Talker

A talker is a chat system that people use to talk to each other over the Internet. Dating back to the 1980s, they were a predecessor of instant messaging.

A talker is a communication system precursor to MMORPGs and other virtual worlds such as Second Life. Talkers are a form of online virtual worlds in which multiple users are connected at the same time to chat in real-time. People log into the talkers remotely (usually via telnet), and have a basic text interface with which to communicate with each other.

The early talkers were similar to MUDs with most of the complex game machinery stripped away, leaving just the communication level commands — hence the name "talker". ew-too was, in fact, a MUD server with the game elements removed.

Most talkers are free and based on open source software.

Many of the online metaphors used on talkers, such as "rooms" and "residency", were established by these early pioneering services and remain in use by modern 3D interfaces such as Second Life.

History of talkers