For me MUDs were a natural graduation from offline text adventures, I relished the chance to play such games with other people the moment I got an internet connection. Of course, they turned out to be but a stepping stone to MMORPGs, but I enjoyed immensely my couple of years or more playing Avalon, Orone, Cardea, and Archaea - they were the main ones for me, as I recall. What impresses and surprises me is the extent to which MUDs were, and still are, cult games for the college and university crowd.