they find themselves in. All along the way, they solve various kinds of riddles, perform quests, thereby proving themselves worthy by gaining experience, skills and power. After having played and labored for several years, and having gained enough power to reach the highest level a character can obtain, a level usually referred to as a Wizard, the player may start to forge the game world according to his will. To do so, he is bestowed the responsibility for a part of that world.
On the other hand, {{abbr|MUSH|Multi-User Shared Hallucination}}s tend to focus on the social interaction of the characters that are involved in the game. The idea of a {{abbr|MUSH|Multi-User Shared Hallucination}} is that players, actors actually, thrive by just expressing themselves, and interacting with one another when meeting in the same (virtual) room. {{abbr|MUSH|Multi-User Shared Hallucination}} players tend to lack the teeth grinding sobriety of {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}} players, and usually just hang out together to discuss (virtual) matters instead of teaming up to slay monsters.
There are other types of {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}}s, like MOOs, MUXs, and derivatives that describe slightly different variants of the types above. However, most of these variants describe differences of the software that runs on the game server rather than differences of what players or characters spend their time with.
= Delimitation & Popularity
According to many {{abbr|P&P|Pen & paper}} role-players, {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}}s come closest to what a computer-based {{abbr|RPG|Role-playing game}} should look and feel like. Unlike Adventures, another kind of text-based computer game where players control just a single alter ego, and, while exploring the game world, must solve countless riddles and interact with more or less creative computer-controlled entities, {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}}s simulate the interaction of multiple characters controlled by real humans � protagonists as well as antagonists � within the virtual world. A similar distinction applies to the type of game (also employing the ambiguous term Role-Playing Game) in which a single player controls an entire party that sets out to confront wave after wave of malicious monsters.
The golden age of {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}}s was during the late 1980s and early 1990s. {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}}s mainly thrived in university networks were students flocked to black & white (green, actually) terminals to celebrate their creativity. Due to the lack of Internet access for the major part of the populace at that time, {{abbr|MUD|Multi-User Dungeon}}s were usually considered an academic phenomenon, and featured a high percentage of people with geekish finesse. When the Internet reached the masses in the middle of the 1990s, and was recognized as the commercial platform it is today, this development went hand in hand with a change of the type of online entertainment people spend their time with. As far as games were concerned, media-heavy, resource-greedy applications swept away the former charm of text-based adventuring, and although the mudding-culture never really died it never received the quantitative push that the online community could have brought. It therefore quietly lingers on relatively isolated from the eyes of masses.
= Ars Magica Related MUDs
* [[Tempora Heroica]]