[L0j1k]

Somehow, the MUD I grew up playing (MUME -- Multi Users in Middle Earth) is still alive and has a good amount of players. The game itself has served as inspiration for other worthy games (Ultima Online for example) and the PvP aspect is second to none. It is also an enormous world, covering Middle Earth from the dwarf fortresses of the Blue Mountains all the way east to the Misty Mountains, Lorien, and Fangorn.

www (dot) mume (dot) org

[moreoutput]

I don't think its that surprising to find active communities on MUDs. AVATAR, Discworld, Aardwolf, and BatMUD regularly sport 50-100+ players. I've been playing MUDs for over a decade now and there is something to them I still can't quite explain. The abstraction provided by text allows for some unique gaming experiences -- I also believe there is something to be said for the smaller communities that build up around the games.

I am currently writing a WebSockets (nodejs, socket.io) engine (a present to my sixteen year old self), you can have a look here: https://github.com/MoreOutput/RockMUD. It aims to increase the 'functionality' of a MUD by taking advantage of the browser.

MUME is a great MUD!

[L0j1k]

I'm glad to hear you enjoy MUME! If you didn't know, there is a huge OOC community called ElvenRunes (elvenrunes.com) that is where a huge number of us congregate outside the game. I've been playing MUME since '95, and I went to a MUME-meet in Stockholm in 2009 where I met my wife at a traditional Swedish dance class. You're absolutely right about that special "je ne sais quoi" that MUDs have. And it's definitely something that extends beyond simple nostalgia.

I'll be a lifer when it comes to MUDs (though damn it all to hell if things like Eve Online and Skyrim don't carve out a lot of my self-rationed game time). Perhaps on that subject, I should mention that (for me) MUDs are great for keeping open if I'm spending a lot of time compiling.

I will definitely take a look at your MUD engine. Thanks for the link! :)