This mail list is for announcements of a general nature. Here, people can talk about new generics and other creations and updates. Usually not related to the core, but adding on to the hierarchy.
Date: 1994 Jan 24, 10:21:53 a.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: This list
This list is mainly going to be used to announce new creations and other important stuff that may not end up in the newspaper.
For instance, I have just begun a couple of PCs:
The Basic Local PC #98 is sandwiched in between $player and $builder much like Frand's PC on Lambda. We'll be adding local specific stuff to this class that everyone needs to have.
The Useful Utilitarian PC #99 is a child of $programmer and provides some useful programmer verbs. Anyone can become a child of this, but it's not mandatory or anything.
More on the way.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Jan 24, 10:58:29 a.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: Login Watcher
I just ported over my infallible wizardly login watcher.
It's #109 and is used as a feature. It has help and all that.
So @addfeature #109 today!
Dredful
Date: 1994 Jan 24, 11:45:38 a.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: Features feature
I have created the Featuress Feature #111.
With this feature added and by typing @wf (@whatfeature) you will see a listing of what features exist and which of those you haven't added. It will also tell you which are ready for the public and which aren't.
When you create a new feature, by using @fregister (on #111), your feature will be moved to #111 for safekeeping and be listed as ready for public use.
This should help keep track of all the features.
Dredful (already @fregistered #109 Login Watcher. More features coming soon)
Date: 1994 Jan 24, 12:15:45 p.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: Stage Talk
I was going crazy without stage talk feature #112.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Jan 24, 01:45:09 p.m. PST
From: Mayor (#2)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: Generic Post-Apocalypse Room
I created a new room class (#110) which I recommend. Right now it just has "night" and "day" messages which will replace "%time" in the desc. I plan to continue to upgrade this room class to includethings like details and integration
Date: 1994 Jan 25, 09:45:44 a.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: New feature
I ported over another feature of mine from TTM.
The Player Information feature #125. It gives you information about a player based on their objects and how they relate to you and what you have created. Also, you can see how long a player has been idle with a simple command, and you can check out their aliases with another simple command.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Jan 25, 09:54:43 a.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: Carrot's Rosette Feature Ported
I just love this feature. With Carrot's permission, it is now ported over here.
The number is #126 and it displays a nice little compass rose of the room you are in. Or any room for that matter, as long as the exit is obvious, it will show up.
(I should have made a *features list, heh)
Dredful
Date: 1994 Jan 25, 03:55:16 p.m. PST
From: Mayor (#2)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: look_self vs. description()
Hmmm, I think we need to switch the exit integration stuff from #3:look_self to #3:description(). Otherwise it is going to be hard for future room classes to incrementally change the room description with time, weather, etc.
I'm thinking we should have description doing
desc = pass(@args) + localstuff();
Date: 1994 Jan 25, 11:54:50 p.m. PST
From: Mayor (#2)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: container for generics
Let's put generic objects into #120, a broken wooden box sitting in an alley. This alley is likely to be discovered quickly by newcomers. I figured it could be our non-fascist version of the marble MOO museum. :-) Maybe features can be put in the alley in some funny way too.
Date: 1994 Jan 26, 01:38:37 a.m. PST
From: Mayor (#2)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: theme
I skimmed the first 100 page of Dahlgren. The north-south street you hit off the bridge is Broadway and extends into the city. Near the park (the crossroads?) is a sorta gay bar called "Teddy's", which featured a male cage dancer in the book (wearing a silver G-string). Just what legba was about to build!
Continuing north, Is Jackson avenue, suburban homes, and then Brisbain avenue and "The Heights" where the newspaper owner has a large walled estate. I think I will change "Mayor" to "RogerCalkins" who seems to be the unseen force in Dhalgren (the newspaper owner).
Date: 1994 Jan 28, 09:37:03 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: Generic Automaton
I put Generic Automaton into the box in the alley. It's ready for folks to try to fiddle with. Please give me feedback on its help script and its user interface. If something seems hard to do, let me know and I will think some more about it.
Date: 1994 Jan 30, 02:59:03 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: PARC has details
I added a basic detail mechanism to the Post-Apolalypse Room Class. Do help #110 for details. Details can be weather and time dependant.
Date: 1994 Feb 2, 10:22:50 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: Generic Edible Object
I changed Generic Sensual Object into Generic Edible Object. Check out help on #101. The main addition is a delayed_eat_msg. The nutmeg fruit is now fully psycho-active! :-)
Date: 1994 Feb 3, 08:22:17 p.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: New generic
I made a new generic, The Generic Boomerang Thing #261.
A child of $thing, this generic has the ability to return to its home after it has been removed after a settable period of time. Kinda like a RL boomerang.
Look at or do help #261 for details.
Dred(ful)
Date: 1994 Feb 4, 06:32:12 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: theme
I wrote a new "help theme". Feedback?
Date: 1994 Feb 6, 03:11:03 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: going home
I modified the :home on the scorpion PC (#153) to use the standard teleport messages that @go or @join use. People were complaining about the silly clicking-heels message, and it seems unecessary to add special messages to the PC just for :home.
Date: 1994 Feb 7, 10:03:53 a.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: Re: going home
> From: Calkins (#150)
> I modified the :home on the scorpion PC (#153) to use the standard
> teleport messages that @go or @join use. People were complaining
> about the silly clicking-heels message, and it seems unecessary to
> add special messages to the PC just for :home.
How about making an option? Maybe someone likes the default messages, or maybe they want to set their own? I dunno. It's a suggestion to think about.
If you need help with setting up a $generic_options, I can give a hand.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Feb 9, 09:05:43 p.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: Boomerang #261
I've changed the Generic Boomerang Thing #261 so that you must use the
@home is
verb to set its home. A little security measure.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Feb 10, 01:06:11 p.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *Information (#107) and *Quota-Requests (#327)
Subj: Quota Request mailing list
Need more quota? Send your request to the *Quota-Requests mailing list.
A wizard will look it over and grant you more quota if they feel you deserve it.
Please keep in mind that we prefer themely areas that can be or are already connected to the rest of the MOO.
