In a MUD or MMO, zone and area are terms used to refer to one of the parts of the shared virtual environment.
They should not be confused with levels (where a player proceeds through a series of stages in a linear or semi-linear manner). Areas may vary in the challenge they present to visiting players, but are typically accessible by characters irrespective of the character's advancement within the game. Where 'levels' are sections of a game, 'areas' are special sections of a virtual environment in which there may or may not be a game at all.
The environments of MUDs and MMOs may be seamlessly sewn together, in which case it may be difficult or impossible for the player to know the precise boundaries of a particular area, or they may be connected by connector zones (such as the classic sight-line blocking z-shaped corridor) or portals. In some games it is possible to note changes in area through different flora and fauna, altered livery of guards, or special skills.
Many MUDs are hybrids, containing sections which are seamlessly stitched together alongside other areas which are only accessible via portals, etc. In MUDs, and other games where characters transiting zones is a trivial server task, connector zones frequently areas in their own right.
Zones are useful for game developers, because they enable the developer to create and modify the game in parts, and online games, such as MUDs can focus their server resources on areas which are populated.
Methods of communication may be restricted to a zone, part of a zone, a group of zones, or the entire environment. [1] Some parts (rooms/areas/groups of areas) of a MUD's environment may even block some or all types of communications (including non-message communication, such as coded social gestures) from entering, leaving or being performed or perceived).
Illumination (due to day/night cycles, magical/environmental darkness or the presence/possession/use of a light source) can affect whether the identity of the originator of a message can be perceived, in addition to non-area factors like blindness/deafness (due to spell effects, items (e.g. a blindfold), etc.), and invisibility (from spells and affects).
The following table is an example set of communication commands for a MUD demonstrating the area-based restrictions. In addition to environmental restrictions, channels of communication can also be socially restricted (e.g. to friend lists, guilds, etc.), position specific (newbie-helper, coder, quest staff, etc.) or advancement restricted (for players of a certain level or higher).
| Command | Characters affected |
| SAY | Visible to players in the same room |
| YELL | Visible to players in the same area |
| SHOUT | Visible to all players in the environment |
| TELL | Visible to a specific player in the environment |
| {social action} [2] | Visible to a player in the same room |
| {social action} | Visible to a player in the same area with "From afar, " prefix |
Areas must be considered as part of the greater whole. An area whose rewards are too generous will draw traffic away from other areas.
The creation of areas is referred to as "writing an area" or "building," sometimes earning players or staff who write areas the epithet of "builder."
| Major branches | |
|---|---|
| Minor branches, codebases, libraries | |
| Concepts, terminology |
|
| Publications | |
| Companies, organizations | |
Communication is the act of conveying meanings from one entity or group to another through the use of mutually understood signs, symbols, and semiotic rules.
A MUD is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, usually text-based. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat. Players can read or view descriptions of rooms, objects, other players, non-player characters, and actions performed in the virtual world. Players typically interact with each other and the world by typing commands that resemble a natural language.
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.
A massively multiplayer online game is an online game with large numbers of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent open world, although some games differ. These games can be found for most network-capable platforms, including the personal computer, video game console, or smartphones and other mobile devices.
Discworld MUD is a popular MUD, a text-based online role-playing game, set in the Discworld as depicted in the Discworld series of books by Terry Pratchett.
A virtual world is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activities and communicate with others. These avatars can be textual, graphical representations, or live video avatars with auditory and touch sensations. In general, virtual worlds allow for multiple users but single player computer games, such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, can also be considered a type of virtual world.
In computing, an avatar is a graphical representation of a user or the user's character or persona. It may take either a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities or a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds. Avatar images have also been referred to as "picons" in the past, though the usage of this term is uncommon now. An avatar can also refer to a text construct found on early systems such as MUDs. The term "avatar" can also refer to the personality connected with the screen name, or handle, of an Internet user.
