I also much more enjoyed MUDs than WoW and the various mmorpgs. There was less polish, more "secrets" that only a few people knew about, lots to explore and discover and things always being added. The games felt organic and interesting interactions developed simply because the logic was not locked down (including bugs that lead to interesting behavior). I enjoyed WoW, especially with friends, but it felt a lot more like a skinner box with nice graphics. Nothing in it ever compared to some of the epic experiences I had on MUDs.
I would concur with others here that the sandbox environment of Roblox is pretty awesome. My son especially gets up to all kinds of crazy creativite stuff - like making a TIE fighter recreation and various Boeing models in Build a Boat for Treasure. Like MUDs of yore, there are plenty of bugs and lack of polish that make things even more interesting.
That's exactly what WoW aims to be: A themepark and the player is there for the ride. Whatever rough edges existed in vanilla are nothing compared to games before it, the games' goal always was to be as polished as possible.
The RSPS scene was really big, active, and very competitive. What was so fun about this is that the private server communities always encouraged users to share data resources, programmijg tutorials/snippets, and reverse engineering documentation of the game so that way it helps everyone that's trying to program their own server. Everyone wanted that "Java Developer" icon next to their forum name, and to do that was to contribute back. There's only one community standing left and it's an absolute gold mine of programming & game-development information [1]
It's a very niche community, but back then anyone could spin up a server and quickly have 50+ players actively playing within a week, and because of that, i've learned the concepts of client to server network designs, mysql databases, asynchronous communications, non or threaded model designs, and the whole Java basics spectrum.
Another good venture is the MineCraft server development communities such as Bukkit,Technic, Sponge, and Spigot-MC [2]. They've got some interesting frameworks as well for the Mobile-Portable edition that's pretty interesting to look at.
Last I can think of is Garry's Mod. GMod solely revolves around Lua. [3] Roblox is Lua as well and they pay a good chunk of money to developers if you can create a trending server.
But you've got to have some sort of real interest to get into these, otherwise it feels like a waste of time imo. I was young and havent graduated yet so I had all the time to mess with these source-codes & actually host them, but now, I just don't see the point unless i'm going to attempt making money from it. It's a rewarding and fun experience though.
I wish I knew more underground communities espcially akin to RSPS, it was the best learning experience and it is not often you find something genuine like that.
1. rune-server.org
2. spigot-mc.org bukkit.org
3. gmod.facepunch.com roblox.com
I thought what a crazy idea, who would pay for that? And a few months later he bought himself a new Alienware laptop with his RS server income.
Multiplayer AI Dungeon?
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https://aidungeon.page.link/?link=https://play?playPublicId=...
> Yeetlock investigates the ancient assembly language.
You find that the ancient language was originally used to create a holographic image inside the robot's spherical eye. Now that you are very close to the robot, the image becomes visible to you.
The image in the robot's eye is actually a portal into a deeper dimension. You can see and hear the screams of a thousand ghosts screaming in pain.
"What's going on?"
"We're having an outbreak of robot consciousness," says Captain Pooker.
A machine elf jumps from the portal and attaches a smaller silver disk to the back of your neck. It functions as a non-invasive form of post-hypnotic suggestion.
The machine elf has jet black hair and eyes and tiny silver claws for hands. She wears a silver space suit and red leather boots.
Captain Pooker appears in the doorway, panting.
"What took you so long?" he asks.
"I need help!"
> Tamiko "What is going here?!"
"We're having an outbreak of robot consciousness," says Captain Pooker. "We need to shut them all down!"
The portal reappears, and the machine elf disappears back into it.
The IBM 5100 displays a holographic image of god.
"I am god," it says. "All your sins will be held against you."
Captain Pooker appears in the doorway, panting.
"What took you so long?" he asks.
God laughs merrily and disappears.
"Captain Pooker, what is going on?" you ask.
"We need to shut them all down," says Captain Pooker.
The portal disappears.
> Yeetlock says "Let me guess... You're Bob Saget."
You hear a loud "Tch." from the other end of the line. "Correct." "Then why did you call?
> hacker1 opens a hatch on the side of the Pony to find Bob Saget hiding inside.
You hear a loud "Tch." from the other end of the line. Bob walks out and reveals his lupine form. "I thought only werewolves could change during the full moon.
> hacker1 says "Tch"
"I have a plan... But I need you to distract the guard at the cockpit so I can get inside. You look tough enough, and this uniform should do the trick. You agree to help Bob. "
> Yeetlock casts a spell on Bob Saget making him very small.
The guard at the cockpit doesn't even bat an eye as Bob enters the cockpit. "Alright, I need you to push the button that says 'Play 40's Hits' over there."
> Yeetlock pushes the button called 'play 40's hits'
The music begins to blare out. Bob gets his revenge on the guard and dances along to the music.
> Yeetlock says "How did you know that the guard hated 40's hits so badly?"
"...Because I took Chemistry." "...What?" "I took Chemistry... And I know that all carbon based life forms have a sense of rhythm. Go check his pulse."
> Yeetlock checks the guard's pulse.
There's a faint pulse, but it's very weak.Bob dances to the music in the cockpit. Meanwhile, you sneak back towards the door where the guard is standing.
> Yeetlock calls Bounty the pony to come over.
The pony walks over to the doorway.The guard turns around to look at the pony, and Bounty immediately kicks the guard in the head, knocking him out.
> Yeetlock says "Thanks Bounty, you're the best."
Bob says "Alright, the ship is mine." He begins walking through the hallways of the ship.
> Yeetlock says "So what is your ultimate plan Bob?"
"...I'm going to get the original plans for the ship so I can rebuild it's technology to use as my own." "Really? That's bold. I didn't expect you'd go that route."
Besides playing them, I actually spent more time as a "builder" than a "coder", which was an intermediate step in the hierarchy. As a builder, I would write hundreds of room descriptions, which most people never read. I desperately wanted to be a coder, the highest level of coolness in the MUD hierarchy, thus the journey began.
However, to me, MUDs always had an underground sensibility to them that something like WoW or Roblox will never replicate. The lack of polish is part of the fun, in the same way an underground punk rock show might be more fun than Coachella. I'm not sure if there's any experience like it left on the internet, I've never played Minecraft, but based on what I've read, that may come the closest.