I had a similar story though it sounds like I'm a little younger, so shift the dates up a bit and instead of CircleMud, Vampire Wars then Godwars II. Being a fe

I had a similar story though it sounds like I'm a little younger, so shift the dates up a bit and instead of CircleMud, Vampire Wars then Godwars II. Being a few years in the future, even our modest computer could play Starcraft etc, and yet I still gravitated towards MUDs. I still haven't experienced something like that again, something that felt somehow antique but also light years ahead of any other gaming experience I was having at the time. Sure, no sprites or models, but I could write descriptions for my spells. Combat was engaging and fun and you could get into ridiculous detail. The world felt enormous, I could actually get lost and have to scrutinize inputs and room descriptions to get my bearings. I remember feeling actual relief at one point reading the familiar room description of the fountain outside of town or something. Oh, and I'm not really one for drama of any sort, but if I have to see drama in a gaming community I really prefer it to be between the programmers that make the game arguing in public chat about ripping off codebases etc.