<s>
An	O
online	B-Application
text-based	I-Application
role	I-Application
playing	I-Application
game	I-Application
is	O
a	O
role-playing	O
game	O
played	O
online	O
using	O
a	O
solely	O
text-based	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Online	B-Application
text-based	I-Application
role	I-Application
playing	I-Application
games	I-Application
date	O
to	O
1978	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
MUD1	B-Protocol
,	O
which	O
began	O
the	O
MUD	B-Application
heritage	O
that	O
culminates	O
in	O
today	O
's	O
MMORPGs	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
the	O
years	O
,	O
games	O
have	O
used	O
TELNET	B-Protocol
,	O
internet	B-Application
forums	I-Application
,	O
IRC	B-Protocol
,	O
email	O
and	O
social	O
networking	O
websites	O
as	O
their	O
media	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Precursor	O
to	O
the	O
now	O
more	O
popular	O
MMORPGs	B-Protocol
of	O
today	O
are	O
the	O
branch	O
of	O
text-based	O
games	O
known	O
as	O
MUD	B-Application
,	O
MOO	B-Application
,	O
MUCK	B-Application
,	O
MUSH	B-Application
et	O
al.	O
,	O
a	O
broad	O
family	O
of	O
server	O
software	O
tracing	O
their	O
origins	O
back	O
to	O
MUD1	B-Protocol
and	O
being	O
used	O
to	O
implement	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
games	O
and	O
other	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
these	O
platforms	O
implement	O
Turing-complete	O
programming	O
languages	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
any	O
purpose	O
,	O
but	O
various	O
types	O
of	O
server	O
have	O
historical	O
and	O
traditional	O
associations	O
with	O
particular	O
uses	O
:	O
"	O
mainstream	O
"	O
MUD	B-Application
servers	O
like	O
LPMud	B-Application
and	O
DikuMUD	B-Application
are	O
typically	O
used	O
to	O
implement	O
combat-focused	O
games	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
TinyMUD	O
family	O
of	O
servers	O
,	O
sometimes	O
referred	O
to	O
by	O
the	O
term	O
MU*	B-Protocol
,	O
are	O
more	O
usually	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
"	O
social	O
MUDs	B-Application
"	O
devoted	O
to	O
role-playing	O
and	O
socializing	O
,	O
or	O
non-game	O
services	O
such	O
as	O
educational	O
MUDs	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
these	O
are	O
often	O
seen	O
as	O
definitive	O
boundaries	O
,	O
exceptions	O
abound	O
;	O
many	O
MUSHes	B-Application
have	O
a	O
software-supported	O
combat	O
system	O
,	O
while	O
a	O
"	O
Role-Playing	O
Intensive	O
MUD	B-Application
"	O
movement	O
occurred	O
primarily	O
in	O
the	O
DikuMUD	B-Application
world	O
,	O
and	O
both	O
the	O
first	O
Internet	O
talker	B-Protocol
(	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
purely	O
social	O
server	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
very	O
popular	O
talker	B-Protocol
software	O
ew-too	O
were	O
based	O
on	O
LPMud	B-Application
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
interest	O
in	O
these	O
games	O
has	O
suffered	O
from	O
the	O
popularity	O
of	O
MMORPGs	B-Protocol
,	O
a	B-Protocol
large	I-Protocol
number	I-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
them	I-Protocol
still	I-Protocol
operate	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rather	O
than	O
following	O
gameplay	O
in	O
real-time	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
in	O
MUDs	B-Application
,	O
players	O
post	O
messages	O
on	O
such	O
media	O
as	O
bulletin	B-Application
boards	I-Application
,	O
online	B-Application
forums	I-Application
,	O
Chatrooms	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
like	O
AOL	O
,	O
hangouts	B-Protocol
and	O
Yahoo	B-Application
chat	I-Application
)	O
and	O
mailing	O
lists	O
to	O
which	O
their	O
fellow	O
players	O
