Header

An Ethnography of a Computer Society

Virtual Reality:
Reflections of Life, Dreams, and Technology
An Ethnography of a Computer Society

                     ***************************  
                     *   Welcome to WolfMOO!   *  
                     ***************************  
  
                    Running Version 1.5 of WolfMOO  
  
                  ArchWizard:  Belgarath (aka Wolf)  
                  Wizards:     Polgara (aka Aunt.Pol)  
                               Belgarion (aka Garion)  
                               Beldin (aka Hunchback)  
                               Belkira (aka Kira)  
                               Beltira (aka Tira)  
  
Type `connect Guest' to connect to a guest character,  
     `create   ' to create a new character,  
     `connect  ' to connect to an existing one, 
or  
     `@who' just to see who's logged in right now.  
  
For example, `create Munchkin frebblebit' or `connect Munchkin frebblebit'. 
 
  
To disconnect, either now or later, type `@quit'.  
  
After you've connected, type `help' for documentation.  
  
Please email bug/crash reports to wolf@pseudo.comp.com.  
  
>create Ethnographer culture  
*** Created ***  
The Coat Closet  
The closet is a dark, cramped space.  It appears to be very crowded in 
here; you keep bumping into what feels like coats, boots, and other people 
(apparently sleeping).  One useful thing that you've discovered in your 
bumbling about is a metal doorknob set at waist level into what might be a 
door.  
Don't forget to take a look at the newspaper.  Type 'news' to see it.  
>out  
You open the closet door and leave the darkness for the living room, 
closing the door behind you so as not to wake the sleeping people inside 
The Living Room  
It is very bright, open, and airy here, with large plate-glass windows 
looking southward over the pool to the gardens beyond.  On the north wall, 
there is a rough stonework fireplace, complete with roaring fire.  The east 
and west walls are almost completely covered with large, well-stocked 
bookcases.  An exit in the northwest corner leads to the kitchen and, in a 
more northerly direction, to the entrance hall.  The door into the coat 
closet is at the north end of the east wall, and at the south end is a 
sliding glass door leading out onto a wooden deck.  There are two sets of 
couches, one clustered around the fireplace and one with a view out the 
windows.  
You see a newspaper, Welcome Poster, README for New MOOers, The Daily 
Whale, a cuckoo clock on the mantle, Cockatoo, Electronic Ownership Tally 
Board, Ice Block, 1934 Buick, lag meter, and Zeebmobile here. 
=========================================================================== 
                         "You have entered the Twilight Zone 
                          Beyond this world strange things are known 
                          Use the key, unlock the door 
                          See what your fate might have in store 
                          Come explore your dream's creation 
                          Enter this world of imagination." 
 
                                   "The Twilight Zone" -- Rush 
 
INTRODUCTION 
     A world of imagination.  A world of dreams.  Hidden amidst the complex 
computer systems that criss-cross the world can be found MUDs.  Multi-User 
Dungeons.  Computer programs that allow people from all over the world to 
communicate...to interact...to create and dream and live in ways that they 
cannot in their real lives.  Their life at home is their real life...their 
lives in the computer is their "virtual reality".  A world where 
imagination holds sway...where dreams can come true...a world which I have 
studied...a world known as WolfMOO. 
     I first heard about WolfMOO from a friend of mine at school who needed 
help connecting to it, and asked me since I knew a lot about computers.  
From the very beginning the entire thing was fascinating.  I had heard of 
MUDs before but never actually experienced one and was interested to see 
what it was like.  It turned out that WolfMOO was quite different than my 
expectations.  With my friend's tales and stories of the MOO ringing in my 
ears, I eagerly leaped at the chance to study the culture and background of 
WolfMOO and to return to the fascinating world I had only caught a brief 
glimpse of previously. 
     The paper is basically divided into three sections.  The first deals 
with the individual players and their characters, the second concerns the 
MOO community as a whole and how it interacts, and the third discusses real 
life behind the MOO.  I plan to avoid discussing the technical aspects 
behind the computer system as much as possible, but have included a brief 
description of technical details about the computer networks and the MOO in 
Appendix A.  Because of the frequency and variety of folk terms throughout 
the MOO and this paper, a glossary has been included in Appendix C. 
     The culture of WolfMOO is quite diverse and complex.  In this paper, I 
hope to describe the people who frequent the MOO, to explain its social 
structure, how and why people have become so addicted to this form of 
communication and interaction, and what effects the MOO and real life have 
on each other. 
=========================================================================== 
Hackers' Heaven 
  This room just exudes technobabble.  Every time you turn around, it seems 
something incomprehensible is being uttered.  You feel alternately 
delighted with the arcane environment and baffled by the other occupants 
  Before asking a question, see if you can figure out the answer for 
yourself by reading the manual, looking through the help texts, or reading 
the various books in the Wolf House Library (n, e, e, u, e, n from the 
living room).  If you still feel the need to ask a question, just blurt it 
out!  (And don't whisper it to Aunt.Pol, either.  Other people know stuff 
too!)  If your question involves something that gave you an error message, 
remember the EXACT thing that was printed.  Write it down if necessary, but 
don't be vague!  This applies to getting help too; say what object and verb 
are giving you trouble...  If it's a syntax error, read about the 'publish' 
command from within verb editor, so we can see your verb. 
  The north wall contains a small grimy window.   A small sinister-looking 
plastic device hangs from the ceiling.  A plaque labelled "READ ME" is 
nailed to the west wall.  A tall glass cylinder sprouting slender tubes 
rests on a silver stand.  Several thin drips hang enticingly from the 
bottom of the machine.  The southern doorway reads "eciffO etavirP 
s'loP.tnuA".  The ceiling tiles are very disarrayed here. 
You see File Cabinet, the Beltira Memorial Fission Reactor and Power 
Supply, harmless geusting simulator, generic byte counter, Political 
Bumpersticker, WolfMOO Official Helpful Person Badge Dispenser, Pewter 
Dragon, List of Generic Parentables, Etymology of `Biffle Dink', Anarchist, 
Belkira's World Tour 1992, and 1593028 here. 
Flipper, Egg, Seal, Bugs, Horsey, Crysilla, Cricket, Beetle, Flub, Garion 
(distracted), Lelladorin (daydreaming), Buzzer, and Aunt.Pol (asleep) are 
here. 
Horsey says, "nope, Bz" 
>emote waves 
Ethnographer waves 
>look Beetle 
Beetle 
Beetle stands about 5'9, and when the light hits him JUST RIGHT, he looks 
like a dead ringer for Matthew Broderick  Beetle is wearing a long sleaved 
silk shirt, and matching cotton slacks. Both seem overly baggy, but Beetle 
seems to like them.  He seems to be in a really good mood. 
He is awake and looks alert. 
Carrying: 
  staff named "Dealer" 
  Silver Band (worn) 
  average ring of keys 
  Tape Recorder 
  Bottle of Wine 
  suit of chainmail 
  greaves 
  dagger named "Frick" 
  dagger named "Frack" 
  vambraces 
  skull-cap 
=========================================================================== 
                                   "All the world's indeed a stage 
                                    And we are merely players 
                                    Performers and portrayers 
                                    Each another's audience 
                                    Outside the gilded cage." 
 
                                             "Limelight" -- Rush 
 
PART I:  THE PLAYERS 
     When a person first logs into WolfMOO they have to create a character.  
How they design and describe their character depends largely on who they 
are, their background, and their interests; both in real life and of the 
MOO.  Once they've created the character they have become the players...the 
basis of the MOO. 
 
1. BACKGROUND 
     The best word to describe the players is "diversity."  Although the 
majority of the MOOers appear to be college students from the United 
States, it's very difficult to make generalizations about the backgrounds 
of the people on the MOO.  People from countries all over the world have 
logged in, such as Canada, Ireland, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, 
Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Russia, Iraq, Finland, Hong Kong, Indonesia, 
Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Israel, Australia, and Sweden.  Ages 
range from as low as sixteen or even younger to people well into their 
forties.  Occupations include many areas well outside of computers such as 
psychology, music, anthropology, theatre, and law. 
     There are a few generalizations that can be made though.  Although I'm 
sure none of them hold true for every player who logs into WolfMOO, they 
certainly capture the essence of a majority of the players.  Most of the 
players are male, college-age students in the U.S.  It's been suggested 
that as many as 95% of all WolfMOO players are male (Curtis).  Most seem to 
have or had at one time a very strong interest in science-fiction and 
fantasy.  Themes from popular works of science-fiction can be found all 
over the MOO, especially in places such names and descriptions.  Perhaps 
most of all, frequent MOOers must have an active imagination.  Since 
everything is text-based, without a vivid imagination, all of the 
descriptions would seem empty, lifeless, and uninteresting. 
     Obviously this does not sum up every player, but it gives a basis of 
understanding of where a lot of the things that happen on the MOO are 
coming from.  It helps to remember that you're dealing with a fairly 
intelligent, fairly young, fairly imaginative group of individuals when 
trying to piece together events. 
 
2. THE CHARACTER 
     One of the most important aspects of the MOO is the character.  It is 
through the character that players interact and communicate.  Almost every 
aspect of an individual's character--everything from description to gender 
to messages to  
possessions--can be controlled, altered, and customized to the personal 
needs, interests, or whims of the player. 
 
A. CREATING THE CHARACTER 
     The process for creating a character is quite simple.  At the initial 
welcome screen (see page 1) the player only has to type "create Name 
Password".  Assuming no character with this name already exists (in which 
case the computer will tell you to try again) the new character is created, 
and from there it is up to the player to provide as many or as few details 
as he wishes in order to fleshen out the character and bring it to life. 
 
     1. NAMES 
     The very first thing a player must decide upon creating a character is 
a name.  Like anything else on the MOO, names can be changed, but, for the 
most part, people keep the name they chose upon originally creating the 
character (the major exception to this is morphing.  See Glossary).  The 
names people choose can come from anywhere:  a popular form of fiction 
(books, TV, movies), nicknames, silly sounding names, descriptive names.  
(See Appendix B, Table 1, for a sampling of some of the names found on the 
MOO).  About the only name a player will never choose for their character 
is their real name.  I only came across one regular who used her real 
name...or more accurately a variation of her own name.  Her characters' 
names (she has two that I know of) are her first and last names spelled 
backwards.   
 