While you may send to this list, only the wizzes can read it. So they can discuss it if the need arises.
Date: 1994 Feb 11, 06:34:16 a.m. PST
From: Kashka (#215)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: New Residents or connections
I've been building a series of tunnels and catacombs underground from my
church. I'd love to have some input, and have some residents either in
the rooms, or attached to the tunnels. Anyone game to live underground?
Send me mail.... Kashka
Date: 1994 Feb 13, 12:34:45 a.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: New-comer tutorial
I have finished the first draft of our new-comer tutorial. From the river bank (#11), new users are encouraged to go west, where they can have a simple and educational adventure in a system of caves. Please check it out and provide feedback!
Date: 1994 Feb 15, 10:29:13 a.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: $quota_utils
I've ported over the Object oriented $quota_utils and installed them here.
We're still on object based quota, but I've changed a lot of code references.
Please mail all bug reports related to any kind of building, recycling, property addition, verb addition, and so on to me directly.
Thanks
Dredful
Date: 1994 Feb 17, 08:01:45 a.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *Information (#107)
Subj: Ambient noise room #176
I've made a modification to the Generic Ambient Noise room #176.
I noticed that the tasks continued to run when people logged out in there. Since the room was technically occupied by a player.
So I changed it so that the ambient noise tasks only run when connected players are in the room. If your home is such a room, it will start up when you connect in it.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Feb 19, 08:31:11 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Scorpion PC and Automaton
I rewrote the help on Generic Automaton (#192). Hope it will be more up to date and helpful now.
The Scorpion Player Class now has a movable_msg which is set to "NO" by default. Other players cannot move you if this is set to "NO", and you are notified if they try.
Date: 1994 Feb 20, 02:29:09 p.m. PST
From: The_Mayor (#2)
To: *Wizard-Mail (#102) and *graffiti (#107)
Subj: line wrap
Line wrap is now ON by default on players. Type @wrap OFF if you are using a client and don't want the MOO to do linewrap.
Date: 1994 Feb 22, 12:29:20 p.m. PST
From: Dred (#100)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Responding
I've installed responding on my Utilitarian PC #99.
You can use:
= or res
+ or ++
'
And the appropriate message will get sent to the last player who paged you, or you paged. I might muck with it more to make it more selectable how the respond-to gets set.
Dred
Date: 1994 Feb 22, 05:36:41 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Places to build
Several people have asked about places to build. Check out the rough map (#406). Folks could build urban warehouse/storefront stuff by the loading dock. Labry Apartments can be taken over (I only built the lobby). Wanna build a working elevator for the office building? The stone building in the park is up for grabs as is the space south of it. Jackson Avenue is unbilt and is supposed to contain abandoned houses. Brisbain avenue is the former rich neighborhood -- abandoned mansions.
That's the Bellona section, anyway. The theme is Delany or Virtual-Light-Gibson sorta stuff.
For William Burroughs fans, we are starting an Interzone section. This will be reachable only via virtual drug abuse. It is exotic and sensual, both a place and an altered state of consciousness. Rent the movie "Naked Lunch" if you want to see what it is all about. Look at #421.
Date: 1994 Feb 22, 09:19:51 p.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Help for #98
I finally got around to putting in help topics for pertinent usable verbs on #98, the Basic Local PC.
Most of this stuff regular MOOers will already know. If you are new, there is now help for:
@add-room, @rooms, @rmroom, @join, @go, @nn, @measure, teleport-messages (well, almost. I have to finish this one)
Dredful
Date: 1994 Feb 23, 10:25:11 a.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Byte Quota
This should go in the newspaper, but I think everyone reads this.
We have now switched over to byte quota instead of object quota. To see how much quota you have, type @quota.
To see how to measure your objects, type `help @measure'.
Most everyone has 25k of byte quota now. Those of you who received more quota previously under the old system got 2k more per object above the default of 7 that you had. So if you had a quota of 15, you now have 25k + 8*2k = 41k.
I'm going to port over a few nice utilities from Lambda in a bit to help see where your space is being used up in.
If you decide you need more quota, please send your request to *Quota-Requests. One of the wizzes will take a look at it and decide whether to give you more.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Feb 23, 01:19:37 p.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *graffiti (#107) and *Core-Updates (#108)
Subj: Responsible Paranoid Data
I've ported over the $paranoid_db from LambdaMOO. This object will keep track of everyone's anti-spoofer data so that it won't cost against their quota.
If you had @paranoid on before, you'll need to reset it again so that the database will know to keep track of you. See `help @paranoid' for details.
All responsible data is cleared when you log out.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Feb 24, 09:58:50 p.m. PST
From: The_Mayor (#2)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Recompiled server
Dhalgren is running a hopefully improved server compiled with R4000 optimizations and SGI's faster version of malloc. SGI claims that standard malloc degrades in long-running processes that do a lot of allocation and deallocation. And we have observed some unusual server bloat and a little sluggishness after Dhalgren has been up for a week or so.
Keep your fingers crossed. If the server bombs, we can quickly restore the old version.
The "lag" that people have noticed is not really due to this. That is a problem with the overloaded internet, not the MOO.
Date: 1994 Feb 25, 08:17:32 a.m. PST
From: Dred (#100)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: @lag feature
I just whipped up the @lag feature #536.
It only has the @lag verb on it, and it uses the login mechanism lag computations. I doubt we'll lag much here anyway, but at least we can see for sure now.
Dred
Date: 1994 Feb 25, 08:57:00 a.m. PST
From: Dred (#100)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: help teleport-messages
I finally got around to writing `help teleport-messages'.
You ought to read it. There is some different behavior in my version as opposed to the Lambda version some of you may be familiar with.
Dred
Date: 1994 Feb 25, 10:19:27 a.m. PST
From: Dred (#100)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Help for Useful Utilitarian
I've put together a help database for the Useful Utilitarian PC, #99.
As a child of this class, you can do `help UUPC-Index' to see what topics there are and then do `help ' to read about that topic.
There's probably some interesting aspects about UUPC you haven't discovered yet, so take a gander.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Feb 25, 12:07:22 p.m. PST
From: Dred (#100)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Size-Prospectus FO
With Grump's permission, I've ported the Size-Prospectus FO #542 from Lambda to here.
