I once was designing a computer game with a VR within it (the game was of the cyberpunk genre). I told a friend that life within my game was depressing, so people sought relief within VR. He answered, "By definition, virtual reality is indistinguishable from reality. Does this mean that the virtual reality in your game is as bad as reality?" -- Robert Serocki (robert@nope.UCSD.EDU) Mon, 22 Jun 92 10:29:06 -0700 [S11] It will sometimes happen that your individual identity will disappear, and the objectivity characteristic of the pantheistic poet will develop so unusually within you, that the mere contemplation of external objects will cause you to soon forget your own existence, and become inextricably fused with theirs. -- Baudelaire, "Artificial Paradise", 1860 We ought, then, to set up images of a kind that can adhere longest in the memory. And we shall do so if we establish likenesses as striking as possible; if we set up images that are not many or vague, but doing something; if we assign to them exceptional beauty or singular ugliness; if we dress some of them with crowns or purple cloaks, for example, so that the likeness may be more distinct to us; or if we somehow disfigure them, as by introducing one stained with blood or soiled with mud or smeared with red paint, so that its form is more striking, or by assigning certain comic effects to our images, for that, too, will ensure our remembering them more readily. -- attributed to Cicero, "Ad Herennium," 1rst Century BC Communications 510 Emerging Technologies Prof. Joseph Helgert School of Communications Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids, Michigan USA version 1.1 June 26, 1992 Copyright (C) 1992 Henry Edward Hardy seraphim@ais.org Communications 680 Independent Study Prof. Alexander Nesterenko School of Communications Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids, Michigan USA version 2.1 August 8, 1993 Copyright (C) 1993 Henry Edward Hardy seraphim@umcc.umich.edu "The future of text based virtual reality" The term "text based virtual reality" was chosen by this author to emphasize the growing convergence between the artificial worlds constructed for multiuser text adventure games and the interactive multimedia environments which are often considered to epitomize "VR" It may be argued that multi-user text adventure games don't constitute a true virtual reality and that games which are closer to "true" VR such as Netrek and Battletech are graphic and not text based, although text may be transmitted between players and other player or computer controlled objects. However, most respondents to the survey which we conducted indicated no objection to characterizing the programs in question in this manner, and the term "virtual reality" is frequently used (or misused) on the net to describe these programs. The purpose of this paper is to explore in an open minded manner the possible paths of development these programs may take in the future. We will consider in brief some of the possible moral, legal, commercial, and technical developments which the future is likely to hold. Virtual Reality is a term encompassing computer moderated environments in which the user manipulates a data representation of themselves within a data structure designed to mimic an external environment. This concept may also be referred to as "cyberspace" and "artificial reality." A large class of text based artificial realities has evolved. The programs with which we are concerned have the following characteristics: 1) The user has a representation within the data space which may engage in such activities as moving, examining objects, smiling, fighting, dying, and progressively gaining additional abilities. 2) The program is multi user, so that many users and non-user characters (non-player characters -- NPCs) may interact simultaneously. 3) The program is network based, so that users at widely remote sites can interact in "real time." 4) The primary interface between user and other objects or users is text-based rather than graphics based. A large subclass of these text based virtual realities is referred to as MUDs (Multi User Domain, Multiple User Dimension, Multiple User Dungeon, or Multiple User Dialogue). The method which was chosen is qualitative and inductive. First a survey of existing literature in the files of this author was conducted. This turned up a number of interesting articles, including one very important work. That work is an edited version for public release of a private study conducted for British Telecom by Dr. Richard Bartle of MUSE Ltd. [1] Dr. Bartle, who has a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, authored a 1990 study titled, "Interactive Multi-User Computer Games." Bartle is the co-author of the "Multi-User Dungeon" or MUD program. Roy Trubshaw began programming MUD in Autumn of 1979 at Essex University on a DECsystem-10 mainframe. Bartle took over the project in Summer of 1980. The original MUD game was similar to the venerable single user game "Adventure" which this author played at the Physics Lab of Hiram College in the summer of 1977. Next the current information available was searched and collated. We reviewed 9,499 articles in 16 newsgroups. From these 14 pertinent and relevant documents were obtained. Finally, a 10 question survey was posted to 11 newsgroups. This questionnaire is discussed in detail below. More than 30 responses were received to this survey within 48 hours of its having been posted. Responses were well distributed throughout the portion of the world with internet and usenet access. Responses were obtained from users and programmers in ten countries, including Australia, Britain, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway and the United States. Within the US, responses came from sites including Columbia University, Kansas State, the University of California at San