[MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?

[Jon A. Lambert]

On 22 Sep 98, Koster, Raph wrote:
> 
> The point made by Jag was that rebooting a Diku and starting a new
> game of Diablo isn't really very different. Yet in my gut, I still
> think that Diablo is not a mud, and a Diku is.
> 
> Am I nuts? And if I am not nuts, is there a specific chain of logic
> that shows it? ;)
> 

I've read most of the posts that follow with a bit of a chuckle.
Recently there was a usenet discussion where a number of posters 
claimed that UOL was not a mud because of the presence of graphics. 
There seems to be a strong desire among many posters that Diablo not 
be a mud, no matter how tortuous the logic.  

>From my point of view any virtual multi-user space qualifies as a
mud.  That would include Diablo, Quake, WarCraft, Talkers, IRC, 
CivNET, TradeWars, and even Usenet and the Mud-DEV list.  I don't 
think the defining mud really matters all that much.  

One can certainly represent multi-user spaces on an analog graph, 
draw some arbitrary lines, and state that all systems that fall 
within this range are muds and everything outside the lines are not.  
On the other hand, many of these fringe areas provide insight into 
important technologies, architectures and social constructs which may 
be excellent food for thought for multi-user spaces that fall well 
within the mud mean.    

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