MUDs

[8BitNinja]

Yes, they are still around, but I guess only a few people play them

If you have played one, what is your favorite

If you haven't, there is a website called MUD connector where you can play MUDs and MUSHs for free

[NovenFromTheSun]

I've played around in a few of these. I really like the concept, but apparently I'm a lot more nitpicky about them than other kinds of games.

I'll check out the website.

[Maryring]

My favourite MUD is Lusternia. I'm not gonna deliver a sales-pitch on it, but it is incredibly well written, with a really good story and a lot of fantastic world building.

[Rockphed]

Last time I played a mud was 15 years ago. Avatar 3000, I think.

[Knaight]

I played a fair bit of Valheru about a decade ago. It seemed pretty decent at the time, but I suspect that was more low standards and limited options than anything.

[Red Planet]

I have fond memories of playing Wolfenburg, a Warhammer Fantasy MUD, probably about ten years ago or so!

[Red Fel]

This one takes me back. My first was MultiMUD, years and years ago. Excellent game, back in the day, if a bit full of itself. Later I transitioned into MuddyFeet, far more open and newbie-friendly, lots more customization.

But frankly, after that, I got more into MUCKs than MUDs. Something got very tedious about typing kick, kick, bash, c fireball, c fireball, flee, flee, stand, flee, flee, and then dying.

[Kerrin]

Oh wow!

Back in college in the late 80s I played a lot of different MUDs, most of which I no longer remember the names of.

Then from about 98 to 07 I played one called Threshold RPG. Became a rather well known bard. Really enjoyed my creative time there even more than adventuring and leveling. Haven't been back since though, just way too busy to be able to sink so much time into one thing like that.

Good times through the years playing MUDs though!

Thanks for the blast from the past.

[Starwulf]

This one takes me back. My first was MultiMUD, years and years ago. Excellent game, back in the day, if a bit full of itself. Later I transitioned into MuddyFeet, far more open and newbie-friendly, lots more customization.

But frankly, after that, I got more into MUCKs than MUDs. Something got very tedious about typing kick, kick, bash, c fireball, c fireball, flee, flee, stand, flee, flee, and then dying.

Could you give me a decent explanation on the difference between a MUCK and a MUD? Or what a MUSH is? Looked up the terms, but I can't really see any immediate discernible differences between the three. I used to play batMUD for a while, was great fun, but like you said, it does get tedious typing in all the commands, if that is changed in a MUCK/MUSH, I'd probably be interested in getting back into that kind of gaming.

[Eurus]

I used to play a lot of MUDs, but couldn't really find one that was sufficiently active and really worked for me personally. The Iron Realms MUDs were pretty popular (no idea if they still are), but for various reasons I'm really not a fan of the way they're set up, and once I gave up on them it was hard to find something else that was equally fleshed-out and active and shifted to forums for my RP fix...

MUDs are still neat, though.

[Red Fel]

Could you give me a decent explanation on the difference between a MUCK and a MUD? Or what a MUSH is? Looked up the terms, but I can't really see any immediate discernible differences between the three. I used to play batMUD for a while, was great fun, but like you said, it does get tedious typing in all the commands, if that is changed in a MUCK/MUSH, I'd probably be interested in getting back into that kind of gaming.

The key difference between a MUD and a MUCK/MUSH/MOO is that the former is designed specifically around the combat mechanics.

The best way to think about it is by breaking down the acronym. MUD stands for Multi-User Dungeon, MUCK stands for Multi-User Construction Kit. The former is a text-based D&D engine, the latter is a chat room with furniture. In a MUD, you go from room to room, looking for things to fight or stuff to loot. In a MUCK, depending on the level of control the average player enjoys, you can build your rooms, as well as various objects, with various bits of entertaining code attached. After that, it's more about chat or RP, depending on the MU*.

I was actually one of the coders on a sadly short-lived attempt to create an Avatar: The Last Airbender MUCK. We had coded dozens of helpfiles, most of Ba Sing Se, at least one Air Temple, both Water Tribes and several Fire Nation islands, before things fell apart.

Now, I've been in MU*s that were hybrids. I remember being part of a Final Fantasy-themed MUCK years ago that had specific combat code to it. However, there were no mobs running about, no DTs, and most of the "combat" consisted of integrated dice-roll mechanics. So, for example, Joe and Bob would be running a scene, Joe would pose an attack, and then roll. The mechanics would output that Joe was attacking, and Bob would have an opportunity to roll a defense. The mechanics would resolve the two, and then Joe would pose his successful attack, or Bob would pose his successful defense. And so forth. A bit messier than a MUD, but it allowed for a greater RP focus.

MUSH, by comparison, is really so similar to MUCK that the distinctions are academic.

[8BitNinja]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one here who still knows about these things

My personal favorite is Dark Castle, even though I suck

[theMycon]

I haven't (seriously) played a MU* in over a decade. I just don't like the minimal interface, which pretty much ends your ability to enjoy them.

My BF plays ICESUS, which held my attention for perhaps a week. Many of the classes have flavorful and interesting abilities which are easy to abuse by doing anything except what is intended for your class; or else it quickly gets you killed.