It's very useful in seeing what you have and how much room it takes up byte-wise.
The verb is @size-prospectus (@sp for short) and there is help as usual.
Dred
Date: 1994 Feb 28, 01:08:35 p.m. PST
From: The_Mayor (#2)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: help
By popular demand, I redid the help summary (type "help" to see it). This is more like the help summary on FurryMUCK, which I think is more useful for new players.
Date: 1994 Mar 2, 09:23:29 a.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Generic Room with Stacking (#563)
A new room class has been created that allows objects to be stacked on top of each other. You can use this room to treat objects as furnature or whatever. The three commands supported so far are:
put on
sit
stand
Let me know if you find a problem. Oh, if you make object furnature, you might want to @lock them. Otherwise if someone picks up a sofa, everyone sitting on it will fall on the floor. :-)
Date: 1994 Mar 2, 01:02:49 p.m. PST
From: Jafaar (#458)
To: Patro (#78) and *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Re: Generic Room with Stacking (#563)
> Date: Wed Mar 2 12:23:29 1994 EST
> From: Patro (#78)
> To: *graffiti (#107)
> Subject: Generic Room with Stacking (#563)
I would consider making a child of this if it were readable.
Date: 1994 Mar 3, 11:39:25 a.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: returning to old malloc
Well after watching the server grow from 1126 pages to 2348 in six days, I decided to return to the old version of malloc. Of course malloc fragmentation might not have been the cause of this memory leak. (Yes, we DO have Pavel's latest memory-leak-fix installed)
Date: 1994 Mar 4, 01:09:34 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: server reboots
OK, no more reboots. Our system administrators rebooted our machines today, and then an X-window debacle forced us to reboot again. We expect Dhalgren to run for weeks and weeks now. Sorry.
By the way, for those who don't know this, X-windows sucks bit time.
Date: 1994 Mar 7, 06:36:25 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Interzone
The Interzone section of the MOO is now linked to Bellona. To get there, find the Bellona Bus Depot (#609) on Broadway just south of the stone lions. William Burroughs fans can build and link here. Enjoy!
(Rent the movie "Naked Lunch" if you want to see what Interzone is about)
Date: 1994 Mar 8, 03:59:17 p.m. PST
From: Zon (#103)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Generic Wandering Automaton
I've created a Generic Wandering Automaton class that builds on the
Generic Automaton. It allows you to create an automaton that will
roam from room to room randomly, pausing while people are interacting
with it. The three commands it currently has on it are:
@start -- starts the wandering behavior
@stop -- stops the wandering
@setcycle -- sets the interval between moves
Try help #502 for details. Let me know if you find any problems.
My thanks to Calkins for much hacking advice.
Date: 1994 Mar 11, 09:10:11 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: map
The map of Bellona (#406) is updated to show some new connections. Let me know if I missed anyone who is linked in.
Date: 1994 Mar 13, 07:28:41 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: taxi service
Taxi service is now available on Dhalgren. This is an idea borrowed from FurryMUCK, and it's also a way to point out interesting places to new players. You should be able to type "taxi" (an exit name) on most streets in Dhalgren.
Date: 1994 Mar 14, 01:51:13 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: restart
I just did a shutdown/restart of Dhalgren. The server process seems to grow by about 400K per day, due perhaps to memory leaks. So I'll probably do a restart every few days just to avoid eating the swap space on my SGI Indy.
Date: 1994 Mar 16, 10:15:17 a.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: system crash
Our machines crashed this morning due to a prolonged power failure.
Date: 1994 Mar 23, 01:19:57 p.m. PST
From: Zon (#103)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: those pesky bots..
Those pesky bots getting you down? Have no fear. Now you can do:
shoo
to any bot descended from the Generic Wandering Automaton object (#502).
This will cause the bot to leave the room and not come back for
a while.
Zon
Date: 1994 Mar 29, 08:24:58 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Generic Auditorium
Generic Auditorium (#562) allows you to lock the announce verbs of a room using the @mute command. It uses the same mechanism as @lock or @encrypt. Check out Bellona Auditorium, northwest of the Labry Apartments. In that room, you must be holding the microphone in order to talk or emote.
Date: 1994 Apr 4, 02:47:51 p.m. PST
From: El (#299)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Ideas
Ok...
I've got several ideas for projects and the like which I'd like to bounce around for y'all to consider. I haven't read Dhalgren (just ordered it today) and only a bit of Dick or Burroughs, so some of it may be unthemely. I'd like your opinions, just post here if you have any. This list has been kinda quiet lately anyhow. Now, on with the ideas...
1. A "Fluid" Player Class, which I've already begun a bit of work on. One of the most annoying and least convincing aspects of MOO to me is the aspect of having a static, unchanging desc. What I'm envisioning is a PC that would allow you to define a slew of "desc snippets" which would be randomly shuffled and placed into your desc whenever :look() is called. This appears to me to be an easy hack, as it's all just randomization, and message setting. I have a lot of ideas re: customization, but the question I'm asking is where it should be in the hierarchy. Should it be a kid of UUPC or Scorpion? Would there be enough interest in such a PC to place it between UUPC and Scorpion in the hierarchy?
2. Areas to build. For some reason, I really like the idea of an espresso stand/tattoo parlor. How about Bellona's City Hall? I can envision the City Hall being something akin to either a boardinghouse or market/temple. Good idea? Bad idea?
3. Literary stuff. I've read a smattering of PKD's most paranoid novels, mainly the Valis books, and am wondering if these could be fit into Dhalgren at all. This is where I get a bit hazy on theme... Would a Valis satellite, floating in geo-synchronous orbit over Bellona be feasible? How to tie the two together?
4. Cults, secret societies. The theme of Dhalgren mentions "secret cults;" a MOO idea which I love, in theory, but can never figure out how to implement. I considered creating an area on CyberSphere ruled by cult members, but ran into the same problem that others there had with developing corporations and the like -- how does one create incentive to join a "MOO organization?" And, doesn't this create a level of hassle that this place would most rather ignore? The idea of people running around VRs, scheming and conniving is a really sexy one to me. It adds a layer of mystery and intrigue, a feeling of never quite knowing exactly what's going on. We need cults!
