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If you're interested in role-playing online, might I suggest any of hundreds of fantasy-themed MUSHes? MUSHes are usually very heavy on the roleplay and light on the hack and slash. Check out TMC, perhaps. And, they're usally all free.

Did you know that the genre of text RPGs known as MUDs still exists and is still going strong with new development to older games as well as release of brand new games? The larger, long-lasting MUDs such as Medievia have withstood the test of time and still manage to not only engage the player in a world of fantasy, but also manage to have such in-depth gameplay that they hold the players' interest for years on end. These games are constantly in development and are releasing programming on the cutting edge of AI and gaming. While the playerbases are not as large as WoW, the larger, more popular games get 500 players online or more at peak times. The best thing about MUDs is that the social aspect is a large part of the game, moreso than graphical MMOs. Friendships are made and relationships form that can't be found elsewhere. If you want a new type of adventure, think outside the box, and try (or re-try) a MUD.

Links:

http://www.medievia.com/ - One of the oldest and most popular MUDs, in development since 1992.

http://www.ironrealms.com/ - Iron Realms Entertainment: providing 4 different worlds to explore.

http://www.mudconnector.com/ - The Mud Connector - major MUD portal

http://www.topmudsites.com/ - Top Mud Sites - ranking site for MUDs

If text-based is fine, you have a decent grasp of C and a good amount of time on your hands, go for the MUD codebase. There's so much shit that can be done with text that can't be done with graphics - mainly, because your head won't explode when you create cities of a few million in population. Your graphics card, however, will.

http://mudconnector.com/ is a good place to start. They've listings for a few thousand MUDs (most of 'em are desolate due to new-fangled nVidia cards and kids these days ;)).. More importantly, a nice section with links to code.

If you choose one of the more popular codebases (say, Merc or Envy), there's shitloads of code that's ready to be dropped right in. It requires little or no coding talent. You'll still need some, though, because a stock+snippet Merc/Envy MUD isn't going to cut it for ye olde D&D game. ;) You might also want to consider a MUSH codebase - they're rather better suited for roleplaying. They're a bit trickier to get the hang of, though, IMO - standard old school MUDs require a grasp of basic C, nothing more.

Of course, this is all probably too much work. Ever considering the age old solution?

IRC. Run an IRC server, have your friends join a channel, whip up a five-minute dice-rolling script for your own client, and away you go.

MUDs aren't dead. There is still an active community, although it is smaller than it used to be. If you enjoy MMORPGs, you owe it to yourself to give MUDs a shot. Try the abandoned realms, or find a mud that fits you best at the mud connector.

Our players tell us that they enjoy Medievia because of the relationships they form with their fellow players. Many of Medievia's players have been logging in for 5 or more years - some even 10 or more! They keep coming back because the friends they met on Medievia keep coming back. They form clans, they have deep bloodlines. They basically have a family away from their family. This is one major reason why MUDs are better than graphical MMORPGs.. you just cannot achieve the level of closeness that you can on a MUD.

Of course there is also the gameplay. MUDs like Medievia that have been around since the early 1990s have been developing for almost 15 years now. Although the development teams are much smaller than that of the larger graphical MMORPGs, they have had much more time to develop deep storylines and complex gameplay. There are so many different aspects of Medievia and the gameplay is so deep that it is impossible to explain the game without spending 2+ hours or just experiencing it yourself. Most of the highly-developed MUDs are the same way - years of development ahead of the more modern games.

http://www.medievia.com/

I still actively play a lot of the text based games myself. Be it MUD, MUSH, MUSE, or any other version of the MU* base, there is something for just about any subject you can think of. If it's a geeky genre, you can bet on finding at least 10 or more MU* catering to that.

These games have to attract people solely on gameplay, content, and quality of characters/players in their little world. You'll also find that most of these places ask for no money at all, and are often paid for entirely by the owner. A few have made the leap to pay for play, but those are rare compared to the free ones. Finding them is pretty easy, just look for any MU* listing out there.

http://maelstrom.areth.org/mud/ is a small list of active places that even includes 'talker' based chats rooms, while http://www.mudconnector.com/ is one of the larger ones and even lists pay for play. If you want to see an interesting MUD that is a mix of a few of the more geekier genres in one, I recommend http://www.areth.org/ as something you don't find everywhere else.

Have you considered playing a MUD? If the systems can't handle the graphics required by most MMORPG's, then the text based MUD's might be a good choice. Check out http://www.mudconnector.com/ to search hundreds of MUD/MUCK/MUSH sites. You can search according to criteria and find suitable games. Most of these are free, too, which can't be said for the graphical games.

