IRE Asks: How did you discover MUDs?
MUDs are like secret societies - small fanatical communities, hard to find if you aren't looking, and your friends think you're crazy when you tell them they exist. Some might even say that MUDs are unfriendly to newbies and outsiders. If discovering MUDs is like navigating through the barbed-wire trenches of the internet, how did you do it?
While some predicted the death of text games, MUDs stand a growing chance of making a full-swing comeback in popularity. A popular MMO blog recently promised to review the top three MUDs mentioned in the comments, and the graphical MMO market is desperately trying to figure out how to meet their customer's increasingly loud demands for open-world, player driven gameplay.
As we enjoy the waves of traffic from the ocean of dissented MMORPG players, we wonder how players discovered our tiny gem worlds in the old days of the internet. Did you stumble across us by chance during a Google hunt for "free games", or were you familiar with another MUD and a friend recommended us? Like most modern religeons, we believe there are infinite paths to accepting MUDs as the superior game.
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Credit
.
Credit
Credit
sister
sister
Advertising!
I saw a banner ad for Achaea on a games website. It was one of the ones with the Final Fantasy characters in.
Don't think I've ever seen a
Don't think I've ever seen a banner ad for Achaea.
cred
it
still
points
Had a dial-up connection for
Had a dial-up connection for far too long, and there were fewer and fewer online games available to me. MUDs became a staple for me, though Achaea is the only one I keep coming back to.
My friend introduced me,
My friend introduced me, funny thing is, we can't actually play together because our cities are enemies XD
Both of you could try a
Both of you could try a different game together. Not mentioning any names.
google
google.
I forget, but I started
I forget, but I started playing Isengard which was a very crappy mud in comparison to Iron Realms Variety.
I found muds by using an old
I found muds by using an old map. Us kids were going to be evicted so we looked for the treasure of One-Eyed Willie.
Credit comment.
Credit comment.
Through a friend
a friend and stuff
credits
are expensive
I've yet to discover MUDs.
I've yet to discover MUDs.
I...
knew about them already ;).
Discovering Achaea
Tech TV - I think it was on The Screensavers.
MSN...
is to blame. I used to play other games on their site and happend to find Dragonrealms, an (unfortunately) paid MUD, and played it for a while until I couldn't afford it anymore. I then found Aardwolf *gags* on the topmuds site as it was #1 at the time. That lasted about 3 days when I left after getting completely randomly sexually molested by some chick.. the total lack of RP and organization didn't help, either. I then tried #2, Achaea at the time, and have been there ever since.
d
d
My friend played. He
My friend played. He introduced me and a few others - now we all play! :D
It was mentioned at some
It was mentioned at some forum.
A quick yahoo search revealed
A quick yahoo search revealed Imperian. From then on I have been unable to escape the vortex that is MUDs.
what the hell were you
what the hell were you searching?!
d
d
Well it was 1997
and some friends I hung out with at lunch in HS talked about MUDs one day so I tried some out from mudconnector. The internet was still a fairly new thing at the time so MUDs were just cooler chat-room type games.
f
f
friend introduced me
friend introduced me
a
a
AOL
I actually discovered MUDs a number of years ago through AOL. At the time, AOL had Dragon Realms and Gemstone. I gave those shots, but what really sucked me in was a game called Terris. From Terris (which I played for many years and even staffed), I was exposed to a number of different other MUDs such as Avalon and the like. Eventually, I found myself in IRE muds where I was impressed with how expansive they were and how much freedom for creative they allowed.
Through college.
Through college.
credit
credit
dab
bad
I was looking up info about
I was looking up info about MMOs in '02 and stumbled upon MUDs. Been here ever since, doing nothing of any import in-game.
Credit comment.
Credit comment.
I went looking for a new
I went looking for a new style of game, found Achaea, haven't dropped it since.
achaea
the place to be
under threat of violence
I was forced to play. Got 10 years left before I work off my debt.
d
d
my friend.
been thankful to her and will remain so.
Referral by a friend
Referral by a friend
I played my first MUD with
I played my first MUD with paper and pen and the gray matter between my ears.
Mudconnector
where else?
google
google
random add on 8-bit theater
random add on 8-bit theater
Mudbot
the place to find muds
Friends
I love em
The internet
Is great
Credit comment.
Credit comment.
The universe of love
exists
wizard
wizard
Brother
Brother
The interweb
How else?
aol
aol
Stumbled across it. Had no
Stumbled across it. Had no idea what was what for years.
Discover Muds
Tech TV
boredom
leads to many paths
itwas
credits
c
d
Ctrl-Alt-Delete
An ad on their comic website years ago...
Kongregate
I was playing flash games and BAM Achaea...
b
a
Yes
Boredom does lead to many paths. And many of those paths are trodden by gamers of one type or another. My very first MUD encounter? A friend told me.
Achaea
started it
Chance
I just googled Midkemia online, hoping it would exist, and it did. I was really looking for a video game based on the Midkemia books at the time.
a
d
Net
the net
s
s
www
www
s
s
Through a friend
Through a friend
Forum post/ad by someone random
Dunno if a bot or someone actually -really- enthusiastic about it, but was cool.
College roommate had me try
College roommate had me try some other one, then I move to Achaea and never quit.
Google!
I was really just looking for a decent text adventure to play, then found a great online one!
A friend in seventh grade
A friend in seventh grade pointed me in the direction.
Man I hated him for it, for the longest time.
Random
Strolled along, looking for new games to play, and somehow found Achaea.
mommy
loves me
a
a
x
x
I love you
Aetolia
free credit
free credit
Love
You
Google.
Google.
AltaVista.
AltaVista.
from legend of the green
from legend of the green dragon
very old forums, not related
very old forums, not related to gaming
I stumbled across Aetolia
I stumbled across Aetolia first a couple years back looking for role playing games, then eventually switched to Lusternia and haven't looked back!
Ralph
Ralph
It called me up one day and
It called me up one day and it was like, "play me' so I agreed.
A friend
A friend
Other people
Khairt spent almost four years *sparkle*ing at me in IMs it kind of led me here.
I played Realms of Despair 15
I played Realms of Despair 15 years ago, after recently getting bored of current MMOs I googled what the top mud was these days and found achaea
Boredom
I was bored one christmas vacation, idly surfed for games and found Achaea. Loved it ever since.
I was introduced to text
I was introduced to text games by a friend of my sister. What I experienced was less than a game. It was... I don't know! I remained interested, but at that time had many other things I was still very into.
I looked for text games eventually. I found a lot of bad games. Eventually, I found Aetolia and have been playing IRE games since!
by searching for games on
by searching for games on ubuntu that take small space in the hard drive..
many, many years ago, when
many, many years ago, when internet was paid for by the hour.
although, before then i
although, before then i played things like the ad&d series (secret of the silver blades et al), and i think MUDs remind me of that experience.
A friend mentioned realms of
A friend mentioned realms of despair and I made my way to achaea
Friend
I saw a friend playing Achaea so I thought I would try one of the different ones.
Looking for more forum rp
Looking for more forum rp stuff and came across one of the top sites.