LegendMUD

LegendMUD is a text-only MUD game founded by a group of friends including virtual world designer Raph Koster. It features historically significant story elements and award-winning^[2][3] gameplay. It opened publicly on February 14, 1994.^[4][2] It has received critical praise for its research and attention to detail in reconstructing past cultures within the game context.^[5]

LegendMUD
Developer(s)	Project community
Producer(s)	Ruth Williams Todd McKimmey Mike Weatherbee
Designer(s)	Raph and Kristen Koster, Rick and Sherry Delashmit[1]
Engine	DikuMUD
Platform(s)	Platform independent
Release	1994
Genre(s)	Historical fantasy MUD
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Game characteristics

A screenshot of LegendMUD's login screen

The thematic structure of LegendMUD is based on a literal interpretation of historical legend, with content based on real locales at various points in history, but with mythological elements included as concrete reality.^[4][5] LegendMUD was derived from DikuMUD. At present, it features over 8,000 rooms contained within 60 areas.^[4]

LegendMUD features several innovations, one of which was that players were not required to select a character class, such as mage or warrior.^[1] Rather, a skill system is used, which has been noted as extensive and original.^[5] The player selects a hometown affecting the types of skills which are then possible to learn. For example, a character from the industrial period in San Francisco has the opportunity to learn about guns, but cannot learn magic. In contrast, a character from ancient period Ireland is capable of learning druidic skills, but can never learn about more modern ideas such as field surgery.^[5]

To further innovate on the learning of skills, the character must through interaction with non-player characters learn whatever that NPC had to teach, with some of these requiring a small form of quest.

History

In October 1995, LegendMUD was selected as The Mud Connector's Mud of the Month.^[3]

Koster wrote "A Story About a Tree", a short essay and epitaph about the death of a LegendMUD player named Karyn. An investigative journalist later disproved evidence of Karyn's death.^[6] Richard Bartle considered the incident to be a key event in the development of virtual worlds' ethics, similar to "A Rape in Cyberspace".^{[verification needed]} The 'death' demonstrated that people can develop feelings for each other via the virtual world medium, thus experiencing real emotions about somebody they've never met, even an entirely fictional persona. A Story About a Tree is considered as a major counterargument against the "it's just a game" point of view on virtual worlds. Furthermore, it showcased that while being a very real object of grief to one party, it can indeed remain just a game for another.^[7]