Multi-User Dimensions

Multi-user dimensions, or MUDs, provide a unique opportunity to explore and express gender in media. MUDs are persistent, shared virtual worlds bound by rules in which users interact in real time through the use of characters or avatars. While online gaming is the primary use for MUDs, they have a variety of uses in online settings and will likely become more elaborate, ubiquitous, and immersive as technology advances.

MUD is generally accepted to stand for multi-user dimension, although it is not uncommon to encounter the terms multi-user dungeon and multi-user domain, depending on context. MUDs are virtual environments accessible by the Internet that allow for computer-mediated communication (CMC). In MUDs, multiple users can interact with one another. MUDs are also commonly understood as virtual communities or shared virtual worlds. Examples of popular MUDs include but are not limited to World of Warcraft, EverQuest, The Sims, and Second Life. MUDs are persistent, meaning that they exist continuously and exist even when no one is using the MUD. Users in MUDs interact in real time. The oldest and original form of interaction in MUDs is text-based chat. Text-based MUDs are still in use, but other forms of interaction are now available as well, such as graphical MUDs. In graphical MUDs, users can interact with virtual objects and may have the ability to add objects to the virtual world. MUDs should not be confused with chat rooms, nor should MUDs be confused with virtual reality, although MUDs can include chat rooms and elements of virtual reality.

Accessing one MUD places a user in a virtual world separate from any other MUD, making that [Page 238]user distinct from others. A user accesses a MUD by running a computer program on his or her personal computer. This computer program allows access to a server designed to facilitate a specific MUD. This server automatically manages the rules and feedback system of a MUD such that the server responds to the behaviors of its users through the computer program interface. Rules in a MUD are referred to as physics. While there are many different types of MUDs (AberMUD, TinyMUD, and LPMUD), the term MUD serves as a general category that encompasses all types of MUDs.

MUDs were originally created for the purpose of online gaming, and thus many MUDs are used primarily in this context, but they have been appropriated for many other purposes as well. For example, MUDs can be used for educational purposes, such as extending the classroom to a virtual environment to expose students to novel objects or events. The first multi-user dimension was a game called MUD, standing for multi-user dungeon. Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle created MUD in 1978. A common misconception about MUD is that it was based on the role-playing game (RPG) Dungeons and Dragons. However, there is an important connection between MUDs and RPGs such that in both forums each player assumes the role of a character within a fictional setting; players can fully assume the roles of these characters or simply act as decision makers for the characters by indicating what actions the character will take. The distinction is that RPGs do not necessarily need to take place in an online environment, whereas MUDs must occur in an online environment.

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