The Good Ole MUD Days

1. The Good Ole MUD Days Daniel Ward Pharm.D. Candidate Wingate University School of Pharmacy November 1st , 2006

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3. UNC in 1993 • CAROLINE • Libraries • Computers • Receiving an Email Address • Internet? • Telnet • The “cool” people

4. Accessed on 3/20/06 at http://www.s-line.de/homepages/horber-privat/apple2a.htm

5. Accessed on 3/20/06 at http://www.gummylump.com/front/f_product.php?id=151

6. UNC in 1993 • CAROLINE • Libraries • Receiving an Email Address • Internet? • Telnet • The “cool” people

7. Telnet in 1993 at UNC • Email • ISCA– Iowa Student Computer Association telnet://whip.isca.uiowa.edu • Many MOOs and MUDs….(too many to name) • My favorite mud---starMUD • “Crack Cocaine”

8. About starMUD • Based in Stockholm, Sweden • UNIX based • First server could only hold 40 connections at one time. • Created by local physician in Stockholm looking for a stress relief

9. About starMUD cont. • 4 levels on starMUD (and many others) • GOD—he was the creator..owned the server in our case • LORD—they were in charge of a certain area of the MUD • WIZARD—(ME!)—they were the main coders (C++) for an area..were usually handpicked by a certain LORD • MORTAL—people allowed to play in each area to gain power and skills to one day become a Wizard (usually took 18-24 months of regular play)

10. About starMUD cont. • Could be many races (alien, human, Muppet, Vulcan, Smurf, etc) • Start by killing bumblebees, rabbits, etc. to gain experience before tackling bigger monsters… • The more experience points, the quicker you can become a Wizard • Couldn’t attack each other UNLESS BOTH players were “outlaws”. If one “outlaw” killed another, you can steal all their credits and weapons, but they kept their skills • Opportunity to know lots of people from all over the world

11. Graphical MUDs • Not just UNIX based anymore… • Advantage—not as much typing! • Disadvantage—imagination factor (book/movie debate) • For example http://www.geocities.com/blessed_lands_web/

12. Newer Addicting Sites • AIM/Yahoo IM/MSN Messenger • Myspace • Facebook • Poker • Sims • Everquest • “Evercrack” • 3-D version of DikuMUD • Selling of weapons on eBay

13. Newer Addicting Sites • World of Warcraft • 6 million subscribers • Up to 40% are addicted • June 2005—child died of neglect from WoW addicted parents • Selling characters on eBay • Second Life • 3-D world—very Sims-like • 1 million subscribers • Pay for the “good stuff” • Convert real dollars to “Linden dollars” • $400,000 in real money spent every 24 hours • Squatters springing up

14. My Addiction • Why is it addicting? • You can escape reality • Can be any type person you want to be • Completely anonymous • Fun to get more and more powerful • Fun to kill stuff for prizes (credits, skills) • Ultimate goal---WIZARD!

15. My Addiction cont. • Started in Fall 1993 • Honor Court/Escape reality • Just 30 minutes a day, but.. • Class… • Papers… • Labs…. • My “Marriage” • Credit cards • Spring 1994 GPA….any guesses?

16. MUD friends at UNC • 3 of us at UNC • Dennis—taught me to code C++ in Teague, ended up getting his masters in CS at University of Texas…just up his alley! • Ame—PRIME EXAMPLE of starMUD’s addicting power…… • Class, Social Life, GPA

17. What made me quit? • Grades/Parents • Drugs? • Student Psychological Services • Internet Addiction

18. Let’s visit starMUD • telnet://home.starmud.com:4000/ • telnet://aus.stanford.edu:2010 • http://www.achaea.com