Claire Benedikt

Claire (the character name and the RL name are the same) was known for playing a large number of alternate characters during a time period early enough in MU* history (1989) that doing so was actually unusual and worth remarking upon.

The dinosaur player dirque coined the following phrase in 1990 (while logged on what was later referred to as a Random Gang MU*): "On a MUD, half the girls you meet are guys, and the other half are Claire." This was extrapolated to "We are all Claire!" jokes later in MU* history. The "Claire" jokes persist to this day.

Claire was one of the original founders and wizards of FurryMUCK (as the character Abigail, a unicorn), and was a wizard on Islandia as well.

In 1995, she wrote a book on MU*s called MUDs: Exploring Virtual Worlds on the Internet published by Macmillan Publisher's "Brady Games" imprint. The book featured a chapter on FurryMUCK and other popular MU*s of that time period. The chapter "Don't be a TinyJerk!" is reproduced on many MU* sites as the foundation lesson for good behavior on a MU*. The book is currently out of print.

Later in her career, Claire published a variety of scholarly articles and essays in educational magazines and textbooks on the topic of MU*s, socializing online, etc. She also published in a small number of "hot" Internet magazines that are no longer in print.