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{{VG Role-playing}}
A '''MUD''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ʌ|d}}; originally '''multi-user dungeon''', with later variants '''multi-user dimension''' and '''multi-user ___domain'''){{R|bartle-acronym|hahn-acronym}} is a [[Multiplayer video game|multiplayer]] [[Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time|real-time]] [[virtual world]], usually [[Text-based game|text-based]] or [[storyboard|storyboarded]].
Traditional MUDs implement a [[role-playing video game]] set in a [[fantasy]] world populated by [[List of species in fantasy fiction|fictional races and monsters]], with players choosing [[character class|classes]] in order to gain specific skills or powers. The objective of this sort of game is to slay [[monster]]s, explore a fantasy world, complete quests, go on adventures, create a story by [[roleplaying]], and advance the created character. Many MUDs were fashioned around the dice-rolling rules of the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' series of games.
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=== Origins ===
''[[Colossal Cave Adventure]]'', created in 1975 by [[Will Crowther]] on a [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[PDP-10]] computer, was the first widely
Numerous [[dungeon crawl]]ers were created on the [[PLATO system]] at the University of Illinois and other American universities that used PLATO, beginning in 1975. Among them were "[[pedit5]]", "oubliette", "[[Moria (PLATO)|moria]]", "avatar", "krozair", "dungeon", "[[dnd (PLATO video game)|dnd]]", "crypt", and "drygulch". By 1978–79, these games were heavily in use on various PLATO systems, and exhibited a marked increase in sophistication in terms of 3D graphics, storytelling, user involvement, team play, and depth of objects and monsters in the dungeons.<ref>Brian Dear, Chapter 16: "Into the Dungeon", [https://books.google.com/books?id=D5ZBDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA286 ''The Friendly Orange Glow''], Pantheon Books, New York, 2017; see pages 292–294 for "pedit5", pages 294–297 for "dnd", pages 297–298 for "dungeon".</ref>
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[[File:MUD1 screenshot.gif|thumb|"You haven't lived until you've died in MUD." – The ''[[MUD1]]'' slogan]]
''MUD'', better known as ''Essex MUD'' and ''MUD1'' in later years, ran on the [[University of Essex]] network, and became more widely accessible when a guest account was set up that allowed users on [[JANET]] (a British academic [[X.25]] computer network) to connect on weekends and between the hours of 2 AM and 8 AM on weekdays.{{R|wisner1}} It became the first Internet multiplayer online role-playing game in 1980
The original ''MUD'' game was closed down in late 1987,{{R|bartle-mud1-1987}} reportedly under pressure from [[CompuServe]], to whom Richard Bartle had licensed the game. This left ''[[MIST (MUD)|MIST]]'', a derivative of ''MUD1'' with similar gameplay, as the only remaining MUD running on the University of Essex network, becoming one of the first of its kind to attain broad popularity. ''MIST'' ran until the machine that hosted it, a [[PDP-10]], was superseded in early 1991.{{R|escape-from-the-dungeon}}
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''[[Avalon: The Legend Lives]]'' was published by Yehuda Simmons in 1989. It was the first [[Persistent world|persistent game world]] of its kind without the traditional hourly resets<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bartle|first1=Richard|title=Richard A. Bartle: Reviews - UK|url=http://mud.co.uk/richard/imucg4.htm|quote=When you leave the game, objects can be kept for when you restart (eg. that weapon you commissioned from a smith), and you restart in the room from which you quit. This means some objects can be kept unavailable for long periods if their owner isn't playing. There are no resets.}}</ref> and points-based puzzle solving progression systems.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bartle|first1=Richard|title=Reviews – UK|url=http://mud.co.uk/richard/imucg4.htm|website=www.mud.co.uk|quote=Experience is obtained by visiting new places, wandering around exploring, and even by simply chatting. This contrasts with the usual MUA scheme where points are obtained for finding treasure or performing specific tasks.}}</ref> Avalon introduced equilibrium and balance (cooldowns), skill-based player vs player combat and concepts such as player-run governments and player housing.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bartle|first1=Richard|title=Reviews – UK|url=http://mud.co.uk/richard/imucg4.htm|website=www.mud.co.uk|quote=Almost anything can be bought, including houses, shops, taverns, animals, weapons, food and drink. Personae may use certain skills to create objects, eg. potions, which can be sold to other players for use on their adventures.}}</ref>
=== Later history ===
In 2004, significant usages of MUDs included "online gaming, education,...socializing", and religious [[Ritual|rituals]] or other religious activities.<ref name=":022" />
==Popular variants==
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==Gameplay==
[[File:God Wars II screenshot of dungeon with MUSHclient plugin.png|thumb|right|Gameplay scene from ''God Wars II'']]
The typical MUD will describe to the player the room or area they are standing in, listing the objects, players and [[non-player characters]] (NPCs) in the area, as well as all of the exits. To carry out a task the player would enter a text command such as '''take apple''' or '''attack dragon'''.
