response 1 of 28:

Feb 3 22:20 UTC 1995

MUD stands for Multi User Dimension (or Dungeon depending on who you 
ask).  The only way I've been able to figure out how to describe them
is by asking "Have you played Zork?"  If so, You're on your way to
knowing what a mud is.  If not, it's gonna be REAL hard to explain.

Muds are all text.. there are rooms and things in them, such as
NPC's (non-player characters).  You can get equipment and armor and
stuff and wear it to help you fight NPC's better.  

Most muds are based on D&D to a degree also.  Usually, your character
will have stats, such as strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, and
constitution.  These all affect how well you fight.

The big attraction to muds is that even though there's a real big
virtual world there with lots to do, you can actively interact with
other players.  For example, one mud i play averages 50 players on at
a time.  You can talk to players, or gossip, which is broadcast to
everyone playing.

The BEST way to find out what a mud is, is to telnet to one and try it
out.  If you want to, sometime telnet to gizmo.bchs.uh.edu 6969 and
find aphrael for some help.  I'd be more than happy to show you around
and get you started mudding.

response 3 of 28:

Mar 14 21:14 UTC 1995

this is all for people who can telenet, what about those poor people (like me
ho dial direct?!?!?!

response 5 of 28:

Sep 3 06:37 UTC 1995

        (Though this item is a bit old....)

        The really *sad* thing is I saw a book on MUDs in a bookstore.
How to find them, how to play them. et cetera.  
        I mean, it's understood.  If they have books on "How to use Windows"
I'm sure some idiot can't figure out a mud.  It was bound to happen.

response 7 of 28:

May 19 08:23 UTC 1996

 
How about MUDs where the game-playing aspect isn't emphasized as much
(or at all), getting to the next level and so on isn't as important,
and it's more like a comfortable environment to chat? I used to
be on a MUD (or MOO, I guess) called Lucidity, where doing things
was pretty aimless, but it was fun to converse . . . but unfortunately
it seems to be gone now, so I'm heading back to the well for recommendations.
 

response 9 of 28:

Jul 31 00:21 UTC 1997

Yes, where does LPC fit in your list of source code for muds?

response 11 of 28:

Oct 1 23:47 UTC 1997

<suggests that the item be frozen since the question has been answered>

response 13 of 28:

Apr 24 21:14 UTC 1998

First of all, MUD means Multi-User Dimension.  Yes it does.  Second there are
far more code-bases then the ones mentioned.  SMAUG for example.  ROM for
another example.  Most people who run MUDs get a code-base, modify it, then
redistribute it, creating a new code base.

response 15 of 28:

Apr 26 16:15 UTC 1998

The version of the story in #14 sounds a lot like what I've heard.  But I also
think the word's evolved enough that Multi User Daemon isn't what people use
it to mean anymore.

response 17 of 28:

Apr 27 03:23 UTC 1998

A.  It's never stood for "Multi User Daemon", or at least it certainly didn't
originally; it originally stood for Multi-User Dungeon, because the earlier
ones were multi-user D&D games.  Then some came around that weren't at all like
D&D games, so they started calling them Multi-User Dimension.  lumen, 
things just aren't always the way you think they should "logically" be; you
have to do your research as well before you preach.

Oh, and just to be stubornly factual, a talk daemon isn't what you think it 
is either -- the program that you run when you tyoe "talk" isn't a talk daemon
at all -- it's a talk CLIENT.  A talk daemon is the program which listens at 
a port for a talk request, and then forwards it on to the user that the 
request is for.  In fact, the talk daemon doesn't really have much to do with
the process at all; once the two talk clients (your and that of the person
you are talking to) are up, they merrilly ignore the daemon and just talk
to each other.  Now, while most talk clients aren't multi-user, several are;
look at ytalk, for instance.  However, all talk daemons are multi-user -- 
you can talk someone on Grex, and I can talk someone else on grex, and the
daemon will recieve both requests and deal with them.

Mind you, a MUD is a daemon -- a daemon is a program that listens on a port 
and waits for connections, which is exactly what (some parts of) the MUD do.

response 19 of 28:

Apr 27 17:45 UTC 1998

Well, if nothing else mneme gets points for accurate computer-speak.

response 21 of 28:

Apr 28 14:34 UTC 1998

<giggle> according to a happy puppy article, the D is for dungeon, 
a fortran version of zork which the guys were ripping off;)

response 23 of 28:

May 6 16:35 UTC 1998

Actually, Dungeon (which is way cool, btw, and seems to contain the best parts
of all three of the original zorks in various states) while originally written
in Fortran, has been rewritten several times, at least once in C.  I'd
forgotten about Dungeon (probably becuase the last time I played it, I got
stuck Real easily).  I'm not at all sure of whether Dungeon predates the
commercial  release of Zork, but it's certainly quite old.  
        Sorry  about coming on a bit strong, Lumen, but I have a problem with 
constructions like "x is true" rather than "x is probably true" when the 
data really is an opinion.   
        Acually, we 'experts' (hey, I've only been on the net for 8 years; that
makes me a baby in comparisson to some) would love to stop everyone from making
fools of themselves, but we can't be everywhere at once.