Diego, the MUD Institute at the University of Colorado, Oklahoma State, the Dana Biomedical Laboratory at Dartmouth, the Meiko Scientific Corp., Florida State University, Carnegie Mellon University, rand.org, John Hopkins University, UCLA, Digital Equipment, the University of Arizona, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Washington, the University of North Carolina, the Boston University Center for Remote Sensing, the University of Michigan Medical Center, and a number of other locations. The replies represented a remarkably widespread and diverse group in geographic location. All of the replies were serious, some were peculiar, and many were thoughtful and insightful, in the opinion of this author. These responses are printed in full as appendix B of this paper. MUD has spawned a host of successors and imitators. Bartle reviews 32 different programs in his paper. A recent list of internet muds posted to usenet had 176 games, two research institutes, and four mudwho servers listed. A total of 18 different programs were listed on the internet, with the (primarily) Swedish program "lpMUD" having the most sites, with 69. In the experience of this author, such a server or game might have 100-1500 players and 10-150 "wizards" or programmer/administrators (in the case of lpMUD specifically.) Particularly in the case of large games, like floyd lpMUD or Islandia, in which there may be thousands of players and thousands or tens of thousands of rooms and objects in play, the programs may represent a significant drain on computer system and network resources. The respondents to this survey were not a representative sample of those who design or play these simulations for several reasons. First, the survey was distributed via usenet, so only those who receive a usenet feed at their sites had a possibility to access the message. Secondly, the sample is biased by the fact that the question was posted to specific newsgroups which in the judgement of the author were appropriate to the topic of the current study. It would be clearly impractical, not to mention a serious breach of net etiquette costing thousands of dollars in network resources to post to the more than 1000 usenet accessible newsgroups. Therefore the newsgroups rec.games.mud, alt.mud, alt.mud.lp, alt.mud.tiny, rec.games.mud.lp, rec.games.mud.admin, rec.games.mud.diku, rec.games.mud.misc, rec.games.mud.tiny, alt.mud.german, rec.games.empire, and rec.games.netrek were selected. Many MUDs could not be reviewed as part of this project due to lack of access. Among these are Bartle's MUD2, Compuserve's British Legends, and Shades, which runs on Britain's Micronet, and which is available for a local telephone call from anywhere in Britain. [1] At the beginning of this project, this author was most familiar with the program lpMUD. According to Bartle, lpMUD had its origins in Sweden before 1989 when programmer Lars Pensjo at the Chalmers Technical Institute obtained the code for Abermud, decided he didn't like it and decided to write his own. [1] This author first encountered lpMUD version 1.4.1-W while working as a Computer Consultant at the University of Michigan in the spring of 1989. This game was on a next machine located in the computer lab for consultants in the suite of rooms at 3113 School of Education Building at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor campus. Before its demise at the end of the summer, it had grown to more than 1400 players and 150 wizards (programmers and administrators of the lpMUD game.) It is an apocryphal and possibly true tale on the net that the reason that the game was shut down by the ITD (Information Technology Division) staff is that for a one week period that summer that more than 1/2 of all the requests to the MERIT network Domain Name Server had been for that one little next box. At its height, more than 30 people from around the world would be signed on and interacting around the clock. Having a world reach this size is not terribly unusual for a mud. Bartle describes the case of Islandia at the University of California at Berkeley. This program was a TinyMUD, the second most popular of the Internet-type MUDs. The program allows all players to build and add their own rooms and objects, unlike most similar programs. Islandia opened in about January 1990. By the time of its demise in November of 1990, it had grown to mammoth proportions. Bartle cites 3,271 players, of which 1,503 were active; and 14,900 rooms. Islandia had grown so huge that only 7,503, or about one-half, of the rooms were visited during the last month of its existence. [1] The history of Icelandia further illustrates the life cycle of a mud and the extremes of beauty and horror which these programs can represent. Bartle comments: Islandia was a friendly place, with friendly people, and famed for its many beautifully designed rooms. Its maintainers scoured the database removing useless or incomplete creations, trying to keep it to a manageable size and reasonably consistent. However, they finally decided to take the system down simply because, despite their efforts, it had grown too large; besides, they were wearying of trying to trim the database in the face of its relentless growth toward full capacity. The maintainers also felt that the game was too old. People were using the system as a means to annoy others, which was taken as a sign of decay. Since TinyMUDs offer no facilities for game management, this fate eventually befalls all such programs, except in the case where being nasty is the whole point of playing. Such indeed was the case with BloodMUD. The TinyBASE database was taken as the starting point, and developed along themes of blood, violence, and sleaze. Rooms were deliberately corrupted by other players, with special attention going to vandalizing TinyBASE. BloodMUD was a reaction to the "nice" atmosphere which pervaded