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: 50

Video Game Newsroom Time Machine
Podcast Episodes
Graeme Bayless - Part 3 - EA, Tiburon, Madden [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:06:16
Few developers have had as long and prolific a career as our guest, Graeme Bayless. From working on mainframes, to selling Kaypros, to playtesting Accolade's launch titles, to producing games for SSI, Sega Technical Inst…
July 1994 - Part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:27:34
Sega's Saturn premiere flops Nintendo goes for cheap VR Commodore bankruptcy gets messy 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 v…
July 1994 - Part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:21:48
Sega's Saturn premiere flops, The Game Industry ditches CES for E3 & Nintendo goes for cheap VR These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and arou…
Graeme Bayless - Part 2 - Dynamix, Sierra [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:14:41
Few developers have had as long and prolific career as our guest, Graeme Bayless. From working on mainframes, to selling Kaypros, to playtesting Accolade's launch titles, to producing games for SSI, Sega Technical Instit…
July 1984 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:46:54
Jack buys Atari Imagine goes belly up Nintendo's Famicom gets Zapped 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 industry…
Graeme Bayless Part 1 - Accolade, SSI, Sega, Hyperbole Studios [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:33:18
Few developers have had as long and prolific career as our guest, Graeme Bayless. From working on mainframes, to selling Kaypros, to playtesting Accolade's launch titles, to producing games for SSI, Sega Technical Instit…
June 1994 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:17:15
Hollywood welcomes Siliwood, Saturn and Playstation begin fight for Japanese consumers & 3DO declared DOA These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM! This episode we will look back at the biggest stories i…
Raymond Yap - Wong's International, Mondex [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:30:33
The boom of home computers and electronics in the 1970s and 1980s was as much a success of entrepreneurial endeavor and technological innovation, as it was of the blossoming worldwide supply chain. One of the company's t…
June 1984 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:49:02
The home computer market implodes, Atari announces 7800 & Console software dries up. 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 vide…
Larry J. Dunlap - The Games Network, Imperial Wars [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:04:09
The dawn of the home computer seemed to usher in the death of computing's networked past dominated by dumb terminals connected to mainframes, but a few visionaries foresaw a world in which the microcomputer technology in…