Multi-user dungeon: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:02, 24 May 2024

Revision as of 04:31, 29 June 2024

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{{VG Role-playing}}

A '''multi-user dungeon''' ('''MUD''', {{IPAc-en|m|ʌ|d}}), also known as a '''multi-user dimension''' or '''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]]ed. MUDs combine elements of [[role-playing games]], [[hack and slash]], [[player versus player]], [[interactive fiction]], and [[online chat]]. Players can read or view descriptions of rooms, objects, other players, and [[non-player character]]s, and perform actions in the virtual world that are typically also described. Players typically interact with each other and the world by typing commands that resemble a [[natural language]], as well as using a character typically called an [[Avatar (computing)|avatar]].<ref name=":022">{{Cite book |last=Salamone |first=Frank A. |title=Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals, and Festivals |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2004 |isbn=0-415-94180-6 |editor-last=Levinson |editor-first=David |___location=New York |pages=300}}</ref>

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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=== Later history ===

In 2004, significant usages of MUDs included "online gaming, education,...socializing", and religious [[Ritual|ritualsritual]]s or other religious activities.<ref name=":022" />

==Popular variants==

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== 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" />