r/MUD • u/the_andruid • 27d ago

Community MU* History Month: Share a piece of your game's history

I'd like to try something new this month: invite game admins and longtime players to share their games' origin stories, little-known facts, and tidbits of history that might not be written down anywhere else.

I've done enough interviews to know that every game has an interesting story behind it!

If I can get at least a few good ones, the plan is to showcase them on Writing Games, along with a link back to each game.

How to participate:

Submit your story here:
https://surveys.writing-games.org/mu-history-month-2026-iTtJSr

Story prompts / possible topics:

  • The game's origin story. What were things like at the time?
  • How the game got its name.
  • A time the game survived a disaster. How did it manage to pull through?
  • A tradition unique to the game. How did it start?
  • An unexpected event that changed the course of the game's history.
  • Someone or something that had a profound impact on the game or served as its inspiration.
  • How the game changed your life.
  • ...or any other bit of history you think is worth sharing with the community. :)

And some simple guidelines:

  • Short is sweet. 1-2 paragraphs is a good target, though more is okay too.
  • Avoid "you had to be there" stories, since those are harder for others to appreciate.

Deadline: Sunday, August 23.

Please forward the link to anyone you'd like to see participate - especially folks who might not be Reddit regulars! 🙏

Happy to answer any questions below.

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u/benjibarnesoahu 25d ago

100% going to do this.

1

u/boopsichord 27d ago

Not gonna submit a form when I could just post here. In DartMUD, many skills require you to have a teacher (either a NPC trainer or PC) to learn the first bit of the skill, including the more... clandestine skills. And PCs interested in keeping expertise in those skills restricted often patrol the NPC trainers and common practice areas. If you get found inexplicably training the skill that lets you help yourself to the contents of other people's moneybags (or resist such attempts), then you're probably going to be making a new character.

But there's one place where you can learn the skill without a teacher, once per reboot, by trying to use it completely untrained. So if you happen to know where and how to do it, you can become the thiefmaster for all your friends without alerting the powers that be.

1

u/GeneLValasquez 25d ago

Haha, that sounds like exactly the kind of obscure MUD knowledge that deserves to be documented. The thiefmaster part definitely sounds like a skill worth keeping secret though 😂

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u/glmory 25d ago

This made me realize that after about thirty years of playing on The Forests Edge MUD, I have no idea why it is named that.