The MUDdex

Copyright 1993 by Lauren P. Burka

Maintained by Lauren P. Burka


"MUD stands for Multi-User Dungeon. Or Multi-User Dimension. Or Mauve Ugly Ducks." -ashne

I have collected here documents pertaining to the history of MUDS. Most of these documents are posts saved from Usenet, MUD-related mailing lists, or logs of MUD interactions.

Many of them are of historical or humorous interest.

Warning to the Browser

I have preserved whenever possible original words of the authors of these documents. This may include offensive language and dreadful spelling. Some of it is true, some is not, and most is a matter of opinion.

All text is copyright the original authors. In most cases, I wasn't able to contact the authors to ask for their permission. If you see something that you wrote and want it removed, let me know.

If you have something interesting enough to add here, or if you want me to include references to your own Web pages, send mail to me at my above address.

MUD History Summary

This essay is an attempt by Lauren P. Burka to summarize the history of TinyMUDs. It has been abandoned as a project. You can go read it and laugh at us poor MUD players and programmers who used to run multi-user games on machines with half a meg of ram.

The MUDline, a timeline of MUD-related events.

At long last, an FAQ about the MUDdex!

Early MUDdom

Tinymud "Culture" (loosely termed)

Bots, or The Triumph of Mass Neotek

Bots are external programs that connect to a mud server as if they were characters. Bots can pass messages and give interactive help. Some of them were so slick as to fool the unwary into believing they were talking to a real person. Most of the bot documents are logs from the bot point of view, and are therefore difficult to read.

Are MUDs just games?

Here is a paper by Rémy Evard.

Here's the original Village Voice article on LambdaMOO. Permission to post given by Julian Dibbell.

Does anyone still play MUDS?

Yes! They do! Some of the games are old text-style MUDs, and many more of them are MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games).

Modern games have vastly different quality of graphics, gameplay options, costs, and machine requirements. Some emphasize cooperative problem-solving, while others are aggressive and combat-oriented. You'll be able to find one you love. Most of these games are 'pay to play,' but they also tend to have free demos. Pay attention to the conditions when you sign up. You should be able to try something to see if you like it and it's stable enough to be fun.

More Mud Links

Alternative Multi-User Communications Platforms

Need a break from MMORPGs? Other fun games here.


Google
 
Web www.linnaean.org

Calm down! It's only ones and zeros!