Thank you for your post, I find it very fascinating.
I used to play MUDs back in the day and they had a protocol that, in theory, could allow you to move from MUD to MUD and transfer your character. I don't think it ever got really popular though, due to all the problems you can imagine from trying to seamlessly move between completely different MUDs. This is all from memory, so I could be mistaken about specifics.
When second life first came out I think I logged onto it a few times and then concluded it was a gimmick and haven't really been back since. I think your post explains very nicely why it never drew me in, I thought I was logging into a game.
I used to play MUDs back in the day and they had a protocol that, in theory, could allow you to move from MUD to MUD and transfer your character. I don't think it ever got really popular though, due to all the problems you can imagine from trying to seamlessly move between completely different MUDs. This is all from memory, so I could be mistaken about specifics.
When second life first came out I think I logged onto it a few times and then concluded it was a gimmick and haven't really been back since. I think your post explains very nicely why it never drew me in, I thought I was logging into a game.