MUD





MUD is an acronym for multi-user dungeon (or dimension), a role-playing
computer game that runs on a bulletin board system or Internet server. Many
people may connect simultaneously. Once connected, players control a
character. They see textual descriptions of rooms, objects, other
characters, and computer-controlled creatures or NPCs (non-player
characters) in a virtual world. Players may interact with each other and the
surroundings by typing commands that resemble plain English.

Most MUDs implement a fantasy world populated by elves, goblins, and other
mythical beings. Players pretend to be knights, sorcerers, and the like. The
goal of the game is to slay monsters and complete quests. Some MUDs have a
science fiction setting. Most MUDs are run as hobby and are free to players.
Still others, especially thoses which are based on MOOs, are used in
distance education or to allow for virtual conferences. MUDs have also
attracted the interest of academic scholars from many fields, including
communications, sociology, law, and economics.

The popularity of MUDs escalated in the USA during the 1980s, when
(relatively speaking) cheap, at-home personal computers with 300 to 2400
baud modems enabled role players to log into multi-line BBSes. Roguelike
games were also becoming popular at that time. In Europe at around the same
time, MUD development was centered around academic networks, particularly at
the University of Essex where it was played by many people, both internal
and external to the University. The MUD scene is still very much alive on
the Internet, accessed via telnet. Specialized telnet clients exist that
give a more pleasant user experience.

MUD variants

Once computer power increased and Internet connectivity became ubiquitous,
the graphical MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games)
developed. Unlike earlier MUDs, most MMORPGs are commercial ventures.
Examples of MMORPGs include:

   * Anarchy Online (2001)
   * Asheron's Call (1999)
   * EverQuest (1999)
   * Ultima Online (1997)

The original MUDs drew their inspiration from paper-and-pencil based games
such as Dungeons & Dragons (hence their name), and the computer game
Original Adventure. The first MUD was created and written by Roy Trubshaw
and Richard Bartle at Essex University in the UK [1]: a version of this
first MUD is still running at www.mud2.com. The first popular MUD was
AberMUD written by Alan Cox, also known as Anarchy, named after the
University of Aberystwyth, Wales. Over time variants have diversified into
other models while retaining the textual format. For example, some variants
are called MUCKs, MUSHs, LPMUDs, and MOOs.

A MUSH is often said to mean multi-player shared hallucination. MUSHes
descend from the program TinyMUD. MUSHes date back to the early 1990s. They
are more directly concerned with role-playing (acting) than MUDs, dispensing
with the experience systems. Instead, players focus on creating their
character's life as accurately as possible. Members of the MUSH family
include PernMUSH, PennMUSH, TinyMUSH, TinyMUSE and TinyMUX.

Other variants emphasize building by providing players with a powerful
programming language (as in MOOs) to make their own objects and rooms, or
function as elaborate chat systems with no fantasy trappings.

Talkers and Spods

A lesser known variant is the talker, typically based on ew-too, summink,
sensi-summink, playground, and plenty of other code bases. The talker is
essentially a MUD, with most of the complex bits of code stripped away,
leaving just the communication level commands -- hence the name talker.
People who use these tend to be called spods. The spod tends to be something
of a long term fanatic. Where many mudders may move on after a year or two,
people who use talkers typically have been doing so for a decade or more.
Talkers are signifigantly easier to run than an average MUD, since they
don't incorporate very much artificial intelligence, and they are usually
much more user friendly, since there is not often much fighting as a focus.
In other words, whole families of husbands, wives, children, and siblings
have been known to spod in certain circles. They also use very little
network traffic, and use simple protocols, making them ideal for setting up
quietly at work.

The spod has earned a place in the Jargon File.

Popular MUDs

   * LambdaMOO
   * TinyTIM
   * FurryMUCK
   * SvenskMud
   * Elendor (MUSH)
   * Simutronics
   * NannyMUD

Interesting MUDs

   * Materia Magica
   * QuestWar

In the game of Contract bridge MUD is a defensive signalling convention that
stands for Middle-Up-Down. A defender who plays his cards in this order is
better able to communicate to his partner the number of cards he holds in
the suit. The partner is thus able to infer the complete distribution of the suit.