Islandia --and it was a lot more fun to play. It finally disappeared when the database was accidently deleted, but by then it had sunk into depravity. [1] The "spirit" of Bloodmud might be said to live on in such games as the lpMUD Genocide (pip.shsu.edu 2222.) This game is entirely dedicated to "player killing," the practice of seeking out and committing mayhem upon the characters controlled by other people (as opposed to "mobiles" which are autonomous computer controlled constructs.) A survey of the existing literature from usenet revealed a few more interesting items. MUD and its various descendants have developed a language or jargon of its own. A number of postings give lists of jargon idiosyncratic to MUDs and mudding. An interesting example of some of this net.jargon is the Mudder's Rasphody: (to the tune of Bohemian Rasphody by Queen) Is this the RealLife (tm), or a virtual reality Caught in a MUD slide, no escape from this fantasy Open your eyes, look at your CRT I'm just a MUDder, I need no topology Because I'm easy come easy go 'cause I've got a macro Any way the link goes, doesn't really matter to me... to me Wizard, I just killed a girl She had TinySex with me, then I found out she's a he And Wizard, he was logging it and now he's posted it on rec.games.mud Wizard, ooh, ooh, ooh, oooh, didn't mean to make you @toad me If I'm not logged on this time tomorrow @recycle, @recycle, @recycle all my objects Too late, my account's run out Gonna kick me off the net, I have no client to connect Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go gotta leave you on this MUD and face RealLife(tm) Wizard, ohh, ooh, ooh, oooh I didn't want to go I sometimes wish I'd never logged on at all I see a silly @description of a man Gotta MUD! Gotta MUD! Will you do the BONK-OIF thing Whisper-bombs and killing, very very thrilling, OIF! TinyTalk, Foo Talk, Tiny Fugue, TinyWar TinyWar does not exist. Where did it go-o-o-o? I'm just a MUDder, I need no topology He's just a MUDder sitting at a CRT Spare his eyes from radioactivity Easy come, Easy go, 'cause I got a macro Islandia, No! We will not let you go Let it go! Never, never, never let it go, go, go No, no, no, no, no, no, no It is sinking, it is sinking, it is sinking, let it go. Islandia is sinking beneath the sea, the sea, the sea! So you think you can BONK me and slap me HIGH5. So you think you can spoof me, pretend you are I. Oh, mucker. Don't do this to me mucker. Just gotta log out, just gotta get off of this port. Nothing really matters Anyone can see Nothing really matters to me. Any way the link goes. BONK. [13] In addition, the jargon and ideography of usenet is often used, such as "IMHO" for "In My Humble Opinion" or "brb" for "Be right back" or "cul8r" for "See you later." Pictorial ideographic sideways smiley faces are often employed to add affect, such as :) for a smiley face and }-( for angry, etc. Particularly on the muds of Scandinavia and Germany, a curious mix of languages is often employed. And spelling and grammar are generally thrown to the winds in the interest of typing as fast as humanly possible. Another question raised in the review of the usenet literature is the moral and ethical considerations raised by these games. arkon@pipebomb.spies.com wrote in rec.games.mud.admin: I'm curious as to the ethical requirements of both wizards and players by admin's who are in a position to set, or watch over such aspects. I mean, there are certain things, like finding bugs and exploiting them without reporting, or delaying reporting, primarily with players, or similar occurrences with wizards. Also, Often, wizards impart knowledge or test/such items to certain players, often associates of some form, and although players do similar things, it seems to be less noted, because it is part of the game, where players can be their own person, but yet, wizards are under a geis of sorts. I personally would encourage location of bugs, and reward reporting, although I realize many still exploit it as much as possible, then report for the reward, and I can't be sure. Also, certain foolery by wizards e'en with players seem ok to me, for some of it has parallels, but how far can they go? How much can they do? And then there is multiple characters, just what are good methods to ward them off with the least consequences to the other valid players, and at what point does multiple characters become a problem or unwanted thing? [16] These comments would be mostly pertinent to a games such as lpMUD in which there are some players who are mortals while others ("wizards") are immortal and have programming or administrative responsibilities in most cases. [7] The text of the questionnaire which we distributed on the net is appended to the paper as appendix A. We have observed above the large number of areas of the world and the US which were represented in the responses to our survey. This diversity was matched in the wide variety of games and programs which were mentioned in the responses to the first of the ten questions. Question 1 asked, 1) What text based multi user virtual realities do you use, if any? Among the programs listed in the responses were MUD, MUCK, lpMUD, MOO, tinyMUSE, tinyMUSH, LambdaMOO, UberMUD, UnterMUD, DikuMUD, AberMUD, Empire, and netrek (although several people pointed out that this is not a text based game since it relies on color Xwindows graphics terminal capacity.) [7, 19] There are also a few graphical muds, using the mud objects and drivers to drive a graphical user interface. [6, S22] The second question asked, 2) How long have you been using virtual realities? Robert Seroki (Robert@nope.UCSD.edu) said that he had been playing for only one to two months. On the other hand, Jim Gillogly (jim@rand.org) reports that he has been involved in designing such programs since porting Adventure from FORTRAN to C in 1975. Most respondents to