This is written in 2006. I did play on MUDs for a bit, but I arrived later than MUDs were a thing (in particular, WoW was already popular when I got to MUDs) so that may have impacted which MUDs...
This is written in 2006. I did play on MUDs for a bit, but I arrived later than MUDs were a thing (in particular, WoW was already popular when I got to MUDs) so that may have impacted which MUDs that lived long enough for me to experience them.
One of the things that I think that MUDs had that MMORPGs did not was a level of malleability of the space. This varied from MUD - some had places suggested by the players and then the admins would implement it based on a vote, some had player designated spaces that could be edited with in-game commands and some had a system of super users for the public space.
I think MMORPGs later got to a sandboxed version of the same with player housing systems, but in a way, Minecraft, Roblox and VRChat inherit that aspect of the MUDs more than MMORPGs did. Some might same that the separated nature of worlds in these games make them different, but at the same time it feels like the median player count of the typical Minecraft server isn't that different to the same for the median MUD at the time I played.
I’ve not played any MUDs, but an aspect of MMOs that I’ve come to resent somewhat is how if an MMO has even the slightest competitive component, it inevitably comes to dominate/shape the game even...
I’ve not played any MUDs, but an aspect of MMOs that I’ve come to resent somewhat is how if an MMO has even the slightest competitive component, it inevitably comes to dominate/shape the game even for those who don’t engage seriously in competitive play. I imagine this is less of an issue with MUDs, which the image I have of is more closely related to tabletop D&D and such where MMOs have drifted from those roots.
At a high level, sure they are basically the same, but the details and expectations set them apart. I recently had someone asking for recommendations of an RTS game, and in our groups discussions...
At a high level, sure they are basically the same, but the details and expectations set them apart. I recently had someone asking for recommendations of an RTS game, and in our groups discussions people started recommending some city builder games and other fairly diverse games because they were strategy games that were not turn based, thus a "real time strategy" game. It became clear that the RTS genre wasn't just about those three words though and was not what the original person was asking for and this article's premise feels the same way to me.
This is written in 2006. I did play on MUDs for a bit, but I arrived later than MUDs were a thing (in particular, WoW was already popular when I got to MUDs) so that may have impacted which MUDs that lived long enough for me to experience them.
One of the things that I think that MUDs had that MMORPGs did not was a level of malleability of the space. This varied from MUD - some had places suggested by the players and then the admins would implement it based on a vote, some had player designated spaces that could be edited with in-game commands and some had a system of super users for the public space.
I think MMORPGs later got to a sandboxed version of the same with player housing systems, but in a way, Minecraft, Roblox and VRChat inherit that aspect of the MUDs more than MMORPGs did. Some might same that the separated nature of worlds in these games make them different, but at the same time it feels like the median player count of the typical Minecraft server isn't that different to the same for the median MUD at the time I played.
I’ve not played any MUDs, but an aspect of MMOs that I’ve come to resent somewhat is how if an MMO has even the slightest competitive component, it inevitably comes to dominate/shape the game even for those who don’t engage seriously in competitive play. I imagine this is less of an issue with MUDs, which the image I have of is more closely related to tabletop D&D and such where MMOs have drifted from those roots.
At a high level, sure they are basically the same, but the details and expectations set them apart. I recently had someone asking for recommendations of an RTS game, and in our groups discussions people started recommending some city builder games and other fairly diverse games because they were strategy games that were not turn based, thus a "real time strategy" game. It became clear that the RTS genre wasn't just about those three words though and was not what the original person was asking for and this article's premise feels the same way to me.