MUDS & MUDDING
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What's a MUD

A MUD (Multiple User Dungeon) is a computer program which multiple users can log into and interact with other players, the environment or computer generated monsters (NCB's). When you first log into a Mud you will create a character, depending on what the Mud is and the scenario, there are choices that you will be prompted to make in order to create this "individual character".

Some typical questions you must answer before entering the realm are:-

Character name - The name you wish yourself to be known by.

Name - Your real name.

E-mail - Your e-mail address.

Sex - What sex your character is.

Password - A password you must choose, so that only you can log your character in.

Race - What race you wish your character to be. Each race has different abilities, for example Dwarfs and Giants in general make better fighters, while Elfs are good magic users. Nymphs make good rogues and so on. The race you choose is most important in deciding what class you can become, and be successful in that class. Each race has different stats. Stats effect how your character will perform in certain things, like a Giant will have high strength, ideally suited to fight and therefore will make a good fighter. An elf will have high wisdom, ideal in casting spells, hence he(or she) will make a good mage. There is a trade off, if a character has high something, he will have a lower something else. For example a Giant will have high strength and constitution, but will have low wisdom and intelligence making him useless in magic. An elf will have high wisdom and intelligence, but will have low strength and constitution, making him a bad fighter. All this is very general as muds differ so much, each one will have different races, stats and so on, if your unsure what race to become, log into a mud as a guest and ask someone what is the peek race to choose for the class you wish to join.

Class - You must choose what class you wish to be while generating your character, or while in the game you may need to join a guild. Classes vary dramatically from mud to mud, but the most common ones are :- Fighters, Mages, Monks, Clerics, Rogues and Kattan.

Types of MUDs

Not all MUDs are for games, there are literally hundreds out there ranging from adventure games to MUD environments that are used for counseling.

The LP- family of MUDs, including Diku and AberMUD, are usually based on roleplaying adventure games; the players on those MUDs tend to run around in groups or alone killing monsters, solving puzzles, and gaining experience in the quest to become a high mortal (HM).

There are still other types of MUDs, such as MOOs, UnterMUDs, and so forth. Each type has its own unique style, and players are rarely forced to stick to one type of playing - there's no rule that says an LPMUD _must_ be a combat-oriented MUD, or that a TinyMUSH _must not_ be a combat-oriented MUD.

Connecting to a Mud

There are several ways to connect to a MUD. The most common is to use a program called TELNET. This is a command line based program the will display text received and transmit text typed. If your web browser is configured correctly, just clicking on a link of a mud that has a web home page should launch telnet and log you in. However, if you know the address and would like to do it manually, just type telnet://address.address:port. Remember you need the address and PORT of the mud. Alternatively you can manually launch telnet and set the address and port number directly into it.

The problem with telnet is that its a clumsy and awkward way to play a mud, so client programs where invented:-

Clients

A client program is another program you use to connect to a mud instead of telnet. Clients offer many advantages over telnet as they have been programed with Mudding in mind. Some clients will feature triggers (do an automatic action, when something happens), macros, aliases, auto mapping and more. Clients are available from many ftp sites, i have included a few in my links pages

Starting out in a MUD

When you first create a character a enter the world of the mud you have chosen, you might feel disorinated. The first step is always to type <help> this will bring up some information on help files. You must reed these files, especially ones relating to the commands. The commands are very important as they allow you to interact with the MUD. Here are just a few possible commands, but as each MUD is different they might not all work, so read the help files.

To move around - type <n> for north, <s> for south, <ne> for north east and so on

To look around - type <look> or sometimes <l>

To say something - type <say whatever you want to say>

To see who else is on - type <who>

To talk to someone who is not in the same room - type <tell whoever whatever you want to say>

To get something - type <get item name>

To wear something - type <wear item>

To wield a weapon - type <wield weapon in right hand> will wield a weapon in your right hand.

To kill something - type <kill monster name>

Once you have read the help files, and only once you have done that, if you still have any questions, ask someone else who's playing for help. They don't have to help you, so be nice and polite and explain to them its your first time in a mud. Most people will be happy to help.

MUDCONDUCT for mudding

Don't whine and annoy people by asking them for things too much, don't be rude or take peoples help for granted. Always treat these people like you would in real life. Even though you may think its only a game, its actually not, you are interacting with real people, some who spent months or even years on a mud and therefore must treat them accordingly. You must also read the help files concerning LAW. This is important as some muds don't allow killing of the players or only in certain areas. Some muds make stealing a player kill (pk) offense, some muds don't allow vulgar language and so on.

RolePlay

What makes muds so fun, is that you can choose to be anything you want to be. Enter a fantasy world and maybe act out a personality that you can't do in the real world. Some players roleplay their character so well, that would think this guy is really like this. When I started out in this particular mud a few years back, there was a high level rouge player called Fishpunt. Fishpunt was a female nymph rougue, yet she was played by a man. He called himself a male lesbian, he terrorized the mud in some really rougish ways that you would think this guy is a criminal. He started guild wars, he set traps for players and stole from them. He was really good at role playing, right down to the way he talked to you, he made the game FUN and REAL! This guy then created another character, a drow monk called Flunch, yet he roleplayed that character so differently, that you would have never thought this is the same guy, in real life he turned out to be a very conservative person.