User:Aelmon/AVATAR (MUD)

=AVATAR (MUD)=

A.V.A.T.A.R. MUD is an free, online, massively multiplayer, fantasy, text-based role-playing game (or MUD), 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.

It began as an LPMUD called Farside MUD at Newcastle University, in the summer of 1991, before ultimately relocating to the United States of America. It suffered catastrophic loss of data in August, 1994, which led to a switch to the Merc code base. On the 8th of August, 1995, it changed its name to A.V.A.T.A.R. MUD.

Over two decades the game's environment has grown into a fictional world spanning 327 areas across 20 planes, comprising 20,000 unique rooms with gameplay and features that significantly deviate from the original Merc codebase.

Early days
The MUD was started in the summer of 1991 as an LPMUD called Farside MUD. It was initially hosted on the servers of Newcastle University by three Ph.D. computer science candidates. It later moved to Swansea University until they announced a ban on mudding, before crossing the Atlantic to take up residence on a couple of machines in the United States of America.

The switch from LPMUD to Merc 2.2
Catastrophic loss of data in August, 1994, presented the implementors with an opportunity to switch to the Merc code base.

Farside MUD was created during the summer of 1991 with the established LPMUD codebase, released two years prior. The original DikuMUD code base was released just a few months before Farside's creation on the 1st of March, 1991, and had yet to become popular at that time.

DikuMUD was quickly followed by the creation of CopperMUD in June, 1991. In December 1991, CopperMUD released its source code, leading to the creation of MercMUD on December 18th, 1992. The final Merc codebase (version 2.2) was released on the 24th of November, 1993, and this newer codebase was chosen by Farside MUD the following year due to the gameplay similarities with LPMUD.

Avatar's position within the MUD trees
The MUD trees below depict the hierarchy of derivation of the A.V.A.T.A.R. MUD codebase. Solid lines between boxes indicate code relationships, while dotted lines indicate conceptual relationships. Dotted boxes indicate that the codebase is outside the family depicted. To see the full trees, please visit the main article.

Change of Name
On the 8th of August, 1995, after disagreements between the implementors, Farside MUD became A.V.A.T.A.R. MUD. The MUD's newsletter, published two days later, states:

All of the players pfiles have remained intact, as have all of the areas.'' All of your favorite Immortals and Heroes are still there.'' Only the Implementor has changed, and the name.

Although the implementors of A.V.A.T.A.R. MUD retained the right to use the "Farside MUD" name, the new name reflected the change in leadership and avoided the possibility of being sued by the The Far Side comic strip's creator. The new name is an acronym which stands for "Advanced Virtual Adventures Through Artificial Realities" and was inspired by the computing term Avatar.

Development
Over the 22 years (as of 2014) that the MUD has been running, the Merc 2.2 code base has been extensively updated and modified, and includes later Merc improvements, such as the efficiency and bug fixes from versions 2.3 and 2.4. Rather than the traditional level progression, A.V.A.T.A.R. possesses three tiers (Hero, Lord, and Legend), which follow the initial 50 levels (now called "Mortal"). A scripting language has been added for governing how objects, rooms, mobiles, and areas interact with players, permitting complex quests and incidental interaction to be added to the MUD by regular staff members and players who lack access to the codebase.

Game Tiers
A.V.A.T.A.R.'s tiered level system is an original design feature. The original 35 game levels of the Merc codebase have been extended to 50 levels and now form the lowest playable tier of the game, referred to as "Mortal." A hero tier was added in 1994, followed by two other higher tiers; Lord and Legend June 1996).  Lord level play is a large group, high-speed style of play, pitting players against very dangerous areas that are difficult or impossible to visit alone and thematically revolves around planar travel.  Legend is the tier of team, round-based, player-versus-player combat, with players battling to seize and maintain control over points in the world in order to win.  Plans for level 500 tier called "Titan" were shelved late in development, but not before it had been partially implemented and tested.  At a conference in 2013, it was announced that the Legend tier areas would be open for players to build.

Classes and Races
Volunteers have added many races, with 28 creatable races (of which two are 'evolutionary' - containing 14 sub-races), nine quest races (elemental giants and chromatic dragons, added mid-2013), ten powerful 'remort' (second playthrough) races, and two 'ascension' (pvp legend tier specific) races. All together, players currently have access to 61 races, not counting grandfathered races or races only available to non-player characters and staff members.

The game has seven creatable classes, nine 'prestige' (quest accessible) classes, and five powerful 'remort' classes, for a total of twenty-one classes, not counting grandfathered classes or classes only available to NPCs and staff members.

Due to the addition of new races in 2013, the coding team is currently revamping existing character classes, before moving on to add yet more classes to the game.

Area Building
Though the Merc MUD codebases usually come with a set of 52 stock areas, all of A.V.A.T.A.R.'s areas are non-stock. Some areas retain the theme of the stock areas they replaced. In 2012, a new continent was added for the hero tier in order to offer a more old-school style of play. This MUD continues to grow, with 327 areas online as of January, 2014. In addition to these permanent additions, temporary areas and quests are regularly added to the MUD, and older, less-visited areas are either revamped or removed.

Development staff
The coders of the MUD are members of its Immortal staff, formed from dedicated volunteers who largely forego playing the game in order to devote their time its maintenance and development. "Trackies" form a second tier of staff which is split into seven tracks (Builder, Design, Publicity, Quest, Retro, Tester, Web). Aside from immortals and trackies is a third group called angels, who are players who have volunteered their time to assist new players and those experiencing difficulties - such as finding their corpse after dying. Participation is not limited to those with positions; players can write new areas or running quests under the supervision of staff before applying for a staff position.