Give Midgaard my best.

For those looking to get interested into the lost art of MUDDING (and the secret art of MUDSEX), take a look at these sites for finding a game to play on:

The Mud Connector: http://www.mudconnector.com/
TopMudSites.com: http://www.topmudsites.com/

And for those that wish to become admins of their own online MU* world and seeking cheap, reliable MU* hosting services, check out:

MURPE Online Game Hosting Services: http://www.murpe.com/hosting/

-- M

This 'MUD' thing he speaks of is not WoW. It's one of a huge number of text-based online RPGs, the precursers to MMORPGS like EQ and WoW. Mud Connector is a good portal. Alternatively, telnet into hexonyx.com:7777 to see what it's about.

www.mudconnector.com

Most, if not all, are completely free. And quite addictive, too.

I've been playing muds since '97. While this doesn't make me a newbie at them, I'm by no means qualified to call myself an "oldbie". Playing both muds and FFXI I can say that there doesn't seem to be much difference to me in terms of getting into the games. Most muds have very easy to learn commands that are more common sense than anything else, but it's not unusual for players have have problems typing "wear" to wear an item. However, I do think that it might be difficult for someone who's started off playing a graphical game with point and click interfaces and pretty sounds to switch to something purely text. Many muds now allow players with compatible clients to click and perform various actions as well as soundpacks available for download.

As for what the popular ones are, it seems like every week another mud pops up. Some 14 year old plays a game, thinks "This is easy!" and decides to start his own. Server space is easy to get, mud code is generally free, and most hosts will install and configure your your codebase of choice. Most of these games are played by the owner and 3 or 4 of his/her friends who takes turns slaughtering each other and spamming mud discussion lists with "we're the best DBZ mud around!" Players may visit the game, play for an hour or so, and leave. Players who stay run the chance of either being victims of immortal characters testing out super-equipment on them or just getting tired of playing a game that's going nowhere. Eventually they leave, and there's one more dead mud on a list.

The popular games are the ones who shell out the big money for ads in gaming magazines. Are they the best? I've never played on them since I've run my own for 5 years now, but several of my regular players have played at the bigger places and still return to my much smaller and less popular game.

Check out either Mudconnector or MudMagic. Both have lists of muds and faqs on how to get started with a game, as well as forums discussing all sorts of game stuff.

MudConnector
Thousands of MUDs. :)

And for a good MUD/Telnet client for gaming, I suggest zMUD

What are some popular MUDs?

You can go to www.mudconnector.com and search for a MUD with features you might like. Personally, I'm partial to Discworld.

What is up with the MUD content on /. the past weeks? It's like the Mudconnector around here. I, of course am coding my own codebase, endymion, which is better than anything else :)

MUDs have been doing this for ages. Sure, it's nice someone bothered to pay homage to Mr. Wilde but technologically this is quite simple. There are a lot more exciting projects going on in the MUD world, even some quite advanced AI models. I'm working on a memory-based system which would enable an NPC to become an Oscar Wilde by 'thinking' about things and putting events together with some cohesion. See the Mudconnector for more info on MUDs.

... the most important indie games of the internet's history - MUDs, MUSHes, MOOs and the like. They incorporate written and linguistic creativity, roleplaying, imagination, don't require any special software other than generic telnet, can be played on the oldest of links and, most importantly, are often free :)
Try a good one at hypercube.org:9000, or many others at www.mudconnector.com.

Try the Mudconnector. Their search feature should be plenty good for you.

Maybe it was just the sort of people that hung out on them, but there seemed to be a lot more to them depthwise than pop MMORPGs.

Well, MUDs didn't really "go away", but the percentage of the folks on the Internet that use 'em are a lot smaller (absolute numbers might have gone up, I dunno).

For the record, I used to play on Bad Trips

Do you mean Bad Trip? I used to have a mud called Bad Trip that I started with Coby/Akinyele and Velveeta. Coby/Akin has been running it solo for a long time. It's a great mud, easily findable on mudconnector.
www.mudconnector.com

I'm not sure if MUDs are actually diminishing all that much. If you look at sites like mudconnector there are quite a few MUDs listed. The same goes with MPOGD. I, myself, am an active participant in a MUD that has been running over thirteen(13) years now. The player base has only increased, as has the complexity of the MUD itself. I know others that have followed somewhat of the same path as well. The only reason MUDs may be diminishing, is that the maintainers lose interest, or go on to do something else. However, it seems that if the MUD is programmed well, and has a strong playerbase, it isn't going anywhere. I know for a fact, that if the MUD I play opens donations, almost every player will donate at least $100 US Dollars without flinching.That clearly shows some dedication. (Note that one doesn't ever HAVE to donate money.)

