MUD is an acronym for Multiple User Dungeon (or Dimension), which got its name in the late 1970's from the role playing game of Dungeons & Dragons. In a MUD, the player must re-create a world where it is possible to move about, encounter others, and act as if it were reality, based entirely on textual descriptions of the surrounding environment (and, of course, the player's imagination). While many people argue that MUDs are merely a game, others maintain that it is "an extension of real life with gamelike qualities." In short, MUDs are a "metaphor of rooms in which people can interact in realtime with each other and with objects...."

Beginning with an understanding of virtual reality as an imaginative experience and thus a cultural construct rather than a technical construction, this thesis discusses cultural and social issues raised by interaction on 'MUDs', which are text-based virtual reality systems run on the international computer network known as the Internet. MUD usage forces users to deconstruct many of the cultural tools and understandings that form the basis of more conventional systems of interaction. Unable to rely on physical cues as a channel of meaning, users of MUDs have developed ways of substituting for or by-passing them, resulting in novel methods of textualising the non-verbal. The nature of the body and sexuality are problematised in these virtual environments, since the physical is never fixed and gender is a self-selected attribute. In coming to terms with these aspects of virtual interaction, new systems of significance have been developed by users, along with methods of enforcing that cultural hegemony through power structures dependent upon manipulation of the virtual environment. These new systems of meaning and social control define those who use MUDs as constituting a distinct cultural group.

Another paper on the web concern the concept of presence in virtual environments/MUDs.

The MUD Resource Collection is a list of links to many useful sources of MUD information. The links should be of interest to both "normal" users of MUDs, as well as to researchers studying MUDs and related forms of computer-mediated communications. These pages are provided as a service to the academic community.   Check it out at The Mud Resource Collection.  

    Of special interest are the Research Oriented Links which provide an extensive set of links leading to Research Resources, Paper Collections, Single Papers, and Related Links.

MUDs and Gender

The idea of a place where gender does not exist, seems to be utopian, but there are places where it is possible. These places are called MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons). A MUD is a text based, virtual reality environment on the world wide web. The earliest MUDs were role playing games based on Dungeons and Dragons. These types of MUDs are still in existence today, but the horizons of the MUDs have increased tremendously. They are being used today as places to enhance professional relationships between people of the same profession and a meeting place for those who want to help increase the size of the virtual world. Just as in the real world, MUDs have problems with gender. It is possible to hide your gender in a MUD by changing your name, but many can point out when someone is pretended to be what they are not. Even so, gender switching or complete anonymity is common within MUDs. Women are constantly bombarded with attention from men offering help or strong sexual advances from men. To avoid this attention, the women will not disclose their gender or pretend to be a man. On the other hand, some men are ignored completely. In order to get attention drawn to them, they will pretend to be a woman, just so people will talk to them. What are some causes of this lack or excess of attention? Is there any way to get people to see past the gender and talk to a "person"? MUDs have lately become increasingly popular. According to Amy Bruckman, "as of April 16, 1993, there were 276 publicly announced MUDs. "As of February 19, 1997, I conducted a web search on the word muds, and came up with 457 different site matches. It's hard to say how many were actual MUDs, but there were some that were there to help a person who had never experienced one before.

Exploding Paradigms:  A CyberReading of CyberReader

Purpose of Chapter 7

The audience of this chapter is, of course, tied to the purpose of the text, which seems to contain four key elements. First, the chapter introduces, defines, and explains just what MUDs and MOOs are, how they can be used, and what complicates participation in them.

A second purpose is that of reaching a wide variety of audiences with what might be labeled a reader rather than a textbook. While each chapter ends with a section entitled "Questions and Suggestions for Further Study on the Net/WWW" that is clearly geared to both teacher and researcher alike, the actual content, format, and organization points to an even broader audience and purpose. The issues discussed are pertinent across the entire spectrum of the humanities: anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, English, speech, and art. As well, the content is appropriate for all levels of students, first year students to doctoral candidates. For Victor Vitanza's own words on this, please see ourcorrespondence with the author.

Yet a third purpose is to help readers see and understand the inevitable changes and challenges that our entire society will have to begin grappling with. Like it or not, MUDs and MOOs are having, and will continue to have, a significant impact on our society. Communications, human relationships, laws, freedom of speech, notions of addiction, epistemology, and even leisure are all being transformed by this technology. Once again, hear Vitanza's own words on some of these issues.

And finally, as Vitanza himself might have us note, a final purpose (and perhaps a more significant one) is to cause readers to experience MUDs and MOOs in order to gain insight more fully into all of their possibilities.

From Chapter 7.  

Check out the entire review of the CyberReader here.

Merging MUDS and the Web

MUDs, of course, are fully interactive. What they lack, however, are graphics. The vast majority of MUDs are text-based. The World Wide Web, on the other hand, is graphical. This is one of its best features. What it is not, however, is interactive. The Web, as constructed, consists of a series of pages set up on one computer and downloaded and read on another computer.

For the purposes of education, we want both. Education - especially at the K to 12 levels, needs to be visual. People remember what they see. And on-line education must be interactive. Otherwise there is no real need for all this technology; we could simply send students a manual.

From On-Line Teaching and Learning