12.5  MUDs
 
 
Multiple-User Dimensions or Dungeons (MUDs) take IRC into the realm of 
fantasy.  MUDs are live, role-playing games in which you enter assume a 
new identity and enter an alternate reality through your keyboard.  As 
you explore this other world, through a series of simple commands (such 
as "look," "go" and "take"), you'll run across other users, who may 
engage you in a friendly discussion, enlist your aid in some quest or try 
to kill you for no apparent reason. 

Each MUD has its own personality and creator (or God) who was willing to 
put in the long hours required to establish the particular MUD's rules, 
laws of nature and information databases.  Some MUDs stress the social 
aspects of online communications -- users frequently gather online to 
chat and join together to build new structures or even entire realms.  
Others are closer to "Dungeons and Dragons" and are filled with 
sorcerers, dragons and evil people out to keep you from completing your 
quest -- through murder if necessary. 

Many MUDs (there are also related games known as MUCKs and MUSEs) require 
you to apply in advance, through e-mail, for a character name and 
password.  One that lets you look around first, though, is HoloMuck at 
McGill University in Montreal.  The premise of this game is that you 
arrive in the middle of Tanstaafl, a city on the planet Holo.  You have 
to find a place to live (else you get thrown into the homeless shelter) 
and then you can begin exploring.  Magic is allowed on this world, but 
only outside the city limits.  Get bored with the city and you can roam 
the rest of the world or even take a trip into orbit (of course, all this 
takes money; you can either wait for your weekly salary or take a trip to 
the city casino).  Once you become familiar with the city and get your 
own character, you can even begin erecting your own building (or subway 
line, or almost anything else). 

To connect, telnet to 
 
     collatz.mcrcim.mcgill.edu 5757
 
When you connect, type
 
                connect guest guest
 
and hit enter.  This connects you to the "guest" account, which has a 
password of "guest."  You'll see this: 
 
The Homeless Shelter(#22Rna)                                                   
You wake up in the town's Homeless Shelter, where vagrants are put for         
protective holding.  Please don't sleep in public places-- there are plenty of 
open apartments available.  Type 'apartments' to see how to get to an          
apartment building with open vacancies.                                        
There is a small sign on the wall here, with helpful information.  Type 'look  
sign' to read it.                                                              
The door is standing open for your return to respectable society.  Simply walk 
'out' to the center.                                                           
     Of course, you want to join respectable society, but first you 
want to see what that sign says.  So you type 
 
                look sign
 
and hit enter, which brings up a list of some basic commands.  Then 
you type 
 
                out
 
followed by enter, which brings up this:
 
You slip out the door, and head southeast...                                   
Tanstaafl Center                                                               
This is the center of the beautiful town of Tanstaafl.  High Street runs north 
and south into residential areas, while Main Street runs east and west into    
business districts.                                                            
SW: is Tanstaafl Towers.  Please claim an apartment... no sleeping in public!  
SE: the Public Library offers both information and entertainment.              
NW: is the Homeless Shelter, formerly the Town Jail.                           
NE: is Town Hall, site of several important services, including: Public        
Message Board, Bureau of Land Management (with maps and regulations), and      
other governmental/ bureaucratic help.                                         
Down: Below a sign marked with both red and blue large letter 'U's, a          
staircase leads into an underground subway passage.                            
(Feel free to 'look' in any direction for more information.)                   
[Obvious exits: launch, d, nw, se, w, e, n, s, ne, sw]                         
Contents:                                                                      
Instructions for newcomers                                                     
Directional signpost                                                           
Founders' statue                                                               
 
To see "Instructions for newcomers", type 
 
     look Instructions for newcomers
 
and hit enter.  You could do the same for "Directional signpost" and 
"Founders' statue."  Then type
 
     SW
 
and enter to get to Tanstaafl Towers, the city housing complex, where 
you have to claim an apartment (you may have to look around; many will 
already) be occupied.  And now it's off to explore Holo!  One command 
you'll want to keep in mind is "take." Periodically, you'll come 
across items that, when you take them will confer certain abilities or 
powers on you.  If you type
 
     help
 
and enter, you'll get a list of files you can read to learn more about 
the MUD's commands.
     
The "say" command lets you talk to other players publicly. For example, 
 
     say Hey, I'm here!
 
would be broadcast to everybody else in the room with you.  If you 
want to talk to just one particular person, use "whisper" instead of 
"say."

     whisper agora=Hey, I'm here!                                           
 
would be heard only by agora.  Another way to communicate with somebody 
regardless of where on the world they are is through your pager.  If you 
suddenly see yours go off while visiting, chances are it's a wizard 
checking to see if you need any help.  To read his message, type 
 
     page
 
To send him a message, type
 
     page name=message
 
where name is the wizard's name (it'll be in the original message).
     
Other MUDs and MUCKs may have different commands, but generally use the 
same basic idea of letting you navigate through relatively simple English 
commands.   

When you connect to a MUD, choose your password as carefully as you would 
one for your host system; alas, there are MUD crackers who enjoy trying 
to break into other people's MUD accounts.  And never, never use the same 
password as the one you use on your host system! 

MUDs can prove highly addicting.  "The jury is still out on whether 
MUDding is 'just a game'  or 'an extension of real life with gamelike 
qualities'," says Jennifer Smith, an active MUD player who wrote an FAQ 
on the subject. 

She adds one caution: "You shouldn't do anything that you wouldn't do in 
real life, even if the world is a fantasy world.  The important thing to 
remember is that it's the fantasy world of possibly hundreds of people, 
and not just yours in  particular.  There's a human being on the other 
side of each and every wire!  Always remember that you may meet these 
other people some day,  and they may break your nose.  People who treat 
others badly gradually build up bad reputations and eventually receive 
the NO FUN Stamp of Disapproval."