     2. DESCRIPTION 
     As in real life, a person's appearance lends largely to the way other 
people will react and interact with them.  Unlike in real life, MOOers have 
the option of completely controlling their appearance.  They can look like 
anyone or anything, be any gender they wish, and can change anything they 
choose as often as they wish.  Descriptions of the MOO range from single 
one-liners to complex, full-page length essays on what the character looks 
like. The average description is probably from about six to eight lines 
long (See Appendix B for examples of different types of descriptions). 
     The longer descriptions tend to come from people who like to write and 
want to leave nothing in doubt, "This is what I look like!"  Very short 
descriptions depend on a number of things.  Some are due to laziness, some 
are due to a lack of imagination, and some are due to a calculated effort.  
One of my informants told me that she had not given her character a 
description because she received a lot of unwanted attention in real life 
from her appearance, and she wanted people on the MOO to react to her for 
who she was, not what she looked like. 
     To a large extent, the most important aspect of a character's 
description is their gender and this, like all other aspects, can be 
controlled and chosen at will.  There are currently ten different genders 
available on WolfMOO:  neuter, male, female, either, Spivak, splat, plural, 
egotistical, royal, and 2nd.  The three most commonly chosen genders are 
neuter, male, and female.  The only difference between each gender as far 
as the computer is concerned is that each has a different set of pronouns 
that goes along with it (See Appendix B, Table 2). 
     The choice of gender can be much more difficult than might be 
imagined.  Although most players tend to stick to their actual gender, 
there is quite a bit of crossing over.  The percentage of female players is 
much smaller than the percentage of female characters.  There are many 
reasons why a male player may wish to have a female character.  Male 
characters tend to pay more attention to female characters than to other 
male characters.  Curiosity as to what it's like to be female is another 
motivation.  Some male players find it fun to create female characters with 
provocative descriptions, to act in a very flirtatious manner, and then to 
try to entice male characters into sexually explicit conversations or into 
netsex.  It has been observed that very few female players would actually 
want to do this (for reasons running from women's rights and sexism to 
being a nice person), and that most (but not all) female characters on the 
MOO with provocative descriptions can be assumed to be male. 
     In fact, female characters on the MOO often receive such a hassle from 
male characters, that a large portion of the female players choose to have 
male or neuter characters.  The female informant I mentioned before who 
gave her character almost no description in order to prevent people from 
becoming interested in her because of it, has a second character that is 
neuter which she uses on the rare occasions when she gets completely fed up 
with the harassment her female character occasionally gets. 
     There is only one character that I know of who regularly switches 
between male and female.  His name is Jean-Marie.  Her name is Marie-Jean.  
Depending on the mood he/she is in will decide which sex she/he chooses to 
be at any given moment.  It turns out that in real life the player is 
female, but there was no way for me to know this just from the character's 
description. 
     This brings up one of the most important aspects of the MOO.  There is 
no way for you to know what any new people you meet on the MOO really look 
like or what sex they are.  Even if the description they give their 
character is actually their real life description, it is still only through 
your imagination that you can picture the person.  You could pass someone 
on the street with whom you'd spent hours talking, playing games, and 
sharing secrets, and never realize it. 
=========================================================================== 
Aunt.Pol says, "Lelladorin is cuter that Garion."  
BasTyra says, "Come here and give me a kiss, you big strapping hunk of 
wizard!  
Aunt.Pol is making it up 
Marie-Jean's body suddenly begins to emanate a rose light.  She is 
enveloped in a shimmering nimbus as her features begin to melt and flow.  
The light begins to shade to grey and increases in intensity until, with a 
bright flash and an orgasmic sound, he becomes Jean-Marie.  
Aunt.Pol says, "Garion is cuter than Hunchback though."  
Jean-Marie says, "I'm cuter."  
Aunt.Pol isn't making that one up.    
>emote thinks Erato is cuter than Garion but then she's almost the only 
MOOer he's met.  
Aunt.Pol says, "Of course, you have to realize that my definition of 
cuteness is dependent entirely on length of hair."  
Ethnographer thinks Erato is cuter than Garion but then she's almost the 
only MOOer he's met. 
Jean-Marie's body suddenly begins to emanate a grey light.  He is enveloped 
in a shimmering nimbus as his features begin to melt and flow.  The light 
begins to shade to rose and increases in intensity until, with a bright 
flash and an orgasmic sound, she becomes Marie-Jean.  
Thalis has met no MOOers...sigh.  
Ant has shoulder-length hair. How's that?  
Aunt.Pol says, "Medium cute."  
BasTyra has longer-than-shoulder-length hair.  Ha!  
Ant says, "Jet black, no lie."  
Garion mentions that syrup is the authority on People Cuter than Garion 
Ferris sighs. His hair is reasonably short at present, so he's not cute. 
Salmrissa should extend her description's hair, since she's not a RL girl 
anyway. 
>emote:'s hair used to be shoulder length but has been cut shorter and must 
therefore be non-cute.  
Marie-Jean says, "Well, Aunt.Pol, if you judge long-haired people to be 
cute, then that places BasTyra high on the scale."  
Ethnographer's hair used to be shoulder length but has been cut shorter and 
must therefore be non-cute. 
>emote knew that, but Syrup wasn't logged on. 
Aunt.Pol yays BasTyra!  
Ethnographer knew that, but Syrup wasn't logged on.  
Marie-Jean notes that BasTyra has gorgeous blond hair.  
BasTyra considers whining for quota on the strength of his hair.  
BasTyra says, "I'm such a gorgeous bitch!"  
Aunt.Pol considers recycling BasTyra despite his hair.  
Aunt.Pol says, "After all, you've already been through it once!"  
BasTyra notes he can recycle himself just fine.  
Marie-Jean says, "Well, when you met me, Aunt.Pol, you must have judged me 
extremely non-cute, considering MY hairlength."  
Ant says, "Oh, did I say I had shoulder-length hair? I think I may have 
confused you. You see, I'm very cute because, though my hair is 
shoulder-length, I left my shoulders three floors down from here so that 
makes me VERY cute, indeed."  
Ferris tells Aunt.Pol to recycle BasTyra and keep his hair for rehself. 
=========================================================================== 
               "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, 
                for they are subtle and quick to anger." 
 
                    _The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring_, J.R.R. Tolkein 
 
 
PART II:  THE COMMUNITY 
     What is WolfMOO?  Why does it exist?  Perhaps it's stated best in one 
of the MOO's introductory documents (help introduction): 
 
     WolfMOO is a kind of virtual reality, in which players move about 
     from place to place manipulating their environment in what we 
     hope are amusing, entertaining, or enlightening ways.  
 
     WolfMOO is more of a pastime than a game in the usual sense; 
     there is no `score' kept, there are no specific goals to attain 
     in general, and there's no competition involved.  WolfMOO 
     participants explore the virtual world, talk to the other 
     participants, try out the weird gadgets that others have built, 
     and create new places and things for others to encounter and 
     enjoy.  
 
 
1.  GEOGRAPHY 
     The world of WolfMOO consists of a series of interconnected rooms, 
each with it's own description and function.  Each room is separate and 
distinct from the others.  The characters in one room can all interact with 
each other and other objects in that room, but cannot see what is happening 
in another room (unless it is relayed to them from some device, such as a 
puppet). 
     The basic layout of WolfMOO is based on a house; a very large, 
convoluted mansion with just about anything and everything that can be 
imagined in it (See Appendix B, Table 10 for the MOOs description of 
WolfMOO House).  Some of the more important rooms in the house include the 
Living Room (see p. 1), the Dinning Room, the Kitchen, and Hacker's Heaven 
(see p. 4). 
     Besides the rooms that are considered part of the house many players 
build 'homes' or rooms which they design, own, and where their body will 
'sleep' when they're not logged on.  Like with the characters' 
descriptions, the descriptions of homes vary from the simple to the complex 
(See Appendix B, Table 11 for descriptions of various rooms in WolfMOO). 
     There are two ways to get from one room to the next.  Most rooms are 
connected by passageways that can be traveled by entering the direction you 
wish to go (i.e. east).  The other method of travel is teleportation.  
Teleportation is instantaneous movement from one room to another, 
regardless of whether or not the rooms are next to each other.  
Teleportation is usually achieved by an object such as a ring which will 
allow the player to join any other player on the MOO, instantly moving the 
first player to the location of the second. 
 
2.  STRUCTURE AND HIERARCHY 
     The characters on WolfMOO can be divided into a number of different 
groups, some of which may overlap.  An informant of mine divided the MOO 
into three groups:  Programmers, Socialites, and Tinysexers.  I feel this 
is a fairly accurate division, although there are a number of subdivisions 
that can be made.  The programmers are the people who create objects on the 
MOO, design and program verbs on the objects, and those who really add to 
the atmosphere and overall design of the MOO.  The socialites make up the 
main body of characters on WolfMOO.  They are on WolfMOO to meet and 
interact with new people, and to basically discuss and try out new things.  
The Tinysexers are people who frequent the MOO for no other reason than to 
experience a computer network phenomena known as netsex. 
     Netsex is a form of computer interaction whereby the people doing it 
make sexually explicit statements and actions through which they imitate 
sexual acts with each other through the computer.  The phrase that came to 
my mind when I first heard of this was 'glorified phone sex.'  The 
tinysexers are usually uninterested in another player's feelings, tend to 
very abusive and harassing, tend to stay on WolfMOO for only a short period 
of time before moving on to another MUD somewhere, and are generally 
ignored and ostracized by the rest of the MOO community.  This isn't to say 
that netsex doesn't occur between other characters on the MOO.  It's just 
that they're motivations and goals for the MOO differ...they're primary 
objective for being on WolfMOO is not sex. 
     Another group, known as Adventurers, could be drawn from all three 
groups already mentioned.  These are characters who perform in a classical 
RPG style adventure, complete with quests, monsters, and treasure.  A lot 
of characters will try out the adventuring a few times, but very few that I 
have heard of adventure on a regular basis.  This is largely due to the 
fact that there are other MUDs that are more devoted to adventuring and 
have a much better setup for those truly interested in it. 
     Although the main body of characters on the MOO are socialites, the 
programmers may be the most important group.  If it weren't for the 
programmers, WolfMOO would be purely a social gathering spot with no other 
forms of entertainment and with a large dimension of the MOO gone.  The 
programmers can be subdivided into three groups, although some of the 
division is very nebulous.  They can be divided into serious programmers 
and people who just dabble in programming.  A third subdivision that is 
drawn from the serious programmers, is that of the wizards, and they are an 
extremely important group on the MOO. 
     The wizards are a group of (currently) six players who  maintain, 
police, and generally keep WolfMOO running.  The wizards have special 
powers and controls that other players do not have, which allow them to 
successfully run and administer the MOO.  They are the people who can deal 
with any technical difficulties that may arise from the computer system.  
They also tend to be among the most experienced and knowledgeable 
programmers on the MOO, and can often help with difficult programming 
problems. 
     For whatever reason, a certain mystique has built up around the 
wizards, and when new players first approach them, they are normally 
treated with an amount of respect not shown to other characters.  Whenever 
someone asks them a question the phrase, "I'm sorry for wasting your time" 
is usually said before all is done.  In truth, the wizards are all very 
friendly, very helpful people, who are usually glad to help out anyone with 
legitimate problems.  Things have been known to get out of control, though. 
     The wizard Polgara became so completely bombarded by questions, most 
of which could be easily answered by other, non-wizard players, that she 
started setting up factors that would prevent people from asking her 
questions.  One of these was the Helpful Person Badge Dispenser.  The 
concept behind this was that there would be a list of topics that various 
players could give help on, and someone who needed to ask questions about 
something would try these players before consulting a wizard.  
     Unfortunately, there was an unforseen problem that resulted from this.  
The topics list was not monitored, and players started adding a slew of 
non-MOO related topics (e.g.  Celtic Legends, Cheese Curing, Swedish, 
etc...) that, while possibly interesting to some people, seemed to turn the 
idea into a mockery and partially destroyed its usefulness.  At this time, 
there has been a push to remove most of the non-MOO related topics and to 
restore the original idea behind the device (See Appendix B, Table 5, for a 
list of current topics in the Helpful Player Badge Dispenser). 
 
