What Exactly is a MUD?

A MUD is a multi-user RPG/fantasy world where users assume an identity such as a warrior, a thief or a mage, chat with other users, explore diverse realms, fight powerful monsters, solve puzzles, take part in grand quests and many other activities. As your character becomes more experienced and stronger, you can explore tougher areas, solve harder puzzles and gain an extensive list of magical abilities.

Many people are surprised at how hooked they get to a game that is entirely text based - imagination is wonderful thing. The short answer to what makes a mud are popular is its ability to combine the best aspects of two things that everybody loves to do: communicate with others and play.

A mud is much more than a game, a good mud becomes a vibrant community. Your character is really what you make it, some people play to make friends, others to play a role that may be completely different from their real life personality. You can talk on open channels, create friend lists, exchange personal notes similar to email, form a group to explore a tougher area as a team and read in game bulletin boards on a variety of topics ranging from role play to real life.

Mud gameplay is fun because you see constant progress in your character. Gaining levels, learning new skills and spells, solving a quest in an area for the first time, getting a new piece of in-game armor or a bigger sword all make you more powerful.

There is also a near infinite number of things that you can do. The Realms of the Dragon has over 20,000 rooms to explore, quests running constantly, trivia games to take part in, the opportunity to test your strength against other players in gladiatoral arenas, gambling (in game gold/platinum only of course), dozens of shops, marriage, personal ships, personal vaults, personal manors and hundreds of in game actions (known as commands).

There are several ways to connect to a MUD, but the most common way and the preferred way is via a 'mud client'. This is a program that is installed on your computer and allows your computer to connect to the Realms of the Dragon. The 'resources' section of this web page contains links to a number of clients.

When you first connect to the game, you need to choose a character name for yourself. Most people do not use their real name but instead choose a 'fantasy name'. If you are having trouble thinking up a name, the Realms of the Dragon web page contains a link to a fantasy name generator that will suggest names for you. Note that the most common names from popular books and movies, such as 'Legolas', are likely to have already been taken, and sometime should be avoided even if not.

Once you have chosen a name, you will be guided through the new user creation process. Reading carefully at this stage is important to understand how to generate your character, but if you make a mistake don't worry about it too much, you can always recreate the character later.

Most actions in the game are logical extensions of your thoughts while playing. If you want to look at the room you are in, type 'look'. You see a sign there and probably should read it, so go ahead and type 'look sign', and if you happen to see a door you can 'open door'.

The basics for moving around the realms, simply type 'North', 'South', 'Up', 'Down' etc. To speak with someone in the same room as you, you can 'say' something, and if you are trying to talk to someone who may or may not be in the same room as you, you can 'tell' them something.