the questionnaire reported that they have been involved in playing and/or designing text oriented virtual realities for at least several years. It is the opinion of this author that this is not typical of the average MUD user. Rather, the persons most likely to be proficient at usenet and interested in responding are most likely to have been some of the more experienced programmers and users of such programs. The third question of the survey asked: 3) Do you program or design virtual realities? If so, please detail. Our survey produced responses from programmers for servers including Empire, lpMUD, TeenyMUD,TinyMUSH, AberMUD, Adventure, Netrek, FurryMUCK, MOO, TinyMUSE, UnterMUD, DikuMUD, UberMUD and DOS Virtual Reality studio, as well as several idiosyncratic or unnamed programs. Lpmud was the most commonly sited. Netrek, Empire, AberMUD, UberMUD, DikuMUD and UnterMUD were also familiar to several of the respondents who program. Question 4 asked: 4) What benefit or value do you personally find in these virtual realities? Among the personal benefits listed by most of the respondents were entertainment, relaxation, meeting people from all over the world, applied creativity, and the opportunity to learn/improve programming and system administration skills. Other benefits mentioned include using the games and players as information resources, helping others, typing skills, language skills, and improving social interaction skills. The fifth question in the survey was: 5) What benefit do you see for society as a whole? Several users mentioned Marshall McLuhan's concept of a "global village." Jeremy Thomas James of the University of Michigan Medical Center said, That's a tough question. It depends upon whether you look at it in a game sense or on a more broadened scale. My belief is that virtual reality has to start somewhere. I think by trying to bring more people into the realm of virtual reality it will become more liked. Then you can extend the capabilities of it. As an example of what I see happening in the future: A person where's a head set or even earlier looks at a monitor( very specialized that is ) and sees an image of a home they're about to build sent via cables to their system from an architect with the ability to look at the inside ( kind of a walking tour through it ) where they can click some buttons ( or just think about it ) and see changes made to it right in front of their eyes until they find a combination they like. Then they send the image with all the specifications off to the builder. [S8] James Waldrop of the Mud Institute said, Well, many people have written about things like global communications and the effects that being able to talk in real-time to someone on the other side of the planet might have. Personally, I expect to see Muds turn into something akin to Usenet, although on a larger scale. Within the relatively near future (5-10 yrs), it should be no problem for most of America to gain net access. Additionally, I think we'll see a wide-spread increase in the number of homes that have things like SLIP links, or other means of accessing the net at speeds that will make real-time communication possible. When this happens, I think muds, or something very much like them, will be the 'protocol-of-choice' among those who are less fluent in operating system concepts. The primary benefit of the mud protocol is that it enables someone to express themselves in ways that are familiar. For example, if you wish to send someone mail, it is natural to get a piece of paper, write on it, and put it in a post office box. This is one small example, but I think that the idea is obvious. There will certainly be those that will use Berkeley mail, or systems like it, but for the neophyte, a mudding environment is infinitely more friendly. It is possible to ask for help and get real-time responses expressed in a language that is familiar (can you imagine your grandmother typing 'man mail' and understanding it?) [S11] Question 6 asked: 6) Do you consider your personal favorite virtual reality to be primarily an entertainment, or to be an extension of real life with gamelike qualities? This is a paraphrase from the MUD frequently asked questions list: "Wait, is it a game, or an extension of real life with gamelike qualities?" It's up to you. Some jaded cynics like to laugh at idealists who think its partially for real, but I personally think they're not playing it right. Certainly the hack'n'slash stuff is only a game, but the social aspects may be less so. [7] James Waldrop of the MUD Institute comments: I use muds to talk to people and exchange ideas and information. I very rarely use them to play, but when I do I find that enjoyable as well. Whether or not they have 'game-like' qualities is highly debatable. Is it a game if I can type smile, and have another person see 'Sulam smiles'? I don't think the gaming aspects of muds are the most important ones. They are a way for people to interact realistically over a long distance, and I think this is the manner in which they will be important to society as a whole. [S11] E. A. Kendrick of the United Kingdom comments in a similar vein: I consider my favourite Virtual Reality to be entertainment, but I treat others within the game as I would in real life (reasonably so, I have *never* killed in real life, but if attacked in the game I would... this could have social recriminations if taken to seriously methinks!!!). However I that soon the idea of my Virtual Reality "Game" being just a game could disappear completely, consider TMI's idea of allowing connection to ports from within the MUD - "Now we will be able to do our coursework from within the game" (garbled quote of an earlier posting). [S10] However, most respondents favored looking at these servers a "just a game" or "primarily a game." Donald Tsang of the University of Washington writes, Anyone who