Encyclopædia of MUDs
Dictionary
Published since 1993.

Version C03 March. 7, 2000

© 1993-2000 by Henry McDaniel III. Licensed to Blane Bramble, Virtua-Web Limited. Official instructors at universities and other learning institutions are permitted to make printed copies of this document for academic use at their own institutions and to charge students a reasonable amount of money for the cost of duplication provided that this notice remains intact. All other rights reserved.

Credits

Who & When	Defined	Helped
Henry McDaniel (haji@alumni.washington.edu) Foundation, Compilation, etc.
03/01/1993 to Present	-	-
Blane Bramble, Virtua-Web (blane@virtua-web.co.uk) Current Hosting
20 Dec 2000 to Present	-	-
Alan Schwart (alansz@cogsci.Berkeley.EDU)
10/25/1993	Mana	-
Alex Gutkin (c0428974@techst02.technion.ac.il)
10/28/1993	Teleport	Apocolypse
Daniel Garcia (kender@esu.edu)
3/22/1995	-	Reboot
Michael M. Flood (gt0547@prism.gatech.edu, flood@courier1.aero.org)
3/25/1995	-	Guild
Hans Henrik Staerfeldt (bombman@diku.dk, hhs@cbs.dtu.dk)
12/18/1996	Wizard	-
Steven Lucas (smlucas@geocities.com)
10/16/1998	Frob /Defrob	-
"Tempest & Dzorak" (cookson@afes.com)
10/21/1998	Sacrifice (aka "sac")	-
Adam Wozniak (adam@mudlist.eorbit.com) Jon A. Lambert (jlsysinc@nospam1.ix.com) jpb (jpb@technologist.com)
5/14/1999	-	Toad
Aristotle (threshold@threshold-rpg.com)
5/21/1999	-	Defrob /Frob /Gag /Teleport
Amanda Carlston aka "Daria" (ashandra@my-dejanews.com)
5/21/1999	AFK /Away /Become /Quest /Quest Points /Score	-
Nemesis Phoenix (nemesis@mud.cjb.net)
9/29/99	Alias /Brief (2) /Do /Equip (and eq) /Hibernate /Nickname /Suicide /Verbose	-
10/20/99	Pretitle /Prison /Title	Jail
1/23/2000	Aggressive /Beta /Domain /Arch /Harass (and Harassment) /Path /Peek /QC /Scry	-
Magnifico Terrifico (magnifico@umn.org)
10/11/1999	Class /Holylight /Imp (ref to Implemetor) /Level Less /Pkill (ref to PK) /Psteal /Pwipe /Skill /Skilltree	-
10/11/1999	Spam (2) /Twinkie	-
Dov (mirajama@yahoo.com)
10/13/1999	Bag /Bog /Nog	-
Matt Lundberg (mattlund@selway.umt.edu)
10/14/1999	Trigger	-
Snafu Life. (snafulife@home.com)
2/21/2000	-	AC /Armor Class
3/1/2000	OLC	-
AxL (axl@mindwarp.plymouth.edu)
2/28/2000	Frag	-
Hope Skinner (gailyana@hotmail.com)
2/28/2000	Twink	-
Batopr (Batopr@Grimhaven - grimhaven.org 7900)
3/2/2000	Corpse Retrieval /D&D (and AD&D) /Dual-Class /GP /MP (and MV) /Lockout (and Command Lockout) /Player Looting /Pulse /Multi-Class /XdY (and XdY+Z) /THAC0	BRB *
Kavir aka Richard Woolcock (Richard.Woolcock@RSUK.rsd.de)
3/6/2000	2 /4 /AFAIK /BTW /BBS /Chomp /Coder /Copyover /Cryo /Damroll /Deny /Disconnect /Donation (2) /Founder (2) /FYI /G /Goto (2) /Head /Coder /Head Implementor /Healer /Hitroll /Hitter /HnS /LAF (and laff) /Level Based /LOL /M8 /Nibble /PBEM /Pure PK /ROFL /ROFLMAO /RP /Newlock /Owner /Rent /Repop /Respawn /Skill Based /Stabber /Trolling (3) /U /Vryce /WoD /WoT /WTF /X (2) /XY /Y /Z	Hermaphrodite /Hybrid /Level Less *
Maetar aka Martin Dibble (maetar@earthling.net)
3/6/2000	Channel (2) /Drop (2) /IMHO /Macro /MUSH /TLA	Roleplay *
3/10/2000	ETLA /Purge /Re-String /Slay /Wizi	-

*=Provided correction or reported a problem.

Preface

The dictionary is intended for use by novice MUD players or as reference material for experienced users who would like to use a common terminology with the users of other MUDs. Provides information specific to MUDs: on the root of command actions common to many games, slang, and technical terms.

Abbreviations Used

  Abrev.    Abbreviation
  Adj.      Adjective
  Adv.      Adv.
  Comp.     Comparative or Compound or Composition
  Ex.       Example
  Esp.      Especially
  Interj.   Interjection
  N.        Noun
  V.        Verb

Note that commands in use on MUDs are often described as n. and v. while the definition only details the v. or noun usage; Giving definitions easily found in the common dictionary is beyond the scope of this work.

Code Base or Type References

ABER, DIKU, LP, TINY. Any name within parenthesis () at the start of a definition refers to a code base type or family. These are just the most commonly used base names currently in the dictionary.

Format

Sections are divided by lines and large letters indicating the section.
Example:

Dictionary, n.: A body of language words, arranged alphabetically, with origin, usage, meaning, etc. defined.; See: Unselfconscious.

