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[Shub-Nullgurath]

You guys playing any MUDs lately? I've started getting back into them and I've been having a go at the Iron Realms games again.

[Anvilfolk]

How popular are MUDs these days? I played a few of them until I settled on an RP one called Shadows of Isildur (which is apparently still going... how populated, I don't know). Haven't played any in ages!

[Shub-Nullgurath]

How popular are MUDs these days? I played a few of them until I settled on an RP one called Shadows of Isildur (which is apparently still going... how populated, I don't know). Haven't played any in ages!

They range, really. The most populated has about the same population as a Low population WoW server (200~ people on at one time).

[Retropunch]

I've never managed to get into them these days - they were great when it was basically the best you could do tech-wise for a proper MMO, but now that we can do that more properly they always feel a bit clunky.

It's just stuff like not having a proper graphical interface and having to remember all the archaic commands - it was fun at the time, but now it just feels a bit purposefully obtuse. That combined with communities that are mostly only populated by die-hard mega-fans means it's difficult to get involved sometimes.


If there are any that are really, really great fun though please do write about them.

[Criptfeind]

I recently tried to play achaea (an iron realm one I guess) with a few friends. But we ran up against the sorta issue that a lot of muds seem to have. In that, they aren't actually. Fun. Like, as games. Sure, you got a big (basically empty) world, and lots of room to roleplay stuff. But there's a serious lack of actually fun to play mechanical gameplay in a lot of muds. This has pretty much been my experience in almost all the muds I've tried.

[Retropunch]

I recently tried to play achaea (an iron realm one I guess) with a few friends. But we ran up against the sorta issue that a lot of muds seem to have. In that, they aren't actually. Fun. Like, as games. Sure, you got a big (basically empty) world, and lots of room to roleplay stuff. But there's a serious lack of actually fun to play mechanical gameplay in a lot of muds. This has pretty much been my experience in almost all the muds I've tried.

Yeah, that's always been my problem as well - most are glorified chat rooms with a bit of roll-to-hit battling added in. On top of that, a lot don't really seem to pay much attention to making the world/lore that coherent and exciting to role play in: 'You are at a mystical fountain. There is a river to the north.'

However, that being said, I do remember some people managing to have really awesome DnD style adventures with them back in the day - huge quests which couldn't really be matched even now. I'm sure there are good ones about even now, but I've yet to find one.

[Frumple]

... I liked the one or two that was basically Angband, the Text-Based Interface. They were actually fairly true to the roguelike, just with some extra stuff added and the whole real-time/multiplayer thing going on. Pretty sure they went under and never came back probably half a decade or better ago, though :V

Thaaat said, sweet goddamn client. Client client client client. Don't self-flagellate yourself trying to go it telnet or just the MUD's command support. Strong alias/macro support, built in notes, the whole north/etc. bound to arrow keys or somethin'. All that stuff. If there's any poor souls out there still trying to go through it alone, take a moment and save thineself because holy hell does even basic UI sanity add tremendously to the experience.

Pretty sure I used to use... MUSHClient? Or something like that. The one with the yellow icon, if my memory's working right. Was pretty nice _{also the only one I could really get to work worth a damn at the time, so...}

[ThtblovesDF]

I used to enjoy it as a little escape from reality. A very effective one indeed.

Think there used to be a pseudo-roman one, called Firan oder along those lines, countless vampire, a good discworld mud, a black lagoon mush/mud and more 18+ ones then you can even imagine (hellMU has a thread somewhere here)

[Shub-Nullgurath]

If there are any that are really, really great fun though please do write about them.

Legends of the Jedi is pretty exceptional, especially if you enjoy Star Wars. The crafting system is crazily in depth.

[Projectmayhem]

I started playing the Wheel of Time Mud recently. Seems good. I wish there was more WoT stuff out there but this will have to do.

Otherwise, Lost Souls is an obscure MUD that i always liked. I kinda grew up with Lost Souls and always thought it was really cool. I think MUD's and this sort of gaming never went where it should. Text Gaming can go very far. There is no reason  text games cant be good.

[Retropunch]

I completely agree that they never went where they should have. I think MUDs often have designers who are at the extreme end of the 'I'm making this game for myself and I don't care if no one else likes it' spectrum - I agree that there's definitely still a market for a text based MMORPG though.

On an unrelated note, I really hope there's some archival work going on to preserve MUDs as they fade. People mention their favorites just kind of vanishing as time goes on and a little part of me hurts to think that some world, some collection of stories, has fallen into a hard drive somewhere or was lost to its failure. I'd hope that our digital history is a little more important than that.

