BatMUD (PC)
BatMUD was one of the games I wanted to try out when I was writing my World of Warcraft analysis. MUD stands for Multi-User Dungeon game and MUDs were our first attempts at creating Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games such as previously mentioned World of Warcraft! BatMUD was established back in 1990s, and I really wanted to go back to the roots to compare how the genre has evolved. I tried quite a few MUDs in the last week or two, but in the end I decided to go with BatMUD due to its beautiful windows and some very basic graphical elements, as you can see below. To my surprise, there is quite a lot of depth in these types of games, but they have a steep learning curve. Text allows you to do certain tasks which are impossible in modern games, but the lack of graphical interface was difficult getting used to.
When you play a MUD, this is as good as it gets graphically
How does it compare to modern MMORPGs?
After a few days of learning the most basic commands, I found myself doing similar quests as in other MMORPGs. However, killing some rats or exploring dungeons was immediately pushed to new levels by lack of handholding mechanics. Immediately I was allowed to interact with items through commands like "examine", "turn", "drop" and "push" which gave me a sense of accomplishment unseen in the modern graphical MMORPGs. While the system does not have the same complexity as single-player text based adventure games I used to play when I was younger, it is nevertheless something that I wish modern MMORPGs took inspiration from. I really had only three big complaints which made me stop playing MUDs altogether:
1. The lack of graphical interface makes certain things such as inventory managment or orientation unnecessarily difficult and I really wish someone made a MUD game with basic graphical interface so that I can fully enjoy these types of games. I never could enjoy text-adventure games that were made just out of text. However, you add a picture or two upon entering an area and I am sold! Legend Entertainment used to make such games and I love those!
2. Every MUD game out there that I have tried has real time combat, and I just find this a strange design decision for a text based game. Namely, new players don't know the commands yet, which gives the more experienced players an unfair advantage. I never got that far to experience this firsthand, but I can imagine losing a battle sooner or later for no other reason than not knowing a command how to do something.
3. The game seems to be designed in such a way that every 24 hours server resets itself and you lose all of your equipment. The developer claims this keeps the game fresh and prevents longtime players from becoming overpowered, but to me this is a deal-breaker right there. I could perhaps stomach the lack of graphical interface and real time combat, but losing all of my equipment every 24 hours is just retarded. I am not sure if there is a bank function that would allow me to save some items for the next day, but even if that was the case, I still would find it a needless chore and comletely unacceptable.