Definition terms are to the left, while definitions are towards the right and justified. Pointers to other sections are highlighted or underlined.

Symbols

*g*, n.

Same as G .

2, pronounced too

Too or to. A shortform used by young mudders .

4, pronounced phor

For. A shortform used by young mudders .

A

AC, n. [Comp. of Armor Class.]

Same as Armor Class .

AD, n. [Comp. of Advertisement.]

Promotional announcement. Exactly the same meaning as used outside ofMUDs.

AD&D, n.

Same as D&D ® .

Address, n.

Also addy.

Standard identification for an internet trafficdestination. There are many forms of internet addresses. Examples:E-mail: haji@alumni.washington.edu,to send a letter or other package to a user namedJoe. Internet Protocol (IP): 1.2.3.4 3000, to reach port 3000 on amachine numerically identified as 1.2.3.4. Worldwide Web (WWW):http://www.mudwords.com/, to access a web site .

See: Intermud , mail .

Addy, n.

Slang for address. Most commonly refers to an internet address.

See: address .

Admin, n. [Comp. of administrator.]

See: administrator .

Administrator, n.

One who directs, manages or maintains a game.

See: god , immortal , root , wizard .

AFAIK, idiom. [Comp. of As Far As I Know.]

I believe. I know.

AFK, adv., interj. [Comp. of Away from Keyboard.]

Used to say, "I am not here" and "I'll be back later."

See: BRB .

AFW, adv., interj. [Comp. of Away from Window.]

Used to say, "I am still at my computer but I am notpaying active attention to this game context." Similarto AFK . Window is from the system of windows used inthe operating systems of most graphical user interfaces.

Agent, n.

Same as bot .

Aggro, n. [Comp. of Aggresive.]

Same as aggressive .

Aggressive, adj.

Also aggro .

State of a monster or NPC that iniates combat with othercharacters .

B

Backup, n., v.

Periodical copy made, as of a game, to be used in the event that theprimary version is lost or damaged.

Bag, n., adj.

(DIKU) Someone who is easy to PK (in the victim sense). Essentiallythey are a free bag of equipment (the spoils to begotten off their corpse.)

Balance, adj., n.

MUD that has reached a state of predictable and desired game behaviorfrom the perspective of the game administrator .

See: system (1) for details.

Ban, v.

To bar from entering. Most often used to describe the locking of agame from entry by users from a particular site .

See: banish , wizlock .

Banish, v.

To bar from entering. This is what administrators do when they decidethey no longer wish for a player or user from a particularsite to use the game. Most often it means that a charcter has beendeleted and no user may create a new player of the same name.

See: ban .

Base, n.

(1) Basic foundation or fundamental MUD server code.

(2) MUD considered to be a root ormajor limb in the geneology of MUD development. Usually a server that has largely original or different source code .

See: codebase , stock , type (1) .

Become, v., n.

(ABER) Command allows a user to change characters. Often a wizardcommand.

See: switch .

Beta, n.

Second. A mud's second stage of developmentwhen the mud is playable but requires actual play testingto help ensure that the game world is well balanced and has no bugs . This stage occurs right before thegame opens to the general public.

See: balance .

Bit, n.

(1) One of the binary digits that makes up a byte .

(2) Small part of anything.

See: byte .

Blind, v., n., adj.

State of being incapable of percieving normally visibledescriptions .

See: light .

Bog, interj., v. [Comp. of Boggle.]

Same as boggle .

Boggle, interj., v.

Also bog .

Expression of confusion. Example: "Mary boggles."

See: nog .

Boot, v.

To start a computer program such as a MUD,operating system. Generally used to describe the startingof major programs or daemons and not every possible program.

See: program

Bot, n.

Also called agent.

(1) A computer program which can direct a PC on some MUDwithout human intervention.

(2) Any NPC of above average intelligence, esp. those withdescriptions similar to robots.

Bounce, v.

Soul or emote command on many games. It isgenerally considered impolite to use this on another player withouttheir consent as it has been used to simulate activity of asexual nature.

See: rape , soul .

Bow, v.

(esp. DIKU) Respectful greeting. Similar to waving at someone in real life.

BB, adv., interj. [Comp. of Be Back.]

See you again.

BBL, adv., interj. [Comp. of be back later.]

See you again at a later time.

BK, adv., interj. [Comp. of Back.]

I have returned.

BRB, adv., interj. [Comp. of Be Right Back.]

See you again very soon.

Brief, n., v.

(1) Mode that limits what a user sees when viewing aroom or other objects. Typically hides the long part ofthe description ,leaving the short title and other information.

(2) Command to enable brief mode (1).

(3) Toggle command for brief mode (1). Turns brief mode off and on.

See: verbose .

BTW, idiom. [Comp. of By the Way.]

By the way. Often used as a transition to or preface for adifferent but often related line of thought. Example: you are talking about rabbitswith Joe and Joe says, "BTW, did you know my sister likes carrots?"

Buffer, n.

Queue where data is temporarily held. This can be either a diskfile or a place in abstract memory.

Bug, n.

What programmers (and MUD builders) call an unwanted error. Any termused to describe real bugs or that is associated with incests may also beused to describe a bug of this type. Example: "We need some RAID! (tm)",bug killer is needed to fix all of the bugs I've found.

See: error , source code .

Builder, n.

On large MUDs, many people contribute to the virtual world. Suchpersons often have the title of "builder". Builders may or may nothave the same power as a wizard.

See: domain , wizard .

Byte, n.

Part of a machine word consisting of bits .

See: chomp , nibble .

