God or Goddess, in

MUD A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

s, often refers to an administrator of a MUD server, most typically the owner. Sometimes multiple individuals with the title of God are present, or the term may even be applied to all administrative and development staff, but it is usual for the term to refer to the most senior administrator. A similar term, mostly used in

DikuMUD DikuMUD is a multiplayer text-based role-playing game, which is a type of multi-user domain (MUD). It was written in 1990 and 1991 by Sebastian Hammer, Tom Madsen, Katja Nyboe, Michael Seifert, and Hans Henrik Stærfeldt at DIKU (''Datalogisk In ...

s, is implementer, or "imp". Where the term is used in this sense, the God or Gods will most often be supervising staffers referred to as wizards or

immortals Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

. The appearance of entities referred to as "gods" in a MUD does not necessarily mean that this usage of the word is being applied; the word's ordinary usage is also frequently in evidence, referring to

non-player character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...

gods or even non-administrative

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

gods.

History

Historically the term God was not the original usage for either the player end game or sysadmin status in

s with Rob

Roy Trubshaw ''Multi-User Dungeon'', or ''MUD'' (referred to as ''MUD1'', to distinguish it from its successor, ''MUD2'', and the MUD genre in general), is the first MUD. History MUD was created in 1978 by Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle at the Unive ...

and

Richard Bartle Richard Allan Bartle FBCS FRSA (born 10 January 1960) is a British writer, professor and game researcher in the massively multiplayer online game industry. He co-created ''MUD1'' (the first MUD) in 1978, and is the author of the 2003 book ''Desi ...

s seminal 1978 and 1985

MUD1 ''Multi-User Dungeon'', or ''MUD'' (referred to as ''MUD1'', to distinguish it from its successor, ''MUD2'', and the MUD genre in general), is the first MUD. History MUD was created in 1978 by Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle at the Univer ...

& 2 using

Wizard (MUD) Wizard is commonly used in MUDs, particularly LPMuds, AberMUDs and MU*, as a term for the MUD's developers and administrators. The usage originates with Richard Bartle's original ''MUD1'' and ''MUD2''. It is frequently abbreviated "wiz", which i ...

. many contemporary games of the era such as Shades (1985), Mirrorworld (1986) also using Wizard or Arch Wizard. The first apparent use was in the 1988 Lap of the Gods authored by Ben Laurie although its original non commercial version was released in 1985. Avalon: The Legend Lives in 1989 evolved this concept even further pioneering the introduction of player Gods associated with stylised spheres (Stars, War, Fire etc.) with fully developed structural religious systems including player priests, followers and methods of prayer and offering. The gods are appointed not by amassing treasure or points but via either competitive ordination, often player vs player ordination or through dominance or merit within the game-world. Importantly as noted by Richard Bartle Avalon was the first to pioneer this concept of player gods in that they remained within the fiction of the world rather than as sysadmins. To date Avalon has competitively Ordained ten gods and appointed a variety of others, the first in 1989 and the last in 2015.

Power dynamics

Discussion of MUD Gods frequently touches on the absolute power individuals assuming this title typically have over the virtual environment. A common conflict in MUDs occurs between an administrator who uses this power in an arbitrary and capricious fashion and others who believe standards of fairness should be upheld. MUD-related works often warn prospective players against annoying a God, citing the lack of behavioral constraint on this sort of figure.

References

{{MUDs MUD terminology