Richard Bartle - Part 2 - Designing Virtual Worlds

Richard Bartle - Part 2 - Designing Virtual Worlds

Author: Karl Kuras August 17, 2025 Duration: 1:30:55

After spending almost 2 decades trying to make MUD a viable commercial project, Richard returns to academia after publishing his seminal book, Designing Virtual Worlds, and begins teaching and researching game worlds and player behavior.

We delve deep into the study of games, talk about why it's important and the future of virtual worlds, the morality of being a god, both as a designer and a gamer, and where the industry can go from here.

Recorded: February 2025

Get us on your mobile device:

Android: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly92aWRlb2dhbWVuZXdzcm9vbXRpbWVtYWNoaW5lLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz

iOS: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/video-game-newsroom-time-machine

And if you like what we are doing here at the podcast, don't forget to like us on your podcasting app of choice, YouTube, and/or support us on patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/VGNRTM

Send comments on 
Mastodon @videogamenewsroomtimemachine@oldbytes.space
Or
twitter @videogamenewsr2
Or
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vgnrtm
Or
https://bsky.app/profile/vgnrtm.bsky.social
Or
videogamenewsroomtimemachine@gmail.com

Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bartle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD1
https://www.mobygames.com/game/124837/multi-user-dungeon-mud1/
https://mud.co.uk/dvw/
http://howtobeagod.com/
http://pdf.textfiles.com/zines/ESCAPIST/theescapist_043.pdf

Books by Richard:

How to Be a God 

  http://www.howtobeagod.com/    https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0955649498  https://www.amazon.com/dp/0955649498/  https://mud.co.uk/richard/How%20to%20Be%20a%20God.pdf

Dheghōm  http://www.Dheghōm.com/ (http://www.xn--dheghm-fgb.com/)  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1915964008/   https://www.amazon.com/dp/1915964008/   https://mud.co.uk/richard/Dhegh%C5%8Dm.pdf

Erwā     

   https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1915964040   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1915964040

Bhéwonom                                                                       

   https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1915964067   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1915964067

Copyright 2025 Karl Kuras


Ever wonder what gamers were actually talking about decades ago, before online forums and endless hot takes? Each month, Video Game Newsroom Time Machine hosted by Karl Kuras does exactly that, dusting off the headlines and magazine pages from the past. This isn't just a nostalgia trip; it's a grounded look at the industry's turning points as they happened. You'll hear about the surprising announcements, the forgotten controversies, and the hardware launches that had everyone buzzing-from arcade trends in Japan to home computer wars in Europe and North America. The podcast specifically revisits news from exactly 30, 40, and 50 years prior, creating a unique layered perspective on how video game culture evolved. It’s like sitting in a newsroom from a different era, piecing together the stories that shaped the games we remember today. Tune in for a monthly dose of context, where the past conversations about pixels and processors feel surprisingly fresh and directly connected to the present.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Video Game Newsroom Time Machine
Podcast Episodes
Gary Bracey - Part 1 - Ocean [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:28:52
For computer gamers in the 1980s and 90s, few companies were more ever-present than Ocean, a powerhouse in publishing, through their massive ad campaigns and amazing film licenses and coin-op conversions. Our guest today…
Phil Adam - Spectrum Holobyte, SPA, Interplay, Amico [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:54:06
Phil Adam's career has spanned more than 40 years, from pioneering work marketing titles for Spectrum Holobyte, playing a pivotal role in bringing Tetris to the West, working at Interplay during the RPG renaisance and hi…
October 1994 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:16:04
Japan goes after arcades, Nintendo's Famicon gets its first licensee & Gamers come together online These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and a…
Tom Kalinske - Mattel, Sega, Leap Frog [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:22:28
Few events in video game history are more legendary than the Console War between Sega and Nintendo. Our guest today was one of the generals of that war, the head of Sega of America, Tom Kalinske. Tom's story is not just…
October 1984 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:01:46
Japan goes after arcades, Nintendo's Famicon gets its first licensee & Gamers come together online These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and a…
Richard Bartle - Part 1 - MUD (Multi User Dungeon) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:12:51
While there are many founders of the video game industry writ large, the dawn of multiplayer gaming is a much more select group of luminaries and our guest today, Richard Bartle is most definitely one of them. He cocreat…
John Wood - Sally Dark Ride [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:26
Mechanical amusements have long been a mainstay of theme parks and travelling fairs. In the 1980s, this technology entered the realm of the arcade, most notably through Chuck E. Cheese and since then, has merged with the…
September 1994 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:08:22
Nintendo owns CES, The future belongs to the internet & EA disses Sega These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industr…
Jeff Johannigman - Part 2 - Origin, Dynamix, Microprose [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:36:40
From a bedroom coder to Game Developer's Conference OG to the creator of one of the greatest one-on-one action strategy games of the 8 bit era, Jeff Johannigman worked for some of the most legendary companies of the 80s,…