The Two Towers (MUD)

The Two Towers mud is a free fantasy multiplayer text based online role-playing game set in Tolkien’s universe at the time of events in the second volume of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The game is a MUD (multi user dungeon) that was established in 1994. It can be played via a direct telnet or java connection, or through a mud client.

Description
The world depicted in the Two Towers mud contains thousands of uniquely described rooms, thousands of non-player characters, tens of thousands of objects, and hundreds of quests. The world holds, in total, nearly a hundred thousand rooms that players can explore. The regions represented in the game include Eriador, Rhovanion, Gondor, Umbar, Harondor, Harad, and Mordor. The scope ranges from cities such as Bywater and Minas Tirith to small homes and farmlands.

The Two Towers mud also includes representations of most of the members of the Fellowship of the Ring who were living during its setting.

The Two Towers mud is set in the world of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. In particular, the Two Towers mud depicts the timeframe when Minas Tirith was under siege. The mud plays host to a battle between good and evil, with the free races (Hobbit, Sindar, Silvan, Dwarf, Edain, Dunlending, Dúnedain, and Eorling) generally contesting against the minions of Sauron (Uruk-hai, Easterling, Númenórean, Haradrim, and Variag), although members of the free races may choose to betray their heritage.

History
The Two Towers mud began as a project between a few students and has from the start been free from charge, and is run with help from player donations and the administrators' private funds. Under constant development from the very start, the game is now a complete virtual world almost completely identical to the geographical properties of Arda, with game areas including west and east Middle-earth, Harondor, Harad, Umbar, and Mordor.

After 2000, the game evolved into a more balanced version. Some players claim this has removed much of the ability to perform solo player killing deeds, although other players claim that the evolution permits more strategy and other gameplay. The ability to play as a minion of Sauron was removed in 2001, then reintroduced in 2005 after a major overhaul.

Playing
In the game, players explore the fantasy world of Tolkien, fighting monsters and enemies for treasure, equipment, and experience points. As they progress, players advance in level, gaining power, reputation, and different skills and abilities. While some players choose to interact with one another in PvP (player versus player) combat, others pay great attention to their characters, writing custom descriptions and tales for their adventures to better interact in a RP environment. Others may choose to use the world as a chatting device to interact and socialize with other players.