by Enrique Caroli on Oct 21, 2008
The granddaddy of MMOs turns 30 today
For those of who you might not remember, before there was World of Warcraft, there was EverQuest and Ultima Online. But before that? Before that there were MUDs - complete text-based games and the completely inspired the game developers of yesterday to create the first MMOs.
Today, the best known of these MUDs, aptly named Multi-User Dungeon 1 (MUD1), turns 30. Happy Birthday!
Developers and users are only just beginning to scratch the surface of potential in virtual worlds and online games, but it's hard to look forward without first looking back and asking some questions. Where did the conventions and elements we take for granted originate? Have they existed in every game? Were there some elements that fell by the wayside that deserve to be revisited?
Take this evening as an opportunity to do some digging, if you'd like, to find out more about how all this got started! There's a lot of forgotten wisdom to be had, and a lot of modern assumptions to be challenged.
While they're not in use today by very many people, the MUDs are still out there, and have probably shaped our gaming world more than we realize. It's nice on days like this to take a look back, and maybe find some surprises.
For more information, please check here.