<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd">
<channel>
<title>Massively</title>
<link>http://massively.joystiq.com</link>
<description>Massively</description>
<image>
<url>http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif</url>
<title>Massively</title>
<link>http://massively.joystiq.com</link>
</image>
<language>en-us</language>
<copyright>Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.</copyright>
<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: A talk with Richard Bartle]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/12/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-a-talk-with-richard-bart/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/12/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-a-talk-with-richard-bart/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/12/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-a-talk-with-richard-bart/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/interviews/" rel="tag">Interviews</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/the-game-archaeologist/" rel="tag">The Game Archaeologist</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/misc/" rel="tag">Miscellaneous</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/the-game-archaeologist/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/04/bartle1.jpg" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px;" /></a></div>
From talking with <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/richard-bartle/">Richard Bartle</a>, <a href="http://www.youhaventlived.com/qblog/">reading his blog</a>, and looking over several interviews that he's done, I've concluded that the co-creator of the first <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/mud/">multi-user dungeon</a> is, in many ways, a card. A smart one, a perceptive one, and an outspoken one, but a card nonetheless. I say this in a good way, of course, because for all of the verbal pussyfooting that often goes on in this industry, it's refreshing to hear the voice of someone who knows what he thinks and isn't afraid to say it, even if it goes against the grain.<br />
<br />
Dr. Bartle's name often comes up in discussions of both MUDs and MMORPGs. His designs, work and scholarship <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/05/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-the-history/">have influenced MMOs in substantial ways</a>, and it's possible that if our children end up learning about massively multiplayer RPGs in school some day, Bartle's name will be mentioned once or twice.<br />
<br />
While he's sometimes polarizing, it's hard to deny the incredible work he's done, which is why I was excited to get to talk to him about this month's subject on the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/the-game-archaeologist/">Game Archaeologist</a>. So hit that pesky jump and let's pick the mind of a guy who really earned the right to post "FIRST!!1!"<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/12/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-a-talk-with-richard-bart/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: A talk with Richard Bartle</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/12/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-a-talk-with-richard-bart/">The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: A talk with Richard Bartle</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/12/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-a-talk-with-richard-bart/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19908430/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/12/the-game-archaeologist-plays-with-muds-a-talk-with-richard-bart/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>a-tale-in-the-desert</category><category>adventure</category><category>ancient-anguish</category><category>assembler</category><category>assembly-language</category><category>baldurs-gate</category><category>baldurs-gate-2</category><category>bartle-test</category><category>batmud</category><category>BCPL</category><category>civ1</category><category>civ2</category><category>civ3</category><category>civ4</category><category>civ5</category><category>civilization</category><category>coding-headache</category><category>darklands</category><category>designing-virtual-worlds</category><category>dlc</category><category>english-channel</category><category>featured</category><category>football-manager</category><category>gemstone</category><category>ipc</category><category>legendmud</category><category>macro-10</category><category>master-of-orion</category><category>medievia</category><category>moo</category><category>moo2</category><category>moo3</category><category>morrowind</category><category>mud</category><category>mud1</category><category>mud2</category><category>multi-user-dungeon</category><category>oblivion</category><category>play-tester</category><category>playtesting</category><category>richard-bartle</category><category>rogue</category><category>roy-trubshaw</category><category>SETUWP</category><category>star-fire</category><category>sunset</category><category>The-Patrician</category><category>tops-10</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[MUD history dissolving into the waters of time]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/06/mud-history-dissolving-into-the-waters-of-time/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/06/mud-history-dissolving-into-the-waters-of-time/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/06/mud-history-dissolving-into-the-waters-of-time/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/academic/" rel="tag">Academic</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/virtual-worlds/" rel="tag">Virtual worlds</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2009/01/thresholdunverified.jpg" alt="" /><br /></div>
While many modern MMO users may never have looked at a screen of white text on a black background and typed "go north," multi-user dungeons, or MUDs, were the forerunners to modern graphical MMOs. Without their appeal and gameplay concepts, we wouldn't be playing <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a> or even <a href="http://www.everquest.com"><em>EverQuest</em></a>. So, logically, we should make sure to preserve the histories behind the many MUDs which began our conquest of the online playing field, right?<br /><br />Well, it appears <a href="http://www.wikipedia.org">Wikipedia</a> does not think the same way we do on this matter. The online encyclopedia powered by user contributions has begun cracking down and removing articles on MUDs, citing inability to provide verification along with reliable sources. Currently on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Threshold_(online_game)">chopping block</a> is the entry for <a href="http://www.thresholdrpg.com/"><em>Threshold</em></a>, one of the oldest MUDs still active to this day. This isn't the first time Wikipedia has put online games under fire -- already pulling out the entries for <a href="http://www.byond.com/" style="font-style: italic;">BYOND</a>, <a href="http://www.legendmud.org/" style="font-style: italic;">LegendMUD</a>, and even removing the article on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_kill_points">dragon kill points (DKP)</a> for a time. The removal for the entry of <span style="font-style: italic;">LegendMUD</span> is particularly painful, as there are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_About_A_Tree">other articles on Wikipedia</a> that reference the LegendMUD entry, yet are still apparently viable on their own.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/06/mud-history-dissolving-into-the-waters-of-time/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>MUD history dissolving into the waters of time</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/06/mud-history-dissolving-into-the-waters-of-time/">MUD history dissolving into the waters of time</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.youhaventlived.com/qblog/2009/QBlog050109A.html>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/06/mud-history-dissolving-into-the-waters-of-time/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1420377/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/06/mud-history-dissolving-into-the-waters-of-time/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>byond</category><category>damion-schubert</category><category>dkp</category><category>history</category><category>industry-history</category><category>legendmud</category><category>lum-the-mad</category><category>mud</category><category>mush</category><category>raph-koster</category><category>richard-bartle</category><category>rob-pardo</category><category>threshold</category><category>wikipedia</category><category>world-of-warcraft</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Seraphina Brennan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
