If I think about it, the reason why I started playing MUDs was an article in a local hobby magazine and (a few years later) a banner ad on one of those online comic pages. I think it was for Retro Mud and they also had a catchy slogan, something like "Its not a game, its an attitude".

I stopped playing there soon after I got res killed by my own guild guards and yelled at by fellow guildmates for a simple mistake but thats a different story. :p