Shades is a traditional MUD along the lines of the original Essex MUD, and is now 12 years old. For a long time it was the most sucessfull commerical MUD ever, although it is now running for free. Its sucess was often credited to its easy to learn game-play and strong social atmosphere. ^[1]

Well .... strange ....Where else could you grow your own spaceship, meet fire breathing cabbages, teach machinery to hum in tune, cause pink blancmange to rain from the sky, clamber through a giant statue and drive around in an inflatable hovercar while clearing up rubbish? ^[2]