considers a MUD (or similar) to be an extension of real life should, in my opinion, get psychological help. [S31] Question 8 asked the survey respondent, 7) How widespread do you think that these text based virtual realities will become in the future? David Knowles of the University of Limerick, Ireland responded, I think that within a few years every home will have a net connection and a lot of people will be playing in these games. The global village strikes again. [S2] Remy "Mindcrime" Wetzels responded from the Netherlands in a similar vein, As internet get's used more over the world, these games will get more widespread, just look, I'm from the Netherlands (running a local empire game and a local lpMUD game here), In Scandinavia they are playing, in England, there are slowly emerging other players from other European countries. Guys from Australia (since I know they that they have internet) are playing... Now, we're just waiting for the Russians :) [S1] Fast Eddie Felson from Finland said, to the contrary: In the international networks the major growth is over since the number of possible sites is limited and the computer administrations attitudes limit MUD usage even more (not that I would blame them). In private bulletin board systems the growth might still continue for some years. [S5] James Waldrop of the Mud Institute says, Well, if most of America does get net access in the future, then it will be text-based. Real-time teleconferencing is much too expensive to be generally accessible, but the text-based conferencing is quite possible even today. The Usenet forum is useful, but not nearly as interactive as a mud can be, and I think that something very close to muds will be most comfortable to people. IRC is another possibility, but I think the gap between action and verb is too wide in that format. Most people will not want to learn a complicated new vocabulary just to talk to their friends. And concepts of virtual space can't be expressed at all in IRC. [S11] IRC is Internet Relay Chat, a method of having a distributed text party line or CB sort of interface. This is similar to the social use of muds as well. Jeff Bone of Dell Computer suggests however, that text based MUDs will be replaced soon by graphical virtual realities. [S14] Joshua Nelson of the Dana Biomedical Laboratory at Dartmouth comments on one of the potential dangers of text virtual realities: I think they are very wide spread now. If they do become more so it could be dangerous to the production of the average worker with internet access as the screen of a UNIX vt100 simulator (program that I use) looks alot like you are doing something productive unless the boss is actually reading the text. [S15] Most of the respondents anticipate a large increase in the number, size, complexity, and availability of text driven multi user virtual realities. Some of the reasons cited include, increasing user sophistication, increased processing and storage capacity,increased interest in VR, and improved access to the net and multimedia forms of communication. Reasons for a possible decline cited include, market saturation, disapproval of system and network administrators, and the rise of networked graphical virtual realities. Question 8 was: 8) What near term future trends do you anticipate in your primary virtual reality? In addition to the trends discussed above, respondents suggested that these programs will adapt to graphic displays [S4], use better parsers [S10], include more areas derived from cartoons [S11], and more intelligent NPC's [S15]. A number of respondents mentioned introducing better programming and building tools for programmers and wizards. James Waldrop of TMI said, Presently at TMI we are working very hard on something called attribute based objects. The idea behind these is essentially to have every object react in a logical way to an action. All objects will get wet when they are dunked in the water, but expressing this in a language that is primarily driven by verbs isn't so easy. The direction we are headed in is choosing a basic set of properties that define an object (a small number, around 7), and then having verbs change these properties in a logical fashion. A standard vocabulary will have to be introduced at some point, but our aim is to make it extensible. [S11] In the minority were Stig Hammer of Norway and Ron Echeverri of USC, who anticipated no substantial improvements in the technology. Question 9 asked, 9) What trends do you anticipate in your virtual reality in the medium or long term? Most respondents mentioned graphical user interfaces as being a new development for MUDs in the immediate to medium-term future. Joshua Nelson said: Medium or long term technology is already here. There 3-D machines which can actually have you walk though a building with different software (these are often used in architecture) are often used and are being experimented with, but such machines are definately the long term wave of the future once they become cost effective. Virtual Reality will be encompass the senses (really far in the future - 50-100 years+) and will probably tie into the sense portions of the brain with electric stimuli. [S15] Ross Williamson of Auckland University in New Zealand adds: The sky is the limit. Close your eyes and think of real graphics. Real virtual reality. Actually stepping though the door and confronting the hideous medusa and feeling your body turn to stone. And then a little sign pops up saying .... Sorry you have died want to play again.