POTM (June 1997): Mithriel

Mithriel is another one of our players from a far-off land: coincidentally, Finland is also the home country of Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux operating system which is used to run MUD2 here. According to statistics I came across, Finland also happens to be one of the most Internet-connected countries in the world.

My earliest recollection of MUD dates back to the mid-80's. I was reading a UK computer mag (Zzap!64 or some bizarre beast like that) which featured an article of MUD running on the now-extinct CompuNet network. I'd already played through all five of Scott Adams' adventure games (on a VIC-20!!!) and most of Infocom's stuff, and I was totally hooked with an idea of an adventure game where you could play with - or against - other, REAL people!

Some years later, in the early 90's, I discovered British Legends on CIS. Was this the game I had known about and never played before? Yes!!! The first weeks of play were so confusing, me standing at Narrow Road and watching other people wooosh by, listening to strange shouts and being subjected to going through "customs" by a friendly(?) canine wizard, who knew I logged in from Finland...

My days in BL lasted less than a year: due to some thankfully short-lived financial difficulties I had to stop playing. Then came the dry spell... MUD was nearly forgotten in my mind, but it all came out of hibernation last year when, while surfing the Net, I accidentally stumbled across Iplay and rediscovered MUD. Oh joy! Once again I could run around the Land, sleep without protection at NRBL, wonder what's this "1..2..3 MED" shouting all about and why on earth do musers carry around firestones, when they can easily enough get themselves a glow?

Today MUD has became a beloved pastime for me, a step into a virtual world of friendly and sometimes hostile people and creatures, a timeless world of adventure and danger... What grief when you lose your character, and the determination to rise again from the ashes and pay back to your assailants... I still get a rush from many things you do on MUD, whether is feeding dangerous beasts at far-away islands or running with a killer hot on your trail...

So, my friends, what final words of advice might I give you? Don't sleep in the rain, don't mess with your food, and never give up!

Mithriel