Yeah, it's one of those things I do worry about - there's all kinds of amazing games which could just get lost to the sands of time - luckily GoG have stepped in for the commercial stuff, but in terms of MUDs and online games it's difficult to know where they'll stand. If you haven't seen it, this youtube video on Active Worlds (an MMO from the 90s) is a pretty spooky look at what happens when MMOs just die off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRgATG6PUA0

[Shub-Nullgurath]

The question for MUDs would be: What would attract people to a new MUD, especially non-MUD players?

[Retropunch]

The question for MUDs would be: What would attract people to a new MUD, especially non-MUD players?

I think being in-browser, easily accessible and understandable would be key. Whilst there are plenty of MMOs around, not many can be played anywhere on any device - if you could play from any browser it'd definitely be an attraction.

More than that though, it needs to do what isn't currently possible with the technology we have at the moment. Even the best MMOs struggle with epic quest arcs and a sense of scale - text doesn't have that problem. You can be on a battlefield with 20,000 soldiers or fighting a 2 mile long dragon without any technical overhead.

Such a lot of potential.

[Tiruin]

[...]I agree that there's definitely still a market for a text based MMORPG though.

On an unrelated note, I really hope there's some archival work going on to preserve MUDs as they fade. People mention their favorites just kind of vanishing as time goes on and a little part of me hurts to think that some world, some collection of stories, has fallen into a hard drive somewhere or was lost to its failure. I'd hope that our digital history is a little more important than that.

Yeah, it's one of those things I do worry about - there's all kinds of amazing games which could just get lost to the sands of time - luckily GoG have stepped in for the commercial stuff, but in terms of MUDs and online games it's difficult to know where they'll stand. If you haven't seen it, this youtube video on Active Worlds (an MMO from the 90s) is a pretty spooky look at what happens when MMOs just die off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRgATG6PUA0

Umph, nostalgia hitting me hard >_>
And combined with my curiosity after that link, had me interested in finding out more in relation to the nice link.

That said, all that came to mind are the MUDs I played, but also loved--I recall beautiful text-based MMOs like Sryth, with a wonderful niche being filled in that these text-based games are inclusive to those with disabilities like in the areas of vision and such (and that you can get along with details and descriptions like the Retropunch said). Reminded me also of Achaea and...me feeling like I failed my mentor who was assigned to me because I was really shy in what to say to people and my really spotty connection (Yay Philippine internet). But that's what makes it beautiful--I felt really connected.

The question for MUDs would be: What would attract people to a new MUD, especially non-MUD players?

The community! :3
Especially those that hop in and help you at the start while you're flailing around and also multitasking in browsing the help manual while you flail around. I remember something nice out of Achaea wherein I lost myself and called out for help, until someone swooped in literally out of nowhere and nudged me to a safer and better area.
But it was the community that got me staying and finding my roots. OOC/IC chat and such, it helped me grow into a nice RolePlayer alongside my narrative skills--but to the newbies, it's what connects or makes you feel like you belong being essential, and in MUDs that is mostly the community.

Also PTW because I've loved text-based games since I was a child (and that my PC can't handle these graphics/internet intensive other games that many folks are into, I guess ). MUDs as an aside helped me a ton in parsing spam/text and speedreading, so that's one nice thing about this. Also memory recall >_> I can't say how much memory of words or terms helped a ton, but given that I was around elementary/high school or such when I began playing MUDs, it helped a lot in attaching connections of terms and 'this person said that a long while ago, now it's important. What do I do?'

On an unrelated note, I really hope there's some archival work going on to preserve MUDs as they fade. People mention their favorites just kind of vanishing as time goes on and a little part of me hurts to think that some world, some collection of stories, has fallen into a hard drive somewhere or was lost to its failure. I'd hope that our digital history is a little more important than that.

This so much. These are all experiences, even if virtual. Hoping an archive pops up for these.

Edit: Found something that summarizes all this nostalgia and feelings I've got:

It was a lot of fun being exposed to proper RP at an age were everything is magical.

Especially given that MUDs give you journals to put your own text and notes in. SO much fun. :3 (At least, I find MUDs and other text-based games a ton of fun over all the graphical ones here--that or I really treasure being with people/the stories over all such other stuff)

2xedit: Oh my goodness. It's 2016 and I feel like it's just been less than 10 years (says you, younger 10 year old Tir at 2004) since I've played these ._. The start of a millenium doesn't feel that different, and yet it's been a long time.

[Shub-Nullgurath]

Personally, I think the best Iron Realms MUD is probably Lusternia. HUGE character variety, interesting guilds and the skillsets are generally cohesive (unlike Achaea, where the skills never really seem to fit a cohesive class).