README-BETA
Part of CircleMUD
Last modified Mar. 2 1995
jelson@jhu.edu

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This file contains information regarding the beta-test status of CircleMUD
3.0.  Since this is a beta and not a full release, certain things should
be kept in mind:


1-  Please do not me ask 'newbie questions' about the MUD.  If you're a MUD
    newbie, stick with version 2.20.

2-  Please send me as many bug reports as possible!  If you have sent a bug
    report in the past which hasn't been fixed in the current patchlevel,
    please send it again.

2a- However, do NOT send me "bug reports" which are your fault: i.e. if you
    change the code and then it starts crashing, recompile using clean code
    and see if it still crashes.  If not, the bug is the fault of your new
    code; don't tell me about it.  I had to add "2a" because in the week
    after patchlevel 5 was released, I got a large number of bogus bug
    reports, (stuff like "the ATM crashes the game!") which were due to
    people's own buggy code but blamed on me.

    In other words, do not send a bug report *UNLESS* you can prove that
    the bug exists in the stock code, not just in your modified code.

3-  If the MUD does not compile 100% cleanly on your system the first time,
    please send me a detailed report of everything you had to do in order
    to get it to compile, as well as the name of your system and version
    of your operating system.

4-  Not all utilities have been ported from 2.20 to 3.0 as of patchlevel 6.
    Please do not ask why they don't work.

5-  There is a skeleton of the OLC system in this patchlevel but it is
    certainly not complete.  Do not send me any comments such as, "Why can't
    I modify XXXX??" or "why doesn't it save my changes???".  OLC is not
    complete.

6-  Unsolicited code submissions are always welcome but not guaranteed to
    be included in the general distribution.

7-  The documentation has not all been written yet.  I would be a rich, rich
    man if I had a dollar for every piece of mail I've received saying, "my
    coding.doc is corrupted, can you send me a complete copy please??????"
    This is beta software and the documentation is not complete.  If you need
    documentation, please wait for the *full* 3.0 release.

Jeremy