C

Cast, v.

(1) To iniate a magical spell.

(2) To define what type of object something is.

See spell for details.

CF, n. [comp. of Center Fountain] (DIKU) Many towns contain a main or center fountain. Thelocation is called CF.

Channel, n.,v.

(1) Named or numbered communication route by which subscribers maylisten or send messages. Generally has replaced the shout feature MUDs once offered. Shout was essentially a single channel.Now games typically offer multiple channels, some public and othersprivate. Private channels may be exclusive to a particularguild or to game administrators .On some MUDs channels are treated like radio channels, where onemust have a special radio receiver. In others one uses a special

See: page .

(2) Use of magic based on the Wheel of Time book series.command to gain access.

Character, n.

(1) Object that represents a lifeform within the game.

See: NPC , player , pc .

(2) Single text letter. Example: "b".

See: PC .

Chat, v., n.

Style of communicating with other players that favors conversationin a human written language over symbolic or indirect methods.

Chomp, n.

(1) Same as snip .

(2) Three bytes .

See: nibble .

Clan, n.

Same as guild 2 .

Class, n.

Character membership or role providing access toa special set of skills or magical abilities.Some games limit players to holding membership in more than one class.Common classes (DIKU): Cleric , Mage , Thief ,Warrior .

See: guild 1 , skilltree .

Classless, n., adj.

MUD that does not support or provide classes .

Cleric, n.

Class of those associated with temple worship.Typically have the power to heal.

Client, n.

(1) Program used to communicate to a game. Such clients areintended to make interfacing with the game more user friendly.

(2) Any program that is incomplete unless used in conjunction with aserver (or central process).

See: program , hilite , trigger .

Close, v.

To limit access to. Command or act that limits accesss to the contents ofcontainers type items or to room exits provided by doors .

See: open , lock , unlock .

Code, n., v.

(1) Plural (spelled "code"): instructions. Collectively known as aprogram .

(2) Same as password .

(3) (v). To create programs .

Codebase, n.

Fundamental underlying code of a MUD. Usually refersto the server and not a mudlib or othernon-essential data files.

Coder, n.

(1) Someone who makes modifications and additions to the codewithin a MUD .

(2) Title given to someone who may code (3) .

See: Head Coder .

Color, n.

Also colour [British].

Feature producing colors on ANSI compatible terminals .Often used in the promotion of text based MUDs.

Combat, n.

(1) Aspect of a game related to physical conflict (within a MUD).

(2) Game that features warriors in competition described asphysical.

See: system for balance relationship.

Command, n.

Word or sentence containing instructions for the game to follow.

See: command line .

Command Line, n.

Place for you to enter commands for the game such asat the MUD prompt .

Compress, v.

To reduce the size of something. Typically a computerprogram makes a file of data that was once large smaller.A decompress is required to re-create the originalfile.

CON, n. [comp. of constitution]

See: constitution .

Consider, v.

To size up an opponent such as for combat.

Often abrev. con.

Constitution, n. also CON

(1) Character statistic that often indicates a form ofendurance.

(2) Character's moral alignment: evil , neutral or good .

(3) Chief game rules for players , which are specific to aparticular MUD.

See: character .

Connect, v.

Same as logon .

Connected, n.

(1) To be in control of a particular character at this moment.

(2) To be in communication with the game.

See: linkdead , switch .

Coordinate System, n.

Game play scheme that allows items within a location to be precise distances from each other. For instance a door maybe five units from a table. Most often used in combat gamesand depictions of outer space or other situations where players areallowed to move great distances without necessarily leaving onedistinct location. Sometimes associated with virtual rooms.

See: ranged weapons , sublocation ,X , Y , Z .

Copyover, n.

(DIKU) Same as hotboot .

Core, n.

File (usually megabytes in size) that may be created when a gamecrash occurs. The file creation is called a core dump. A corefile can be used to examine the state of the game at the time of thecrash, and help diagnose the cause.

See: crash .

Core Dump, n.

Same as core .

Corpse, n.

Dead remains of a character (PC or NPC ) that has beenkilled. These may act as open containers for the possesions which theliving character had. Note: The corpse is often only a representation ofthe character that died so it is possible for living characters to seetheir own corpse seperate from themselves.

Corpse Retrieval, v.,n.

Act of returning to the location of demise in orderto reclaim the body (and equipment) of a PC .This act often also involves eliminating whatever killedthe adventurer in the first place.

See: corpse .

Crash, v., n.

Unscheduled cessation of all game operations. This conditionusually deletes many current variables, meaning that the most recentlyperformed activities will leave no trace following the reboot .

See: hung , reboot .

Create, v.

(1) To build something for the first time.

(2) Same as logon, only this is to create a new PC .

Creator, n.

(1) Person responsible for the initialization of a MUD .

(2) Builder of areas . Some prefer therather ominous title, "Destroyer of Worlds" and biblical (or notso biblical) variations thereof.

See: founder , implementor , wizard .

Cryo, n. [Comp. of Cryogenically Frozen.]

(DIKU) Similar to hybernate .A specific form of renting available on some Diku MUDsthat usually costs the same as several days rent, but keepsthe character suspended until the player next connectswithout any additional daily rent costs.

Currency, n.

Any money circulated within the game and generally accepted forthe purchase of equipment or in other forms of trade.Often gold . Mostly limited to combat or otherRPG oriented games.

See: economy .

Cyberportal, n.

(1) Feature that allows game objects (PCs for example) to migratefrom one game server to another while both games arerunning.

(2) In game representation of a link to another gameserver for the transmissionof information to or from the other game.

