Interpretation, Performance, Play, and Seduction

Tubmud is an adventure-oriented Multi-User Dungeon §(MUD), an online text-based fantasy world. In this §study, Tubmud is approached from three theoretical §perspectives: First, from a game studies §perspective, trying to identify its essential§game-like qualities. This operation reveals a §variety of game types co-existing inside of Tubmud: §some of which exist also outside of the MUD (e.g. §Go), while others require the MUD as a medium to be §played. Examples of the latter are role-playing §games and quest adventures. These are games that §utilise features of representation, approaching §theatre and literature in a way that the §non-referential Go does not. In the second §perspective, role-play and character interaction in §Tubmud is analysed through a theoretical framework §of performativity, while in the third part of the §study, the quest adventure is examined from the §perspective of hermeneutics. It is argued that while §interpretation may be essential to solve a quest, §the hermeneutical perspective is inadequate to §analytically grasp questing as a process. Instead, §questing must be approached from the very opposite §angle: as a seductive discourse.