A.  RULES AND REGULATIONS 
     In order to preserve order on the MOO, there are a number of rules 
which the players are expected to follow if they wish to remain on the MOO.  
For the most part, the rules are quite simple and easy to follow, although 
not always obvious.  Most of the basic rules are easily accessible through 
a command known as 'help manners' which will present the player with a 
document listing the general manners that should be observed on the MOO.  
When a new character is created a suggestion to read this document is 
presented to the player.  The rules include things like being polite to 
other players, to remember that the other players are real people with real 
feelings who can be hurt, to avoid spoofing (see Glossary), and to avoid 
wasting computer resources (See Appendix B, Table 4, for some excerpts from 
the 'Help Manners' Document). 
     The wizards duties in maintaining the order of the MOO  includes 
disciplining anyone who breaks the rules.  For the most part they're 
tolerant of small infractions and normally give warnings for first 
infractions and before exacting punishment.  Punishment on the MOO is quite 
simple.  Your character and its belongings are toaded...wiped from 
existence on the MOO.  For players who continue to log back in with new 
characters and continue to be an annoyance, there is a further measure the 
wizards can take known as site-locking.  This will effectively prevent the 
offender from logging in again from that site.  The side effect to this is 
that nobody else from that site will be able to log in either.  This is 
perhaps the main reason site-locking is quite rare, because the wizards do 
not want to limit MOO access to legitimate players. 
     I probably would not have even known site-locking existed if I had not 
been logged on when a site-locking occurred.  Two players from Ohio State 
kept logging into WolfMOO, created characters with rude, pornographic- 
style names (e.g. Rumple_Fourskin) and messages, and refused to listen to 
the wizards when they were told to change it, so Ohio State was locked from 
accessing the MOO.  Whether or not the lock will be removed in the future 
is up to the wizards. 
     One of the most important rules has been stated as "'Revenge is ours,' 
sayeth the wizards."  To prevent the MOO from falling into complete 
anarchy, the wizards expect players with complaints or problems with other 
players to bring the problems to them...not to deal with them by 
themselves.  Normally, the wizards will first attempt to discuss in a 
logical manner the details of the offense, with both offender and offendee.  
Only if there is a refusal to abide by the rules of the MOO, or a repeat 
offender, will a wizard then resort to toading.  In the time I have been 
studying WolfMOO I have never seen a toading, but I have heard of a number 
of them, usually for people who had been abusing the rights of other 
players. 
     The most serious event that I heard about, revolving around the 
wizards' roles as judges, turned into a very unusual and rare event for the 
MOO:  a trial.  Although I was not present at the time of the trial, I 
managed to obtain some very clear descriptions of the events which 
occurred.  To go into specific details would take too long and would negate 
my promise not to reveal too much about what happened, but a summary of the 
overall events and the outcome would help a lot in explaining the roles the 
wizards play and the way the MOO legal system works. 
     Basically, Person A jokingly made some sexual comments and innuendo to 
Person B.  Person B did not realize that Person A was joking and got very 
insulted and hurt.  Person B proceeded to create a new character and then 
go and harass Person A with the new character, at which point Person A 
complained to the wizards.  The wizards (with much difficulty) managed to 
get them to each tell their own side of the story, plus heard the testimony 
from a number of other players who acted as character witnesses and the 
such.  The final outcome was that it was recommended to Person A to be very 
careful when joking around with people, and person B was reprimanded for 
not taking the complaint to the wizards in the first place and trying to 
exact revenge on its own.  The people involved weren't necessarily happy 
with the judgement, but both accepted it, quite possibly because of what 
the wizards could do to them if they didn't. 
 
3.  SOCIALIZING 
     The two primary activities on the MOO are socializing and programming.  
Although the players may disagree as to which is the primary activity, it 
really depends on the person.  Overall, there is more socializing than 
programming, if for no other reason than just about all of the programmers 
socialize at least a little, while many of the socialites do not program at 
all. 
 
A. CONVERSATION 
     There are a number of ways in which conversations start on the MOO.  
The most common of which is two or more players basically run into each 
other in the same room and start talking.  Most new players are forced to 
try to strike up a conversation with whomever they can find because their 
first exposure to the MOO can be quite disorienting and it is not always 
easy to figure out what the commands are, and how the MOO works. 
     Players who already know each other, obviously will seek each other 
out to discuss something about themselves or the MOO.  It is also quite 
common for players to gravitate to large groups.  A character sitting by 
itself in a room is more likely to be involved with something and too busy 
to talk to, than a gathering of five or six or more people.  There are 
exceptions to this...characters who are exploring and looking for things to 
do often end up on their own, as do newbies who may not know what they are 
doing.  It never hurts to ask someone by themselves what they are up to. 
     Because of the nature of the MOO, players tend to be more outgoing 
than they would in reality; part of the point of MOOing is to interact with 
people in a way you could not in real life, and that includes with people 
they would not be able to have contact with in their locale.  Therefore, 
it's not uncommon for players to approach complete strangers and to start 
talking to them in a manner that they would never dare do in person. 
     The very first thing that happens in almost any MOO conversation is 
the greeting.  This usually consists of saying hello and some sort of wave.  
It's not uncommon to see a whole series of 'Person waves' when a character 
first enters a room in which there are already a number of other 
characters. 
     The conversation itself can best be described as chaotic.  Because 
everything said or done in a conversation must be typed in, there is often 
considerable delay between actions, although when there are a lot of people 
in the same room there is rarely a noticeable pause.  However, one player's 
response to what another player said, may not appear on the screen until 
after the thread of the conversation has turned, or (more likely) a number 
of other threads have been commented on.  In large gatherings, it is quite 
normal for there to be four of five different conversations going on at 
once, often with every player involved in all of them (See p. 11 and 
Appendix B, Table 12, for examples of MOO conversations).   
     To add to the chaos, it is quite easy for private conversations, 
through the use of the page and whisper command (See Appendix A for more 
details on page and whisper), to be going on within the framework of 
another more outward discussion.  There have been a number of times on the 
MOO where I was involved with three outward discussions with a group of 
people, was having a whispered conversation with one player, and a paging 
conversation with two others, all at the same time. 
 
     1. TOPICS 
     Conversations on WolfMOO revolve around anything and everything.  For 
obvious reasons, many conversations deal with computers and programming, 
but by no means is this the only topic discussed.  In fact, many characters 
go out of their way to avoid technobabble whenever they can. 
     Because such a large portion of the players are currently in college, 
discussions often deal with college issues and other issues of this age 
group:  classes, schools, careers, dating, and depression.  I often came 
across groups talking about everything from movies, TV, and literature to 
current events and politics to religion and philosophy...quite often, all 
at the same time.  
     Although a lot of players don't like to talk about their real lives, 
others are quite willing to talk about who they really are and often only 
want to talk about their real lives.  It seems that fairly often, two 
players who are physically located far apart will hit it off very well and 
end up confiding in each other all of their problems and stresses.  This is 
one of the major features that seems to keep players on the MOO.  It can be 
very useful to have someone completely outside of your normal life, to whom 
you can tell what's bothering you, because the people who are in your life 
are often the cause of what's bothering you. 
     This is one of the reasons why WolfMOO is so addictive to some people.  
It offers a relief from the stresses of their normal life.  It can offer 
you someone to talk to and complain to who is outside of your problems, 
people who have no expectations from you, and the opportunity to do almost 
anything that you can imagine and might not be able to do in real life.  It 
offers freedom. 
 