5. New bot idea. How about bots that walk around, exchanging gossip and information about players? They can overhear snippets of conversations, wander around the MOO, bump into one another and randomly trade bits of information. Just an idea, could be interesting.
Well, that's about it for now. Like I said, I'm still not sure I'm fitting into the theme particularly well yet, so feel free to ding any of the previous ideas if they appear to be at odds with what this MOO is all about.
..
El
Date: 1994 Apr 4, 07:09:22 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: re: ideas
Good ideas from El! The fluid player player class might be based on a program that substitutes random words into text. :description() could call that, as could other things. I could write my Insulting FO with such a tool.
Some sort of market area (and "Agora") would be cool. This could go in Interzone too (just reminding folks of that Willima Burroughs area). Or it could go in Bellona.
I really like the idea of a VALIS satellite. Horselover also mentioned this. You all should do it! A pink laser beam could zap people in outdoor locations.
Cults -- by all means. Start a new secular religion. Marlowe and I have talked about that some. I'd love to chat about it.
A wondering gosiping bot sounds cool. Marcus had a similar idea -- litter, wandering notes that you can read and write on.
I've modified The Generic Ambient Noise Room #176 so that the owner can just turn the whole noise behavior off without clearing the noise property.
This may be useful for debugging or for just taking a break from the noises.
It's done by setting the .active property to 0. To turn it back on, change the prop back to 1 and use the new `@restart' verb.
Dred
Date: 1994 Apr 25, 08:08:53 p.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: #955, PARC with Seats
I've just created the PARC with Seats. You can define any number of virtual seats in your room with customized messages.
See `help #955' for details on how it works and what you need to do to set them up.
Note: The room makes no attempt to put the seats in the description. That's up to you. When someone is sitting in the seat, that does show up in the description when someone looks.
You can use the PARC's @detail command to give your seat a description that people see when they do `look '.
Dred(ful)
Date: 1994 Apr 27, 03:11:48 p.m. PST
From: The_Mayor (#2)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: gateway down
Princeton's internet gateway went down in the electrical storm this afternoon. If your reading this now, that means its back up. :-)
Date: 1994 May 1, 11:43:45 a.m. PST
From: Eclipse (#538)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Generic Speaking Wandering Automaton (GSWA)
The Generic Speaking Wandering Automaton, or GSWA for short, is now available for use. A child of the Generic Wandering Automaton, players can talk to this bot as it wanders through lovely downtown Bellona (or any other area), and it will talk back.
See 'help #1044' for more info.
have fun.
Eclipse
Date: 1994 May 1, 10:46:19 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Neveryona
I wonder if it might be interesting to create a realm here based on Delany's Neveryona. A sensual fantasy area but with a postmodern twist.
Date: 1994 May 2, 06:32:35 p.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: New FO
I was getting sick of not having a good way of pasting text around, so I created the Pasting Feature #1055.
This is really only useful if you have good local editing and such in your client program.
See help #1055 for details.
Dred(ful)
Date: 1994 May 2, 07:49:38 p.m. PST
From: El (#299)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Login message
I'm sorry to be such a goofball, but I really dislike the look of the DHALGREN welcoming message. #'s and all. Anyone have any prettier ideas?
00
Date: 1994 May 2, 08:32:42 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: login banner
Yep, the login message is just the unix "banner" command's output. I started once to make a ruined-city skyline. A light shield? A cooler banner? I'll experiment a little.
Date: 1994 May 4, 09:25:58 a.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Down Monday Morning
Dhalgren will be down Monday morning while we install a new version of the operating system on actinic.
Date: 1994 May 5, 07:39:52 a.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: crash
The machine Dhalgren runs on crashed last night at 1am. Just one of the reasons we want to upgrade the operating system! The first version of the SGI Indy OS is somewhat inefficient and unstable.
Date: 1994 May 5, 09:02:44 p.m. PST
From: genna (#352)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: new portable room
A new generic room:
#1066 The Generic Journeying SPARC
It journeys, it's a container, it can be @secured. AND.. it has seats. Not to mention weather. All the comforts of home on the road. Enjoy.
Remember... Buckle up for safety!
Date: 1994 May 9, 12:18:53 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: OS upgrade
The OS upgrade on Dhalgren's host machine will happen tomorrow morning (tuesday).
Date: 1994 May 12, 05:53:55 p.m. PST
From: Marcus (#812)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Generic Litter Available
Any MOOers with literary ambitions but who know well enough
not to value their work may be interested in Generic Litter
#834. Basically a $note which doesn't quit when you thow it
away...
It's been product-tested but nothing's guaranteed in this
world! any problems, complain to
Marcus
Date: 1994 May 19, 09:58:48 a.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Dhalgren to coast for a week
The archwiz will be out of town May 20-27, and Dhalgren will be sort of coasting. I'll see if I can get one of my cs-staff friends here to keep an eye on the MUD in case the machine goes down.
Date: 1994 May 19, 12:46:31 p.m. PST
From: The_Mayor (#2)
To: *graffiti (#107) and *Wizard-Mail (#102)
Subj: quota and programming policy
We've had a few discussions about policy and I've thought some about this. Let me make a couple quick comments to clarify the situation with quota and prog bits.
Dhalgren runs on a very fast machine (the MIPS R4400 is faster than LambdaMOO's CPU), but one that has relatively little RAM (32 megabytes). For the time being we hope to keep the database down below 5 or 6 meg. Its 2.7 meg now. Players start out with 25K, which is enough to build a number of rooms and toys. We hope people will concentrate on making a few quality things rather than a lot of scenery. Any wizard can give you 50K if they like what you do, and more than 50 is possible with some inter-wizard discussion.
Prob bits are given out pretty freely. Unlike LambdaMOO and PostModernCulture, we do not allow anti-social verbs here. We encourage free artistic expression, but this does not include programs designed to attack or annoy players. Sexual harassment is a toadable offense. Spamming people, making them fart or vomit or other such action spoofs will get prog bits turned off. Creating provocative objects is OK. A player can go into a museum and see a Maplethorp picture and get pissed off -- but he can't go in a museum and have something out of a malplethorp picture HAPPEN to him.