(Y/n) [S32] Jefferey J. Nelson of the University of Arizona said, For my work, mainly the benefits are not sociological or for society as a whole, instead at best they might be applied to autonomous systems. (such as washing machines, space probes, naval destroyers...) [S29] Donald Tsang warns of the possible destruction of human society and the end of romance as we know it: The destruction of the socialization of society. People will naturally gravitate toward this "safe" socialization, which will virtually eliminate real-person contact, except perhaps for real romance. Considering that I know two couples who fell in love over the 'Net, even that may be relegated to Computer Dating... [31] A similar point was raised in response to question 10, which offered the opportunity for the respondents to add any other comments: Josh Nelson said: Please be sure to cover the morality and dangers of Virtual Reality. The directions that this could take could create or destroy society. Just for example, once the fully sense becomes cost effective for the regular middle class person, what reason is there to actually exist in this world? (Similar to Arnold Scwarzzenager's (sp?) excursion to mars in one o his latest movies. I forget the name. Anyway, if Virtual Realities can become so real and be programmed to take the place of a person's reality with this fantasy reality, then at one point no one wants to live within the society and a new class of people is born. Those who forever live outside of the reality of this world but are taking up valuable resources of this world. This direction can and is harmful for society to continue moving forward in a productive manner. [S15] On the other hand, Jennifer Smith offered a positive paradigm for the future: One of the major possible future uses I see for muds wouldn't be a 'game' use - it would be a conferencing use. It's possible to build a classroom, auditorium, what have you, and have a group of people, scattered across the globe, all logged in and communicating in as close to real time as possible. True, this can be done with IRC, but in muds you could add aspects such as a chalkboard for putting notes on. It's been adequately proven that 20 people in a mud can hold a conversation easily, without missing much, whereas in reality it's impossible for 20 people to all have a conversation, without taking strict turns in speaking - you'd end up shouting over each other, and not being able to hear everyone. [S13] Conclusion: The technology being developed for these programs has potential application in such fields as cellular automata, virtual laboratories, virtual schools, artificial life, computer bulletin board interfaces and a wide range of computer-simulated behaviors. Furthermore, these programs, along with IRC and usenet, provide a great opportunity for an anthropologist to watch a new society growing to maturity within the shell of old. Here is a society which is unbounded by distance (except for the distance to the nearest terminal), unconcerned with race, sex, or physical appearance ( since within the context of the program one has latitude to determine these as one sees fit) and in which there is often no effective sanction against anti social behavior (since the user may be anonymous and can be "killed" numerous times without being put out of commission for long). Text based virtual realities will be around for a long time in parallel, or in combination with visual or other multimedia virtual realities, in the view of this author. This is because writing is a very information dense medium, having a high signal to noise ratio as it were. Until a new pictographic language has developed further, writing is likely to be unsurpassed as an efficient means for transferring information. Bandwidth considerations are likely to make multi user distributed virtual realities which are full visual impractical until ISDN-B or fibre has become ubiquitous, a process that should take 10-20 years. Further, the parsers and engines which drive these programs will drive a series of pictures or sounds as well as text without insurmountable obstacles. Although there is some danger of losing oneself so completely in this new medium that one loses one's sense of "reality," this may not be a bad thing. It may be that this brave new virtual reality will supersede "real" reality within our lifetimes as surely and completely as the reality of Einstein has replaced that of Newton and that of Ptolemy. These programs represent a new paradigm for software design, software which evolves rather than being designed. These programs, such as LP-MUD, are so complex that they would have been virtually impossible to design and implement by the traditional structured, top-down means. Such cooperative undertakings involve tens of thousands of person hours and are roughly comparable in complexity to, for example, a software package (smart2.7) used by Nasa to design and test rocket designs. These programs are like a great cathedral such as the Notre Dame, never planned or executed by a single hand, perhaps destined never to be finished, but forming part of the common intellectual heritage of humanity. The author would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the members of the Chalmers Datorforengsr of the Chalmers Techninska Hogskola in Goteborg, Sweden where he does his own lpMUD programming, and the members of the Mud Institute at the University of Colorado. The author also gratefully acknowledges the University of Michigan Computer Club, the Grand Valley State University Computing Society, Cleveland Freenet, and MichNet. Special thanks to Gregory Boynton of GVSU. Thanks as well to all those who have responded to the questionnaire. BIBLIOGRAPHY Please note that bibliographical references are referenced as [1], [2] etc. and that surveys are referenced as [S1], [S2] etc. in the text. See appendix B for the listing of the survey responses. [note: Appendix B not included in the version of this study posted to usenet] forwarded via uucp and internet: [1] Richard%tharr.UUCP@ukc.ac.uk (Dr. Richard Bartle -- MUSE Ltd.) "Interactive Multi-User Computer Games" internal study for British Telecom plc, (C) 1990 Muse Ltd. [2] pkt10818@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Peter