There is an ongoing project doing this (that launches this weekend I believe) to revive a MUD called Shadows of Isildur. I think a lot of effort has been put into the new changes to the codebase to bring QoL features that a modern audience would expect while keeping the bones of the game the same. I'm not certain how it will fare as, to be honest, MUDs take an inordinate amount of time to really groove into and immerse yourself in - but I am excited to see efforts like this invested on as we older MUDers find ourselves finally reaching the point of having free time again.
reply> There is an ongoing project doing this (that launches this weekend I believe) to revive a MUD called Shadows of Isildur
replyInteresting, could you share more info? I couldn't find anything on Google. I played a fair amount of SOI back in the day and it'd be fun to start over on a fresh server.
Would be kind of a cool experiment for a mud-style interface, where each npc/avatar was backed by a lower-cost LLM... similar rules for the npcs in the game, but a background feed, and history of interactions with other players as background.
replyMaybe limiting npc's to only a certain number of moves that aren't a response to other users per day...
It could be a lot of fun.
A MUD exists as a platform for creative writing - introducing LLMs into one would deprive it of its primary function.
replyMost people played MUDs for the grind. Levels and loot. They care about the story as much as you care about it in Path of Exile.
replyThe people who played MUDs for the grind will, genuinely, have a lot more fun playing PoE or some other modern adventure game. MUDs were the only option for that sort of adventure experience for a while but there are other options now that simply have more tools at their disposal than text based communication offers.
replyIf a MUD is going to survive today it's going to be driven by those RP focused players where the freedom to describe actions in text allows a flexibility that's unrealistic in graphical games.
I honestly worry that the relevance of text-based systems is largely tied with literacy and how it interacts with the player's imagination -- something largely in decline, at least in the US.
replySadly, you're not wrong... It might not get off the ground, but if we're able to, we'll give it a shot.
replyI really, really hope you lot manage to!
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