See: intermud .

D

Daemon, n.

Program dedicated to performing a particular service orfunction .

Damroll, n.

(DIKU) Statistic that reflects how good a character isat inflicting damage in combat.

See: hitroll .

Dark, n.

Lacking description besides that the light level is low.

See: light , blind .

Data, n.

Information for a computer program to process .

Database, n.

Also DB.

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 agame's areas , objects and PCs .

See: mudlib , playerfile .

D&D, n. [Comp. of Dungeons and Dragons.]

Also AD&D.

Dungeons and Dragons ®. A fantasy role-playinggame developed in the late 1970's with muchcommercial success. Many combat MUDS(esp. DIKU) are at least loosely derivative ofportions of the D&D ® system.

Death, n.

Temporary suspensionof normal play for a particular character .Not as certain as taxes in the world of MUDs.Typically penalties are associated with dying.Penalties like EXP deductions, loss of equipment , etc.

See: deletion , ghost , kill , suicide .

Decompress, v.

To enlarge something. Typically the same computer program that was used to compress a file of data isused to reverse the process 2 and recreate the originalfile.

Defrob, v., n.

(1) Wizard made common player; as penalty (involuntary), or fortheir recreation (voluntary). Wizard status is re-acquired after apenalty period is served or when the player meets the conditions ofrecreational advancement (available to any PC ).

(2) Demotion to lower wizard level by the administrator .

See: frob , frog .

Deletion, n.

Permanent destruction of an object such as a player'scharacter .

Deny, v.

To ban a character from the MUD. The "denied" characteris kicked off and unable to reconnect until an immortal has "undenied" them.

Dev/null, n.

From Unix. Nowhere. Example: "send your complaint to /dev/null" reallymeans "I don't care about your complaint."

DB, n. [Comp. of Database.]

See: database .

Description, n.

Information that defines an object's appearance from theperspective of a viewer. The viewer is typically a character .

See: long , short .

Development Site, n.

Host where a MUD is being worked on prior to goingpublic .

DEX, n. [comp. of dexterity]

See: dexterity .

Dexterity, n.

Measure of a character's agility.

See: statistics .

Dice, n.

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.

See: die , roll , XdY .

Die, n.

(1) Same as dice .

(2) Same as death .

Diety, n.

Same as god .

Diku, n.

Also DikuMUD.

Combat oriented MUD developed in 1990 at theDepartment of Computer Science at the Universityof Copenhagen (Diku).Authors:Sebastian Hammer,Tom Madsen,Katja Nyboe,Michael Seifert,Hans Henrik Staerfeldt. Diku has spawned manychildren or related games.

Dino, n.

(1) Anyone who is seen as a founder of a MUD concept or builder ofserver and who has been involved with MUDs for longer thantwo years.

(2) Anyone who has been involved with MUDs for longer than two years.Note: It is generally not considered proper to refer to one's self asa dino and some may not consider length of time involved with MUDsimportant to the definition.

Disconnect, v.

To severe a connection to the MUD.A command on many MUDs that allows immortals to disconnect a player while leaving their character linkdead .

See: freeze .

Do, v. Command allows you to give multiple commands on the same line.Each command set is seperated by a comma (,). Example:"do get sword,wield sword,kill balrog".

Donation, n.

From making sacrifical offerings to gods.

(1) System in which the donate command exists.Typically, donate will remove a specified item from acharacter and place that item in a fixed room where others may acquire it.

(2) Destination room of a donate command ."Let's go to donation and see if there's anythingwe can use."

(3) Monetary gift made to a game owner, often in return for special privledges. This is against the license agreement ofmost freely codebases .

Door, n.

Potential exit between rooms . Doors may be:open; You can pass through to another room,closed; You cannot pass through.locked; You must unlock the door to use it.

See: close , lock , open , unlock .

Domain, n.

Large area operated or maintained by a wizard . Most oftenhas a set theme.

Driver, n.

Game server.

(1) A game server that derives most if not all of theuniverse rules from a DB .

(2) Loose name for server.

See: server .

Drop, v.

(1) command to take items from one's inventory andplace them into the room .

See: get .

(2) To say you are targeting a specificcharacter for killing.Most often used on pure pk MUDs. Example:Maetar says, "Dropping Korpora."

Dual-Class, n.

System in which a character may hold up totwo classes at the same time.Typically one class is active (or effectual)while another is on hold.

See: class , multi-class .

Dynamic Text, n.

(EM 1993) Descriptions that modifythemselves based on external factors. For example, a roomdescription that changes from "There are piles of snowbelow the windows" to "Puddles of water shimmer beneath thewindows" depending on the weather. Only applies to textgenerated as a result of instructions embedded in dataspecific to a particular room and not gang orwholesale application of footers or "tags" tootherwisestatic descriptions.

E

Echo, v., n.

(1) To send a literal message.

(2) To send a message to all users (without regard to rank)simultaneously.

See: message .

Echoall, v., n.

Same as echo 2 .

Economic, adj.

Same as economy .

Economy, n.

Whole sum of trade including profit and loss as it can beobjectively measured in units of quantity.

See: currency , inflation , system for balancerelationship.

Editor, n.

Program that assists or makes possible the creation ofgame elements. Room editors that hide the pitfalls associatedwith the complexity ofunderlying mud code is a type of this.

See: OLC , Room Maker .

EM, n. [Comp. of Encyclopædia of MUDs derived.]

You will find some terms in this dictionary associated with "(EM)"Play on the U.S. trademark symbol (TM).Word or phrase was developed at the Encyclopædia of MUDs projector by the author of the same buthas been placed in the public domain (you may use it freely.)