An online text-based role playing game is a role-playing game played online using a solely text-based interface. Online text-based role playing games date to 1978, with the creation of MUD1, which began the MUD heritage that culminates in today's MMORPGs. Some online-text based role playing games are video games, but some are organized and played entirely by humans through text-based communication. Over the years, games have used TELNET, internet forums, IRC, email and social networking websites as their media.
PvE, player vs environment, is a term used for both single player and online games, particularly MMORPGs, CORPGs, MUDs, other online role-playing video games and survival games to refer to fighting computer-controlled enemies—in contrast to PvP. In survival games a large part may be fighting the elements, controlling hunger and thirst, learning to adapt to the environment and exploration.
A mob, short for mobile, is a computer-controlled non-player character (NPC) in a computer game such as an MMORPG or MUD. Depending on context, every and any such characters in a game may be considered to be a "mob", or usage of the term may be limited to hostile NPCs and/or NPCs vulnerable to attack.
A quest, or mission, is a task in video games that a player-controlled character, party, or group of characters may complete in order to gain a reward. Quests are most commonly seen in role-playing games and massively multiplayer online games. Rewards may include loot such as items or in-game currency, access to new level locations or areas, an increase in the character's experience in order to learn new skills and abilities, or any combination of the above.
In artificial intelligence, an embodied agent, also sometimes referred to as an interface agent, is an intelligent agent that interacts with the environment through a physical body within that environment. Agents that are represented graphically with a body, for example a human or a cartoon animal, are also called embodied agents, although they have only virtual, not physical, embodiment. A branch of artificial intelligence focuses on empowering such agents to interact autonomously with human beings and the environment. Mobile robots are one example of physically embodied agents; Ananova and Microsoft Agent are examples of graphically embodied agents. Embodied conversational agents are embodied agents that are capable of engaging in conversation with one another and with humans employing the same verbal and nonverbal means that humans do.
A virtual artifact (VA) is an immaterial object that exists in the human mind or in a digital environment, for example the Internet, intranet, virtual reality, cyberspace, etc.
The Bartle taxonomy of player types is a classification of video game players (gamers) based on a 1996 paper by Richard Bartle according to their preferred actions within the game. The classification originally described players of multiplayer online games, though now it also refers to players of single-player video games.
The history of massively multiplayer online games spans over thirty years and hundreds of massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) titles. The origin and influence on MMO games stems from MUDs, Dungeons & Dragons and earlier social games.
Social interactions in MMORPGS take the form of in-game communication, virtual behaviors, and the development of interpersonal and group relationships. In massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), cooperation between players to accomplish difficult tasks is often an integral mechanic of gameplay, and organized groups of players, often called guilds, clans, or factions, emerge. Sometimes the relationships players from within the game spill over into friendships or romantic relationships in the material world. In other instances, romantic partners and groups of material world friends find that playing together strengthens their bonds.
XAML Browser Applications are Windows Presentation Foundation (.xbap) applications that are hosted and run inside a web browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer. Hosted applications run in a partial trust sandbox environment and are not given full access to the computer's resources like opening a new network connection or saving a file to the computer disk and not all WPF functionality is available. The hosted environment is intended to protect the computer from malicious applications; however it can also run in full trust mode by the client changing the permission. Starting an XBAP from an HTML page is seamless. Although one perceives the application running in the browser, it actually runs in an out-of-process executable (PresentationHost.exe) managed by a virtual machine. In the initial release of .NET Framework 3.0, XBAPs only ran in Internet Explorer. With the release of .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, which includes an XBAP extension, they also run in Mozilla Firefox.
Something most often seen in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), online weddings date all the way back to the beginning of online communities and early online games such as MUDs. Two people who wish their avatars, or characters, to be married will create an event that resembles a standard wedding. This became very popular with the introduction of Ultima Online, which not only provided rings, outfits and decorations, but sometimes even Gamemasters to officiate. This tradition has carried forward into several other MMORPGs and virtual communities.
A.V.A.T.A.R. MUD is a free, online, massively multiplayer, fantasy, text-based role-playing game, set in a real-time virtual environment. It combines elements of role-playing games, hack and slash style computer games, adventure games and social gaming.
