I'll start us out...

Did anyone else here ever get into the MUD craze back in the mid '90s?

I got into the MUD craze back during 2003, does that count?

Not I, the only online game I ever played in the mid '90s was Age of Empiers.

No.

Well, it really depends on how many people play and which on it is.

I played Terris, a British MUD that was good, and not just because I was 9 at the time. Great interface and not a bad world at all.

It's why I spell the o/ou things the British way. Like colour, and armour, and raccououn.

It wasn't until sometime past 2000 when I got a computer with a mouse and a 3 1/2 floppy drive. I think maybe a year later, we finally got internet access. So... yeah.

Refresh my ignorant mind; what does MUD stand for?

MultiUserDomain

Ooookay...

I've always wanted to get into a MUD, but never found one I like. Most of them are an exercise in frustration, because while you have this massive gameworld and tons of options, most of your time is spent carefully reading descriptions as you try to get from one place to another without getting lost. They also seem to have a rather steep learning curve in all the cases I've seen.

...I've had a computer since the days of monochrome monitors... and the Internet since '94...

I... I can't even comprehend that.

Oh, and Multi User Dungeon.

Ah, okay.

...so... it's all text based then, (judging by Forever Zero's comment)? What do you do in one of these?

It's like a visual MMORPG only you don't see anything...

Daymn, I've had computer/internet since middle school, which was... erm... '95-ish...

I tried to get into a MUD that a friend of mine was making. I wrote up a bunch of things, but none of it ever got implimented. Whole thing fell through, sadly... ah well. It was a good exercise in world-building and description writing. That was about... um... '99.

It's sort of like a Multi-player Zork. Everything is typed and written instead of, you know, seen. They are usually far more customizable then regular MMOGs, but also a lot harder to get into, and much smaller.

What they are is pure distilled awesome.

The trick with the descriptions is not to read them. Some MUDs even have options to turn room descriptions off. Then you just kill stuff and get exp. Then you level so you can kill harder stuff and get more exp to level. Brilliant in it's simplicity really.

Also you use telnet or some other client to play them.

Godwars was my favorite system.

Edit: Seeing Mor and FZ avies right next to each other ...

but the room descriptions sometimes have hints to help you find hidden things that give you powerups!

I played the hell out of dystopia, which was text based and multi player, even if you played using your web browser.

Dystopia

Go Phantoms!

Not in GodWars :P

There all you do is kill things. Any mob, players, sometimes even the floor.

If done well the room descriptions were nice. If done poorly of course they were painful...

And Ou, you would've died repeatedly in the dungeon I designed. :P

My first online Game was The Odyssey Pre Alpha, I was there as lord mike, I got my one friend in on it, he went by the name Sir Joe. We had many adventures and many a guild war in the year before UO was released. when that happened we both moved to greener pastures. UO was ok for a while, Linnage was great til I accidently pked someone, Everquest bored me, Dark Age of Camelot was ok, Furcadia was creepy, WW2 online sucked unholy ass, Asherons Call was decent for a bit........ I'vbe never been one for text based but i've played a lot of these

www.awake2062.net is the best MUD ever.

So, uh, anyways...

An MMORPG that I'd really like is one that incorporated a lot from Aminal Crossing. I don't want the focus to be on killing things to get the ability to kill bigger things; I just want to make a neat character and get stuff. Like, a house, and property. And to be able to customise those things. Also, to explore a lot of things. Not saying that killing stuff wouldn't be involved, it could be, like, a hobby. And stuff.

I would sooo be into a mmorpg that was all about property... I wanna be a landlord.. >.>

Exactly! The things I like best in GTA:SA are the customization of your character and owning of property. But I always would rather be back in Grove Street, expanding my gang empire than out killing stuff in San Fierro and Las Venturas...

I never played far enough to get to Venturas.. I hate racing so much...

Hehehe... I get images of buying out Nook's Cranny.

"Keep me in a constant state of debt, will you? Well, now you watch while your lifeblood is bulldozed into a monument to my betterness! MWAHAHAHA!"

Anywho...

The problem I see with my hypothetical RPG is that it'd turn into 1900s America, with millionaires and billionaires competing to ruin the lives of the plebs...

Seconded! I like to take over stuff, expand my dominion. Or even be a part of an empire that does so. Basically, I just like to see that my work is paying off somehow OTHER then being able to kill bigger stuff, like with items, or with changes in how things work. I'd like a MMOG sort of like Planetside, in that there are factions at war, trying to take over more land all the time, and that taking over land has visable benafits. You can see the map, or traverse those lands, and know that Your Side is in control now.

Some Strategy Elements would be neat too. Keeping Planetside as the example, what if there were locations like a Mech Factory, and if you captured it then bases would have NPC mech guards, or certain leaders could order Mechs to go on assaults to aid PC warriors.

Hmm... Or switching tracks, what if there was a game like City of Villains meets Gangsters. Certain villains could make deals with normally opposing NPC factions for bonuses. Deal with the Council and Mek Men and werewolves could defend your bases. Deal with the Clockwork King and the enemy might find a base assaulted by swarms of clockwork minions. Deal with the Council of Thorns, and Mages might enhance your PC troops when they go out to battle.

Leaders able to do things would be leaders of major Guilds, that gain some form of influence points by their members doing deeds.

It's not exactly an MMOG, but it does allow you to interact with other players in a sort of second-hand way... plus the game looks really cool.

Of course, it might already have been linked here and I just haven't been reading, but oh well. Heard about Spore?

Brought it up a while back in the Games thread. It looks like it's going to be totally awsome.

Being in a large group is all well and good, but sometimes I don't wanna play with other people. I just wanna expand MY power and MY dominion without having to count on others to mess up for me.

That's less MMOG territory though. By it's nature, an MMOG has to have other people.

Hmm... Unless you could somehow make an NPC only army. You'd need to get a lot of whatever to pay for it, but it might theoretically be possible...

Hmm.. Maybe I should play those "solo" games sometime....

...Naaaaah. :P

Hmmm.... your ideas intregue me Grandmater Jogurt, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter ^_^

Hey, Jogy, have you ever heard of Furcadia? I've never played it myself, but I've heard it's a lot like you're idea. No killing, just expanding your home/stuffs and talking with people.

I've seen Furcadia, a while ago... kinda fun, but basically like a graphical chat room, with some RPage that I'm not really sure I trusted... in some ways they seemed worse than use with the godmoddyness...

Furcadia... I reviewed that game on OGSUX.com.... let me see if I can find it....

I always wanted to make/play (probably play, I'm lazy) a MMORPG taking place in the 1920's Mafia. It'd be awesome, and if you did it right, it'd cross every genre from FPS to Busniess Strategy.

I'd also like to point out, that if you did it right, you also wouldn't just be the mafia, you could also be a cop or a dectective. Of course, if you picked these two, you'd constantly be against the mafia players. I'd almost see if you could pretty much get rid of NPCs entirely after a month or two.

Am I the only person who wants to see an MMORPG without levels or grinding? Just real character development? I mean... GTA style strength building and the like if you WANT to do it, or you could just earn some cash, get a gun and go crazy...

GTA online would be an exercise in frustration... constantly getting sliced in two by some thirteen year old named gOkUsSj66696969...

I'm not saying GTA online.. I'm saying take some of those elements and build a system around it... Because I do so dispise levelling.. >.>

The problem is that the games that are most easily transferable to the online medium are either level-based or FPSs...

I guess you could have Harvest Moon online or something, tho'. :P