From mcdaniel@u.washington.eduThu Mar 23 13:41:55 1995
Date: 22 MAR 1995 06:56:28 GMT
From: Henry McDaniel <mcdaniel@u.washington.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.admin, rec.games.mud.diku, rec.games.mud.lp,
rec.games.mud.misc, rec.games.mud.tiny
Subject: Encyclopedia of MU*s dictionary 2/2
This dictionary is part of the Encyclopedia of MU*s project.
If you have additional definitions, please forward them to me.
Do *NOT* forward copies of the entire dictionary to me.
(C) 10,1993 by Henry McDaniel (mcdaniel@u.washington.edu)
As-is electronic publication for non-profit allowed if reproduced unaltered
and with credits and copyright notice intact. All other rights reserved.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTENDED FOR USE BY NOVICE MUD PLAYERS OR AS REFERENCE MATERIAL FOR
EXPERIENCED USERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO USE A COMMON TERMINOLOGY WITH USERS
OF OTHER MUDS. PROVIDES INFORMATION ON THE ROOT OF COMMAND ACTIONS
COMMON TO MOST MUDS.
List of Contributors:
Alan Creech alansz@cogsci.Berkeley.EDU - MANA define, 10-25-93
Alex Gutkin c0428974@techst02.technion.ac.il - APOCOLYPSE, TELEPORT 10-28-93
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
List of abbreviations used in this dictionary:
Adj. Adjective
Adv. Adverb
Comp. Comparitive or Compound or Composition
Interj. Interjection
N. Noun
References to game styles/types: DIKU, LP, TINY
Note that commands in use on MUDs are often described as n. and verb.
while the definiton only details the verb or noun usage; Giving
definitons easily found in the common dictionary is beyond the scope
of this work.
----=+=+=+=+=----- A ----=+=+=+=+=-----
ADMIN, n. [Comp. of administrator.] See administrator.
ADMINISTRATOR, n. One who directs, manages or maintains a game. See also:
god, root, wizard.
ALPHA, n. Primary, first. Usually used to denote the first working
version of a game or project.
ALFA, n. Not to be confused with alpha. This is the name of a
machine (and MUD) that represents the best earliest DIKU MUD.
APOCOLYPSE, n. Same as shutdown.
AREA, n. A distinct collection of rooms defined by a common recognizable
theme. An area typically belongs to one or more wizards, contains objects
and/or NPCs.
ARGGH, interj. Anguish. Showing disgust or surprise.
AT, verb. To perform and complete some function at a location other then where
the actor presently is.
----=+=+=+=+=----- B ----=+=+=+=+=-----
BAN, verb. To bar from entering. Most often used to describe
the locking of a game from entry by users from a paticular site.
See also: banish.
BANISH, verb. To bar from entering. This is what administrators do
when they decide they no longer wish for a paticular player or
users from a paticular site to use the game. Most often it means
that a charcter has been nuked and no user may create a new player
of the same name. Se also: ban.
BOT, n. (1) A computer program which can direct a PC on some MUD without
human intervention. (2) Any NPC of above average intelligence, esp. those
with descriptions similar to robots.
BOUNCE, verb. A soul command on many games. It is generally considered
impolite to use this on another player without their consent. On some
DIKUs it is the Comp. of sex.
BB, adv. and interj. [Comp. of be back.] See you again.
BBL, adv. and interj. [Comp. of be back later.] See you again at a later time.
BK, adv. and interj. [Comp. of back.] I have returned.
BUFFER, n. A queue where data is temporarily held. This can be either a
disk file or a place in abstract memory.
BUG, n. What programmers (and mud builders) call an unwanted error. Any
term used to describe real bugs or associated with real bugs may also
be used to describe a bug of this type. Eg: "We need some RAID!" --
Bug killer is needed to fix all the bugs I've found.
BRB, adv. and interj. [Comp. of be right back.] See you again very soon.
----=+=+=+=+=----- C ----=+=+=+=+=-----
CAST, verb. (1) To iniate a magical spell. (2) To define what type
of object something is.
CLIENT, n. (1) A program used to communicate to a game. Such clients are
intended to make interfacing with the game more user friendly. (2) Any
program that is incomplete unless used in conjunction with a server (or
central process.)
CONNECT, verb. See logon.
CRASH, verb. and n. An unscheduled cesation of all game operations.
