I had the opportunity to chat to Richard Bartle, the inventor of the first virtual world, at the Virtual Worlds Forum Unplugged event on Tuesday. Richard Bartle is a legend within the virtual worlds industry. He co-wrote the first ever virtual world, MUD, in the 1980s and has since had an active role in the development of ideas as Professor in the Computer Science Department of Essex University. In 2003, he wrote the book Designing Virtual Worlds.
In the interview we cover a broad range of subjects. We discussed, for example, how virtual worlds might eventually reach the mainstream, and Richard argued that this will only happen once the kids currently using virtual worlds on a massive scale literally grow up – something which those developing adult virtual worlds with the need to turn a profit sooner than 10 years will not be pleased to hear!
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