B. GAMES AND DISTRACTIONS 
     In addition to conversation, there are a number other ways in which 
characters can interact and socialize with each other on the MOO.  These 
consist mostly of various games that have been designed and implemented in 
the MOO.  Board games like chess, scrabble, go, master-mind, backgammon, 
connect-4, MOOnopoly, pente, and reversi are all available for play against 
other players.  For example, up to four players can play against each other 
in scrabble.  The computer keeps track of which tiles haven't been picked 
yet, the board and location of tiles placed on the board, and the scores of 
the players.  It is up to the players to decide whether words placed are 
real words or not (there is no dictionary built into the game).  The other 
games work basically the same way (See Appendix B, Table 7 for example of 
the layout of some of the board games). 
     Other distractions include a scavenger-hunt, a hedge-maze, a rubik's 
cube, and detailed exploration of the MOOs geography (See Appendix B, Table 
6 for a copy of the Scavenger Hunt list).   One informant told me that 
there were also airplane and train rides that you could go on and observe 
the scenery.  For the player trying to find something new to do, there are 
a number of places they can look.  One is the Tourist's Guide to WolfMOO 
and the other is on the refrigerator.  The Tourist's Guide to WolfMOO is an 
easily accessible document that can be found in the Living Room and that 
players can read to get an idea of what WolfMOO is like (See Appendix B, 
Table 8 for a copy of this document).  The refrigerator is an object in the 
Kitchen (one of the many rooms in the MOO) on which people write notes 
about things to do or try or check out.  These range from the board games 
to programming contests to puzzles (See Appendix B, Table 9 for a list of 
notes currently on the refrigerator).  If a player is willing to put forth 
just a little effort, they will never be bored on WolfMOO. 
=========================================================================== 
                              Imagination is the one weapon 
                              in the war against reality. 
                                        --Jules de Gaultier 
 
 
PART III: REAL LIFE -- THE WORLD 
     No matter how wonderful and fantastic the MOO may seem, it is 
important to remember that there is reality behind all of it.  Behind the 
characters are real people, not free-floating phantasms who only exist on 
the computer; people with feelings, emotions, desires, and fears. 
 
1.  THE SESSION 
     A standard session on WolfMOO varies form person to person.  The first 
thing most people do after logging on is to check to see who else is 
currently logged in.  Assuming that there's no specific person the newly 
arrived player wished to interact with, they often end up going to either 
the room with the most people or the room with the most people they already 
know...assuming they're feeling social.  Others might just start exploring 
something they haven't checked out up to this point. 
     Lengths of sessions can vary immensely.  The biggest denominator in 
time spent on the MOO is free time available in real life.  As one 
informant put it, "I could stay on indefinitely if it weren't for my non- 
vertical life [sleep], but the damn thing keeps intruding." (Erato, 
2/16/1992)  Times vary so much between individuals and sessions that it is 
almost impossible to even guess the average length of time that a player 
will stay logged on, but I'd say that it's between one and two hours.  
Players have been known to be actively logged in for more than seven hours 
straight, and people often log in for just a minute if they just want to 
check their mail (See Glossary). 
     Because of my schedule as a student, I logged in most often at night 
(local time).  This seems to be fairly standard for many players.  The 
times I logged in during the day there were not nearly as many people 
logged in as there tends to be at night.  At night there averages maybe 35 
players logged on at once... during the day about 15 or 20. 
     Computer access also limits the sessions for a lot of people.  Many 
players probably have to login from a computer lab, which means that they 
can only logon when the lab is open.  One thing to remember though, is that 
it is not the same time locally for everyone involved.  Just in the 
continental U.S., there will be people logged in at the same time from four 
different time zones.  At 11:00 pm local time, you often see a large number 
of people logoff who's labs are closing.  This is also the same time that 
many west coast people start to log on. 
     For the most part, the people with whom I had the most contact with on 
the MOO were from the eastern half of the country because we all could 
logon at the same time.  I'm sure there are a lot of regulars from the west 
coast and from other countries whom I never had any contact with, simply 
because we were never logged in at the same time.  It's almost impossible 
to judge how many regulars there are on the MOO, because of the time 
problems and problems with the defining what makes a regular, but 
statistics have shown that as many as 250 different people will login in a 
single week. (Curtis)   
 
2.  PROBLEMS 
     As wonderful as the MOO can be, like anything else in life, it has 
problems.  From a technical standpoint, there's always the possibility that 
the network will be down and you'll be unable to connect, or even worse, 
will be disconnected in the middle of something.  If there are too many 
people logged on at once and/or there are a lot of complicated programs 
running, the computer can slow down and cause long lags.  Lag is the delay 
between when a command is entered and when it is executed.  It can cause 
massive frustration when a player is involved in an important discussion 
and has to wait extra time for his response to be processed. 
     On a more personal note, there's always the problem of players getting 
hurt by unthinking players.  Because of the real life anonymity of the MOO, 
there are many players who take advantage of this opportunity to do 
socially unacceptable things and end up being abusive and harassing.  
Despite attempts to eliminate it, sexual harassment exists on WolfMOO, just 
as it does in real life.  These players often have a difficult time 
remembering that they are talking to real people with real feelings who can 
get hurt or offended by what they say.  The wizards try to control this, 
but there is only so much they can do. 
     Part of the problem stems from the fact that there are limits on the 
communicative abilities of the written word.  According to one of the 
wizards,  "Research indicates that 55% of communication is body language, 
38% is inflection, and 7% is words.  It's real easy to get misunderstood 
when you're dealing with MOO, which lies in the 7% range." (Aunt.Pol, 
2/4/1992)  Methods have been developed on the MOO which can overcome some 
of this problem, but they are limited by the players experience and ability 
to express himself.  Body language is very difficult to enter into the MOO.  
Players will often enter commands like "Player looks shocked!" or "Player 
gasps" or "Player laughs" but these lack the meaning that true body 
language would give.  Inflection is a bit easier to instill, by 
highlighting words in various ways, for example:  ALL CAPS, 
***asterisks***, and _underscore_. 
     Another problem is that some people begin to take WolfMOO too 
seriously.  While it can be a wonderful diversion, it should not be taken 
to be real life.  Players can become so involved in the MOO and it's 
possibilities (often because of problems in their real life), that the MOO 
becomes their reality.  They begin to take it to be and treat it as real 
life.  This is a fairly rare occurrence but has been known to happen.  Even 
people who do not have this problem often think of WolfMOO as a real 
place...sort of an out-of-the way corner where they can lose themselves. 
=========================================================================== 
                              "The sleep is still in my eyes 
                               The dream is still in my head 
                               I heave a sigh and sadly smile 
                               And lie a while in bed 
                               I wish that it might come to pass 
                               Not fade like all my dreams 
                               Just think of what my life might be 
                               In a world like I have seen" 
 
                                        "2112" -- Rush 
 
 
CONCLUSION 
     Everything that can be imagined.  Some things that can't be.  WolfMOO 
has certainly been an experience outside that which I had previously 
encountered.  Looking at the backgrounds of the people showed me a lot 
about myself.  Why did I, when first logging on, choose to name my 
character as such?  Describe it how?  Why did I find myself drawn to the 
programmers and not the adventurers, whom I would have thought I would find 
more interesting?  Answering these has let me realize a lot that I didn't 
necessarily know before hand. 
     I've also now made a number of new friends, some of them with the 
potential to be quite close.  If things go well, perhaps one day I'll even 
meet some of them in person.  If nothing else, I know they'll always be 
there to talk to...the computerized pen-pal. 
     I hope to find time to continue to explore WolfMOO...to learn even 
more about it.  One day I'd like to connect to some other MUDs and see how 
they run and function, what's similar and what's different about them. 
     Looking at the people on the MOO and the way their interaction has 
allowed me to see what happens when the imaginations of a large number of 
people are let loose to associate and mix with each other.  I've often had 
the chance to observe what the imagination of a single person can produce, 
mostly in books, but also in art, TV, and film.  However, never before had 
I seen a medium by which the full imaginations of a group of separate 
people could be integrated into a single, living, entity which defies 
description, yet invites interpretation. 
=========================================================================== 
>emote waves goodnight to everyone 
Ethnographer waves goodnight to everyone 
Hogan says, "goodnight" 
Hogan says, "it looks like i have to go for now." 
CeNedra says, "night Silk, I will be at your dorm in ten minutes deal?" 
Silk says, "sure" 
>emote attempts to stand up but gets a cramp from all of the sitting he's 
been doing and ends up looking like the hunchback of notredame 
Ethnographer attempts to stand up but gets a cramp from all of the sitting 
he's been doing and ends up looking like the hunchback of notredame 
CeNedra love hunchbacks 
>emote thanks everyone for their time 
Ethnographer thanks everyone for their time 
>emote thinks he's going to go to bed 
Ethnographer thinks he's going to go to bed 
CeNedra thinks she will to 
>emote waves distractedly at his eyes go in and out of focus 
Ethnographer waves distractedly at his eyes go in and out of focus 
>emote waves goodbye one last time 
Silk byes 
Silk does the wave 
Ethnographer waves goodbye one last time 
Beetle waves.. and is fixing to leave himself 
CeNedra goodbyes to Ethnog! 
>home 
You click your heels three times. 
Anthopology Office 
Cluttered doesn't begin to describe this room.  Everything appears to have 
been  stacked, piled, and thrown haphazardly around the room, yet there 
seems to be some implicit pattern that you can't quite put your finger on.  
The furniture (consisting of a bed, a table, and a few chairs) is of crude 
wood construction, yet is strangely comfortable (the multitude of down 
pillows probably helps!).  The wooden floor is covered with numerous throw 
rugs (Persian?) which are them-selves covered with books, large beanbags, 
papers, magazines, and computer printouts.  One wall contains a large 
hearth with a roaring fire, filling the room with warmth, the low, 
crackling sound of the flames, and the light, pleasant smell of the burning 
wood.  A pile of logs, along with tinder, poker, and shovel sit next to the 
hearth.  A large kettle of something that smells particularly appetizing is 
suspended over the fire.  Another wall is blocked by overflowing  
bookshelves.  Books by Tolkein, Steven King, Eddings, Asimov, and many 
others have been stacked, shoved, pushed, and squeezed onto the shelves.  
An entertainment center, complete with stereo, TV, and VCR is in one corner 
of the room, while a complex computer system is in the another.  Hanging 
from the walls and ceiling are many skeletons and skulls from creatures 
long dead.  Any remaining spots on the walls are covered with posters 
depicting scenes from the fantasy genre.  A low doorway to the west leads 
to a sauna.  
>emote types fieldnotes 
Ethnographer types fieldnotes 
>@quit 
*** Disconnected ***  
=========================================================================== 
Appendix A:  Technical Details  
 
This appendix will consist of a largely amateur description of some of the 
technical details behind MUDing and WolfMOO.  Please forgive any blatant 
technical mistakes in the text that follows. 
 
