If the commercial companies eschew text in favor of graphics, people who excel at writing text MUDs will not be able to get jobs doing it. Result: no professional-quality text MUDs. Eventually, this can only lead to the marginalization of amateur MUDs, which will be labelled as the haunts of weirdoes and social inadequates, ignored by the mainstream. OK, so it might not happen – but it might! And if it does, don’t blame me!
Predictor: Bartle, Richard
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 conference paper, Richard Bartle wonders about the changes MUDs will incur (since as he puts it MUDs can be written by anyone, “just like anyone can write a book.”) ”If the commercial companies eschew text in favor of graphics, people who excel at writing text MUDs will not be able to get jobs doing it. Result: no professional-quality text MUDs. Eventually, this can only lead to the marginalization of amateur MUDs, which will be labelled as the haunts of weirdoes and social inadequates, ignored by the mainstream. OK, so it might not happen – but it might! And if it does, don’t blame me!”
Biography:Richard Bartle of the University of Essex developed the first MUD, known as MUD1, with Roy Trubshaw in 1979. MUDs and MOOs grew in popularity and had participants from around the world. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: MOOs/MUDs/B-Boards/Newsgroups
Name of publication: Olympia 2, London
Title, headline, chapter name: Don’t Blame Me!
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www,mud.co.uk/richard/oe95.htm
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Bizzell, Natalie