This condition usually deletes many current variables, meaning that
the most recently performed activites will leave no trace following
the next reboot.
CREATE, verb. To build soemthing for the first time. (1) Same as
logon, only this is to create a new PC.
CREATOR, n. One who is a builder of areas. Someone who has built
parts of a game. See also: wizard.
----=+=+=+=+=----- D ----=+=+=+=+=-----
DB, n. [Comp. of database.] A body of information. (1) All of the information
used to create or represent the objects presently in the active game universe.
(2) All files containing the working data needed to construct a game's areas,
objects and PCs. See also: playerfile.
DICE, n. A random selector. Often numbers displayed in the form n,n2 refer
to "dice" -- the random selection of a value in the range of n..n2.
DINO, n. (1) Anyone who is seen as a founder of a MUD concept or builder
of servers and who has been involved with MUDs for longer than two years.
(2) Anyone who has been involved with MUDs for longer than two years.
Note: It is generally not proper to refer to one's self as a dino and
some may not consider length of time involved with MUDs important to
the definition.
DRIVER, n. A game server. (1) A game server which derives most if not
all of the universe rules from a db. (2) Loose name for server.
----=+=+=+=+=----- E ----=+=+=+=+=-----
ECHO, verb. To send a literal message.
EMOTE, verb. [Comp. of emotion.] To display emotion. When used as a command
it causes user input to proceed the name of the actor. Eg: "emote laughs."
causes the MUD to show others "<your name> laughs."
EXP, interj. and n. [Comp. of experience point(s).] A measure of one's skill.
Most often directly related to one's level in a game.
----=+=+=+=+=----- F ----=+=+=+=+=-----
FLAME, verb. and n. (1) To deride another's opinion. (2) To respond to
another's opinion in an inflamitory fashion.
FLEE, verb. A command which causes the actor to stop fighting and exit
the current room. Often this command is renamed "runaway."
FORCE, verb. A administrator's utility. The command causes whoever the
user wishes to perform any specified actions (in most cases.) Eg:
"Dave forced you to smile." means that player Dave used the force command
on you.
FOUNDER, n. One who is most responsible for the underlying philosophy of
a game. Often used in place of "implementor." Unlike an implementor,
a founder can only be one of the original builders of a game.
FREEZE, n. and verb. (1) See hung. (2) An administrator command which
places the player in a state from which they cannot interact with the
game.
FROG, verb. and n. (1) (AMBER) An administrator command used to punish or
disgrace players. (2) A lowly player considered to be less than a newbie.
FROZEN, n. (1) Same as hung. (2) See freeze.
FTP, n. and verb. [Comp. of File Transfer Protocol.] To exchange files.
Compatible systems setup on most mainframes and PCs.
----=+=+=+=+=----- G ----=+=+=+=+=-----
GAG, verb. To supress. Common ability of client programs, allowing the user
to ignore unwanted messages. See also: client, hilite.
GOD, n. See root.
GOTO, verb. [Comp. of go to.] Same as teleport, but only used by
wizards or administrators.
GUILD, n. (1) A school where players may learn skills or share in a private
social order for a price. (2) A company or group of players whose members
identify with some symbol or credo.
----=+=+=+=+=----- H ----=+=+=+=+=-----
HANG, See hung.
HILITE, verb. [Comp. of highlight.] To illuminate. Common ability of client
programs, allowing the user to have certain messages shown in reverse (or
bold) text. See also: client, gag.
HIT POINT, n. See hp.
HMM, interj. and n. [Comp. of well or well in that case.] To show one
is revaluating the situation at hand.
HOST, n. The machine from which a game operates.
HP, n. [Comp. of hit point(s).] A measure of how many more times an object
may be struck by a force causing 1 damage point before hit points <= 0.
Usually when hit points fall below 1, death or destruction of the object will
occur. See also: tick.
HUNG, n. A state of perpetual deadlock. A game is said to be hung when
it does not respond to user input for unusually long periods of time.
Esp. If the state persist until a crash.
----=+=+=+=+=----- I ----=+=+=+=+=-----
IMPLEMENTOR, n. The person who is most responsible for having started a
game. Refers most often to one with the knowledge and ability to change
the most basic elements of a game. But in any case it always describes
whoever the first administrator of a game was. See also: founder.
IN, verb. Same as at.