If anyone is curious, or wants to play, the MUD I'm on is Bat. www.bat.org/

WoT MUD's abound. As do Tolkien muds (mume is my fave and one of the best i've ever played.)
You name a big fantasy author and they pretty much have at least one mud (either in development or already there).

Eddings, Pratchett, Jordan... I am awaiting a mud based on Robin Hobb (it might already be there) you can goto The Mud connector to find out.

I think that you guys should have a topic FOR text games cause, well, err, they are our HISTORY, man!! where would slashdot be without zork, trinity, tradewars, and the rest of them that we all *cough over 30* cut our teeth on??

Any self-respecting geek probably knows full well, but worth taking any opportunity to plug the medium. MUDs (Multi User Dungeons) are still alive and well, and MUD Connector lists about 2,000 currently active (as in, running now, have been running within the last two months).

To those unaware (for shame!), MUDs (and variations such as MUCKs, MOOs, and MUSHes) are BBS-era text-based games, the precursors to MMORPGs such as Ultima Online, Everquest, Anarchy Online, and so on. There are some graphical (and freely available) MUDs out there, some listed on MUD Connector, but most are still text based. Generally, MUDs aren't completely original codebases, but derived from an open source basis, such as CircleMUD which just finally got out of 3.0 beta and released 3.1.

I administer a small MUD, passed down to me from two previous big egos, which has been up for somewhere around 1995, give or take a few months of server issues. Unfortunately, I'm too ashamed to post a link.

While I've only been mudding for 7 years or so (Thats a long time when your 19), Reading this time line was really quite interesting. Reading all these posts on the other hand, left me with the thought of pity for the older generation. Dont just sit there and mutter over the loss of your favorite online worlds, wether they be via BBS, MU*s or any other means. Go Find another and jump back in where you left off. For my money, theres no site more helpful than Mudconnector for finding a MU* to solve those text based RPG'ing jonses.

Just a thought.. I dont like seeing people miserable over loses that they can atleast partially satiate.


Derg

For *n?x people, text mode MUDs are great games to play.

i was wondering if anyone else shared this idea. half of my work week is spent on an NT workstation, but i open an xterm from one of our unix boxes and login to my MUD from there (there are win32 MUD clients will all kinds of fancy features out there, but i like the old-school feel of ANSI telnet :). it only takes up about 1/4 of the screen, and it's easy to alt-tab something on top of it if someone walks my way. it's also usually easy to take extended breaks, although getting interrupted while fighting someone or something is somewhat annoying...

of course, the ultimate source for finding a MUD you like is the MUD Connector. the site indexes over 1700 MUDs and features advanced searching and user reviews.

--Siva

Only reason text based was popular was because there wasn't enough horse power for graphics.
Nope. MUDs are alive and kicking today. And FWIW you will still find a significant number of players on a mud.

I don't know if spoiled is quite it. More to the point, I think some games spend too much attention on graphics, sounds, special effects, and not enough on making a good, playable game. That's true of all game genres, not just multi-player online games.

If you're looking for a MUD, even a text-based one, they're still out there:

• NetHack - successor to Rogue, the granddaddy of them all
• Falcon's Eye - a graphical version of NetHack
• Wyvern - a Java/Jython MUD with graphics

Well, I don't know much about this vaporware Atari 2600 LotR game, but a lot of other games based on Tolkiens world has been made.
Check out this neat site. It has all the info you need about computer-based Tolkien games. LotR for Super NES is probably the only one I've tried so far, and it didn't quite meet my expectations ;)

Oh, and didn't someone announce a MMORPG a few years ago? I wonder what happened to it ... which reminds me: Mudconnecter has a list of some MUDs based on Tolkien's books. Of those, Elendor MUSH is probably the best one. I remember playing it some years ago...

Well, I don't know much about this vaporware Atari 2600 LotR game, but a lot of other games based on Tolkiens world has been made.
Check out this neat site. It has all the info you need about computer-based Tolkien games. LotR for Super NES is probably the only one I've tried so far, and it didn't quite meet my expectations ;)

Oh, and didn't someone announce a MMORPG a few years ago? I wonder what happened to it ... which reminds me: Mudconnecter has a list of some MUDs based on Tolkien's books. Of those, Elendor MUSH is probably the best one. I remember playing it some years ago...