Emote, v. [Comp. of Emotion.]

To display emotion. When used as a command it causes user input toproceed the name of the actor. Example: "emote laughs." causes the MUDto show others "[your name] laughs."

Often abbreviated as : in command form.

Eq, v.

Same as equip .

Equip, v.

Command related to wearable items.

(1) To start using an item that can be wielded or worn.

(2) To display items in your inventory presently worn or wielded.

See: wear , wield .

Equipment, n.

Primarily wearable items. Also may include all items in theinventory of a character .

See: equip .

Error, n.

Unwanted occurence or event. Most esp. those that can beprevented by modifying game code .

See: bug .

ETLA, n. [Comp. of Extended Three Letter Acronym.]

Acronym of four letters or more that is derivedfrom a root acronym having three letters. Example: ROFLMAO from ROF .

See: TLA .

Evil, n.

Range of moral alignment that is at the other end of the spectrumfrom good.

See: good , constitution ,neutral .

Exit, n., v.

Method of moving between rooms .

Exp, n., interj. [Comp. of Experience Point(s).]

Also XP and xp.

(n). Measure of one's skill. For players it is directly related to one's level in a game. Very much like the score number in video games.Most often used in combat oriented games, as a reward for kills.

(interj). Celebratory remark indicating that one has just gained asignificant number of experience points. Closely akin tothe level exclamation.

See: Quest Points , Player Killer .

Experience Points, n.

Same as EXP .

F

FAQ, n. [Comp. of Frequently Asked Questions.]

Collection of questions and answers packaged into a file.

Flag, n.

Semaphore or indicator of a particular state. The keys on yourcomputer keyboard are flags in a sense because they can be in morethan one state (depressed or not, up or down) and this differencein states is used to send signals. MUDs use a similar principleto keep track of what's happening in all objects . Aplayer might have a flag to indicate whether or not itis authorized to use builder commands for instance.MUDs also employ variables .

Flame, v., n.

(1) To deride another's opinion.

(2) To respond to another's opinion in an inflamitory fashion.

Flee, v.

Command which causes the actor to stop fighting and exit thecurrent room. Often this command is renamed "runaway".

Force, v.

Administrator's utility.The command causes whoever the user wishes to perform specified actions (in most cases). Example:"Dave forced you to smile" means that player Dave used the forcecommand on you.

Founder, n.

(1) 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 creators of a game.

(2) creator of something. Example: The clan founder.

Frag, n. [Comp. of Fragment(ed).]

(1) Corruption of a playerfile . Expression:"My player is fragged."

(2) To kill. Esp. when retribution for betrayal by the victim.

G

G, n.

Also

g*.

Grin. Used to display amusement.

See nod .

Gag, v.

To suppress.

(1) Common ability of client programs, allowing the user toignore unwanted messages.

(2) To prevent a user from communicating.

See: client , hilite , user .

Garbage Collection, n.

Same as recycle (2) .

GDB, n. [Comp. of GNU Debugger.]

Popular and freely available code diagnostic tool among certaingame programmers.

Get, v.

command to take an item from the room ora container and put it somewhere else.

See: drop , inventory .

Ghost, n. (LP) Suspension of the ability to manipulate equipment and to communicate with other players . Occurs betweendeath and the next life . Esp. early LP.

God, n.

Also diety.

(1) Any immortal user. These are those whosecharacters cannot die. Often a wizard .

(2) Any user not limited in the manner that players are.

See: admin , root , user , wizard .

Goddess, n.

Also diety.

God of female gender .

Gold, n.

Common form of money on many games. Measured in pieces that areequivalent to some generic standard coin.

See: GP .

Good, n.

Range of moral alignment that is at the other end of the spectrumfrom evil.

See: evil , neutral ,constitution .

GP, n. [Comp. of Gold Piece.]

Gold piece. Used as currency within some games.

See: currency .

Goto, v. [Comp. of Go To.]

(1) Same as teleport 1 , but only used by wizards or administrators .

See: teleport .

(2) Keyword many programming languages support. Shouldbe avoided, as it can turn code into "spaghetti programming".

Groundhog Day, n.

(Aber) Scheduled periodical reset of all game areas thatrestocks or replaces valuable prizes, NPCs and other gameelements.

See: repop .

Group, n., v.

(1) To associate one's self with other players for some purpose.

(2) Command to create a group consisting of a limited number ofplayers. Such grouping allows for collective action directed by thegroup leader (who executes the command). Withing the typical MUDenvironment, this will greatly simplify the logistics of movingplayers .

See: party .

Guild, n.

(1) School where players may learn skills or share in a privatesocial order for a price.

(2) Also clan. Company or group of players whose members identify with somesymbol or creed.

(3) Association or corporation. Such as an economic body or unionof players organized for the express purpose of providing goods andservices in return for monetary profit. These bodies should havecorporate identites (tradenames and trademarks, slogans, gurantees,standards and the like).

See: channel , players .

H

Hack and Slash, n.

Combat oriented game. Describes the action onsuch games. Esp. those that feature swords.

Hang, v.

See: hung .

Harass, v., n. ha-ras, -ment

(1) Toggle type command starts or ends a log of events associated withthe player including her actions and the actions of those nearby.The log is intended to provide evidence of harassment togame authorities.

(2) To attack. Continuing attacks on a player. Most often refers to activityoutside of accepted game play and is illegal on many muds.

See: log , spam .

Head Coder, n.

Title. Chief among coders .

