New To MUXes?

A MUX, and its close relation the MUSH, is an online text game intended for group play. People connect to the server via telnet or a convenient client such as SimpleMU. Once connected, they can create a character on the game and commence to play with the others there. The commands are really quite simple to master, and anyone can expect to be proficient with just a few minutes of reading. Once you're familiar with the commands and have finished making a character, you'll be able to join the others in-game and play out the adventurous and/or beer-swilling ways of a professional adventurer in the untamed Sunset Isles.

First, you connect and create a character. You can do this with flat telnet, but it's often more convenient to use a MUSH client such as SimpleMU, or TinyFugue for *nix systems, or Atlantis for those who favor Macs. Once connected, you type "create <Name> <password>" to create your character on the MUX. Names should fit with the setting, which in this case is a fantasy game with distinct Southeast Asian overtones. If you've chosen a name with more than one word, the first thing you should do is give yourself an alias with the @alias command- "@alias me=<one word>". Then when you come back to reconnect to your character, you can "connect <alias> <password>".

To look around, "look". To look at a particular person or thing, "look <name>". To move from room to room, type the alias on an exit- so if the exit is named "North <N>", you'd enter "n" to go north. To say something, use the "say" command, or simply a set of quotes- say Hello! and "Hello! produce the same output. You can also use emotes with the ":" command. So, ":bows." produces "<Your name> bows.". To produce text that doesn't have your name in it, you can use the @emit command. "@emit With a flourish, Tai Wu doffs his feathered cap." will send that to the room. While it's possible to 'spoof' messages from other players this way, it's also possible to detect it, and it is not taken kindly.

To get a list of current players, type "WHO". To contact someone from a distance, you can use the "page" command, "page <person>=<message>". Generally, it's best to reserve such pages for actual questions or specific points, as other players may be engaged in play at the time and not be available for light chat.

Good etiquette on a MUX is much the same as good etiquette anywhere. Just like a tabletop roleplaying game, you'll have the most fun if you get along politely with your fellow players, and if you're obnoxious to them they may decide that they've got better company to play with. Feel free to ask people questions if you're not sure how some rule works- as a "newbie" to MUXing, people will be more inclined to be understanding and helpful.

Once you've made up your character, you should look at the Roleplaying primer to get some help on how to go about your play in-game.

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