INTERMUD, n. (1) A loose association of MUDs. (2) The lines
of communication between members of an associated MUD community.
NOTE: I have only seen this term used in regards to LP type MUDs.
However I am aware of CoolMUD having standard cyberportals - Perhaps
they support other services between other CoolMUDs?
INV, verb. and n. [Comp. of inventory.] To show what one carries.
INVENTORY, see inv.
----=+=+=+=+=----- J ----=+=+=+=+=-----
JUNK, verb. and n. A command on many games which causes a specified object
to be removed from the active game db. It is useful for players to help
keep a game clean of garbage.
----=+=+=+=+=----- K ----=+=+=+=+=-----
KEYWORD, n. What MUD builders call any identifier used to label information
related to an object. Eg: The keywords by which a player may pick up
a sword might be: "sword" , "a sword" and "the sword".
KILL, verb. To remove the life from. Unlike in real life, death on
most MUDs is only a short interruption of normal activites. Combat
MUDs usually bestow a penalty (such as loss of levels or money) upon
those that die. See also: banish, nuke, linkdead, pk.
----=+=+=+=+=----- L ----=+=+=+=+=-----
LAG, n. [verb. lagged] A state of slowed activity. LAG is most often
measured by how long it takes a MUD to respond to commands issued by
a user. There are several causes of lag, including: Net lag, host lag,
and game lag. Net lag occurs when the network lines conducting communication
between the user and game are too saturated. It can be detected by measuring
the difference in speed between users calling from the machine which the
game operates on vs. users calling from remote sites. Host lag is when the
machine which the game operates from is underpowerd (trying to do too many
things at once.) Finally game lag originates from the MUD itself. This
can be caused by many internal things.
LEVEL, interj. and n. A rank. Levels ideally are proportional to one's
experience with playing a game and are unique to the character one plays.
LIGHT, n. MUD builders often use the term to refer to the visible
state of a room or object.
LINK, n. The connection between a user and a game. Eg: "Dave has lost
his link." -- The player/user Dave's connection to the game has been
interrupted. See also linkdead.
LINKDEAD, n. The state in which PCs are said to be after all communication
between the PC user and the game is blocked. This condition is 'linkless'.
See also: link.
LO, interj. [Abbrev. of Hello.] Greetings, Hello again.
LOG, n. and verb. To record activity. Most games keep log files on certain
game activites. This varies widly from one MUD to the next. In general
automatic logs are kept about when and who may have broken the highest
rules of the game.
LOGON, n. and verb. To enter a game. Those events unique to the act
of entering the game. Eg: Entering your player name and password.
LONG, n. What MUD builders call the body of descriptive text concerning
an object. This is what a player sees below the title of a room or when
looking at an object. See also: short.
L8TR, interj. and n. [Abbrev. of Later.] Fairwell, good-bye.
----=+=+=+=+=----- M ----=+=+=+=+=-----
MANA, n. Of Melanesian/Polynesian origin, related to the Hawaiian/Maori word.
The power of the elemental forces. It is a measure of spell-casting power.
MASTER, n. (1) (DIKU) Common title for the NPC head of a guild. (2) (LPC)
The master object; A virtual server to be loaded and run by the driver. It
usually handles some high level mudlib security, acts as a front end for
shutdown orders and performs some additional task when the game is booted.
(3) [Comp. of dungeon master.] Same as root.
MOB, n. (1) A monster object; an NPC, usually aggresive. n. (2) A mobile NPC.
MOBILE, n. (1) An NPC or PC, usually refers to an NPC. n. (2) Any moving
object.
MOTD, n. [Comp. of message of the day.] A file conatining recent news.
MUD, n. [Comp. of multiple user domain or multiple user dungeon.] A text
oriented (universe) of imaginary objects intended for numerous users to play as
adventures actors within. The term MUD applies to many games, including
mostly non-combat MUDs which prefer to be called by their label name
(eg: MUSH, MOO) or MU*s, a term used to de-emphasize the presumption that the
"D" in MUD always signifies "dungeon."
MUDDING, verb. To play a MUD or MUDs. Same spelling in all tenses.
MUDLER, n. [Comp. of MUD player.] One who plays MUDs. It is used to
refer to any mud user, regardless of rank.
MUDLIB, n. [Comp. of MUD library.] (1) A directory containing the entire
working db. of a game. It is simply called "lib" on DIKUs.
