I was looking for a persistent browser-based game (PBBG) I could play for a few minutes per day, something involved but that wouldn’t require much in the way of a time commitment.
The week before I was talking to some coworkers at the Day Job about World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
I remembered a game I had looked into some time ago called Urban Dead. It’s a text-based zombie MMO. You can choose between being a survivor or a zombie, and the setting is the aftermath of a zombie outbreak. Every character in the game is controlled by a real player. There are NO non-player characters in the game! Thousands of people are actively playing it, and the world seems fairly expansive. The wiki seems to be as much a part of the game as anything else, and it seems that the players have really put a lot of effort into mapping out the suburbs, detailing items and weapons, and helping new players get acclimated to the game.
I chose to be a survivor, and there are various classes I could choose as well. Instead of being a soldier or a scientist or a police officer, any of which have some useful skills, I chose to be a plain ol’ Consumer. My only skill in the game at the start: when I loot a mall, I can pick the store instead of letting it be random chance.
So why be a Consumer? I thought it was more realistic. I’ll play the role of an everyday civilian who finds himself in the middle of a nightmare world in which zombies walk the earth. And it seems I’m not alone, since a large number of people also pick that class, even though the Urban Dead wiki indicates that it is a “broken” class. Essentially, I’ve just made it very hard for myself to gain experience and level up.
But I’m already having fun, even with my limited abilities. In fact, even more fun is that I’ve decided to document my adventure. I created a new blog, GBGames’ Urban Dead Blog, and it’s been enjoyable telling my character’s story from his point of view. I hope it entertains you as well.