They are online virtual worlds built from words. They are so popular that educators are alarmed.
MUDs are the latest rage on college campuses all around the world.
Australia has even banned them. By Kevin Kelly and Howard Rheingold David spends twelve hours a day as Lotsu, a swashbuckling explorer in a subterranean world of dungeons and elves. Multi-user fantasy games are electronic adventures run on a large network, usually fueled by university computers. Players commonly spend four or five hours a day logged onto fantasy worlds based on Star Trek, The Hobbit, or Ann McCaffrey's popular novels about dragon riders and wizards. Students like David use school computers or their own personal machines to log onto the great international computer highway in the sky known as the Internet.