Head Implementor, n.

Title. Same as owner .

See: implementor .

Heal, v.

To improve the condition of a character .

See: cleric .

Healer, n.

Nickname for cleric . Something like an army medic.During combat the healer isresponsible for keeping the tank alive.

Heartbeat, n.

(esp. LP) Period of time associated with an object like acharacter . Determines when actions unique tothat object may occur. Provided in 1 second increments. Usuallyprovides a regularly timed intervalbetween events associated with the object. For example amonster with heartbeat of 3 seconds could only iniate actionsspecific to it every third second.

See: pulse , tick .

Help, n.

Also info .

System provided for looking up and reading information relatedto a game. Often interactive in nature.

Hermaphrodite, n.

Character with attributes of both the male and female genders.

See: character , neuter , sex .

Hibernate, n., v.

(LP) Command suspends your character for an extended period oftime. The user specifies the suspension period in days. Once iniatedthe command cannot be undone. Often used by college students addicted toplaying who wish to exile themselves during exam time or even summervacation. [Name probably originated at The MUD Institute (TMI) butconcept predates this.]

Hilite, v. [Comp. of Highlight.]

To illuminate. Common ability of client programs, allowingthe user to have certain messages shown in reverse or bold text.

See: client , gag .

History, n.

(1) List of recent commands issued by a user . Usuallydisplayed in order of oldest to newest and indexed with numbers sothat old commands may be repeated simply by providing the number (asin !n where n is the number from the list.

(2) Study of the development and implementation of MUDs.

(3) Related to an individual's involvement with MUDs.

See: mudology .

Hit Point, n.

Same as hp .

Hitroll, n.

(DIKU) Statistic reflects how gooda character is at hitting in combat.

See: damroll .

Hitter, n.

Warrior who has high hitroll and damroll when teamed up with a tank . Thehitter is responsible for damaging the target.

HMM, interj., n. [Comp. of Well or "Well in That Case".]

Used to show one is reevaluating the current situation.

HnS, adj.,n. [Comp. of Hack and Slash.]

(1) Type of MUD that reloves around killing monsters as opposed to PKing .

(2) Player who spends her time killing and looking tokill things. Often a derogatory reference.

Holylight, n.

(DIKU, esp. Circle) Flag gurantees that a character has perfectvision (can see) in all circumstances. Usually foradministrators .

See: visible .

Home, n.

(1) Room or town that a player entersthe game at.

(2) (LP) Command that causes a character toteleport home (1).

Host, n.

Machine on which a game or other service resides.

Hotboot, n., v.

Also copyover.

(DIKU) Reboot that does not require users to disconnectfrom the game. Note:

Hotel, n.

Also Inn.

Place on certain games where a PC must go beforelogout in order to save their inventory for the next time they play.Sometimes called renting .

HP, n. [Comp. of Hit Point(s).]

Measure of how many more times an object may be struck by a forcecausing one damage point before hit points are less than or equal to0. Usually when hit points fall below 1, death or destruction of theobject will occur.

See: tick .

Hung, n.

State of perpetual deadlock. A game is said to be hung when it doesnot respond to user input for unusually long periods of time. Esp. Ifthe state persist until a crash .

Hunter, n.

NPC that follows players around and attack them. Huntersgenerally only harass (2) players who attacked them first.

Hybernate, n.,v. (1) To suspend play for a particular character.(2) Command provided for persons addicted to playing MUDs such asstudents to impose a ban on playing with their character for some specified period of time like the months of summer breakfrom school. Once iniated the ban is enforced automatically by thegame.

See: suicide .

Hybrid, n.

Mixture of two or more types forming a new thing.

I

Idle, n.

Also idle time.

Period of time sense the last input was received from a user .Many games dump make linkdead thePCs pf users that have been idle too long. "Too long" usuallyvaries depending on what the user was doing last and the internalrules of the game.

See: reconnect , timeout .

Illegal, n.,adj.

(1) MUD that is operated on a host without the permission of theowner.

(2) MUD that is operated in violation of the license provided.

(3) Player actions that are in violation of the rules of play.

See: legal .

IMHO, [Comp. of In My Humble Opinion.]

This is my belief. It is my belief.Often used as a preface to arguments based on personalexperience or belief.

Immortal, n.

(1) Rank of an administrator , builder orwizard .

(2) Character with resistance to death. Most often aPC .

See: mortal .

Imp, n. [Abbrev. of Implementor.]

See: implementor .

IMPCG, n. [Comp. of Interactive Multi-Player Computer Game.]

Also MUA , MUD .

More general name for MUDs.

Implementor, n.

Also Imp.

Person who is most responsible for having started a game. Refersmost often to one with the knowledge and ability to change the mostbasic elements of a game. But in any case it always describes whoeverthe first administrator of a game was.

See: founder .

In, v.

Same as at .

Index, n.

Number of an item in a list .

Infared, n.

Abilitiy to see in the dark . Usually refers toa limited form used by a player.

Inflation, n.

State of economy where the cost of purchasing common items isprohibitive. Occurs when either the supply of money available topurchase items dwindles or the cost of items has been artificallyraised to match some set percentage of the total money held byplayers and only a very few players actually have the majority ofwealth.

Inn, n.

Same as hotel .

Interactive, n.

(1) Responsive to input. Typically describes the specialapplication of extended communication between aprogram and a user . For example if theuser asks to change her password and the game responds, "Enteryour password: ", the user is accessing an interactive program,the password changing program.Note: A MUD itself is interactive.

(2) Object presently under the direct control of a human beingsuch as a character .

