CONNECTING TO AREA51_MOO:

You will need to have a telnet client (and, of course, a connection to the Internet) to connect to Area51_MOO. Most operating systems, such as Windows95, Windows 3.1, or MacOS, have a telnet client built in. Consult your operating system's help to learn how to use it. However, most operating systems' telnet clients have no echoing, which means that you often cannot see what you are typing (this is known as "raw telnet"). Therefore, you should consider obtaining a telnet client specifically designed for use with MOOs. The Area51_MOO homepage (http://www.newdream.net/~scully/moo/a51.htm) contains links to locations on the Internet where you can download shareware or freeware MOO-specific telnet clients. Once you have obtained and started the telnet client you have chosen to use, you will be asked to enter a connect address. Area51_MOO's telnet address is: frealfso.fsu.umd.edu 8888 The 8888 is critical! This is the virtual port which the MOO listens to. If you do not specify this port in the address, you will initiate a regular telnet session into the server computer on which Area51_MOO runs. Most clients will have a separate line or box in which to enter the port number. You may experience difficulty using the DNS (Domain Name Server) address for Area51_MOO. In this case, remove the frealfso.fsu.umd.edu name from the connect line, and enter 131.118.80.42 while keeping the same port specification of 8888.

Once you have achieved a connection, you will see the Area51_MOO login screen. At this point, you should type: connect guest unless you already have a character on Area51_MOO, in which case you will type connect YOURNAME YOURPASSWORD (remember this for future logins once you have gotten a regular character). Once you have connected, you can type help to get a listing of the help index.

Getting help from a real person may be easier than using the help files. See below to learn how to page or talk to other characters who are logged in. The administrators (referred to in MOOspeak as 'wizards') of Area51_MOO are: Zoid, Kristi, Brad, Resin, and Textral. Any of these people will be more than happy to help you. Just page them with questions. As well, most other characters will be happy to help you. Simply ask or page a logged in character (use the @who command to see who is currently logged in--see below for more information) with your question. Finally, you may use the /help communication channel to ask questions. The communications channels broadcast your question to everyone who is logged in and listening to that channel (all characters listen to /help by default). Simply type /help whatever your question is.

SOME BASIC MOO COMMANDS:

TALK

To talk to others use a quotation mark (") at the beginning of each line

Example: "Hi, this is a neat place. (hit enter)

Your sentence will appear to others in the MOO as:

YOURNAME says, "Hi this is a neat place."

NOTE: Remember, you are talking, not writing. Thus, you should send short sentences. If you have something long to explain (more than two lines), break up your sentences with a comma to show more is coming. It also is a good idea to break up your lines so that you won't lose your thoughts or get frustrated if after typing for 5 or 10 minutes you get a message that says: I don't understand that.

EMOTE

To show action or emote, use a colon <:> at the beginning of each line.

Example: :laughs and waves. (hit enter)

Your sentence will appear to others in the MOO as:

YOURNAME laughs and waves.

@WHO

After you log on, the @who command will let you see a list of those logged in and their current locations. You'll also see who is active and who is not. Someone who has been idle for a while probably isn't paying attention to the screen and won't see or hear you if you try to join or talk to him or her.

PAGE

After you type @who and want to contact someone who is logged on, you may page that person.

Example: To page me before joining me, you'd type: page MYNAME Hi, can I join you?

You will get a message that says your message has been sent. (or something similar).

I will receive a page that says YOURNAME pages, Hi, can I join you?

I'll then page you back, probably saying "sure."

JOIN

After you page, you should then type: @join MYNAME.

You will be transported to wherever I am.

If you get a message that says "you can't go there," then you should re-page. Type: page MYNAME "Hey, you've locked me out!"

Then I'll unlock the door and tell you to try again.

LOOK

If you want a description of the room you're in, type: look.

If you want a description of a particular character type look CHARACTER'SNAME.

If you want to see yourself type look me.

YOUR DESCRIPTION/GENDER

Once you have your name and password, you may feel better if you have a description. Think up one.

Then type: @describe me as "whatever you decide your description should be." You'll get a message that says the description is set.

Next type: look me. You'll see your description. To set up your gender, type: @gender male or @gender female. Or you can remain neuter.

HELP

If you type help, you will get a list of topics. You may also get help on more specific topics or commands. For example, help @describe will tell you how to describe yourself; help @gender will tell you how to set your gender.


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