WoW Torture Update - Bartle Responds To Comments, Trolls And Criticism

You may recall that MUD creator Richard Bartle took issue with a torture quest in WoW: Wrath Of The Lich King. He got a few responses, some rather critical and others rather trollish. More »

Guardian Warns Politicians, Columnists: Gamers Are Taking Over, Deal With It

Richard Bartle, co-author of the original MUD, as MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo was kind enough to remind us, has a warning for UK politicians—and, we assume, the other silver haired no-funster luddite types—that their wrinkly old asses are about to be in the minority. That is, the minority of the population who have grown up with computer games in their lives. The best part, according to Bartle? "They aren't addicted, they aren't psychopathic killers, and they resent those boneheads - that's you - who imply that they are addicted and are psychopathic killers," he writes. More »

Richard Bartle on the Sex MUD That Almost Was

As all Kotaku readers know, Second Life is the virtual world most famous for finally allowing Wagner James Au to experience the semblance of getting laid. But what would he have done if Second Life had never been created? To what game would WJA and Second Life's panoply of virtual prostitutes flocked then? More »