Frequently Asked Questions - Miscellaneous

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The easiest and most accurate way to define what a 'MUCK' is would be to say that it is an 'interactive online text adventure'. However, the term 'text adventure' is meaningless to most people today, since most text adventures went out of vogue over twenty years ago. Perhaps, then, it is best to define what a text adventure is and go from there.

Back in the early days of computers, graphic files were huge and clumsy. The files took up a lot of space, and back then our technology for cramming a lot of memory space into a small machine was nothing like it is today. Thus, early video games involved large consoles, large game cartridges, and graphics that were blocky and limited in their capabilities for movement. Interactivity was limited to a few key 'moves'. Frogger, for example, could jump forward, left, right and back, and that was pretty much it. Mario could run, jump or climb. Galaga ships could move left, move right, and fire. Pac-man could move and bite.

At the time, these graphical games were more than sufficient to hold our attention. However, there were those who saw the potential for adventure games in which a player guided a character who through an adventure, in which the character would meet and defeat enemies, gather items and use them, and ultimately achieve some forsworn goal. These are the developers who went on to create video games like Legend of Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog, Kingdom Hearts, Warcraft, Doom, Quake, etc. In short, this format for video games has such universal appeal that nearly all contemporary games involve some sort of role-playing.

But back then, graphics weren't up to rendering the images needed to make a convincing story come to life. Therefore, the earliest games of this sort didn't bother with graphics at all. Instead, they used text to describe places and items, and the player used text to direct the character through the adventure.

The best remembered games of this type were created by InfoCom, and many of them are still available on the web. Here's one site that has several posted:

• Martin Pot's Infocom Game Archive

The games generally required a player to enter commands like 'look here', 'get jug' 'say hello', 'read the sign', eat bread, look at the oven, etc. Some of these actions were necessary to complete the game others might reveal hidden clues, others might just cause interesting thingst to happen.
A Sample Shot Of An Actual Infocom Text Adventure

MUCKs work approximately the same way, with a few key differences. Most notably, a MUCK allows more than one player to play at a time. Players create and describe their own characters, and are able to interact with other players as their characters move through the game. In short, MUCKs are to Text Adventures what Word of Warcraft is to Warcraft. They are the text version of MMORPGS.
A Sample Of Player Interaction On A MUCK

MUCK is an acronym, but the words for which it supposedly stands is debatable.
This is probably because MUCKs are actually derivations of MUDs, which were the original multiplayer text adventures created in 1979 by a student at Essex University named Roy Trubshaw. At the time, the internet was still in its infancy, but Roy programmed his text adventure to utilize the internet to allow players from all over the world to log in and participate. The original adventures were programmed around the popular Dungeons and Dragonsroleplaying games, with players exploring dungeons or similar medieval settings. The game was thereby named a 'MUD' or Multi-User Dungeon.

MUSHes and MUCKs were introduced a few years later. They were variants on the original MUD codebase that had been reprogrammed in various ways. Their names were taken from obvious variants on 'MUD', and imbued with meaning later. MUCK is usually said to refer to 'Multi-User Chat Kingdom', which is appopriate given that MUCKs are considerably more chat/socially focused than MUDs. In fact, MUCK's original codebase dispensed with the combat system entirely, and it has only been in recent derivations of MUCKs (such as GlowMUCK) that MUD-style gaming capabilities have been programmed back in.

Today there are many variants of the original MUDs in existence. Many combat-themed MUDs still exist, as well as MUCKs, MUSHes, MOOs, MUXes, MUQs, etc. Each variant has its pros and cons, but they all reamain largely true to the text-adventure style and spirit.

NarniaMUCK is not an inherently Christian game. While we uphold and respect the world that Lewis has woven into his Narnia Chronicles, including its Biblical allusions, NarniaMUCK is not a proselytizing vehicle. You do not need to be a Christian to play, nor should anyone be flooded with evangelist literature on any of our platforms. Both Christians and non-Christians are expected to be respectful if intending to discuss religion or faith. It is of utmost important to us that people of all faiths feel welcome and are able to participate in the game in a way that they are comfortable with.