Stanford University acquires source code for Multi-User Dungeon
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Re: Stanford University acquires source code for Multi-User Dungeon
#2Though a cool artifact, it seems like the essence of something like this comes from interaction with the others using the service.
There's a really interesting podcast segment[1] about the Preserving Digital Worlds[2] project which tries to answer some of the questions about how to best document / preserve something who's value comes from the experiences users share with each other
[1]https://soundcloud.com/roman-mars/99-invisible-13x-game-over [2]http://pvw.illinois.edu/pvw2/
Re: Stanford University acquires source code for Multi-User Dungeon
#3I will always love Medievia.
Re: Stanford University acquires source code for Multi-User Dungeon
#4Multi-user graphical online virtual worlds, multi-user dungeons -- these things were already booming on the University of Illinois' PLATO system in 1978; they'd started popping up in 1973, maybe even '72. You had pedit5, moria, oubliette, krozair, dnd, dungeon, then in 1979 avatar, just to mention but a few. Multi-user dnd games were one of the most popular activities on PLATO all during the mid to late 70s. And these games were all graphics-based, not limited to just text like the far more primitive MUD1.
Bartle has gotten a lot of mileage over the years with the MUD1 story, leading to a misinforming of the media and the public, both of whom, when it comes to technology and the history of technology, seem to be perfectly fine with being misinformed. It's a shame to see an institution as prestigious as Stanford fall for the same misinformation and ignore the real history. Five minutes of Wikipedia browsing would have set them straight.
I'm sure MUD1 was very cool during its time, and got a lot of people interested in the ideas of MUDs. Unfortunately, it was not first. Hard as it might be for people to grasp the concept, but more sophisticated multi-user dungeon games existed before MUD1 was even conceived. Deal with it.
Re: Stanford University acquires source code for Multi-User Dungeon
#5Multi-user graphical online virtual worlds, multi-user dungeons -- these things were already booming on the University of Illinois' PLATO system in 1978; they'd started popping up in 1973, maybe even '72. You had pedit5, moria, oubliette, krozair, dnd, dungeon, then in 1979 avatar, just to mention but a few. Multi-user dnd games were one of the most popular activities on PLATO all during the mid to late 70s. And thes…
The article says the source was "donated." Furthermore, the "first ever online virtual world" bit comes from the Gamasutra title, not any Stanford affiliated source. It doesn't seem like they've fallen for anything - rather, Bartle and Trubshaw have just given them permission to publish the source online since their research papers were also donated to the library recently. I'm not sure why this offends you so much.
Re: Stanford University acquires source code for Multi-User Dungeon
#6I still play on http://new.vampire-wars.com :)
Re: Stanford University acquires source code for Multi-User Dungeon
#7Multi-user graphical online virtual worlds, multi-user dungeons -- these things were already booming on the University of Illinois' PLATO system in 1978; they'd started popping up in 1973, maybe even '72. You had pedit5, moria, oubliette, krozair, dnd, dungeon, then in 1979 avatar, just to mention but a few. Multi-user dnd games were one of the most popular activities on PLATO all during the mid to late 70s. And thes…
I decided to do the "Five minutes of Wikipedia browsing" you suggested.
Under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD I found this:
"In 1978 Roy Trubshaw, a student at Essex University in the UK, started working on a multi-user adventure game in the MACRO-10 assembly language for a DEC PDP-10. He named the game MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), in tribute to the Dungeon variant of Zork, which Trubshaw had greatly enjoyed playing.[18] Trubshaw converted MUD to BCPL (the predecessor of C), before handing over development to Richard Bartle, a fellow student at Essex University, in 1980.[19][20][21]
MUD, better known as Essex MUD and MUD1 in later years, ran on the Essex University network until late 1987,[22] becoming the first Internet multiplayer online role-playing game in 1980, when Essex University connected its internal network to ARPANet."
Re: Stanford University acquires source code for Multi-User Dungeon
#8Multi-user graphical online virtual worlds, multi-user dungeons -- these things were already booming on the University of Illinois' PLATO system in 1978; they'd started popping up in 1973, maybe even '72. You had pedit5, moria, oubliette, krozair, dnd, dungeon, then in 1979 avatar, just to mention but a few. Multi-user dnd games were one of the most popular activities on PLATO all during the mid to late 70s. And thes…
The article says the source was "donated." Furthermore, the "first ever online virtual world" bit comes from the Gamasutra title, not any Stanford affiliated source. It doesn't seem like they've fallen for anything - rather, Bartle and Trubshaw have just given them permission to publish the source online since their research papers were also donated to the library recently. I'm not sure why this offends you so much.
There are tons of media articles, conferences, books, and other mentions of MUD1 and Bartle, including prominent newspapers, magazines, etc. The MUD1 story is all over the place.
As for your comment "not any Stanford affiliated source" -- if you read the Gamasutra story carefully it has a prominent link to a Standford website page (on game history!) talking about, in its first sentence even,"the first online virtual world, MUD1."
Re: Stanford University acquires source code for Multi-User Dungeon
#9Multi-user graphical online virtual worlds, multi-user dungeons -- these things were already booming on the University of Illinois' PLATO system in 1978; they'd started popping up in 1973, maybe even '72. You had pedit5, moria, oubliette, krozair, dnd, dungeon, then in 1979 avatar, just to mention but a few. Multi-user dnd games were one of the most popular activities on PLATO all during the mid to late 70s. And thes…
I decided to do the "Five minutes of Wikipedia browsing" you suggested. Under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD I found this: "In 1978 Roy Trubshaw, a student at Essex University in the UK, started working on a multi-user adventure game in the MACRO-10 assembly language for a DEC PDP-10. He named the game MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), in tribute to the Dungeon variant of Zork, which Trubshaw had greatly enjoyed playing.[1…
Sigh. You're making my point for me. But the irony escapes you I guess.
Re: Stanford University acquires source code for Multi-User Dungeon
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
I decided to do the "Five minutes of Wikipedia browsing" you suggested. Under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD I found this: "In 1978 Roy Trubshaw, a student at Essex University in the UK, started working on a multi-user adventure game in the MACRO-10 assembly language for a DEC PDP-10. He named the game MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), in tribute to the Dungeon variant of Zork, which Trubshaw had greatly enjoyed playing.[1…
Sigh. You're making my point for me. But the irony escapes you I guess.
Honest question, does PLATO or any other intranet count for 'first online' anything in the terms of this discussion?