     A large portion of the computerized world is connected through a 
system known as the internet.  Using lines similar to phone lines, any 
computer in the internet can connect to any other, although it may have to 
pass through a number of intermediaries in order to do so.  In order to 
differentiate between all of the computers, each computer system has it's 
own unique address.  Casbah, Northwestern's main computer system at this 
time, has the following internet address:  
 
          casbah.acns.nwu.edu 
 
You can connect to a system on the internet if you know it's address 
through a variety of commands, one of which is telnet.  For example, if I 
wanted to connect to WolfMOO, I would enter the command 
                                                  Note:  This is  
          telnet wolf.pseudo.comp.com 1234        a fictional 
                                                  address. 
 
Once connected to the WolfMOO computer (see page 1 for opening screen) I 
could connect my character and start MOOing. 
 
The core program of WolfMOO is designed such that everything on the MOO can 
be divided into one of two things:  objects or verbs.  Each object has its 
own unique object number by which it can be identified and called from 
anywhere in the MOO.  Each verb is a computer program written onto an 
object, that will in some way manipulate that object.  Everything on the 
MOO is a variation of this, from players to rooms to personal items. 
 
Most verbs can run as if they were simple English sentences. 
Examples: 
 
Verb                                    Jump 
Verb  Object                            Read book 
Verb  Direct Obj.  Prep.  Indir. Obj.   Give flower to Erato 
 
The object(s) can be either the name of the object or the object number, 
which is often used to distinguish between ambiguities (for example if 
there were two objects in the room named Red Flower and Yellow 
Flower...typing 'smell flower' would be ambiguous).  It is therefore also 
possible for a player to manipulate an object that is not present in the 
same room as him by entering the objects number instead of its name. 
 
The remainder of Appendix A will consist of a section of Pavel Curtis's 
essay, "Mudding:  Social Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual 
Realities."  His descriptions of MUDs and the basic command parser are too 
clear and well written for me to attempt to summarize.   
 
----------------- 
 
A MUD is a software program that accepts `connections' from multiple users 
across some kind of network (e.g., telephone lines or the Internet) and 
provides to each user access to a shared database of `rooms', `exits', and 
other objects. Each user browses and manipulates this database from 
`inside' one of those rooms, seeing only those objects that are in the same 
room and moving from room to room mostly via the exits that connect them. A 
MUD, therefore, is a kind of virtual reality, an electronically-represented 
`place' that users can visit. 
 
MUDs are not, however, like the kinds of virtual realities that one usually 
hears about, with fancy graphics and special hardware to sense the position 
and orientation of the user's real-world body. A MUD user's interface to 
the database is entirely text-based; all commands are typed in by the users 
and all feedback is printed as unformatted text on their terminal. The 
typical MUD user interface is most reminiscent of old computer games like 
Adventure and Zork [2]; a typical interaction is shown in Figure 1. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
>look  
Corridor 
    The corridor from the west continues to the east here, but the way is 
blocked by a purple-velvet rope stretched across the hall. There are 
doorways leading to the north and south.  You see a sign hanging from the 
middle of the rope here. 
>read sign 
    This point marks the end of the currently-occupied portion of the 
house.  Guests proceed beyond this point at their own risk. 
     -- The residents 
>go east 
    You step disdainfully over the velvet rope and enter the dusty darkness 
of the unused portion of the house. 
 
           Figure 1: A typical MUD database interaction 
----------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Three major factors distinguish a MUD from an Adventure-style computer 
game, though: 
 
o    A MUD is not goal-oriented; it has no beginning or end, no `score', 
and no notion of `winning' or `success'. In short, even though users of 
MUDs are commonly called players, a MUD isn't really a game at all. 
o    A MUD is extensible from within; a user can add new objects to the 
database such as rooms, exits, `things', and notes. Certain MUDs, including 
the one I run, even support an embedded programming language in which a 
user can describe whole new kinds of behavior for the objects they create. 
 
o    A MUD generally has more than one user connected at a time. All of the 
connected users are browsing and manipulating the same database and can 
encounter the new objects created by others. The multiple users on a MUD 
can communicate with each other in real time. 
 
This last factor has a profound effect on the ways in which users interact 
with the system; it transforms the activity from a solitary one into a 
social one. 
 
Most inter-player communication on MUDs follows rules that fit within the 
framework of the virtual reality. If a player `says' something (using the 
say command), then every other player in the same room will `hear' them. 
For example, suppose that a player named Munchkin typed the command 
 
     say Can anyone hear me? 
 
Then Munchkin would see the feedback 
 
     You say, "Can anyone hear me?" 
 
and every other player in the same room would see 
 
     Muchkin says, "Can anyone hear me?" 
 
Similarly, the emote command allows players to express various forms of 
`non-verbal' communication. If Munchkin types 
 
     emote smiles. 
 
then every player in the same room sees 
 
     Munchkin smiles. 
 
Most interplayer communication relies entirely on these two commands. 
 
There are two circumstances in which the realistic limitations of say and 
emote have proved sufficiently annoying that new mechanisms were developed. 
It sometimes happens that one player wishes to speak to another player in 
the same room, but without anyone else in the room being aware of the 
communication. If 
Munchkin uses the whisper command 
 
     whisper "I wish he'd just go away..." to Frebble 
 
then only Frebble will see 
 
     Munchkin whispers, "I wish he'd just go away..." to you. 
 
The other players in the room see nothing of this at all. 
 
Finally, if one player wishes to say something to another who is connected 
to the MUD but currently in a different and perhaps `remote' room, the page 
command is appropriate. It is invoked with a syntax very like that of the 
whisper command and the recipient sees output like this: 
 
     You sense that Munchkin is looking for you in The Hall. 
     He pages, "Come see this clock, it's tres cool!" 
=========================================================================== 
Appendix B:  Further Examples 
 
 
Table 1:  Sample of Names used on WolfMOO 
 
Parker_Lewis       JimmyTheHand       JoeFeedback      GoDuck 
Dr.Who             Yoyoma             Seamus           stardust 
Morpheus           Elrond             Kilik            sieri 
Shadowen           Zippy              Xythian          Nada 
yduJ               Nosredna           Nonny            yoshi 
Over-Sphere        Golem              Beryn            Jan 
ZenDream           sol                Dren             Obscinni 
auzzie             Leper              Count            BlondeBabe 
Julio              Arien              Foobies          trixie 
natasha            harlequin          pan              capella 
DePhile            Zone-Dancer        Luckstar         Olivia 
Moiyenamarre       Lance              Feoh             Sethus 
Doc                Lydiriel           Cassnak          Dutch 
Puff               Gandalf            Rog              Ford 
Satan              Sigmund            Geatrenda        MrEd 
TamLin             Moonlight          Primetime        fishticles 
darkrider          Frand              Shadowspawn      Scarab 
Wintermute         evangeline         Sorbonne         Mats 
democ              blackadder         Anya             Tohu'o 
DangerMouse        Quimby             DejahThoris      CyberPunk 
Kishawn            Gilmore            Robbie           Muse 
Jonny              Arutha             WhiteRabbit      Alice 
 
 
Table 2:  MOO Genders and Their Respective Pronouns 
 
neuter:        it,it,its,its,itself 
male:          he,him,his,his,himself 
female:        she,her,her,hers,herself 
either:        s/he,him/her,his/her,his/hers,(him/her)self 
Spivak:        e,em,eir,eirs,eirself 
splat:         *e,h*,h*,h*s,h*self 
plural:        they,them,their,theirs,themselves 
egotistical:   I,me,my,mine,myself 
royal:         we,us,our,ours,ourselves 
2nd:           you,you,your,yours,yourself 
 
 
Table 3:  Sample Character Descriptions 
 
5'80Blonde 19  
 
You see a woman with knee-length shiny brown hair, so thick that it is hard 
to see anything else.  ehS wears a pin reading "Support the Free Software 
Foundation!"  ehS seems to have a transparent shield surrounding her, 
rendering her impervious to food fights. 
 
Some guy.  He is approximately 6 feet tall and has a slim build.  His brown 
hair is cut rather short and conservative, except for the blond and orange 
streaks and the braid hanging from his left temple.  His clothes consist of 
a black, cotton T-shirt, black fatigues, black, leather high-topped 
sneakers with oversized tounges, a black leather jacket and a pair of 
black, fingerless, leather gloves.  His face is handsome, although in need 
of a shave and his icy-blue eyes contrast the disturbed smirk he wears.  
 
A young woman with blonde shoulder length hair and blue eyes.  She is 
wearing a knee length blue dress over which is a white apron.  She smiles 
at you as you look at her.  
 
Bouncy is a slender but petite women, with long light brown hair, and 
emreld green eyes. She is wearing a short skirt with zippers on either 
side, and the shirt she is wearing bearly covers her ripe breasts from 
view. Her personality is rather easy going but she does not like to be 
forced to do anything. Bouncy is always willing to have a good time if 
asked nicely.  
 
A smallish female with pale skin and short dark hair.  A long fringe of 
hair falls across her grey eyes, and her face is full of an amused, yet 
kindly, tolerance of the world at large.  She continually seems about to 
smile.  A battered sci-fi paperback sticks out of one hip pocket, and 
something about her nose suggests that it's usually in a book.  
   She sees you looking at her, and gives you a quick, wry grin.  
She is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, appropriately unisex for this bland, 
generic description.  
 
A tall blonde with hazel eyes wearing a beautiful lacy peach dress  
 
A quite introverted young princess on a quest to regain her father's 
long-lost kingdom.  She sometimes has a look on her face as if she 
sometimes just cannot understand reality really applies to her, while other 
times she can be very nice and sociable.  She has a long, blond hair, which 
she takes as well care of as if it was alive by itself, and she has a nice 
voice and likes to sing.  
She is wearing a long gown with golden linings, which looks like it was 
taken straight out of the 18th century.  
Tall. Dark. Ticklish.  Will bite if provoked. 
 
Haj is a young, strong, Persian prince who is in constant search of 
adventure.  He is wearing a chain-mail vest, which he received from his 
father on his 18th birthday.  He also wears some metal leggings with other 
conventional worrior accessories.  On his a belt hang two weapons ... one 
is a small dagger and the other is a doubld-edged sword, thought to be that 
of Ta Taher.    
Haj is a man of ancient times and finds much in this new world which he 
does not understand.  (He is a very strong-willed person who sometimes just 
doesn't 'get' it.) 
 
A foolish, bumbling idiot who is looking for guidance.  
 
No longer a tiger, you see Tigger standing 5'11 with short shiny black 
hair.  He wears a white t-shirt, Umbros, and soccer flats.  You see that 
Tigger is well cut and groomed even in this dress.  You want to submerge 
him in chocolate syrup.  
 