MUD clients are computer applications that make the MUD [[telnet]] interface more accessible to users,<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Levine | first1 = John R. | author-link = John R. Levine | title = More Internet for Dummies | publisher = IDG Books | year = 1997 | isbn = 0-7645-0135-6 | pages = 199 | quote = A better way to connect to a MUD is by using a MUD client program: a program specifically designed for MUDding. A MUD program is really a telnet program that has had various MUD-related commands added.}}</ref> with features such as [[syntax highlighting]], [[keyboard macro]]s, and connection assistance.<ref>{{harvnb|Shah|Romine|1995|p=257}}, "Features include regular expression hilites and gags, auto-login, macros, line editing, screen mode, triggers, cyberportals, logging, file and command uploading, shells, and multiple connects."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Busey|1995|p=200}}, "The ''TinyFugue'' system has long been a popular client interface for players of MOO, MUCK, and many TinyMUD-derivative systems. With a robust feature list supporting multiple sessions, macros, triggers and automation, command history and other functions, TinyFugue offers users maximum control over their environment. Although more recent programs such as Tintin++ have gained large followings, many MUD players continue to use TinyFugue because of its power and flexibility in the hands of an experience client programmer."</ref> Prominent clients include TinyTalk, TinyFugue, TinTin++, and zMUD.{{sfn|Cheong|1996|p=[https://archive.org/details/internetagentssp00cheo/page/256 256]}}{{sfn|Bartle|2003|p=481}}
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A '''graphical MUD''' is a MUD that uses [[computer graphics]] to represent parts of the virtual world and its visitors.{{R|bartle-textgraph}} A prominent early graphical MUD was ''[[Habitat (video game)|Habitat]]'', written by [[Randy Farmer]] and [[Chip Morningstar]] for [[Lucasfilm]] in 1985.{{R|castronova-habitat}} Graphical MUDs require players to download a special client and the game's artwork. They range from simply enhancing the [[user interface]] to simulating 3D worlds with visual spatial relationships and customized [[avatar (computing)|avatar]] appearances.
Games such as ''[[Meridian 59]]'', ''[[EverQuest]]'', ''[[Ultima Online]]'' and ''[[Dark Age of Camelot]]'' were routinely called graphical MUDs in their earlier years.{{R|meridian59-mud|bmcquaid|dog-daoc-mud|king}} ''[[RuneScape]]'' was actually originally intended to be a ''text-based'' MUD, but graphics were added very early in development.{{R|runescapeqa|warcryrunescape}} However, with the increase in computing power and Internet connectivity during the late 1990s, and the shift of online gaming to the mass market, the term "graphical MUD" fell out of favor, being replaced by [[Massively multiplayer online role-playing game|MMORPG
== Development ==
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}}</ref> [[LPUniversity Mudlib]], [[MorgenGrauen Mudlib]], [[Nightmare Mudlib]], and [[TMI Mudlib]].
MUDs that include [[object-oriented programming]] can add complex features, such as adding elements to the game world and giving users more ways to interact with it, that MUDs without it cannot.<ref name=":022" />
== Community ==
MUD history has been preserved primarily through community sites and blogs and not through mainstream sources with journalistic repute.<ref name="Engadget: MUD history"/> As of the late 1990s, a website called The Mud Connector has served as a central and curated repository for active MUDs.<ref name="ywwr"/><ref name="pantuso"/><ref name="condon"/> In 1995, ''The Independent'' reported that over 60,000 people regularly played about 600 MUDs, up from 170 MUDs three years prior. ''The Independent'' also noted distinct patterns of socialization within MUD communities.<ref name="godlovitch"/>
In 2004, MUDs were relatively popular in the [[United States]] and mostly text-based.<ref name=":022" /> Seraphina Brennan of ''[[Massively (blog)|Massively]]'' wrote that the MUD community was "in decline" as of 2009.<ref name="Engadget: MUD history" /> ==Psychology and engagement==
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==Grammatical usage and derived terms==
As a noun, the word '''MUD''' is variously written MUD, Mud, and mud, depending on speaker and context. It is also used as a verb, with '''to mud''' meaning to play or interact with a MUD and '''mudding''' referring to the act of doing so.{{R|hahn-verb}} A '''mudder''' is, naturally, one who MUDs.{{R|internetculture-mudder}} [[Compound (linguistics)|Compound words]] and [[Portmanteau word|portmanteaux]] such as '''mudlist''', '''[[Cybersex|mudsex]]''', and '''[[mudflation]]''' are also regularly coined.
==See also==
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