The Two Towers, or T2T, is an Multi-User Dimension, or "MUD" (a text-based multiplayer online game), set in Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth at the time of events in the second volume of The Lord of the Rings.
Description
A screenshot of the login sequence from The Two Towers
The world depicted in The Two Towers holds, in total, nearly a hundred thousand rooms and hundreds of quests. The regions represented in the game include Eriador, Rhovanion, Gondor, Umbar, Harondor, Harad, and Mordor. The scope ranges from cities such as Bree and Minas Tirith to small homes and farmlands, as well as huge dungeon complexes such as the Mines of Moria.
The Two Towers also includes representations of most of the members of the Fellowship of the Ring who were living during its setting.
The Two Towers depicts the date of March 15, 3019, Third Age when Minas Tirith was under siege. The mud plays host to a battle between good and evil, with the free races (Hobbit, Sindar, Silvan, Dwarf, Edain, Dunlending, Dúnedain, and Eorling) generally contesting against the minions of Sauron (Uruk-hai, Easterling, Númenórean, Haradrim, and Variag), although members of the free races may choose to betray their heritage.
History
The Two Towers began in 1994 as a project between a few students and has from the start been free of charge. It is run with help from player donations and the administrators' private funds. Under constant development from the very beginning, the game is now a complete virtual world almost completely identical to the geographical properties of Middle-earth, with game areas including West and East Arda, Harondor, Harad, Umbar, and Mordor. The ability to play as a minion of Sauron was removed in 2001, then reintroduced in 2005 after a major overhaul.
In 1997, the The Two Towers web site was used as a visual example of an "interesting entertainment site" — "a site for sore eyes" — in Creating Web Pages for Dummies, and the game was used as the MUD of reference in an academic paper.[1]
In 2010 it became possible to play the game on Facebook, Myspace, and through a Flash client on the Two Towers website.