See: link , living .

Intermud, n.

(1) Loose association of MUDs .

(2) Lines of communication between members of an associated MUDcommunity. Network services. NOTE: Software plug-ins for LP and ABER type MUDs whichallow for the games to share cyberportals exist. As of October 1998 noknown Abermuds use the service. CoolMUDs also have a standardof their own. See www.imaginary.com for the technical specificationsof one Intermud.

See: cyberportal .

Inv, v., n. [Comp. of Inventory.]

See: inventory .

Inventory, v., n.

Displays a list of items in a character's possession or within aroom .

Invisible, n.

Not being percevied by other character .Most often in the same room as.

See: blind , dark .

Item, n.

Any object visible to a character within the MUD .Esp. non-characters .

J

Jail, n.

Also prison.

Isolated room where the administrator may placea player or wizard forillegal behavior. Room usually willrestrict the commands and limitthe communication of the character imprisioned.

Job, n.

Work to be done. Often programs are made to do specificjobs.

Junk, v., n.

Command on many games which causes a specified object to be removedfrom the active game DB . It is useful for players to help keep agame clean of garbage.

See: sacrifice .

K

Key, n.

(1) Object used to lock and unlock things.

(2) Same as password .

Keyword, n.

What MUD builders call any identifier used to label informationrelated to an object . Example: The keywords by which a player may pickup a sword might be: "sword," "a sword" and "the sword".

Kill, v.

To remove the life from. Unlike in real life, death on most MUDs isonly a short interruption of normal activities. Combat MUDs usuallybestow a penalty (such as loss of levels or money) upon those thatdie.

See: banish , nuke , linkdead ,pk .

L

LAF, n. [Comp. of Laugh.]

Also laff.

Indicates mild amusement. Often used by younger mudders .

Laff, n.

Same as LAF .

Lag, n. [v. lagged]

State of slowed activity. LAG is most often measured by how long ittakes a MUD to respond to commands issued by a user. There are severalcauses of lag, including: Net lag, host lag, and game lag. Net lagoccurs when the network lines conducting communication between theuser and game are too saturated. It can be detected by measuring thedifference in speed between users calling from the host that thegame operates on vs. users calling from remote sites . Host lag is whenthe machine which the game operates from is under powered (trying todo too many things at once).Finally Game lag originates from the MUDitself. This can be caused by many internal thingslike an excessive number of lockouts .

See: lockout , user .

Legal, n.,adj.

(1) Most often a MUD run in accordance with its license .

(2) Player actions that are allowed by the rules of play.

See: illegal .

Level, n., interj.

Mostly limited to combat oriented games.

(1) (n). Ranking. Ideally proportional to one'sEXP (experience points) playing acombat game and are unique to thecharacter one plays. Note: game builders and administratorsmay have outrageously high level rankings. Relatively speakingthat is...

(2) (interj). Declares the achivement of a higher level .Example: Joe shouts, "level!" after having just attained a newlevel.

Level Based, n.

MUD that supports levels .

See: Skill Based .

Level Less, adj.

MUD without levels . Normally such games areskill based .

Library, n.

(1) Place where all files unique to a particular game world reside.Esp. data files.

(2) Room with the theme of a real world library or placeof records where players may access information.

See: mudlib , database .

License, n.

Permission to use a MUD and the rules regulating that usage. MostMUDs have a license that the game owner must agree to before legallyoperating the server .

Life, n.

Instance of continued existance uninterrupted by death .

See: living , death .

Light, n.

MUD builders often use the term to refer to the visible state of aroom or object. A number known as "light" may be given to a room orother object. If the number is positive the room is illuminated(brighter with higher numbers.) If the number is zero or a negativenumber it is dark (darker the lower the number.) Generally speakinga room with a light value of 0 is the equivalent of a pitch black (orcompletely dark) room in the real world.

See: room , dark .

Link, n.

(1) Connection between a user and a game. Most often thelink between a user and a PC . Example: "Dave has lost hislink." -- The player/user Dave's connection to the game has beeninterrupted. Also can be a similar link between a user and any object.

(2) Method of using pointers to join the members ofa queue togetherinstead of a numerical index .

See: linkdead , reconnect .

Linkdead, n.

State in which PCs are said to be after all communicationbetween the user and the game is blocked. This condition is'linkless'.

See: link , quit .

List, n.

Also queue .

Items arranged such that one follows another.

Living, adj.

(1) To be a character or other object currently underhuman control or an object that is, within the virtual environment, considered to be alive (like an NPC ).

(2) (LPC) Any object so identified by the builder .

See: death , heartbeat , interactive .

Lo, interj. [Abrev. of Hello.]

Greetings, Hello again.

Location, n.

Distinct place. Often the same as room but may alsobe a sublocation or an abstract idea about therelation between someobject like your character andother places in the game.

Lock, v.

(1) To seal with a key . Objects that can be modifiedwith the close and open commands may also belockable. Once locked the item can only be open with theproper key.

(2) Temporary change of file access permission such that access ismore limited.

See: close , open , unlock ,

Lockout, n.

Also command lockout, wait.

Period of time, after execution of some command ,during which no further input is processed.Sometimes provided as a method to reduce the occurence ofgame lag by limiting how many commands a player may usein a given period of time like one second. Also used toeven the odds in combat and other contest as it removes some of theadvantage players with faster net connections or specialclient programs would otherwise have.Example: Kicking in combat causes 3 rounds of lockout.Sometimes miscalled "lag".

See: lag .

Log, n., v.