A clean cut looking student on the outside, a caring individual on the 
inside. Please come talk to me.  
 
Adarra is a handsome wench in her early twenties, with a round face whose 
sparkling dark eyes reveal an energy for life only slightly concealed 
behind her young, shy exterior.  
She carries a classical guitar at her side; a book of folk ballads is 
tucked under her arm.  As you look at her guitar, you notice that her hand 
tightly clasping the guitar case displays a thin gold engagement ring.  
Adarra is clad in a white poet's shirt with long ruffled sleeves, over 
which is laced a grey vest.  An ankle-length black skirt flows to her 
ankles; from underneath the hem of the skirt peek layers of white 
petticoats and black ankle-laced boots.  Her long, light-brown hair is tied 
up in a large white bow.  
 
A redheaded man, standing 6'4, with a trim beard.  He seems to have a 
shining wisdom behind the lenses of his wire-rims.  He wears a long black 
trenchcoat, and carries a stringed instrument. 
 
Action_Jackson 
         ,-------_ 
        / _,,_.__ \ 
        '' -  - ;  ; 
          |O  O  ; ;         
         /  /    : ;        
         | ____ <  | 
         | \__/  ',' 
          \_____/ 
       _____|    |_____ 
      /  |=|  ~   |=|  \ 
He proudly displays a Helpful Person Badge. 
 
     The new-and-improved Silk is medium height and very slim.  He is 
wearing short, soft, black boots, into which are tucked his blousy, black 
pantaloons.  He is wearing a light purple shirt, with black trim, and a 
dark purple tie with little purple and blue ameoba like creatures on it.  A 
long, dark, black overcoat completes the ensemble.  He's got dark 
sunglasses with gold rims, that make him look like someone you can't quite 
put your finger on.  His dark brown hair is currently cut on the short 
side. 
     He turns toward you and removes his sunglasses, giving you a quick 
grin as his bright blue eyes seem to swirl with newly found power, hope, 
and inspiration. 
 
You see a fairly tall college student with long, blond hair.  He's wearing 
a black jacket with papers and CD's stuffed in all its many large pockets.  
He notices you looking at all the black clothing he wears, and loudly, 
perhaps a bit defensively, claims that it's _not_ because he's depressed. 
He proudly displays a Helpful Person Badge. 
 
Salmrissa is about five foot four, with dark brown bangs. She stares at the 
world through deep blue eyes. She's wearing faded denim jeans, and a white 
t-shirt which is held away from her abdomen by her breasts.  She proudly 
displays a Helpful Person Badge.  The Generic Chameleon class sleeps 
quietly in her arms.  
She is also uninterested in being hit on by hormonally frantic geeks, so if 
that's what you're considering, look elsewhere now.  
 
A fiery Redhead (not a carrot top but the beautiful shade closer to 
auburn).  Her long, curly tresses come to the middle of her back, the 
golden ringlets calling you to reach out and touch them, experiencing their 
silkiness.  She is quiet and shy.  This adds to her mysteriousness and 
increases the aura of intelligence which surrounds her; for she knows that 
it is better to remain silent and be thought wise than to open your mouth 
and remove all doubts.  She is 5'10" and weighs approx. 127 lbs.  Although 
attractive, she downplays her physical beauty (after all, it's what is on 
the inside that counts!) and relies on her brains to win hearts.  Presently 
she is wearing a black mini with black suede flats and black hose.  The 
cream off-the-shoulder silk angora sweater she is wearing allows you 
glimpses of milky white porcelin smooth shoulders (a few freckles can be 
seen but they are not overpowering and add to the beauty) and what appears 
to be the amazingly soft skin awaiting caresses.  As you look into her 
eyes, you can not ascertain what encaptures you and causes you to be lost 
within the lucid orbs.  Still you are drawn in and can not resist the 
desire to unlock whatever secrets lie hidden in the twinkling emerald green 
masses.  She is very friendly and encourages you to make the first move of 
approachment as her shyness causes her to contemplate a counter to your 
intended actions.  She hopes to make many friends and would like you to be 
one of them, for she is fascinated by what she sees in you..........:)  
 
 
Table 4:  Selected Excerpts from the 'Help Manners' Document 
 
The MOO, like other MUDs, is a social community; it is populated by real 
people that you interact with via network connections.  Like other 
communities of human beings, the members of this one have evolved certain 
guidelines for the behavior of the participants.  This article lays out 
what the wizards believe to be the general consensus concerning these 
`rules of courteous behavior,' or `manners,' on the MOO.  
  
Many of the rules that follow are by no means `obvious' or even related to 
similar rules in the real world.  The MOO is not the real world; it has its 
own special properties that require new kinds of rules.  These rules have 
been worked out through our experiences with the MOO; they reflect what 
we've learned about what make the MOO an enjoyable place.  
  
        >> Don't shout. <<  
It is easy to write a MOO command that prints a message to every connected 
player in the MOO.  Please don't.  It is generally annoying to receive such 
messages; such shouting should be reserved for really important uses, like 
wizards telling everyone that the server is about to be shut down.  
Non-wizards never have a good enough reason to shout.  Use `page' instead.  
  
        >> Only teleport your own things. <<  
By default, most objects (including other players) allow themselves to be 
moved freely from place to place within the MOO.  This fact makes it easier 
to build useful objects like exits and magic rings that move things as a 
part of their normal role in the virtual reality.  Unfortunately, it also 
makes it easy to move other players from place to place without their 
permission, or to move objects in and out of other players' possession.  
Please don't do this; it's annoying (at the least) to the poor victim and 
can only cause bad feelings.  
  
        >> Don't teleport silently. <<  
It is easy to write MOO commands that move you instantly from place to 
place.  In writing such programs, please remember to print a message to all 
players both in the place you're moving from and in the place you're moving 
to.  It is disconcerting and otherwise unpleasant for someone to suddenly 
say something in a room without there ever having been a notice that that 
person had arrived.  Similarly, it is annoying to discover that you've been 
talking for some time to a person who has left the room without a sound.  
 
***************************************************************** 
  
The wizards are always interested in hearing players' feedback on these 
rules of behavior.  The rules were developed by the consensus of players 
and can be expected to evolve that way, too. 
 
 
Table 5:  Topics in the Helpful Player Badge Dispenser 
 
generic following dogs             creating objects (general) 
communications                     movement 
tasks and permissions              basic programming 
psychology and basic Moo issues    Morphing 
General Help                       badges 
Transgenderism                     Getting Around 
moo-addiction                      Fun Things to Do 
Creativity                         fractal geometry 
Speleology                         Celtic legends 
general MOO non-programming stuff  Beginner Questions 
trouble-shooting                   grunge 
Helpful Person Finder              hacking around WolfMOOCore.DB 
depression                         simple verbs 
setting messages                   Telnet Hassles 
BBS software                       C++ 
MOO rpg                            user interfaces 
GOMS                               godnet 
minimal.db                         building 
Geek Avoidance                     Swedish 
GNU Emacs                          evil computer uses 
drugs                              Unix 
clients                            debugging 
design issues                      quota 
Why NOT to fall in love with someone on the MOO 
Sex, Sex, Sex, Cheese Curing, MOO revolution 
 
 
Table 6:  MOO Scavenger Hunt 
 
Scavenger Hunt List requires you to find, in order:  
*  1. The Family Room 
   2. any pillow 
   3. enormous vegetable marrow 
   4. salamander 
   5. Wind-Up Duck 
   6. Tutorial 
   7. Holy Grail 
   8. Aunt.Pol 
   9. Integrating Detail Room Mark III 
  10. any Lelladorin's Word Square 
 * -- item/place already found. 
 
 
Table 7:  MOO Board Games 
 
   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 
   _____________________________  
 1|=     '       =       '     =| 
 2|  -       "       "       -  | 
 3|    -       '   '       -    | 
 4|'     -       '       -     '| 
 5|        -           -        | 
 6|  "       "       "       "  | 
 7|    '       '   '       '    | 
 8|=     '       *       '     =|      Blank Scrabble Board 
 9|    '       '   '       '    | 
10|  "       "       "       "  | 
11|        -           -        | 
12|'     -       '       -     '| 
13|    -       '   '       -    | 
14|  -       "       "       -  | 
15|=     '       =       '     =| 
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
 
   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 
   _____________________________  
 1|=     '       =       ' D E W| 
 2|  -       "     I M A G E -  | 
 3|    -       '   '       A    | 
 4|'     -       '       - F   '| 
 5|  S     B       S T A G E S  | 
 6|  P R O L E     T "     N O  | 
 7|  O '   A   '   A     D ' A M| 
 8|F O X ' Z     D R O N E   R E| Partially Filled Scrabble Board 
 9|E N '   E   '   V     C '    | 
10|W "     S K A T E "   E   "  | 
11|        -     A   P I N E    | 
12|'     -   J I B       C     D| 
13|    -     U ' O '     Y E T I| 
14|  -   V A T   O   H       - N| 
15|=     '       S L I G H T   E| 
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
                    MOOnopoly 
 
+-----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+ 
|PARK |Ken|CHA|Ind|Ill|B&O|Atl|Ven|Wat|Mar|>JAIL| 
|     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |     | 
+-----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+ 
|New  |                                   |  Pac| 
+-----+                                   +-----+ 
|Ten  |   ---      ---                    |  Nor| 
+-----+  |o o|    |o o|                   +-----+ 
|CCH  |  |   |    | o |                   |  CCH| 
+-----+  |o o|    |o o|                   +-----+ 
|StJ  |   ---      ---                    |  Pen| 
+-----+                             tm    +-----+ 
|Prr  |    M  O  O  N  O  P  O  L  Y      |  Sho| 
+-----+                                   +-----+ 
|Vir  |                                   |  CHA| 
+-----+                                   +-----+ 
|Sta  |                                   |  Par| 
+-----+                                   +-----+ 
|Ele  |                                   |  LUX| 
+-----+                                   +-----+ 
|StC  |                                   |  Brd| 
+-----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+ 
|     |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   GO| 
|JAIL |Con|Ver|CHA|Ori|Rea|TAX|Bal|CCH|Med| <-- | 
+-----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+ 
 
 
                Chess 
 
  +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 
8 | r | n | b | q | k | b | n | r |                GO 
  +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    
7 | p | p | p | p | p | p | p | p |        +-----------------+ 
  +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+      1 | . . . . . . . . | 
6 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |      2 | . . . . . . . . | 
  +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+      3 | . # . . . . . . | 
5 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |      4 | . . O . . . . . | 
  +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+      5 | . . . O . . . . | 
4 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |      6 | . . . . O . . . | 
  +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+      7 | . . . . . . . . | 
3 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |      8 | . . . . . . . . | 
  +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+        +-----------------+ 
2 | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |          A B C D E F G H  
  +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 
1 | R | N | B | Q | K | B | N | R | 
  +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ 
    a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h 
 
 
 
Table 8:  Tourist's Guide to WolfMOO 
 
You see a handy booklet full of information on that attraction of 
attractions, WolfMOO. 
 
