“Wow,” was all I could say after reading this article. For those of you who are unaware, a MUD is an online multi-user game. (There is a MUD FAQ at http://www.mudconnect.com/mudfaq/) Anyway, the game in question is Achaea, a text-based MUD. It seems that the creators of the game introduced a highly addictive substance, called “gleam,” into the game environment, and players’ characters quickly became addicts. The benefit of using gleam is an increase in the character’s dexterity, but players who are suffering from withdrawals after becoming addicts and trying to quit are paying a high price: it can take up to 25 hours of in-game time to recover from gleam addiction. Maybe people will learn from this virtual experience? Nope, didn’t think so…