MUDDLING, verb. (1) To meddle with. To make sport of something. (2) Same as
MUDDING.
MUDSEX, n. and verb. To engage in social activites on a MUD which are clearly
demonstrate real life sexual activity.
MUSH,
----=+=+=+=+=----- N ----=+=+=+=+=-----
NEWBIE, n. A novice. (1) One who is a novice to playing MUDs. (2) One who
is a novice in a paticular experience. Eg: newbie coder (new to programming.),
newbie (new to MUD playing.)
NPC, n. [Comp. of non-player character.] All of the data and characteristics
of any object used by a game to represent an actor which is meant to
operate without much human intervention.
NUKE, verb. To utterly destroy another player. Usually refers to
the deletion of all data once associated with a particular player.
"A fate worse than death."
----=+=+=+=+=----- O ----=+=+=+=+=-----
OBJECT, n. (1) Any data structure used to represent a basic element of the
game. (2) An object which PCs can handle using commands such as "get" and
"drop." Note: Although rooms and PCs are objects they are usually not
called such. See also: room, pc.
----=+=+=+=+=----- P ----=+=+=+=+=-----
PAGE, verb. and n. To notify. A command by this name exist on many MUDs,
most esp. dialouge oriented ones. It either allows the user to send a
message to another user or tells the user that the sender wishes an audience.
PC, n. [Comp. of player character.] (1) All of the data and characteristics of
an object which a game uses to represent an actor whose actions and description
are most often under the control of a human user. (2) Any actor within a game,
human controlled or automatic. (3) A Personal Computer. Eg: An IBM clone.
PK, n. and verb. [Comp of player killer.] A PC (player) who has killed a
fellow player. A PK can never be an NPC but only a character under the
control of a real person. The term is usually used to describe habitial
killers.
PLAYERFILE, n. (Singular) A single file in which all of the important
data concerning users of the game is stored. (Plural) The body of files
on which all of the important data concerning users of a game are stored.
POINTER, n. A reference to something real.
----=+=+=+=+=----- Q ----=+=+=+=+=-----
QUIT, verb. A command which causes a PC to leave the game. On many
MUDs this simply means that the game disconnects from the user (like
linkdeath.) On other games it means the PC will be removed from the
active db., their data stored to disk for restoration at their next
logon.
----=+=+=+=+=----- R ----=+=+=+=+=-----
RACE, n. In MUDs the term nearly always refers to the species a player's
character belongs to. Eg: His race is human.
REBOOT, verb. and n. The events which cause a game to start performing its
normal operating jobs. This can only occur after a game is down (off.)
RECYCLE, verb. See junk.
ROLL, verb. and n. [Comp. of dice roll.] The act of randomly picking something.
See also: dice.
ROOM, n. A location to which players may move (mostly.) It generally
consist of a title and description (a short and a long.) A common error
of newbie players is to visualize rooms as cells of equal size. Infact
the only assumptions one should make about a room are those facts described
in its description.
ROOM MAKER, n. An object (program) which allows wizards to simplify the
process of creating a room.
ROOT, n. The supreme user(s) and administrator of a game. This person
is typically a founder or implementor aswell. They have the final
decesion in all matters on the game. See also: administrator.
RUNAWAY, verb. See flee.
----=+=+=+=+=----- S ----=+=+=+=+=-----
SAVE, verb. To store the important data associated with something to
disk (where it may be recovered in case of trouble.) Most often refers
to the "save" command which forces the game to save a player's data to
disk. This data is used to re-create the player whenever they logon
(or when they use "restore" on some games.)
SAY, verb. This command is also (") or (') on many MUDs. It allows
the actor to send public messages in the local room. Eg: "say hello!"
would let any player in the same room as yourself see: "<your name> says
, hello!"
SERVER, n. The actual game program(s) which maintains the rules by
which all objects within a MUD must interact. This is term is most
often applied to games which get most of their instructions on how
to operate from code compiled on the HOST. See also: driver.
SHORT, n. This is what MUD builders call the summary description of
an object. Eg: "a sword." See also: long, keyword.
SHOUT, verb. A command of this name exist in most MUDs. It allows the
actor to broadcast a public message to most of the players presently in the
game. Its usage is almost always denied to new players. See also: tell.
SHUTDOWN, verb. and n. [Comp. of shut down.] To turn off. To close.