Welcome to WolfMOO! We hope your stay is a pleasant and enjoyable one. 
 
Excitement and adventure as well as curious oddities inhabit the Wolf 
House. Sprawling outwards and upwards, the widely varying architectures 
present an amazing, if somewhat shocking, image to first-time visitors. The 
current landlords keep finding new rooms in dusty hallways and objects in 
forgotten alcoves. No one quite knows the extent of the mansion. Some say 
that entire subcultures inhabit sections of the house and its surrounding 
land, forming pacts with each other in a tension filled non-existence. The 
owners either have no knowledge of this or do not mind. 
 
In the entrance hall, an ancient Strasbourg Clock riddled with dials and 
knobs displays the time for dozens of different regions of the world. It 
would be a simple task to adjust one of the unused clock faces to a 
suitable time. Walking into the dining room, the preponderance of curios 
often convinces people that the room was never anything other than a game 
room. This is further compounded by the fact that people frequently leave 
new puzzles in there, perhaps to trap the unwary. The kitchen, situated to 
the south of the dining room, has the most modern of appliances. Random 
notes decorate the refrigerator, and a whirring cuisinart grinds assorted 
things into exciting foods. Please be cautious near the master bedroom to 
the east of the entrance hall as the owners have installed some security 
measures. 
 
Outside, a luxurious pool filled with an inummerable number of pool toys 
provides a relaxing area for fun or play. A hot tub nearby awaits swimmers 
resting after a quick dip in the pool. Amidst this scene of tranquil bliss, 
rumors of creatures living beneath the pool abound. How they survive in the 
murky chlorinated water, no one knows. Some even say that catacombs snake 
underneath the house and that terrifying kobolds and goblins cavort in 
abandoned mine shafts. Most disregard these tales as superstitious fears of 
the dark. There are, of course, no secret societies or Illuminati. No one 
would believe that a medieval castle would exist anywhere near the Wolf 
House. Any word of them is obviously just a fantasy of the mind. 
 
For the children, there is a delightful tree house in the back which is 
filled with untold suprises. Alongside the pool, a genuine(tm) Rube 
Goldberg contraption designed to provide hours of enjoyment awaits the pull 
of curious hands. They may also find the living room, the roost of a most 
audible cockatoo, quite enjoyable. Of course, caution should be advised 
with respect to the discussions that arise in there. They have been known 
to drive visitors insane. If this unfortunate incident does afflict 
someone, help may be sought at the Department of Psychology on the second 
floor. A past owner created it, as well as an entire university, in a fit 
of frenzied building. Aid is available at the MOOjunkies Anonymous 
counseling center located above the family room for those suffering from 
that dreaded addiction. Many people have also established rooms in that 
area, most likely to remain in close proximity to this vital service. 
 
Evidently, some businesses have also sprung up in obscure corners of the 
house. No one really knows, but startled laughter can sometimes be heard 
from broken mirrors. From the slightly swaying movements of those visiting 
the dusty, uninhabited areas of the house, one could also imagine that a 
pub resides nearby. This is all just wild speculation of course. Taverns 
have no more of a chance existing in a house than a gypsy caravan or an 
alien space ship would have behind it. 
 
 
Table 9:  WolfMOO Refrigerator  
 
This is a fine, large fridge that looks like it could hold enough to 
support a fairly large household.  There are several little magnets on the 
door; many of them are being used to hold up notes.  Type 'read 1 on 
fridge' for help on reading what's here. 
    1 - Wolf:  How to use notes on the fridge 
    2 - Belkira:  First Puzzle on MOO! 
    3 - Floyd:  Adventuring 
    4 - Floyd:  Ghostbusters! 
    5 - Sickle:  Aliens! 
    6 - Doc:  Shopping List -- Buy at Moo-Store 
    7 - Mutt:  a dog-eared note 
    8 - Belkira:  "Nothing We Can Do" 
    9 - Doc:  MOO-ARCADE! NEW UNDERGROUND CENTER! 
   10 - Puzzler:  Try your skills on the Hedge Maze! 
   11 - Doc:  Moonopoly 
   12 - syrup:  Scrabble! 
   13 - Zipper:  Master safes 
   14 - syrup:  Eliza's on MOO! 
   15 - Aunt.Pol:  Try your assembly skills 
   16 - Amoeba:  Multiplayer Communications 
   17 - Zipper:  Good programmers needed! 
   18 - Zipper:  (new!) Spiral-al 
   19 - Doc:  Vast railroad empire... 
   20 - Beltira:  Coming soon to a town near you... 
   21 - housekeeper:  I'm kinda busy but I'll clean your stuff... 
   22 - Aunt.Pol:  Hotel rooms available 
   23 - Bunny:  Advertisement for MPIF 
   24 - Gelfind:  Visit WolfMOO International Raceway! 
   25 - Amoeba:  generic programmable note 
   26 - Sally:  The End Cafe is now OPEN! 
   27 - syrup:  improved (yet again) login watcher 
 
 
Table 10:  WolfMOO Mansion 
 
WolfMOO takes place inside and on the grounds of a large, sprawling 
mansion.  The house has existed in one form or another for literally 
hundreds of years, passing through the hands of a bewildering seqeuence of 
owners.  Most of the owners have taken the opportunity to add to the 
mansion, extending it in dozens of different directions, each with a 
completely different vision and architectural style.  In short, this house 
is a bit of a mongrel.  
The house is also very large, so large in fact that the current occupants 
themselves have only ever explored a tiny portion of it.  What may be going 
on in other parts of the house is anybody's guess.  I wouldn't be the least 
bit surprised to hear about space aliens, ancient secret societies, or even 
high-tech cottage industries that are making use of parts of the house.  
With nobody having the means or inclination to patrol the whole place, 
almost anything could be squatting here.  
  
South of the occupied part of the house lie the palatial gardens.  Many 
parts of the gardens are still being tended and cared for, some even by 
gardeners hired by the current occupants.  Of course, there are other parts 
of the gardens that have become quite overgrown and wild, sheltering who 
knows what.   
The land underneath the house is also full of strange tunnels, odd caverns, 
perhaps a forgotten mine, and other amusements.  Of course, except for the 
wine cellars, the current occupants are completely unaware of such 
developments.  
  
 
Table 11:  Various Room Descriptions 
 
The Dining Room 
This room is dominated by a large pearwood table and six matching chairs.  
There are a pair of large bookcases on the north wall and doors into the 
kitchen to the south.  To the east is an open archway leading into the 
entrance hall. 
You see Mastermind Board, Mastermind Instructions, Deck of Playing Cards, 
GOPS, Automatic Poker Pot, Dwarf's backgammon board, Dwarf's chessboard, 
big connect-4, 'nopoly bank, zoologist, Dwarf's reversi board, Clasp's 
connect-4 board, Scrabble board, gagsi, Ghost game, Beldin's solver for 
Dwarf's mind bender, Moonopoly Board, Paper Bag, Dwarf's mind bender, 
PenteSet, go board, Rubik's Cube, Scavenger Hunt List, generic set of dice, 
wind up lamb, and Number puzzle here. 
 
The Kitchen  
The kitchen is of a modern design, very large and well-lit, yet still homey 
and comfortable.  The walls are covered in beautiful natural-wood cabinets 
and the stove is set into a large 'island' counter in the center of the 
room.  Over the sink, along the south wall, there are windows looking out 
onto the pool and gardens.  At the west end of the room, there is a little 
breakfast nook with a table and four chairs; beyond it to the west is the 
family room.  There are doors in the north wall leading into the dining 
room, a sliding glass door to the south, and a doorway in the northeast 
corner leading out into the entrance hall.  
You see a refrigerator, cookbook, dishwasher, cuisinart, kitchen counter, 
microwave, and carrot here.  
 
Nocturne  
     Moonlight pours through an open window, as rain beats a steady patter 
on the balcony to the west. Many dark-coloured stones compose the floor of 
this room, whilst the walls are the characteristic black stone of the Keep. 
A large bed lies unmade, soft pearl duvets ruffled over black satin sheets. 
Several  
pillows are thrown about. A chill draft wafts through the window, and the 
bed seems all the more seductive.  
     A heavy wooden door leads south into the observatory.  
 
Library 
The Bovine Illuminati Library is a chaotic jumble of shelves overflowing 
with books, scrolls, maps and random scrawlings. Several desks and chairs 
are scattered about the place so that initiates may sit and study in their 
quest for enlightenment. A doorway to the east leads through to the 
technical section.  
 
Thumper's Thicket 
The feeling here is peaceful and serene. A soft breeze blows through the 
trees all around you. Sunlight filters through the leaves above and dances 
across the forest floor.  
 
Parnassus  
 A brooke flows between dense groves of olive trees, clear water cascading 
over rocks rounded by its centuries-old flow. The sun plays in the stream, 
casting shimmering reflections amidst the boughs of strong trees. 
Snow-capped peaks rise from deep green fields of grass, undulating in the 
wind. A warm breeze ripples over a nearby pond, where toads croak lazily 
within bunches of reeds.  The enchanting melody of a songbird and the 
distant musing of a harp lulls you into a sensual euphoria. You sit in the 
shadow of a laurel -- breathing deep the heady aroma of countless natural 
perfumes. As sylvan creatures play within flowering arboria, you pause to 
mourn reality's loss of this mythic paradise. With a sigh, you slip back 
into the wondrous illusion. 
 
