MUD

MUDs were among the first online multiplayer computer games. "MUD" is actually an acronym, meaning "Multiple User Dungeon," and was named after the first game of the style ever produced.

In 1975, Will Crowther created the world's first text-based adventure game, Adventure. Emulating the basic concepts laid out by Adventure and another text-game, Zork, Roy Trubshaw created MUD. He expanded the basic concept to allow other users to participate in the game at the same time, allowing for interaction and communication between players within the game world. MUD was hosted on a local server, and any user who connected to the server could log in and play with their character. While originally available only to Essex University in the UK, the concept of MUDs became very popular throughout the country and the craze spread to America. The growing internet became an optimal host for new MUDs, allowing anyone with internet access to play the game as opposed to those with access to a specific server.

Since then, multiple variations of MUDs have been produced. Some games added graphical modifications while other intensified the role playing aspect. MUDs also became divided into two major subcategories: MUCK and MUSH.

MUCK has not concrete definition, but an accepted one is "Multiple User Created Kingdom". These types of MUDs tend to focus on storytelling, social interaction, and world building, while leaving out some of the adventure aspect of old MUDs. MUSH, on the other hand, focus on improving the classic gaming experience, sometimes offering player versus player competition. Fans of MUDs have many variations on the names for MUDs, depending upon client platforms and game style. They all fall under acatch-all, reffered to as MU*.

There are a lot of MUDs that are still played today, but their popularity has been dropping steadily. MMORPGs like Everquest and World of Warcraft have paved their way as the new role-playing expereince, offering high end graphics and more visceral and strategic combat than MUDs. The MUCK style of MUD is better off than others because of their focus on social interaction over gameplay. But with the rise of virtual world's like Second Life, MUDs may soon become an obsolete genre.