Well, this isn't written by a lawyer, so I hope the intension is clear. The difference between "provocative" and "hostile" is subjective, and since we have really had no problems yet, let's just leave it at this for now.
Date: 1994 Jun 5, 01:35:51 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: crash
We had a crash Saturday morning. Dhalgren was down for about an hour.
Date: 1994 Jun 5, 02:28:34 p.m. PST
From: legba (#95)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: We're famous, woo woo!
Dhalgren got a mention in the June issue of _Lingua Franca,_ an academic journal:
"DhalgrenMOO is a postapocalypse New York City, where dogs run wild and street hustlers try to make you part with whatever virtual currency you may be carrying."
Don't we sound like fun? Now we get to have hordes of confused academics wandering around looking for Jeremy!
Date: 1994 Jun 20, 12:42:14 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: crash
actinic crashed today. Probably the system staff rebooted the machine while I was away.
Date: 1994 Jun 28, 05:09:47 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: page
I think the page verb on MOOs is broken. Shouldn't it echo back what you paged to you (so it appears in log files). When I speak, I see what I say. When I page, it just disappears into the ether. Its easy to fix, but the question is should we?
Date: 1994 Jun 28, 06:32:24 p.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Re: page
Well, we could certainly hack page to echo like that, but it would add to spam lots.
Though paging usually ends up as being conversation, it shouldn't really be so equal to being in the same room with your other party and just using :say.
Besides, from looking at the screen:
page dred this is a test
Your message has been sent to Dred.
Becomes something like:
page dred this is a test
You page, "this is a test" to Dred.
Your message has been sent to Dred.
I guess we could kill the second line, but then custom page_echo's go out the window. I like them, myself. And the above lines would look like I just said it to the room, or whispered to Dred who was in the same room...
The distinction reduces confusion. But I do see Patro's point about logs. Although, do you mean client or MOO logs? Client logs will have the line you typed as well as the responses. We don't have too MOO log mechanisms here as far as I know.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Jun 28, 07:29:36 p.m. PST
From: Marcus (#812)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Re: page
You've done it again you incompetent!"
Funny, Patro, I was just thinking about this very thing...
I think pages should echo, not only for logging but so we can
read our own lines as they go out (some of us have a bad habit
of proofreading as we go, futile as it may seem).
I agree with Dred that three lines to send a page is spammy and
that page echoes are particularly nice. I also think he's dred
on when he says paging shouldn't really be the same as saying
or whispering. The distinction is very important to preserve VR.
The solution might be to integrate the page_echo_msg with the
line paged, so...
page marcus You've done it again you incompetent!
In Stage Manager's Office, Marcus raises an eyebrow. You page,
"You've done it again you incompetent!"
This is two lines to reduce spam but the page_echo-msg
lengthens the line and signals (preserves the distinctiveness
of) paging.
Hell, maybe all those args can be strung together and sent to
who:page_echo_msg() for an optional string substitution...?
Cause I always like to read my text a second time...;-)
--Marcus
Date: 1994 Jun 28, 10:55:10 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: page echo
I guess I am expecting page to act like whisper. Page echo could be sacrificed. Page announce messages are still cool. And people could customize a message to be returned when they are not logged in (canyou do that now?).
This is just speculation, not an urgant problem. But in fact tf doesn't seem to LOG what I type, only what is echoed back from the MOO. So anything I page is not logged.
Date: 1994 Jun 29, 01:57:54 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: downtime
Princeton's internet gateway was knocked out today in a thunderstorm. Sorry.
Date: 1994 Jun 30, 12:06:29 p.m. PST
From: cinnamon (#301)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Logging
Are folks just customarily logging their MOO-sessions? And may I ask why?
Date: 1994 Jun 30, 12:43:06 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: logging
I rarely log MOO sessions, but some people log every minute of their MUD connect time. I think practices vary widely.
Date: 1994 Jul 4, 06:19:19 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: litter
Hmmmm, I think litter is getting a little out of control. Its cool, but there is so much of it now that people are starting to complain. Any suggestions about how we could make it less intrusive?
Date: 1994 Jul 5, 10:05:09 a.m. PST
From: 99 (#429)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: re the litter...
litter eating rats?
Date: 1994 Jul 5, 11:57:54 a.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: trash bin
There is a trash bin on the corner by the stone lions (the park entrance). This is an exit to a room with no exits. Litter and pets that wander indiscriminatnly will eventually end up here.
This will give litter a nice half-life. I like litter, but we need a sink as well as a source for it. Folks can rescue their favorite items from the Trash Bin if they want to put it back in circulation.
Date: 1994 Jul 5, 02:51:08 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Some virtual privacy features
Looking at remote objects is a peculiar (but sometimes handy) feature of MOOs. I have partially disabled that feature on some room and player classes now.
Rooms of the Secured Post-Apocalypse Room (#262) type cannot be seen by anyone not actually in the room if its security level is not Open or its free_entry is zero.
The Scorpion Player Class (#153) now has a new message. If you are an ancestor of this class (which I recommend on Dhalgren), you can make yourself unviewable remotely by setting:
@remote_see me is NO
Date: 1994 Jul 5, 02:58:22 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: privacy II
These privacy features can be thwarted. The idea is one of theme. With some more thought, we could probably make the remote-see stuff truly secure.
Date: 1994 Jul 6, 12:10:58 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: litter
I should apologize to Marcus for complaining about litter publically. It has been one of the really cool things people have made here. Almost TOO cool. :-) I think a littel parameter tuning will resolve any difficulties.
Date: 1994 Jul 6, 03:08:48 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: For a good time...
You've no-doubt noticed the new legal disclaimer on our welcome banner. Even FurryMUCK is now doing this. Its a sign of the times, both because the government is on a witch-hunt to prove there are bogeymen on the network, and because IF someone wants to conspire to do something illegal here, we don't want the FBI carting actinic.princeton.edu off in a box. Or worse yet, carting me off in a box!
