Channels are an out-of-character (OOC) means for users to communicate with each other. You may hear the terms "channel" and "line" used interchangeably. There are two main types of channels: local and intermud. The default Dead Souls distribution uses these channels as local: cre - only creators hear this gossip - general offtopic stuff newbie - everyone can hear this unless they turn it off thief - channel for the thief class fighter - channel for the fighter class error - system errors death - death announcements mage - channel for the thief class priest - channel for the thief class explorer - channel for the thief class admin - only admins hear this The following are intermud channels: ds - Dead Souls mud code talk ds_test - testing testing 1, 2, 3, etc intergossip - general offtopic stuff lpuni - LPUniversity discussion intercre - general technical chatter By default, players do not have access to intermud channels. Mud admins are asked to maintain some level of adherence to the channel topics from their users. Muds that violate the router admin's interpretation of "on-topic" will be asked politely, if possible, to conform to the channel standards. Continued violations subject the offending mud to potential banning. Hate speech is not tolerated, and flaming is frowned upon, though each mud is expected to police itself and enforce these standards on their own. If you don't like these rules, use a router other than the default. For local channels of course, none of this applies. Whatever local rules are in place, that's what must be obeyed. Some tips: --------- To turn on/off a channel, type its name by itself, like this: newbie To know who is listening to a channel: list newbie To see a brief history of channel messages: hist newbie