Hermaphrodite Heaven 
Welcome to the domain of Marie-Jean/Jean-Marie. As you look around, you 
notice that your feet are no longer on the ground.  In fact, you're 
floating!  You appear suspended at the center of a vast night sky. You are 
surrounded by gauzy nebulae, brilliant stars, fiery comets, and awe- 
inspiring, immense planets.  After flailing about a bit, you encounter the 
series of invisible rails that allow you to transport yourself about in 
this tiny piece of eternity. A series of gravity-stabilized discs lead up 
to (up? what's up? ain't got no gravity here, dude(tte)!  Okay, they lead 
_toward_) an enormous hammock the size of a double bed, which, although 
apparently supported by nothing, somehow manages to remain in the same 
place.  It is draped with various grey-, rose-, and malachite-colored 
hangings, and is covered with pillows of the same colors.  The pillows are 
velcro-attached, but may be easily _detached_ for a zero-g pillow fight. As 
you direct your gaze towards what used to be downward, you spy a swirling 
black hole (don't ask how you can see a black hole, or how it can swirl.  
The creator pleads poetic license), gateway to points unknown.  It seems to 
be the only exit. 
 
Hell 
A really hot, firey place that looks like the cover of a heavy-metal album.  
There are lots of people (and lawyers) here.  At one end of the chamber is 
a line of new-admits, being handled by an arch-devil.  To the northeast is 
a simple door with writing on it.  
 
Hell's library 
A huge, cavernous room filled with books.  Most of the books are calculus 
texts.  To your surprise, there is a section of award-winning mystery 
novels.  Every mystery novel has the last page torn out so you'll never 
find out whodunnit.  There is a door to the southwest. 
 
Alpha Club 
This is a spacious room with several working benches. Some equipments like 
CRO, multimeters, screwdrivers, hammers, soldering irons etc. are lying 
around on the benches.  There is a huge bookselve leaning against the west 
wall with lots and lots of books of various kinds like Hitch Hikers' Guide 
to the Galaxy, GEB an Eternal Golden Braid, MCS yearbooks, DGS yearbooks, 
MSS yearbooks, Lasallites, Playmates of the Year etc selved in it.  Several 
double-deck beds are placed on the far side of the room, looking a little 
bit untidy and, perhaps, smelly.  What a typical room for young, innovative 
scientists! 
 
 
Table 12:  Sample Conversation 
 
Holly teleports in. 
Katz says, "Touche!   I've been car hunting...  :-(" 
Cricket says, "Are you a anthropologist, Ethnographer?" 
>emote ers, "Sort of" 
Ethnographer ers, "Sort of" 
Beetle says, "hey Katz" 
Horsey says, "bag any cars?" 
Katz waves to Holly 
Holly says, "hi" 
emote shows Cricket the note 
Holly says, "" 
Flub wonders what Bugs was trying to do to the hat? 
Cricket says, "I have a bachelors in that field." 
Velcro waves. 
Holly wave 
Ethnographer shows Cricket the note 
Garion sees the glory of the royal scam. 
>give note to Cricket 
You hand Copy of My Note to Cricket. 
Katz says, "Not yet - and I've still got a dead Golf to get rid of  :-(" 
Bugs was trying to get the hat to wave at itself. 
Egg whispers, "Ethnog, can you please help me adjust my entrance /exit 
description i lost the exact command and i am desparate..." 
Flub says, "It won't." 
La-Z-Boy recliner arrives with a faint smell of Velveeta cheese melted over 
fried Spam. 
Flub says, "It would get stuck in a oo and spam me if it did." 
>whisper "@arrive ring is \"message\"   " to Egg 
Velcro ist gewaven. 
CeNedra checks her calendar in RL, she didn't realize that today was pick 
on CeNedra day, she thought that was next week.! 
Flub says, "loop even. damn emacs." 
You whisper, "@arrive ring is "message"   " to Egg. 
Horsey tsks and says better than a Ford Pinto. 
Beetle is far to tired to read this fast 
>whisper "same thing but depart . . .. " to Egg 
Garion laughs at Flub. 
Bugs gives Gus a VELVEETA BURRITO!! 
Katz says, "What, a golf?" 
Flub made enough objects that respond to things said to get it working 
right. 
You whisper, "same thing but depart . . .. " to Egg. 
Cricket says, "What class is it that you are doing this for.  It seems like 
a pretty big project for one semester." 
Horsey sings Aye, aye, aye aye, oh I'm the Velveet Burrito! 
Egg says, "thanks to etnagropher i will be even more evident!!!" 
The hand on generic stupid waving hat stops waving. 
Flub wonders why emacs can't keep up with his typing, since it isn't that 
fast. 
=========================================================================== 
Appendix C:  Glossary 
 
ADVENTURING:  Participating in a RPG style game 
BUILDING:  Designing objects for the MOO.  Programming. 
CHARACTER:  The manifestation of a player that the other players will see 
     and interact with.  This is YOU in the virtual world. 
COMMAND:  See verb. 
HACKER:  Slang for a computer programmer. 
HOME:  The room where a character sleeps when the player is not logged in. 
IDLE:  When a character has been inactive for a while it is  
     considered to be idle. 
INTERNET:  The computer network that hooks a large portion of the world's 
     computers together.  It is through the internet that you can connect 
     to WolfMOO 
IRL (or just RL):  Abbreviation for In Real Life 
LAG:  The time differential between when a command is entered into the 
     computer and when it is executed.  During times when there are a lot 
     of people logged on at once or when there are other computer problems, 
     lag can be quite bad and can cause communication problems. 
LOGGING IN/OUT:  The process by which you connect into a computer system is 
     referred to as logging in.  Leaving the system is logging-out. 
MAIL:  There is a mail-system on the MOO by which players can send messages 
     to other players who aren't necessarily logged on.  Basically 
     equivalent to mail in the real world. 
MESSAGES:  Most actions (verbs) on the MOO cause things to happen that 
     other characters will see.  What the other character's see is referred 
     to as a message. 
MORPHING:  The ability of a character to transform itself from one pre-set 
     description to another.  Example:  A werewolf has a human form and a 
     wolf form. (Although there is not necessarily a limit of two forms on 
     the MOO)  A character who morphs can change almost everything about 
     itself, including its name, sex, and description; everything but it's 
     object number. 
MUD:  Multi-User Dungeon (or sometimes Multi-User Dimension) 
NETSEX:  A form of interaction in which the players involved perform and 
     say sexually-explicit actions so as to act out sex through the 
     computer. 
NEWBIE:  A player who is new to the MOO and may not be familiar with many 
     of its intricacies. 
OBJECT:  Everything in the MOO world is an object:  characters, rooms, 
     devices.  Every object has a unique object number by which it can be 
     referred and manipulated. 
OBJECT NUMBER:  See object 
PLAYER:  A person who logs into the MOO and manipulates characters is 
     referred to as a player. 
PROGRAMMER:  Players with the ability to verbs (computer programs) on 
     objects that will allow the object to do something or manipulate 
     something in the MOO world. 
PUPPETS:  Special objects in the MOO that act like separate characters but 
     which are actually controlled by another character.  They can perform 
     actions and speak the way normal characters can and can also transmit 
     everything they see to the controlling character.  Puppets cannot 
     create new objects or program. 
QUOTA:  The maximum number of objects a character can own at any time.  The 
     purpose of a quota is to keep the database as small as possible. 
RECYCLE:  To remove all descriptions, properties, and verbs from an object.  
     Destruction or annihilation of an object. 
REGISTRATION:  A means to control who may login to the MOO and who can't be 
     requiring people to present a form of ID (normally an email address) 
     before they are granted permission to enter the MOO. 
REGULAR:  A player who frequents the MOO on a regular basis as opposed to 
     someone who may log on once or twice then never return. 
ROOM:  A location within the MUD where characters can interact with each 
     other.  Rooms are normally connected to each other and can be 
     traversed through standard directions such as east, north, and up. 
RPG:  Role-Playing Game.  Refers to the classic 'Dungeons & Dragons' style 
     game whereby characters start at a low level and gradually gain skills 
     through experience. 
SITE:  The local computer system from which a player logs into the MOO. 
SITE-LOCKING:  A wizardly function by which they may prevent anyone from a 
     given computer site  from logging on.  Normally only used in drastic 
     situations. 
SLEEP:  A character who's player is not logged on is said to be sleeping. 
SMILEYS:  A form of computer symbolism by which people can communicate 
     feelings and emotions.  They are common computer characters that, when 
     put together and looked at sideways, appear to look like smiling faces 
     (or frowns). 
     Examples:  :-)  :)  :')  ;)  :(  8)  ;-()  :0  =O 
SPOOF:  (Definition directly from 'Help Manners') Spoofing is loosely 
     defined as `causing misleading output to be printed to other players.'  
     For example, it would be spoofing for anyone but Munchkin to print out 
     a message like `Munchkin sticks out his tongue at Potrzebie.'  This 
     makes it look like Munchkin is unhappy with Potrzebie even though that 
     may not be the case at all. 
TECHNOBABBLE:  Refers to complex computer programming talk which non 
     programmers (and even many programmers) cannot understand or follow. 
TELEPORT:  A method from moving from any one room to another on the MOO 
     instantly, instead of traveling by more standard means such as 
     walking. 
TELNET:  A command by which a person may connect one computer to another. 
TINYSCENERY:  An object in the MOO which does nothing.  It may have a fancy 
     description, but otherwise serves no useful purpose. 
TINYSEXER:  A person on the MOO whose main interest for being on the MOO is 
     netsex. 
TOADING:  A wizardly function by which an object is destroyed by the 
     wizard, normally by some offense to the standards of conduct that have 
     been instituted on the MOO. 
VERB:  A computer program that has been assigned to a specific object in 
     the MOO and that will do something interesting (hopefully) when run. 
VIRTUAL REALITY:  Life in the MOO as opposed to real life outside the 
     computer.  Anything that is perceived to happen or exist in the MOO is 
     considered to be part of the character's virtual reality. 
WIZARD:  Programmers with special abilities on the MOO.  It is they who run 
     and maintain the MOO, keep civil order (as it were), and oversee the 
     general activities and functions of the MOO.  They are gods, judges, 
     and police all rolled into one.  They're also, for the most part, 
     quite friendly and easy going and willing to help people who ask. 
=========================================================================== 
                               Bibliography 
 
 
Curtis, Pavel.  "Mudding:  Social Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual 
     Realities."