Editing PLATO (computer system) (section)

== Online community ==
Although PLATO was designed for computer-based education, perhaps its most enduring legacy is its place in the origins of online community. This was made possible by PLATO's groundbreaking communication and interface capabilities, features whose significance is only lately being recognized by computer historians. PLATO Notes, created by David R. Woolley in 1973, was among the world's first online [[message board]]s, and years later became the direct progenitor of [[Lotus Notes]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

PLATO's plasma panels were well suited to games, although its I/O bandwidth (180 characters per second or 60 graphic lines per second) was relatively slow. By virtue of 1500 shared 60-bit variables per game (initially), it was possible to implement [[online game]]s. Because it was an educational computer system, most of the user community were keenly interested in games.

In much the same way that the PLATO hardware and development platform inspired advances elsewhere (such as at Xerox PARC and MIT), many popular commercial and Internet games ultimately derived their inspiration from PLATO's early games. As one example, ''[[Castle Wolfenstein]]'' by PLATO alum Silas Warner was inspired by PLATO's dungeon games (see below), in turn inspiring ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' and ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]''. Thousands of [[multiplayer online games]] were developed on PLATO from around 1970 through the 1980s, with the following notable examples:

* Daleske's ''[[Empire (1973 video game)|Empire]]'' a top-view multiplayer space game based on ''[[Star Trek]]''. Either Empire or Colley's ''[[Maze War]]'' is the first networked multiplayer action game. It was ported to ''Trek82'', ''Trek83'', ''ROBOTREK'', ''Xtrek'', and ''Netrek'', and also adapted (without permission) for the Apple II computer by fellow PLATO alum [[Robert Woodhead]] (of ''[[Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord|Wizardry]]'' fame), as a game called ''Galactic Attack''.
* The original ''[[Freecell]]'' by Alfille (from Baker's concept).
* Fortner's ''[[Airfight]]'', probably the direct inspiration for (PLATO alum) [[Bruce Artwick]]'s ''[[Microsoft Flight Simulator]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Havlik|first1=Josef|title=The History of Microsoft Flight Simulator|url=http://mujweb.cz/havlikjosef/Bruce_Artwick.htm|website=Flight Simulator History|access-date=12 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320074651/http://mujweb.cz/havlikjosef/Bruce_Artwick.htm|archive-date=20 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Haefeli and Bridwell's ''[[Panther (computer game)|Panther]]'' (a vector graphics-based tankwar game, anticipating Atari's ''[[Battlezone (1980 video game)|Battlezone]]'').
* Many other [[First-person (video games)#History|first-person shooters]], most notably Bowery's ''Spasim'' and Witz and Boland's ''Futurewar'', believed to be the first FPS.
* Countless games inspired by the [[role-playing game]] ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', including the original Rutherford/Whisenhunt and Wood ''[[dnd (1975 video game)|dnd]]'' (later ported to the PDP-10/11 by Lawrence, who earlier had visited PLATO). and is believed to be the first dungeon crawl game and was followed by: ''[[Moria (1975 video game)|Moria]]'', ''[[Rogue (video game)|Rogue]]'', ''[[Dry Gulch]]'' (a western-style variation), and ''Bugs-n-Drugs'' (a medical variation)—all presaging [[Multi-user dungeon|MUD]]s (Multi-User Domains) and [[MOO]]s (MUDs, Object Oriented) as well as popular first-person shooters like ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' and ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'', and [[MMORPG]]s (Massively multiplayer online role-playing game) like ''[[EverQuest]]'' and ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. ''[[Avatar (PLATO system video game)|Avatar]]'', PLATO's most popular game, is one of the world's first MUDs and has over 1 million hours of use.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}}. The games ''Doom'' and ''Quake'' can trace part of their lineage back to PLATO programmer Silas Warner.

PLATO's communication tools and games formed the basis for an online community of thousands of PLATO users, which lasted for well over twenty years.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://thinkofit.com/plato/dwplato.htm |title=PLATO: The Emergence of Online Community |first=David |last=Woolley |publisher=Think of it |access-date=2004-10-15 |archive-date=2013-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904151631/http://thinkofit.com/plato/dwplato.htm |url-status=dead }}.</ref> PLATO's games became so popular that a program called "The Enforcer" was written to run as a background process to regulate or disable game play at most sites and times – a precursor to parental-style control systems that regulate access based on content rather than security considerations.

In September 2006 the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] retired its PLATO system, the last system that ran the PLATO software system on a CDC Cyber [[Mainframe computer|mainframe]], from active duty. Existing PLATO-like systems now include [[NovaNET]]<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.pearsondigital.com/novanet |title=Novanet |publisher=Pearson digital |access-date=2007-03-11 |archive-date=2008-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119034214/http://www.pearsondigital.com/novanet/ |url-status=dead }}.</ref> and [[#Cyber1|Cyber1]].org.

By early 1976, the original PLATO IV system had 950 terminals giving access to more than 3500 contact hours of courseware, and additional systems were in operation at CDC and [[Florida State University]].{{Sfn|Smith|Sherwood|1976|p=344}} Eventually, over 12,000 contact hours of courseware was developed, much of it developed by university faculty for higher education.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} PLATO courseware covers a full range of high-school and college courses, as well as topics such as reading skills, family planning, [[Lamaze]] training and home budgeting.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} In addition, authors at the [[University of Illinois]] School of Basic Medical Sciences (now, the [[University of Illinois College of Medicine]]) devised a large number of basic science lessons and a self-testing system for first-year students.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=EJ209808 |series=ED ERIC |id=EJ209808 |type=CIJE |date=Feb 1979 |title=Basic Medical Sciences PLATO IV Project—An Evaluation |last1=Sorlie |first1=William |last2=Essex |first2=Diane L |journal=Journal of Computer-Based Instruction |volume=5 |number=3 |pages=50–6 |quote=Findings of an evaluation of the use of PLATO IV in support of a computer-based medical sciences curriculum indicate that PLATO IV can be used effectively in the creation and implementation of lessons and that it is an excellent host for lessons developed on another system (RAO)}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED161424 |series=ED Eric |id=ED161424 |type=RIE |date=Mar 1978 |title=Evaluation of a Three Year Health Sciences PLATO IV Computer-Based Education Project |publisher=University of Illinois |format=Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Assoc… |last1=Sorlie |first1=William E |last2=Essex |first2=Diane L |quote=Significant findings of the comprehensive evaluation of a computer-based curriculum in the basic medical sciences using the PLATO IV computer system are presented. The study was conducted by the Office of Curriculum and Evaluation (OCE) of the School of Basic Medical Sciences (SBMS) at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign (UC). It was designed to assess the progress of the project relative to goals outlined in the contract; provide feedback to the Project and School personnel, as well as to the funding agent; and portray the Project as it had evolved since its inception. The techniques of responsive evaluation and portrayal were used combined with Context, Input, Process, Product (CIPP) and discrepancy evaluation. Significant results of the evaluation are reported under the headings: summary of data, major factors which impacted upon project functioning, project accomplishments, recommendations, and unresolved issues. Eight recommendations cover a variety of aspects including qualifications of staff, on-the-job training programs, and the need for a 6–12 month funded planning and recruitment phase. They provide insight into the diversity of factors that interact to influence the successful development and implementation of an educational program (VT).}}</ref> However the most popular "courseware" remained their multi-user games and [[role-playing video game]]s such as ''dnd'', although it appears CDC was uninterested in this market.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} As the value of a CDC-based solution disappeared in the 1980s, interested educators ported the engine first to the [[IBM PC]], and later to [[World Wide Web|web]]-based systems.