Date: 1994 Jul 14, 08:48:39 p.m. PST
From: Sai (#861)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: legal disclaimer language...
carting the MOO off in a box? Now you've got me thinking of Jack-In-The-Boxes....
and when they cart off the box and try to open it, boing! a little puppet springs out and sings,
we keep our insides in,
we keep our outsides out,
you take away our skin,
and there's a big mess all about...
a disclaimer ruins your clout!
sorry. really. it just came to mind.
-Sai
Date: 1994 Jul 15, 07:00:26 a.m. PST
From: El (#299)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: My Enlightenment
I have returned, my children. I have returned with a mission.
From this point on, I hereby plan to devote all of my time, my quota, my spirit-fluids towards the achievement of the physical, spiritual and virtual state known as 'El'. Towards these ends, be prepared to witness and participate in the growing, the glowing, the infusing of DhalgrenMOO with certain aspects of 'El'. The godhead opened up to me, and ordered 'Recite!' and I shall do my best to serve as the vessel for the power of 'El'.
To be continued at a later date.
Date: 1994 Jul 15, 04:52:14 p.m. PST
From: Sai (#861)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: El
isn't that a subway system or something? hmm, take the El train....sounds good. Instead of Danny_the_Street we'll have El_the_Metro (theme music by Berlin, of course.)
-Sai
Date: 1994 Jul 15, 05:53:07 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Cosmic collision
The pieces of that comet are starting crash into Jupiter today. Could cause strange events in Bellona.
Date: 1994 Jul 15, 07:13:52 p.m. PST
From: Sai (#861)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: cosmic games
God does not play dice with the universe...
true. God plays pool.
"The comet fragments will impact on the sperical core of Jupiter. The core(known in all the sacred texts as 'yon 8-Ball of Satan') will be smacked out of its gaseous envelope and into our little corner pocket of the solar system. It will eithr impact somewhere north of Cleveland or knock the moon into an area whose center is the Dead Sea. Either way, yon 8-Ball of Satan will end almost all life on Earth.
The only survivors will be (of course) the Knights Templar who have been in hiding since 1307. Emerging from their catacombs, they will ponder - until such time that the earth is completely uninhabitable - the meaning of the phrase plastered on every modern manuscript remaining: 'O.J. Did It!'
being drunk may be no excuse...so I'll call it a reason,
-Sai
Date: 1994 Jul 16, 08:11:49 a.m. PST
From: Marcus (#812)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Jupiter
Dhalgren residents interested in celestial events might find a
peregrination interesting...@go #896...
Date: 1994 Jul 16, 08:58:21 p.m. PST
From: Marcus (#812)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Littering
An adjustment has been made to the ban verb on litter: now
not only may the owner use ban to limit its range, but also
any player may ban given pieces of litter from eir spaces.
Type 'ban from ' and the litter won't
blow back in after it blows out (but you can only ban it
from rooms you own).
Also, the default interval between litter's blowing from room
to room has been changed from five minutes to ten.
If litter appears to you as spam, however, the easy way to
clear your screen is to pick it up, thereby preventing it from
blowing around. (You might drop it again when you log off.)
Any other problems with litter might be reported to the owner
of the generic, namely me, Marcus. Thanks!
Date: 1994 Jul 18, 03:45:01 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: crash
SOrry, Princeton's internet gateway went down again.
Sorry guys, ( Patro, Legba ) the crash cut me off....
I'll catch you some other time. ( probably when I'm more sober ! )
Date: 1994 Jul 20, 03:33:21 a.m. PST
From: Johnathon (#1358)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Fire Mural
Well, I got the fire mural working. When there is more than one person logged in, #go 1365 ( Johnathon's Room ) and look at the mural...
You should see the rest of the people in the game in the mural.
Next step : alias @join to touching the mural.
Hope you like it.
Johnathon
Date: 1994 Jul 24, 05:45:32 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: power hit
Dhalgren crashed a while ago during a lightning storm.
Dhalgren will be down this wednesday during an 8-hour power shutdown at the computer science building. I'll be out of town, but one of the CS staff here will reboot the MUD when power is restored. That might be as late as Thursday morning.
Date: 1994 Jul 30, 12:36:43 p.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: SIGGRAPH
I had a good time at SIGGRAPH in Orlando. About 30,000 people attend this conference on computer graphics. There were several fascinating panel discussions on virtual reality (including one chaired by Kidd/Moose!).
I was struck by comments (particularly by William Bricken and others) about separating "display" and "action" as concepts in virtual reality. MUDs were pointed out as an intersting example of the central importants of action, since there is no grahpical display (an amusing fact to point out at SIGGRAPH). Bricken talks about boundaries between spaces. The keyboard and screen are a boundary between RL and the digital computer. The software interface is a boundary between the computer and VR. Most operating systems reveal a great deal of the nuts and bolts of the digital computer domain to the user -- something programs think they want but other users may not. Ideally, the interface to VR should hide the digital domain and give the user the illusion of a single boundary between RL and VR -- direct manipulation of objects in VR and a sense of presense in VR.
Brenda Laurel talked about her experimental VR system called "Placeholder" inwhich users enter the bodies of animal totems (Crow, Snake, Spider, Fish). Each of these characters has a "body" with special strengths and weaknesses. Their voices are altered electronically, the fish can see underwater, the snake can see infra-red. This made me think about experiments one could do on a MUD with certain player classes and room classes.
Date: 1994 Aug 15, 08:42:16 a.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: address change
At some point in the near future, the domain name service at Princeton will be changing. Dhalgren's address will change slightly, so keep this in mind if you find you cannot connect:
old address: actinic.princeton.edu 7777
new address: actinic.cs.princeton.edu 7777
Date: 1994 Aug 25, 07:29:19 p.m. PST
From: Gilmore (#1473)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj:
Woo woo, #1462, Generic anonymous room. Best I could do sans wizdust. Created at the behest of the mighty legba.
Date: 1994 Aug 25, 08:20:23 p.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *graffiti (#107) and Calkins (#150)
Subj: Change to PARC
I've added a :set_detail_names :set_detail_descriptions verb to the PARC #110 so that the $note_editor can be used to edit these corresponding props.