Influence on Other MUDs
As Farside MUD, it donated FTP space to a 1993 inter-MUD project to produce an area editor called "Make.Zones.Fast". Design features and code from A.V.A.T.A.R. has been borrowed by other MUDs. Examples of code featuring copied or imitative code which credit A.V.A.T.A.R. can be found on repositories like MUDBytes.net.

Free to Play
A.V.A.T.A.R. is a 100% free-to-play game. Unlike freemium games, there is no system to pay for additional benefits.

The license for Diku codebase states:

"You may under no circumstances make profit on *ANY* part of DikuMud in any possible way. You may under no circumstances charge money for distributing any part of dikumud - this includes the usual $5 charge for 'sending the disk' or 'just for the disk' etc."

Thus the game is developed and run entirely by a large staff of volunteers.

Multi-Platform
The game can be played on various devices (such as smart phones and tablets) and operating systems. A connection to the game server can be established by:
 * Opening a web browser window on any internet-connected computer and using the built-in client application on the official website or Facebook.
 * Using a web browser or telnet at the command prompt to [telnet://avatar.outland.org:3000 open a port] in Windows, OSX , Linux , etc.
 * Downloading a MUD client or TELNET client software for a computer, or an Android or iOS MUD client mobile app for a smartphone or tablet computer

As all game data is stored on the server, there are no issues with hopping devices during play.

Fantasy Setting
A.V.A.T.A.R. is set in a fantasy world, which occasionally incorporates elements from other fictional genres, such as steampunk. Combat is primarily conducted through melee, martial arts, and spells, alongside thrown weapons and archery. Most transportation is achieved by "walking" (following directions to an adjacent room), though there are other options including ferries, guides, transportation spells and permanent portals. The theme is further reinforced through the use of ASCII art, particularly for maps. Players are encouraged to create characters with names that fit the theme of the game, and can receive a modest namethank reward for doing so.

Parental controls
Due to the presence of younger players, the MUD has a strict language policy which is enforced through automatic logging of bad language and monitoring by staff members. In addition to this, players may select the option to censor any undesireable words appearing in communications from other players.

The MUD supports young players, and parents are able to discuss their child's participation in the game with staff, should they have any concerns. As the game permits multiple connections from the same IP address (as long as each character is controlled by a separate player), families and groups of friends are able to log on and play together.

Accessibility
As a text-based game, it is used by the blind and visually impaired with the assistance of screen reading software, and also the hearing impaired who are not disadvantaged due to the absence of auditory cues.

Playing with a screen reader can also help those with low literacy or learning disabilties to enjoy the game whilst helping them improve their language skills, computer literacy and social skills.

Some MUD clients include customisable user interfaces, such as defineable buttons or rollers, which can largely remove the need to manually type commands, which is very helpful for those whose ability to operate a keyboard is impaired. Computer accessibility issues can then be overcome with assistive technologies, such as a footmouse.

Starting a character or play session
After choosing a name, and starting character race, class, and gender, the player begins in the "Mudschool" area, where they are quickly taught the basic commands needed to enjoy the game, before entering the starting areas. Any character which reaches level 2 (usually during the introduction to the game) can be saved. There is no character approval process, and players are free to make as many characters as they wish.

General gameplay
Roleplay on A.V.A.T.A.R. is encouraged but not enforced, so much of a player's activity involves finding mobs (non-player characters) to perform quests for, slay for experience points, or somehow acquire desireable items from, and exploration in order to enjoy the writing and story of an area or discover easter eggs and other secrets. As a social space, the game comprises only half of the attraction of the MUD, with players using various tools such as public and private chat channels , an in-game messaging system and forums to engage one another.

As player characters gain experience points, they will increase in level, slowly rising through the four tiers of the game: Mortal, Hero, Lord, and Legend. At each tier, the style of gameplay changes dramatically, thus players can choose a play style that suits them the most.

Mortal and Hero tiers
Players learn the game as they proceed through the first 50 levels, needing to change gear as they rise. This "Mortal" tier offers the best exploration options. When characters reach level 51, they are assigned a sub-level, and from that point, experience points raise their sub-level, not their primary level. With 999 sub-levels, this creates a very broad plateau, where the focus is less on regularly changing gear, and more on honing their existing set of equipment. Level 51 is known as Hero tier, and is the point where players really begin grouping when adventuring in the world.

Lord and Legend tiers
After sub-level 300, hero tier players can use the 'morph' command to attempt to become lords. The probability of this succeeding increases with each sub-level, though players who level past 999 have a very high chance of automatically morphing to the Lord tier with each level (this can be toggled off but additional levels will yield no benefit). Morphing jumps the player to level 125, which also has 999 sub-levels. On reaching the one hundredth sub-level of Lord, a player gets access to 'troika', which enables them to become a Legend. A player may only possess one Legend tier character at a time.

At certain points, players have the option to return to an earlier level of power in order to change their class or race to one that is different, or more powerful, or perform a quest to do so at their current level.

In other media
The MUD has been examined in the papers and presentions of anthropoligist Dr. Mizuko Ito  , a thesis by tech entrepreneur Kraettli Epperson , and other papers. It has featured in MUD history articles, Orlando Sentinel's article on TELNET and in a video tutorial and tutorial article about the  command prompt.

An introductory article to A.V.A.T.A.R. was printed in MENSA's RPSIG publication 'Re:Quests!' and also in the 1st of October, 1994 edition of the "Sunlight Through The Shadows" BBS's electronic magazine, and other publications. After running for a couple of years, Immortal "Asamaro" created the publication "the Farside Gazette" on December 15th, 1994, which continued to be regularly published, latterly as "the AVATAR Gazette", until May, 2009.