gemini://gemini.sh0.xyz/log/2023-04-03_almost_30_years_of_mudding_and_i_still

Back in the later half of the 90's my friend Ed told me about a cool thing he found online. We headed to the library during our lunch break, got on some of those green convection heaters known as an iMac G3 and loaded up telnet. What he was showing me was a Multi User Dungeon, or MUD for short. It was like Zork, a text based adventure game but with the twist that it was online with real people. Compared to the games of today, it wasn't that impressive. I guess at that point it wasn't that impressive either, we had been sunk a few months into Ultimat Online at that point. But the idea of a "massive" multiplayer online RPG we could play at school was pretty cool.

At that time the specific MUD we were playing, Aardwolf[1], had only been around for a few months. Compared to its current version, the game we played was quite minimal on features. The map was fairly large, enough that we had to find other people's GeoCities pages with the sequence of movements (speedwalks) to get from one area of the world to another. Lots of reading and not quite knowing what we were doing. I picked a horrible first build getting destroyed over and over. I finally rebuilt and ended up on a Quickling as I found its speed and additional attacks a solid investment.

I went to college and forgot my account. I created a new one in 2004 and went with a similar build. I played off and on. Being a game I could access from telnet it meant that I could play anywhere. In the computer lab between classes, on my phone. It was social. I often times just logged in to chat with people and not really play at all. I'd drop the game for a while and find it again, spend a few weekends just grinding away. I even played enough that at one point I joined a clan. However I didn't maintain the requirements and was soon booted.

One of the interesting features of this particular MUD is that it contains a large set of races and classes. The races cover much of the standard RPG / DnD worlds, some big dumb and strong, others smart and cunning all with their stat modifiers. The classes all have sub-classes that dictate the type of warrior or mage or thief you want to be. The spin Aardwolf has is that once you run through 200 levels of a given Race/Class combo, you start over with a Race/Dual Class combo. Next 200 and you get 3 classes. Once you have done all 7 classes you start over with a new race and single class and do it all again. Do that 9 times and you're basically top level, with some additional game play beyond that.

This weekend, after playing in this MUD for almost 30 years...I finally finished my first round of 7 classes and have started my 2nd race. Most players who keep at it and play semi regularly get this done within a year. Once you get a hang of the areas to run to for leveling at different stages in the game can do it even faster. For this current character it only took 19 years.If I could remember my original account and log in I would be one of the oldest accounts on the game. At 19 on this one I probably still am. Unfortunately, I still suck at the game. I enjoy and I hope that my next round doesn't take me another 19 years to complete.

Almost 30 years of mudding and I still suck