Multi-User in Middle Earth (MUME)

"MUME, Multi-Users in Middle-earth, is a multiplayer text-based online game based upon J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth during the epic war between the forces of the Dark Lord and the armies of the Free peoples. MUME is completely at no cost to play and has been continuously running, expanded, and remastered by a community of volunteers since 1991.

MUME is a MUD, or retro MMORPG, that encourages players to role-play as they live in this meticulously crafted world exploring the conflict leading into the War of the Ring during the late Third Age. The action takes place nearly 100 years prior to The Hobbit but long after the loss of the One Ring by Sauron. The key to Erebor has just been found by Gandalf in Dol Guldur and all the epic tales narrated in The Lord of the Rings may take place.

Create your own hero: a Man, Hobbit, Elf, Dwarf, Orc, or Troll. Explore the Shire, Bree, Rivendell, the Grey Havens, the dark halls of Moria, the ruins of Ost-in-Edhil, and many other places. Join the battle between Good and Evil!"

(Source : https://mume.org/)