Dune MUD

Dune III MUSH
Fear my low SlashID! (bidding starts at $500)

Dune MUD

Dune III MUSH
Fear my low SlashID! (bidding starts at $500)

If you are about phantasy, games that happen in your mind, try (kind of ancient) MUDs (MultiUserDungeons). You can find the biggest list here. The games are quite entertaining, much like the Sim Stuff, you can marry, you can choose a profession, even extend the games as a wizard. You interact with people you never met, you can be someone you always wanted to be (or just be yourself). If you are more into visual entertainment you might want to try other worlds (new stuff, not so much imagination required) like Everquest or Ultima Online. Have fun exploring ...

What if they want to play and build them by cheating? I suppose you are OK with that, right? It is Sony's game, they can make whatever rules they want. If you don't like the rules, you can go find a mud with rules you might like.

Of course, you can always just go to The Mud Connector as well.
--

...these are still the best, if you got the necessary fantasy.
I remember playing "3 Kingdoms" during a whole summer...anyone else?

And to make this a bit more informative, here is one of the largest MUD Link collections:
www.mudconnector.com

cheers
mike

This just sounds like a text based game competition. Contrary to popular belief, text based games are alive and well.

The mud connector has a listing of over 1500 mu*s, which, to the uninformed, is a Multi-User Whatever, normally Dungeon/Domain, but has grown to include Mushes etc. In a mud, everything is text based, and multiuser is the norm. On mud I used to play on had around 100 people on it at a time at its most popular (around a year ago). For the serious, I recommend a good mud client, Zmud seems popular (windows and shareware though), but any telnet client will do.

Also, games like Nethack are still being maintained and expanded. Pure text (although a QT interface is out there), for single player, but Nethack will always be on the top of any gaming list for me due to the style of gameplay.

Ah, textbased. Sometimes (as in the case of many muds), it has the habit to be bad. In other cases (yah, nethack!) it can be the best gaming out there. Then again, blowing someone's head off, such as in quake or doom, is satisfying, and no mud will every match the visual appeal of 8 wolves chasing you, a single halfling, to the guards (a scene I've seen from Everquest).

As I see it, there are two types of games out there-- those to make a profit, and those because the designer was having a bit of fun.

The problem is that companies are trying to get the most profit that they can. For a flight sim, they've got to get everything right, or some anal retentive bastard's going to bitch that the lever to control the landing gear's in the wrong place.

It's not so bad with fantasy games, where you can make up whatever you want, and well, that's just how it is. [which is why Halflife starts getting lame when you're on alien worlds -- it's so much cooler to see how well they got the human reactions and such]

Some games are fun in a more nostalgic way... I'll go back and play Quake once in a while, or Duke3d, when I'm in the FPS mood, but QuakeII....I don't think so. Sometimes, I'm in the mood for a good game of C&C or WarcraftII. [Although, after playing it for so much, I guess I have to admit that AOE and AOK aren't bad games, either]

You still get people working on text based muds....not for the profit, but for the fun of it. [okay, and I know a few that are just there to be fascist bastards, but that's another story] People still work on NetHack. I think I remember seeing on slashdot a while back mentioning Trade Wars. Hell, there's even a sequel to Dark Castle coming out.

Good games are still out there, even if they're not coming from the companies who can afford the multi million dollar ad campaigns.

People feel that a genre is dead when one can't make any money off of it, I disagree. I feel that a genre is dead when nothing new comes out for it.

OT: I'm trying to modify a MUD engine for use with a Doom or Quake client. Actually I'll be using Doom or Quake (modified to have MUD like qualities) as a server and have a slim version for a client. If anybody could give me any pointers on doing this? Mail anything to Meenky.

Many of these MUDs parse for hundreds or THOUSANDs of commands, and do it quite well. Anyway, I'd just like to present an example of how it can be done.

If you'd like to check out some of these look at http://www.mudconnector.com. Note that not all muds have natural language parsers, but I'm pretty sure you can search for ones that do at Mud Connector.

- Wedg

Try these, explanation at the bottom: The Mud Connector or check out A Dark Portal If you're looking for a BBS-like environment, they are out there in the form of MUDs and MUSHes and MUCKs - online playing environments where players can talk to each other, post notes, and even fight, in some cases. MUCKs and MUSHes tend to be more oriented on Roleplay, whereas MUDs are usually oriented on Hack'n'slash - run around sowing destruction. Mud Connector has listings of thousands of games. If you are looking for something in particular, like a game based on a book or series like The Crow or some such, go there. A Dark Portal is a small mud where everyone is very friendly. If you're new to muds, this is the place to go.