This will also allow other verbs, running with the correct perms, to set them also.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Aug 26, 09:16:56 p.m. PST
From: melusina (#907)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: new list.
I've just made a new mailing list called *cuffs. Take a look at the first post to see what it's about. Thanks.
Please @recycle this character at your first opportunity. This character's password has been changed to a long string of gibberish that I will never remember, so the character is useless and cannot be connected to. Ergo, a waste of DB space.
I thank you for your attention to this matter.
--
Palace
Date: 1994 Sep 7, 08:23:27 p.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: New Object! Generic Dispenser #1488
I've just created the Generic Dispenser #1488. This object can be used to create thematic dispensers of generics. Perhaps a better interface than using @create all the time.
For example, a candy machine that gives out children of generic candy to any player who presses a button.
It will require some programming to set up a child of this generic. There is extensive help, also.
Note: I will be keeping an eye on children of this object, since it has wizdust on it.
not finding it here, i created the generic integrating room (#459) as a child of $room. this parent allows objects with .look_msg properties to be integrated into the room's description along with .obvious==2 exits.
i did my best to keep with the integration style $room uses for exits, appending the integration paragraphs to the endof STR descriptions, and appending the object integration message to the last line of LIST descriptions, with the exit messages appended as a new line (this is reversed if .exits_first is true, which it is by default).
owners of generics descended from $room may wish to @chparent their generics to #459 for this added feature. check the help.
enjoy.
sick.
Okay, so I was thinking about it, and it really is confusing the way it is now for the pronoun substitutions on the Generic Wearable thing #550.
So I changed them back, yet again, to what they were before. For most of you, there is no change, since I went to a new way and am now going back to the old.
In the worn_msg for clothing (children of #550):
%n, %o, %p, %s, %r, %q all refer to who is wearing the clothing (And assumes that they have the clothing in their inventory)
%d refers to the player looking at them.
%t refers to the clothing itself
I went ahead and changed the messages for those people who went to my new way. Sorry about the confusion. All the children of #550 should work fine now.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Sep 9, 11:32:01 a.m. PST
From: Patro (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: generic rooms and stuff
An integrating room sounds good. Folks interested in generics should look at the box in the alley (#120) which contains the local Dhalgren generics. The Post-Apocalypse Room (#110) supports details and also supports the Bellona daytime and weather substitutions. #262 is a version of PARC with security. Another child of PARC supports Lambda-style seats (#955) and yet another supports a generalization of seats (Room with Stacking, #563). Let's make the integrating room at least be a child of PARC so we get the MOO-wide weather/and time stuff.
Player classes are also continuing to evolve. The lit-theory folks and I have been having an endless discussion about embodiment in VR, which I hope will lead to an interesting set of PC features someday. Right now, the main Dhalgren player class is the Scorpion PC (#153). That's a work in progress to some extent.
I'd like to generally encourage people to try new things. Dhalgren is not LambdaMOO. I'm certainly prepared to shower anyone with quota who wants to explore new concepts in VR, and am not very keen on porting the Lambda environment to here.
personally, i feel that integration is "useful" before ambient noises and seats and the apocalypse and all that. i'd be happier if #176 were chparented to the integrating room, rather than me sticking something so fundamental so far down the heirarchy.
but that's just me.
sick.
Date: 1994 Sep 9, 02:43:09 p.m. PST
From: Eclipse (#538)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: #459, #1044, and integration
well, with the new integrating room that will integrate objects as well as exits, i have taken the liberty of putting a .look_msg prop on the generic speaking wandering automaton, #1044.
actually, #459 was created kind of at my request, kind of for this purpose. i wanted to see something other than 'You see fred here.' when seeing the gswa in the room. so, since i have plans for my own child of #1044 (which is why i needed the integration), there is now @look on children of #1044. if you @chparent a room to #459 and put the gswa in it, it's look message will be integrated by default. for info on how to turn off integration, and switching object integration with exit integration, see 'help #459'.
sorry if this is rambling. i've had a long day, and it ain't over yet.
have fun,
Eclipse (budding builder!)
Date: 1994 Sep 12, 09:03:21 p.m. PST
From: Trismegistos (#1457)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Generic Music Machine
Generic Music Machine (#1472) has now been added to the Wooden Box Bunch. This customizable object can play lyrics or descriptions from a selection of songs, in the background of a room.
Enjoy, experiment, and let me know of any bugs or limitations ...
Trismegistos
Date: 1994 Sep 17, 11:26:02 p.m. PST
From: Patroclus (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Some ancient history
Take the taxi to the "beach" and go east out into the sea. You'll find something cool, for those interested in the ancient history of text-based VR.
Jim Apsnes invented TinyMUD in 1988, and a sequence of MUDs ran at CMU in 1989 and 1990. TinyMUD classic (Apr89-Aug90) and Islandia (Jan90-Nov90) were among the first. Much of Islandia's population moved to FurryMUCK during the summer of 1990. LambdaMOO started in Jan91.
The MUCK and MOO servers are later stages in the evolution of TinyMUD, but if somehow one were able to look at a bit of the past, I think you'd be amazed by how much of the familiar character of MUDs appeared very early. If you had been able to use @rose back then, you'd notice that a lot of what people program with verbs today was done back then with exist, messages, and locking. But of course that was all long ago...
Date: 1994 Sep 18, 05:24:58 p.m. PST
From: Marcus (#812)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Lycanthropic Thespian pc
Dhalgren denizens may now take themselves further out in
identity transformation... try the newly fixed-up Generic
Lycanthropic Thespian PC.
As a lycanthrope, you may set your description to change
automatically by the phase of the moon (no, you don't have to
be a wolf, or even an animal). As a free bonus, it can change
with Bellona daytime and weather, too. In addition, wearables
which have appropriate properties and markup can also change
accordingly...so, for example, you can make a hat that gets
wet when it rains.
More usefully, as a thespian this pc may wear costumes.
Costumes are unlike ordinary wearables in that they mask your
regular description when you wear them. See #1226, the Generic
Costume. Visit the stage at the O.o.F. Theater to have even
more fun with costumes.