Kaine Trevonian, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champlain) "Beginner's Guide to Multiple-User Games" 15 Jan 1991 17:53:52 -0600 UCT Usenet postings from rec.games.empire: [3] muir@csm.com (David Muir Sharnoff -- Comdisco Systems) "summary of empire versions" 11 Oct 1992 01:26:32 GMT Usenet news postings from rec.games.mud: [4] aem@uk.ac.aber (Alec David Muffet -- Univ Coll of Wales, Aberystwyth) <1991Jul5.095601.15564@uk.ac.aber> "History of Muds: part 1 of 2" 5 July 1991 09:56:01 GMT [5] aem@uk.ac.aber (Alec David Muffet -- Univ Coll of Wales, Aberystwyth) <1991Jul5.095919.15798@uk.ac.aber> "History of Muds: part 2 of 2" 5 July 1991 09:59:15 GMT [6] dilger@toadflax.cs.ucdavis.edu (Mike Dilger) <14649@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> "A New Graphical Mud" 20 Jun 92 04:13:54 GMT [7] jds@math.okstate.edu (Jennifer Smith) "FAQ #1/3: MUDs and MUDding" 16 Jun 1992 06:00:09 GMT [8] jds@math.okstate.edu (Jennifer Smith) "FAQ #2/3: MUD Clients and Servers" 16 Jun 1992 06:00:14 GMT [9] jds@math.okstate.edu (Jennifer Smith) "FAQ #3/3: RWHO and "mudwho"" 16 Jun 1992 06:00:16 GMT [10] mmr6@jaguar.uofs.edu (Matt Reavy -- University of Scranton) <1992May30.163048.1@jaguar.uofs.edu> "What current MUDs could and should do" 30 May 1992 21:30:48 GMT [11] nanook@psycho.fidonet.org (Keith Dickenson -- fidonet) <88998.2A268778@psycho.fidonet.org> "Mars Mud Simulator" 30 May 1992 05:25:57 GMT [12] nils@chezmoto.ai.mit.edu (Nils McCarthy) "koosh's nifty player list!" 5 Oct 91 18:23:56 GMT [13] rang@cs.wisc.edu (Anton Rang -- University of Wisconson) "REPOST: Mudder's Rhapsody" 3 Mar 1991 04:11:50 GMT [14] scg@mentor.cc.purdue.edu "The Totally Unofficial List of Internet Muds" 19 Jun 92 20:05:53 GMT Usenet postings from rec.games.mud.admin: [16] arkon@control.spies.com (Stephen Hill) "Ethical Requirements" 18 June 92 00:38:52 GMT [17] jcho@nmsu.edu "Mud Ethics..." 18 Jun 92 19:51:33 GMT [18] rossw@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz <1992Jun18.014346.21862@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz> "Ethical Requirements" Thu, 18 Jun 1992 01:43:46 GMT Usenet postings from rec.games.netrek [19] tom@ocf.berkeley.edu "rec.games.netrek FAQ list" 20 Jun 92 03:09:00 GMT books: [20] anon., Ad Herennium, tr. Harry Caplan, Loeb Classical Library, NY, 1968 [21] Baudelaire, Charles, Artificial Paradise, NY, Herder and Herder, 1971 [22] Spence, Jonathan D., The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci, Viking Penguin, NY, 1984 Appendix A: The survey Newsgroups: rec.games.mud,alt.mud,alt.mud.lp,alt.mud.tiny,rec.games.mud.lp,re c.games.mud.admin,rec.games.mud.diku,rec.games.mud.misc,rec.games .mud.tiny,alt.mud.german,rec.games.empire,rec.games.netrek Subject: Research on future of text based virtual realities Summary: Followup-To: Distribution: world Organization: none Keywords: This is a survey on multiuser text based virtual realities. The primary examples of this genre would be MUD and its various derivatives such as lpMUD, dikumud, tinyMUD, tinyMOO, tinyMUCK, UberMUD, etc. Other examples of this class of programs might be Empire, and Netrek. The purpose of this questionnaire is to explore the possible futures of these programs. We are not looking for a statistically valid sample, but rather for the ideas of those on the net who play and design these games. Please respond to seraphim@ais.org. This research is being conducted for Communications 510, "Emerging Technologies" at Grand Valley State University. 1) What text based multi user virtual realities do you use, if any? 2) How long have you been using virtual realities? 3) Do you program or design virtual realities? If so, please detail. 4) What benefit or value do you personally find in these virtual realities? 5) What benefit do you see for society as a whole? 6) Do you consider your personal favorite virtual reality to be primarily an entertainment, or to be an extension of real life with gamelike qualities? 7) How widespread do you think that these text based virtual realities will become in the future? 8) What near term future trends do you anticipate in your primary virtual reality? 9) What trends do you anticipate in your virtual reality in the medium or long term? 10) Please feel free to add any additional comments here. Please return as soon as possible to seraphim@ais.org. thanks! Any additional material, either original or previously posted to the net, regarding this subject, would be most appreciated as well. :) AFTERWORD In the year since this paper was written, much has happened to validate its predictions and conclusions. Sound and video are being built into mud servers, making them more like virtual realities in the usual sense of the term. Muds are being developed for applications such as scientific visualization and remote conferencing and collaborative work environments. And AT&T has announced plans to make MUD-like games the centerpeiece of its strategy to create a new online entertainment industry. Robert Grant has announced the release of version 1.0 of Multiverse, a virtual 3D MUD environment. The author has said that the program is intended for both entertainment and research. Features of Multiverse include three dimensional lighting and movement. Commands may be entered with either the keyboard or a mouse. Multiverse is a client/server application, with the program as server and an X-windows client. X-widows is a widespread public-domain visual interface for Unix machines developed at MIT. The software is available from the anonymous ftp site at ftp.u.washington.edu, in /public/virtual-worlds. Curtis Pavel and David Nichols are developing two interesting applications for a MUD called LambdaMOO at Xerox' research facility in Palo Alto, California. The first of these programs is called Astro-VR. This program is intended as a tool for astronomers. The