Does anyone here play MUDs? (multi-user dungeons)?
I would have thought more aspies played text-based games, but now seeing the forum threads I don't really know anymore, so I thought I would ask. Let me know if there is a better thread that I can look at.
MUDs are the predecessors to modern MMOs. They don't involve graphics, which I find a lot easier as seem to get disoriented with 3D games (not so much 2D, but the quality of 2D games seems pretty limited these days). Everything on a MUD is expressed via words and description, through which you create a mental picture. An example:
Quote:
Astarian Cartography Society
You have entered the Astarian Cartography Society. Charts and maps of the realm line the walls. In the center of the room is a large table with a book of maps chained to it. Above the table floats a glowing ball of energy that gives off a nice reading light.
There is an odd box here of dubious function.
Obvious exits are north and east.
Map Machine
Mala, the Travelled
And then what you would do is type basic commands to interact with the environment, such as "look box" or "look Mala" or "north" or "east" etc. The particular MUD I'm playing (Astaria - that is, astaria.net port:5000) has been around for at least 15 years and has had a huge amount of time to develop a rich, deep and complex history. The room description I just quoted is the second room you encounter when you log in, but apparently there are over 50,000 rooms, with varying degrees of complexity and description. Some rooms have smells, others have sounds, in fact some cater to all 5 senses. (Sensory seeker woot! Someday I shall find everything that can be sensed in this game, hehe.)
I have only been playing a short while. But I would like to say that I have played free graphical MMORPGs for at least 5 years, and this little text-based game trumps them all. Yes, there are no graphics, but that is a minimal drawback in terms of design: and besides, "pretty" only goes so far. Now that I realise how the realm works, and have started exploring a bit, I am discovering that the depth and thought that has been put into creating this "world" with text alone is amazing - even compared with graphical games.
Also, for the obsessive compulsive in all of us, because everything is expressed by text, you can record EVERYTHING. Actions, what items look like, conversations, maps, routes, etc. (I found this very exciting, but maybe not everyone will heh)
If there are any aspies who are interested and have never tried a MUD before, open up telnet (Start>Run>cmd> type "telnet astaria.net 5000") or download a MUD client (I use
this one - the official one but most people have their own preference), and try making a character (or log in as a guest).
I think if you run into any problems you should be able to type "astaria [message]" and send a message to everyone who is online. Oh and hint: type "say [message]" to say something to someone. Post here or send me a private message if you visit! I would also like to know who else plays any other MUDs (not just Astaria!)!
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- Liresse
Last edited by Liresse on 07 Aug 2009, 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
07 Aug 2009, 12:17 am
