What a difference good graphics make!

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There was a time, less than a decade ago, when the idea of simulated worlds captivated the minds of many academics. These were called MUDs (Multi User Dungeons [in tribute to Dungeons and Dragons] or later Multi User Dimensions [because who wanted to be reminded of Dungeons and Dragons]), and MOOs (MUD, Object Oriented). I even spent a good part of an academic year studying these, though rarely succeeding in connecting to them in order to get real hands-on experience. Back then these were almost exclusively text-based environments, which in itself was a limiting factor. Who other than academics wanted to spend their spare time (or research time) in a text-based environment! (If anyone still has an interest in these, there's still a great deal of very infrequently updated information on them available. Here, for instance.) Of course describing a room and its furniture can be a much richer experience than simply placing a picture of a chair and a bed inside an attractively wall-papered room. It allows for creative imagination. But it turns out that most people aren't attracted to textual worlds. When these environments became truly visual and could be manipulated with a mouse instead of with the letters on a keyboard ... well, games like The Sims Online became possible, and incredibly popular.

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Go to: It's all in the game.