Any problems maybe reported to Marcus. Happy playing!
Date: 1994 Sep 19, 08:06:08 a.m. PST
From: Trismegistos (#1457)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Material MOO
Talking with Gilmore about giving MOO environments more of a RL 'feel' (i.e.,
no godlike powers like @create, @go, page, @move) has given me an idea for
a basic Material milieu that could probably be run off a Lambdacore system.
I have neither the time nor the system savvy to do anything with this, but
maybe one of us can be inspired by this idea ...
MaterialMOO Objects
All objects would have the following basic properties: material, size/mass,
quality, form, and containment capacity (expressed in size units).
I would start out with only a few simple materials -- wood, iron, gold. The
material would be included in the desc, which could be further customized by
the creator. Ex. "An axe made of iron. The handle is graven with runes."
Size/mass would govern players' ability to carry and wield the object, as
well as containment of the object. Form is self-explanatory; if 0, the object
is a hunk of raw material. Quality would be a minimum-function of the quality
of raw material and the skill of the player who created it. Objects could be
damaged, reduced in quality until they are scrap (unworkable raw material).
Object forms: These would be master templates specifying creation and use of
objects. By creation I mean what skill is needed to make the object, and the
type, amount, and quality of raw material needed. Use would incorporate verbs
usable by all the form's kids -- for an axe, these might be "chop "
and "attack ". Better-quality objects would be more efficient.
Players: Players would have skills in crafts and fighting, possibly
others such as climbing, swimming, concealment, stealth ... Combat
would be fairly simple, and the victor would be given the choice of
killing the defeated player, robbing him/her, or letting him/her go.
Ethics would be encouraged by a "karma debt" assessed upon killing or
robbing; players who die in a state of bad karma would not be
recycled, but sent to a Hell, preventing the user from creating a new
player. Of course this open up lots of possibilities: psychic players
who can sense karma, plenary indulgences for a fee, etc.
Milieu: An important feature of this MOO would be management of a
player's off- time. There would be areas -- logging camps, mines, and
the like -- where a player could go to and "work" while disconnected.
Upon reconnecting he or she would be "paid" in materials proportional
to the off-time spent there. There would also be guilds, where skills
could be learned during off-time for a fee; and making objects could
also require off-time involvement.
The economy would be set up initially with NPC merchants, guilds,
and the like,but players could find it more advantageous to strike
deals with each other. A "swap" verb would facilitate the
simultaneous exchange of goods.
"Sleeping" outside a work area or a secured building could be a
perilous proposition, depending on the mercies of fellow players; but
to be fair to unintentionally disconnected players, characters might
be given the ability to defend themselves automatically, or head for
a secure area.
Expansion: The milieu would become more interesting as the wizards --
really, the "gods" -- introduced more and different materials,
animals, and forms. Master craftspeople could suggest new ideas for
forms. The gods could create challenges and adventures. Etc ...
Date: 1994 Sep 21, 11:08:43 a.m. PST
From: Trismegistos (#1457)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: New Connection
Just though I'd make it official: my area is now connected and ready for
action. Keep walking south on Broadway, figure out how to cross the channel
and the wasteland... At the end of your trek you will find a dispenser for
a new, in-theme object. Vale, Trism.
Date: 1994 Sep 22, 03:32:41 p.m. PST
From: Eclipse (#538)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: new list
there is a new list devoted to literature, *literature (aka *lit).
it is separate from *verse because *verse describes itself as being devoted to poetry.
if you're interested in *lit, `l *lit' and `@subscribe *lit'.
thanx,
Eclipse
Date: 1994 Sep 24, 05:46:05 p.m. PST
From: Patroclus (#78)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Reid's new thesis
Elisabeth Reid has written a masters thesis on MUDs that is well worth reading. The title is _Cultural Formations in Text-Based Virtual Realities_ and you can obtain it via http://www.ee.mu.oz.au/papers/emr/index.html
This paper gives a good history of MUDs and a critical discussion of language, politics and sex in social- and adventure-style MUDs. You may have seen her previous paper _Electropolis: Communication and Community on Internet Relay Chat_ which was also quite interesting.
As per Eclipse's request, I've fixed up the login watcher so you can set your own message for logins and logouts.
See help #109 for details.
Dredful
Date: 1994 Oct 4, 09:49:04 p.m. PST
From: Eclipse (#538)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: new help on #1044
a lot of changes, upgrades, and new capabilities have been added to the generic speaking wandering automaton (gswa), #1044.
for more info on these changes, check out the rewritten help text, `help #1044'.
a public service message (for a pretty silent public), educationally brought to you by,
Eclipse
Date: 1994 Oct 4, 11:22:46 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: stacking room
Have a visit to Generic Room with Stacking (#563). I'm gradually upgrading this room. Objects can now have sitting_msg properties.
Date: 1994 Oct 5, 01:53:01 a.m. PST
From: Eclipse (#538)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: *lit
due to the inordinate amount of public building i'm trying to do, and the dismayingly small amount of quota i find myself bound by, i had to recycle *literature.
i have asked k.p., the owner of *verse, to include *lit in *verse's aliases, and to add literature to the description of *verse. i also asked him to notify *graffiti if he does so.
of course, anyone who wishes to could make a new *lit, if by chance they feel the need to or k.p. does not want to add *lit to *verse. it's up to you.
sorry, folx. sacrifice in the name of progress. :)
Eclipse
dhalgren's new slogan: "working for a better moo...together!"
Date: 1994 Oct 5, 07:07:15 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: the map
I've updated the map in the Tourist Center. I also stuck a @map verb on the Scorpion Player so you don't have to go thru the caves just to read the map.
Date: 1994 Oct 5, 08:21:56 p.m. PST
From: Calkins (#150)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: map fixes
By the way, I am sure I have missed lots of things that people built and linked to the world. Look at the map and let me know please.
Date: 1994 Oct 6, 11:13:57 a.m. PST
From: Dredful (#96)
To: *graffiti (#107)
Subj: Refusals
I've set up refusals here on Dhalgren. They reside on #396, a player class near the top of the hierarchy.