MOOs, MUDs and Other Virtual Hangouts by Paul Outka

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MOOs, MUDs and Other Virtual Hangouts by Paul
Outka
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Submission E
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What are MUDs (and MOOs)

• Multi-User Demission (MUDs)
• MUDs Object Orientated (MOOs).
• virtual communities were players/users interact
  via an on-line text based environment

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The virtual community

• be quite large
• environment can be quite elaborate
• dimensions are usually a series of settings
  (e.g. rooms, parlors, parts of a house, etc)
• virtual world (e.g. town, kingdom, world, etc.)
  where characters (players/users) interact.

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Social Dynamics

• Users interact and move about the virtual
  environment, forming alliances, friendships and
  even romances usually in a quest to fight off
  evil in the form of some imaginary villain,
  demon, wizard etc.

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Types of MUDs

• DIKU-MUDs are based on fantasy role playing,
  similar to Dungeons and Dragons. (1979 fantasy
  role playing game
• MOOs
• LPMUDs
• TINYMUDS

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The Administrative and Social structure

• Three social classes
• Players
• Programmers (builders)
• Wizards (implementers).

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Players

• Players are usually novice players with little
  programming experience. Players usually are
  limited to talking to other players and creating
  simple objects.
• Once their skills advance they can become a
  programmer.

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Programmers

• Programmers make up the majority of the community
  and perform the majority of the programming
  tasks
• creating complex objects
• and attaching verbs (programs that call the
  objects)

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Wizards

• usually one or two to a site
• charged with the administration of the site
• gives them the power to alter the basic
  demission of the virtual world.

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Player Anonymity

• player can assume an identity from a bullet list
  of descriptions provided by the site.
• player can totally recreate him/herself in this
  virtual environment.
• MOO/MUDs allows players to interact anomalously

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Challenges

• mainly form players harassing each other
• Spamming - repeatedly asking annoying questions
  or making harassment statements
• Spoofing - writing programs that make a player
  appear to be making statements they are not
  making
• Sexual harassment.

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player self defense

• logon and help files
• Players can reject any communication from any
  player
• can activate verbs that check for listening
  devices
• can lock their rooms preventing unauthorized
  (those without a key) players form entering.
• The can also report any harassing behavior to
  the wizard.

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Wizard

• maintain social order for the MOO
• administrative duties
• registering all players and passwords
• detecting harassment players and verbs
• promoting or demoting players from players to
  programmer to wizards or visa versa.

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Example

• http//www.topmudsites.com/

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MUD/MOO administration

• Very time consuming
• can be frustrating and thankless job