will	O
post	O
role-played	O
responses	O
without	O
a	O
real	O
limit	O
or	O
timeframe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Of	O
late	O
such	O
blogging	O
tools	O
and	O
sites	O
as	O
LiveJournal	B-Application
have	O
been	O
utilized	O
for	O
this	O
purpose	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
origins	O
of	O
this	O
style	O
of	O
role-playing	O
are	O
unknown	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
most	O
likely	O
originated	O
in	O
some	O
form	O
during	O
the	O
mid-to-late	O
1980s	O
when	O
BBS	B-Application
systems	O
began	O
gaining	O
in	O
popularity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Communication	O
software	O
and	O
database	O
options	O
vary	O
,	O
from	O
the	O
DigiChat	O
front-end	O
/	O
character	O
database	O
back-end	O
pairing	O
pioneered	O
by	O
Conrad	O
Hubbard	O
at	O
White	O
Wolf	O
Publishing	O
,	O
to	O
the	O
numerous	O
AOL	O
,	O
hangouts	B-Protocol
and	O
Yahoo	B-Application
chats	I-Application
with	O
hosted	O
character	O
databases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
games	O
also	O
choose	O
to	O
play	O
on	O
Internet	B-Protocol
Relay	I-Protocol
Chat	I-Protocol
on	O
networks	O
such	O
as	O
DarkMyst	O
and	O
SorceryNet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Certain	O
MUDs	B-Application
that	O
are	O
"	O
Newbie-friendly	O
"	O
also	O
maintain	O
"	O
Newbie	O
"	O
channels	O
that	O
are	O
run	O
by	O
more	O
experienced	O
users	O
for	O
the	O
sole	O
purpose	O
of	O
teaching	O
new	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
RPGs	O
have	O
limited	O
consent	O
,	O
allowing	O
game	B-Device
masters	I-Device
some	O
leeway	O
if	O
the	O
player	O
asks	O
for	O
it	O
(	O
in	O
fact	O
,	O
almost	O
total	O
leeway	O
,	O
though	O
this	O
may	O
destroy	O
the	O
believability	O
of	O
the	O
scenario	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
who	O
can	O
contribute	O
,	O
and	O
how	O
often	O
,	O
when	O
the	O
work	O
is	O
being	O
put	O
together	O
in	O
an	O
open	O
area	O
such	O
as	O
an	O
online	B-Application
forum	I-Application
or	O
mailing	O
list	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
forms	O
of	O
gaming	O
that	O
developed	O
within	O
these	O
media	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
sparring	B-Application
(	O
see	O
below	O
)	O
,	O
have	O
garnered	O
their	O
own	O
cult	O
following	O
and	O
developed	O
their	O
own	O
sets	O
of	O
norms	O
and	O
subcultures	O
over	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sparring	B-Application
is	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
online	O
role-play	O
that	O
deals	O
with	O
combat	O
between	O
two	O
or	O
more	O
characters	O
,	O
usually	O
conducted	O
on	O
play-by-post	O
media	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
Internet-based	O
role-play	O
,	O
sparring	B-Application
retains	O
its	O
traditional	O
meaning	O
of	O
play	O
or	O
practice	O
combat	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
limited	O
to	O
written	O
interaction	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
different	O
from	O
role-play	O
in	O
that	O
sparring	B-Application
usually	O
contributes	O
little	O
,	O
if	O
nothing	O
,	O
to	O
a	O
story	O
or	O
character	O
development	O
and	O
participants	O
are	O
subject	O
only	O
to	O
the	O
rules	O
of	O
an	O
agreed	O
on	O
role-play	O
fighting	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
latter	O
has	O
no	O
emphasis	O
on	O
typing	O
speed	O
,	O
but	O
focuses	O
wholly	O
on	O
strategy	O
,	O
and	O
are	O
thus	O
usually	O
based	O
on	O
forums	O
and	O
message	B-Application
boards	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
a	O
large	O
rift	O
of	O
ideologies	O
within	O
the	O
community	O
of	O
sparring	B-Application
.	O
</s>
