From the Latin idem, identity refers to the sameness between two qualities. Yet for many today, the windows on their computers have become metaphors for thinking about the self as a multiple and distributed system. For many, the life practice of computer windows is that of a decentered self that exists in many worlds and plays many roles at the same time. MUDs are a new kind of virtual parlor game and a new form of community. In MUDs, players create characters who have casual and romantic sex, hold jobs, attend rituals and celebrations, fall in love and get married, and rise and fall in social status.
MUDs offer a parallel life.
The boundaries of the game are fuzzy, and the routine of playing can become part of their players' everyday lives. MUDs blur the boundaries between self and game, self and role, self and simulation. The anonymity of MUDs gives people the chance to express multiple and often unexplored aspects of the self, to play with their identities, and to try out new ones. Take Doug, a junior at a Midwestern college. He plays four characters distributed across three different MUDs.