I remember my early days of computing, setting the telephone headset on the earmuffs of the modem and dialing CompuServe's access number. The text would scroll across the screen almost too fast to read at 300 baud. The wealth of information available in the libraries and newsgroups was almost overwhelming at the time.
I took an interest in playing several of the games, including an Adventure-style game whose name I've forgotten. I enjoyed imagining a world in which I could take an active part. I read up on creating interactive worlds, both on-line (multiplayer) and single player. I played the Scott Adams adventure games.
At one point, someone posted some information on a new language for describing the game world. I don't remember too many details now (this was around 1989), but looking back, it could have been the first inklings of LPC and LPMuds.
Through the years, I've kept an avid interest in MUDs. I've played Everquest and World of Warcraft, but those don't have quite the richness that can be achieved in a MUD. Their graphics can be beautiful (WoW sometimes looks like a painting on my monitor), but there's a limit to how immersed I can get in the world.
I've also played Darker Realms, one of the early LPMuds (founded around 1991). It sometimes shows its age, but it's an interesting game historically, having been played by quite a few people who are now prominent in the Internet community.
One of the problems with a lot of MUDs though is that the world isn't as original as some people would like to think it is. Many are based on very familiar settings: Star Wars, Wheel of Time, Pern, etc. Worlds that are based on the creative work of other people not involved in the MUD. I wanted to avoid repeating the same mistake.
I have enjoyed playing World of Warcraft and will continue to play it as time allows, but I also want to create. I think MUDs could learn some from WoW. The game has a lot of hack-n-slash activity (almost everything involves killing something), but there's also a rich story line running through the game that comes out in the quests.
I am working on building a world then that emphasizes role playing and questing over killing things. There will be some killing, I'm sure, but I'm more interested in solving problems than just brute-forcing my way through. I'm also more interested in story.
The Middle of Nowhere is going to be a MUD that is built around the world I've been working on for my thesis. You probably won't find the characters from my thesis in the game, but you'll find the spirit of the world. The Muses will be there as well as the Cardinalities. The city center and the wild areas.
I'll be posting more on the game website.
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