The act or event of turning a MUD off. When this happens play is no longer
possible. A shutdown may be caused by the machine which the game operates
on (when it shuts down.) or more likely by the administrators of the game or
automated manager for that purpose. Shut downs are performed regualry on
many games to reduce the lag caused by an accumlation of 'lost' objects
and fragmented memory. It often occurs (aswell as crashes) on games in
the earliest stages of development.
SNOOP, verb. (n. snooper.) To detect all that another user does and
sees. It is generally considered impolite for an administrator to
snoop you without your knowledge.
SOUL, n. (LPC) Refers to all those actions (mostly social) which a
player might do. Eg: To smile is a soul function on many LPs. See also:
emote.
SPAM, verb. The act of disrupting normal communication, usually through
repeative means. Eg: Someone making your CRT display hundreds of "SPAM!"
messages in a few seconds. Eg: Someone harassing you on a MUD by telling
you the same senseless message over and over again.
STAT, verb. and n. (1) Any single one of a PC's stats. (2) An administrator
command used to review an object's stats. See also: stats.
STATS, n. (1) The main variables used to determine how a PC reacts to
stimuli. Eg. stats: DEX (dexterity -- how dynamic), CON (constitution --
a sort of mental strength partialy based on mana), MANA, SPELL (power
to cast) and HP. (2) Any variable which the server can display to users
within the game (the more exotic ones being reserved for administrators.)
Eg. stats: short, long, keywords.
----=+=+=+=+=----- T ----=+=+=+=+=-----
TELEPORT, verb. (1) A command by which authorized persons may travel
to other locations without using conventional exits. (2) A spell used
to move the caster or other target to other locations without using
conventional exits.
TELL, verb. A command for communicating messages to a specific user.
Beware: On some games what you tell others with the "tell" command
can always be seen by others in the same room. See also: whisper,
shout.
TICK, adv. A period of time. Usually refers to how often a game will
update/reset objects. On DIKU MUDs a PC may not be affected by
the condition of their stats until the next tick occurs. On a DIKu game
1 tick most often lies somewhere between 40 and 90 seconds. Tick may
refer to the time interval used in performing many different jobs (such
as updating zones or moving NPCs about.)
TINYBOT, n. See bot.
TINYWORLD, n. (1) Name given to all of the working db files. Eg:
tinyworld.wld, tinyworld.obj, tinyworld.mob, tinyworld.shp. (2) The
universe of a game named TINY*.
----=+=+=+=+=----- U ----=+=+=+=+=-----
UNIVERSE, n. All objects found within a game db. are within the universe of
that game.
UNIVERSE RULES, n. Usually refers to the internal logic that governs the
interaction of all objects within a particular MUD.
----=+=+=+=+=----- V ----=+=+=+=+=-----
VIRTUAL, n. Everything within a MUD may exist within a virtual reality.
This reality is defined by the universe rules. Most often the term is
used to describe methods of representing objects within a game in a
way not dependant on the most commonly used rules of the game.
----=+=+=+=+=----- W ----=+=+=+=+=-----
WHISPER, verb. A command on many games allowing the actor to send
a private message to the named player. Usual form: whisper [to] <message>.
Eg: whisper joe Hello! -- Would make Joe see: "<your name> whispers Hello!"
WIZARD, n. One who has greater responsibility and more powerful powers then
the common player. A wizard may build areas and create new objects for players
to interact with. The deffiniton of who is a wizard varies widly from game to
game.
WIZLIST, n. and verb. A list of all active and empowerd wizards.
WIZLOCK, n. and verb. The act or condition of a game being closed to
entry by all users save those defined as wizards.
WORLD, n. (1) The universe. (2) One or more adjacent and distinct areas
classified by description and or means of entry as a unique realm consiting
of areas.
----=+=+=+=+=----- X ----=+=+=+=+=-----
----=+=+=+=+=----- Y ----=+=+=+=+=-----
----=+=+=+=+=----- Z ----=+=+=+=+=-----
ZONE, (DIKU) Same as area.
ZAP, Same as nuke.
---- END -----
-McDaniel
mcdaniel@u.washington.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ftp://ftp.game.org/pub/mud FTP.GAME.ORG http://www.game.org/ftpsite/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This document came from FTP.GAME.ORG, the ultimate source for MUD resources.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------