Hello,
This isn't an advertisement ... I was tempted to sign up to talk about the election and 8 o'clock coffee, as both were/are a part of my life.
I used to play MUDs, too! I was particularly addicted to one called Arctic.
Anyway, if anyone is looking for an online, multiplayer game that they can play casually, I recommend www.travian.com
It doesn't require that you pay money or that you be online for longer than a few minutes, several times a day. I guess it's kind of difficult to explain.
Basically, you choose one of three tribes, and you register a village on a particular server. From there, and most of you gamers will be familiar with this, you build up resources, troops, and can form alliances with other players, or simply play on your own. You can attack other villages for resources, etc., and even totally destroy other people.
It's not very graphical, so if you play MUDs, you'll be fine with this. I doubt you WoW players will be impressed.
What's nice about it (and also sometimes frustrating) is how long it takes to do things. Upgrading a particular resource can take 7 hours. That doesn't mean you are online for 7 hours watching the hours tick away, that is simply how long the action takes once you decide to do it -- in real time.
So, you check your village in the morning, you check it at night, and you don't lose any of your life in between. Also, I've met some really cool people from all over the world.
Wow. This is a dorky first post.