Have you ever read a book that is being written while you read it ? In ancient times when men were real men, women were real women, furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real furry creatures from Alpha and only the boldest dared to dream about 2D games whole new style of games has emerged - massive multiplayer in first crude form - telnet games. They have brought new elements - communication and cooperation (as well as new cool ways of wreaking havoc). Comparing to classic adventures there is no game ending - player can explore the world, steal from other players, help newbies or just go troll hunting. Player controls avatar in virtual world with simple text commands - such as "go north", "go south" or "kill troll" and the world is being described in the same way. Avatar has to face many dangers - such as hunger, thirst, trolls* and other players. MUD themes varies from Napoleon wars to Star Wars. They also have different core engine that participates on gaming experience - most namely DIKU or Circle MUD. Interesting fact - MUDs are very much alive even today despite nowadays fancy 3D MMORPG - that is a big victory for human fantasy (perhaps also for the fact that you can open window with text even in work or school). So if you're interested in trying one - try my favourite www.aardwolf.com

* author (that's me) is not a shapist and has nothing against trolls who besides having big clubs and green skin are great fellows