Featherstone, Michael, and Roger Burows, eds. The chapter will conclude with a discussion on the representation of the computer and its users through avatars and agents. MUDs is a generic term for a class of role-playing games found on the Internet. MUCK, I understand also stands for Many Unemployed College Kids. Action is performed via keyboard while all scenes must be rendered mentally by the players from scraps of text offered in the course of play.
Text is an efficient medium - a few words can evoke a rich response in the mind of the user.
Compared with graphic, sensational action games, text MUDs rely more on cognition than sensory perception. Spaces and avatars are not viewed on the screen but in the player's mind. The domains are symbolic extensions of our cognitive space. Action games, to the degree that they appeal to our senses, are more a part of our perceived space. Neither video games nor text MUDs are physical although they are situated between the two extremes.