[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! :)