MUD stands for “multi-user dungeon.” MUDs are typically characterized as text-based proto-MMORPGs.
mud
The Game Archaeologist: Talking 25-year-old Tibia with CipSoft
It's not every MMORPG that can boast that it started back in the late '90s and is still going strong even today. However, Tibia...
Richard Bartle’s new book seeks to intersect theological thought and MMORPG design
If you're new to our genre, first of all welcome, and second of all you should be familiar with Dr. Richard A. Bartle, a...
Tibia is getting sound for the first time as it turns 25 years old
Tibia is celebrating its 25th year of existence - and it's apparently still making plenty of cash. According to CipSoft, the pixel MMO has...
The Game Archaeologist’s ultimate MMO archives v5.0
It has been another thrilling year of exploring the relatively unknown or forgotten lands of MMORPG history here in The Game Archaeologist. From projects...
The Game Archaeologist: The Wonderful World of Eamon
As we've long since established, 1980's MUD1 was the official kick-off of the MMORPG genre, bringing online players together to adventure through persistent worlds...
The Daily Grind: Is it time for a Wheel of Time MMORPG?
Last night, Amazon finally debuted its Wheel of Time TV series, based on Robert Jordan's sprawling franchise of the same name that began back...
Simutronics’ Galahad 3093 launches a third open beta this weekend
Earlier this year, we covered the reveal of Galahad 3093, a mech-themed hero shooter from Simutronics, a veteran online gaming company probably best known...
Perfect Ten: A completely accurate 10-point summary of MMO history
History! Let's be real here, it's pretty damn boring. No one cares about it, and it all happened beforehand, so why is any of...
Choose My Adventure: Lord of the Rings Online might have been a bad choice for this column
So as that headline suggests, I probably mad a bad call adding Lord of the Rings Online as an option for a CMA column....
Raph Koster says nobody wants a metaverse with ‘Fairyland butting up against World War II’
In his ongoing blog series on the metaverse, MMO developer Raph Koster has been digging through the technical challenges of how to build it...
The Game Archaeologist: Tanarus, Sony Online Entertainment’s first online game
While EverQuest is perhaps thought of as Sony Online Entertainment's first online game, the truth of history tells us differently. Just as how Mythic...
The Game Archaeologist: Jeff Butler on EverQuest, EverQuest Next, and Vanguard
As an MMO historian, I have to applaud the work of former SOE developer Shawn Lord in his huge interview series with the people...
MUD creator Richard Bartle’s seminal book on designing MMOs is now free
When MMORPG players encounter the name "Bartle," they think less malt liquor and more a man who helped to pioneer the massively multiplayer online...
The Game Archaeologist: Defining the eras of MMORPG history
With MMO history stretching back to the early 1980s (and even before), this genre has accumulated a whole lot of history over the years....
Dungeons and Dragons Online invites players to discover the Sinister Secrets of Saltmarsh today (for money)
Today is the day for Dungeons and Dragons Online players to get their boots mired in water, mud, and secrets. Today marks the launch...
MMOs You’ve Never Heard Of: Elethor, Astonia, Guardians of Cloudia, Lands of Kehliel
Let's take a peek through some MMOs you've never heard of or have totally forgotten about. The tinier and more obscure, the better, we...
Reborn Promisance is a fan-operated version of a turn-based multiplayer strategy MUD from 26 years ago
If you're looking for retro, it doesn't get more retro than a rebuilt version of a text-based multiplayer online empire strategy game. That's what...
Combatless MMORPG A Tale in the Desert reboots later this month
A Tale in the Desert, which MUD creator Richard Bartle called the "most innovative MMO from the last decade," is starting all over. Yet...
Perfect Ten: The wide umbrella of MMOs and online gaming subgenres
Let's be realistic here, "MMO" as a term covers a whole lot of different game styles. I know this is a particular topic that...
Five pioneering game titles that laid the groundwork for MMORPGs
The easy (and tired) joke to make is that WoW was the first MMO, but there were plenty of ambitious multiplayer games that predate...
