MUD

MUDs(Multi-User Dungeons) are the progenitors of the MMORPG. MUD1 is considered by many to be the first online multiplayer game although far from WoW it has more in common with text-based adventure games such as Colossal Cave Adventure or Zork.

The objective in MUD1(or "British Legends" as it is known today) is to rack up 102,400 points and achieve the rank of 'Wizard'. The only way you can gain points is by hoarding treasures(much like in Zork or King's Quest, treasures are valued by points) and hiding them in a swamp, or by defeating enemies; whether they are NPCs, such as rats or dwarves, or other, living players you can kill. There are no classes, but each player is born with the same basic stats, like strength, stamina, and you can even use weapons in your battles to inflict greater damage. When a player is killed(including you), all his persona's points are nullified and the persona is dead forever, forcing the user to create a new one and start grinding score all over again. It is a system that is completely cruel and unfair, but the game itself does not sternly encourage PvP, and instead leaves players at liberty to interact however way they like.

MUD1 has a multitude of locations, puzzles, and scattered items that are left hanging randomly over the world, and leaves the players to devise any means to find treasures and solve puzzles, all in the goal of racking points. Chat options are available and most players are willing to cooperate and exchange items and advice, but an equally valid approach is for them to get to kill each other too, as generally the higher-leveled players are worth more in points. The wizards, long-standing players that have immortal avatars and mod powers(including teleportation and forcing teleport upon other users) actively discourage using walkthroughs or giving solutions to puzzles or cheating, and instead try to actively foster an equally collaborative and competitive, lawless Hunger Games-esque environment of The Land.

Personally I think the gameplay system is completely unfair. It is way too easy to die in MUD and have all your precious points lost(and believe me, the grinding goes SLOWLY), you have a limited inventory space of 7 items, and you lose all your items upon logout. But at the same time the concept of MUD is fascinating to me, especially that gives its players such a wide freedom to do what they like and act in whichever way they like to achieve whatever goal they might seek. The goal isn't really set, and for some people it might be exploring the entirety of the world, or finding a specific item or solving a specific puzzle, and the means with which such a world can be lead can lead to countless infinite possibilities, but sadly I think the zealous gameplay ideals of the regulars do a lot to bring the idea of the game down.