researchers are also developing Jupiter, a computer mediated communication tool for use within Xerox. Both applications share many features. The programs add to the usual text-oriented user interface an event-driven windowing interface (similar to Windows or the Macintosh interface.) The addition of audio to the server is given a strong emphasis by the developers. We consider audio to be the most productive addition we could make to the usual MUD model. It substantially eases use of the communications aspects of the system for most users, especially those who are not good typists. Also, audio carries less ambiguously many of the non-language cues in conversation, such as. tone, mood, emphasis, etc. Finally, studies by Chapanis have shown that audio is substantially more productive aid for problem-solving communications than either text or video. [Pavel & Davis, 1993] The audio is real-time and is of approximately the same quality as a telephone. The environment is also enriched with 2-D video, either of the virtual room the user is exploring or of the real room the real user is sitting in, in the case of the software being used to control real-time multiuser conferencing applications. The video is not real-time, and offers only a few frames per second. Astro-VR is being prepared in collaboration with Dave Van Buren, an astronomer at the NASA/JPL Infrared Processing and Analysis Center. The program features the capacity for users at several remote sites to interact, view astronomical images, and collabratively edit documents. The system also includes a built- in bulletin board system (BBS) and access from within the program to electronic mail. Users can also collaboratively use standard mathematical and astonomical programs such as Mathematica from within the program. Astro-VR does not at this time support audio as the needed multicasting facilities are not yet readily available on the Net. Jupiter adds to the features of Astro-VR. Jupiter is intended for internal use within Xerox, including its Palo Alto and EuroPARC offices. Jupiter is envisioned as a ubiquitous part of the office environment, with every worker having a video camera and microphone in their office and in common areas. The developers envision Jupiter blurring the edges between reality and VR, mixing video of real places and computer models of real places with entirely virtual constructions. Real systems such as the building management computer system could be controlled with virtual controls, for instance. Just imagine, a computer controlling every aspect of the building, from temperature to lighting, and a camera and mic broadcasting everything you do around the world all day at work. Sounds like Utopia? Perhaps not! Astro-VR is now accepting users. Both systems plan to be online by the end of this summer (1993). AT&T has decided to make MUD-like virtual realities a fundamental part of their strategy to develop a new infotainment industry. AT&T recently announced the purchase 20% of Sierra Online for an undisclosed sum. Sierra is the developer of an online visual multiuser game system which operates over phone lines much like a visual MUD. The Sierra Network is described as a "'virtual theme park' where people could battle animated dragons or socialize in whimsical chat rooms." [Andrews, 1993] AT&T has announced a joint venture with P. F. Magic Co. to produce a device that will allow users to plug in and play Sega video games like the bestselling "Sonic the Hedgehog" over the phone. AT&T also recently purchased an interest in 3DO, which makes a device to operate CD-based games which produce realistic video images on the screen. AT&T plans to use the 3DO technology to provide high-quality images for the Sierra system. Sierra Online will be renamed the Imagination Network as part of the AT&T deal. AT&T will test some of these interactive television strategies with cable company Viacom. AT&T has also formed a partnership with General Atomics and Cerfnet to supply network services on the Internet. AT&T hopes through these alliances to combat the US West/TCI/Time-Warner, MERIT/ANS/IBM/MCI and other infotainment kereitsu. It is ironic that MUDs, which the MERIT network has defined as having no educational or research value under their "Conditions of Use" Policy should have in a year become the basis for several high-level scientific projects as well as having a major stake in a billion dollar battle over the future of the national information infrastructure. The number of MUDs and players continues to grow. In the view of this author, visual and audio muds, no matter how great, will never replace text-oriented virtual realities any more than television has obsoleted books. The fate of the MUD culture is now to some degree being held hostage by the impending threats of commercialization and regulation. However, we must hope that both corporations and governments will have the sense not to kill this goose which has laid a golden egg. Additional Bibliography Andrews, Edmund L. (1993). "A.T.&T. Sees the Future in Games." New York Times, July 29, p. D1, D5. Curtis, Pavel. (1993). "Mudding: Social Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Realities" in the Proceedings of the 1992 Conference on Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing, Berkeley, May 1992. Also available as Xerox PARC technical report CSL-92-4. Curtis, Pavel and Nichols, David. (1993). "MUDs Grow Up: Social Virtual Reality in the Real World." Palo Alto, Xerox PARC. Sears, William D. (1993). "SOFTWARE: Announcing Multiverse-1.0 - VR for the rest of us!" Usenet posting to alt.mud.bsx, rec.games.mud.misc. University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, March 29, 1993. Six, Gary. (1993). "Domesticating Cyberspace." Scientific American, August, p. 100-110. Smith, Norris. (1993). "Jockeying for Position on the Data Highway." Upside, 5(5) 50-60.