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One of the first and most important uses of the Internet was communication.
Instead of making expensive phone calls to friends and relatives, those
with access to a computer and an Internet connection could make contact
with loved ones via email and chat programs. As the medium matured, communication
took on a meaning that included social forums as well: places to play games,
meet people, and participate in activities and conversations. The social
world of MUDs and MMOGs (Multi-User Dungeons and Massively Multi-Player
Online Games) is particularly fascinating, and has a number of interesting
effects on our perceptions of identity, groups, gender, friendship and
trust.
Introduction and BackgroundMUDs have their historical origins in Dungeons and Dragons-themed multi-player games, hence their name, the Multi-User Dungeon. As MUDs have grown older, and the themes and interactions no longer necessarily share a connection with this role-playing gaming culture, the acronym has been reinterpreted to mean “Multi-User Domains” or “Multi-User Dimensions.” There are also different subsets of muds, one of the most notable being the MOO, or MUD-Object-Oriented, a type of mud that is constructed in such a way as to focus on the use of objects in the online space (objects will be described later). Some have abandoned the acronym and capitalization entirely, in order to de-emphasize the historical connections to role-playing games. In its non-acronym form, the term mud is often used in verb and noun forms, such as “mudders,” those who use muds, and “mudding,” the act of mudding.Source: Kendall, Lori. Hanging Out in the Virtual Pub: Masculinities and Relationships Online. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. p 5. |