MUDs: An Adventure in Cyberspace :: Internet Computer Essays

"Hi, my name is Jamal. I'm a tall, gorgeous black man with a bod made for sin. Talk to me!" "Hi, I'm India, an exotic prostitute with a fondness for short, Norwegian men." "Harry here . . . I'm handsome and shy, and looking for love. . ." "My name is Sophie, and my job as a songwriter has led me to the great city of Miami." "Hello, I'm Lila. I am a 24-year old Jazz singer with a preference for foreign men. If you qualify, definitely say hi." The people you see above are very interesting individuals, all unique and distinctive. At first glance, there seems to be no common thread that connects them, except for the fact that they appear to be seeking some sort of interaction. No, these are not entries in a Personals Column or members of a support group for the love-lost. All of them do, however, share a very important characteristic. They are all facets of the same person; they are all descriptions of me. No, I am not schizophrenic or insane; I am simply one of the many that has found entertainment exploring a MUD-- an acronym that stands for Multiple User Domain or Multi User Dungeon. Before this assignment, I had no idea that MUD was something other than dirt mixed with water or that the world that existed on-line was so immense and so popular. In fact, MUDding has become one of the most sought after forms of interactive entertainment in the world, engaging tens of thousands of players (Leslie 28). The world of MUDding seems like a relatively new concept, but the truth is that MUDs have been around for years. Invented at the University of Essex in England in 1979, MUDs served as a computerized way to play Dungeons and Dragons, a popular and addictive role-playing game that mesmerized thousands (Rigdon R16). While the undisputed thrill of participating in such a game was the ability to reshape identity, other attracting factors were the relationships that a player could develop with fellow characters. Today, both adventure-type MUDs and social MUDs work in the much same way that Dungeons and Dragons did 20 years ago--players take on an identity and enter a fantasy world, only now they can communicate with people from around the globe. This type of role-playing sounds like simple fun, but the underlying issues and complex social situations that materialize are more than just child's play.