(1) Record of activity. Most games keep log files on certain gameactivities. This varies widely from one MUD to the next. In generalautomatic logs are kept about when and who may have broken the highestrules of the game.

(2) To record something like a conversation.

See: snoop .

Logon, n., v.

To enter a game. Those events unique to the act of entering the game.Example: Entering your player name and password .

See: logout .

Logout, n.,v.

To leave the game by an orderly processiniated by the Usually involves acommand like quit or one with identical resultsnamed "logout".

See: logon .

Long, n.

What MUD builders call the body of descriptive text concerning anobject. This is what a player sees below the title of a room or whenlooking at an object.

See: description , short .

L8TR, interj., n. [Abbrev. of Later.]

Fairwell, good-bye.

M

M8, n. [Comp. of Mate.] Mate [British]. Often used by young mudders .

Macro, n.

Function provided by clients that allows a simplekeystroke or key combination to send associatedcommands tothe MUD server . Similar to alias .Example: pressing Ctrl-r sends the command recall tothe server.

Mail, n.,v.

(1) System for filing, processing and delivering electronicmessages to the mailboxes of game users .May also utilize Intermud or Internet gateways to send and receive mail outside the game.Mail addresses for games typically are in the form user@game,as in Joe@CyberMUD.

(2) To send such a message.

Mana, n.

Of Melanesian/Polynesian origin, related to the Hawaiian/Maori word.The power of the elemental forces. It is a measure ofspell - casting power.

Mage, n.

Class of those who practice magic.

See: magic .

Magic, n.

Not so magical afterall due to wide availability: commands thatsimulate the possession of paranormal or supernatural abilitiesthrough parallels in the virtual environment. Example:casting a fireball that destroys your enemy. Somethingyou probably don't do very often in real life.

See: spell for details.

Marriage, n.

Loosely binding agreement between two players to behave withina game as if they are married. Usually established with a formalceremony(whatever that means in the specific game)attended by high ranking members of the game administration.Sometimes couples are afforded additional rights, such asto have a private domain or house. A record of the marriageis generally publicized. Surprisingly (?) divorce is alwaysavailable on "no fault" grounds without any waiting period.More surprising (?) is the fact that many couples married in MUDsare actually dating each other in real life.

Master, n.

(1) (DIKU) Common title for the NPC head of aguild 1 .

(2) (LP) The master object; A virtual - server to be loadedand run by thedriver . It usually handles some high level mudlib security, acts as a front end for shutdown orders and performs someadditional task when the game is booted .

(3) [Comp. of Dungeon Master.]

Same as root .

Meltdown, n., adj.

Gradual deterioration in MUD functions, culminating in a crashedor hung state.

See: crash , hung .

Message, n., v.

(1) Transmitted words or images intended for a person to receive.

(2) Collection of messages associated with a particular character or object and sent to players.

(3) (v). To send a message.

(4) Data unit used by computer program(s) .

See: pulse .

MOB, n. [Comp. of Mobile.]

(1) Agressive monster or NPC .

(2) Same as Mobile or NPC .

Mobile, n.

(1) NPC or PC , so called because they are capableof moving between rooms via exits . Usually refers to a NPC .

(2) Any Object that moves between rooms .

Monster, n.

Same as NPC .

Mortal, n.

All characters subject to death. Esp. oncombat oriented games. Most often refers to a PC .

See: immortal .

MOTD, n. [Comp. of Message of the Day.]

File containing recent news. Often displayed to users afterthey have been authenticated .

Mount, n., v.

(1) character or object that PCs can use for transportation.Examples: a horse, or car.

(2) Command to load, reset or restore a game area. This isvaugely similar to the UNIX command.

Move, n.

(DIKU) Statistic . Same as MP .

MP, n. [Comp. of Movement Point.]

Sometimes MV.

Measure of a character's movement. Like themeasure of gasoline (or petrol) in an automobile tank, movementpoints indicate the range of a character's movement remaining.Typically it cost at least one movement point to move from oneroom to another. Terrain mayaffect the number of points required to traverse a givenlocation .

MUA, [Comp. of Multi-User Adventure.]

Describes MUDs . This is the more precise technical term.

MUD, n., v. [Comp. of Multi-User Domain or Multi-User Dungeon.]

Also MUA .

(1) Computer generated world of imaginary objects intended fornumerous people (users ) to play simultaneously asadventurous actors. The term MUD applies tomany games, including mostly non-combat MUDs which prefer to be calledby their label name (Example: MUSH, MOO) or MU*s, a term used tode-emphasize the presumption that the "D" in MUD always signifies"dungeon."Note that MUDs are also used for business applications such asteleconferencing and operating virtual offices.

MUDs may use graphical animation, sound or other non-textual media.

(2) To play a MUD.

(3) Computer program that is the process constituting aMUD 1 .

See: master .

Mud Addict, n.

One who is addicted to playing, building or managing MUDs.Like any entertainment, MUDs can be addictive. Signsof addiction: playing a MUD for 12 hours straight,saying MUD specific idioms or using metaphorsdervived from MUDs with persons who don'tplay MUDs in real life. Example: Telling your significantother who knows nothing about MUDs, "Level! AFK L8R. You'rea troll."

Mudding, v.

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, regardlessof rank.

Mudlib, n. [Comp. of MUD Library.]

(1) Directory containing the entire working DB . of a game. Itis simply called "lib" on DIKUs.

(2) Files which collectively make-up thenon-driver /non-server data of a game (esp. on LP).

See: library , path .

Muddling, v.

(1) To meddle with. To make sport of something.

(2) Same as mudding .

Mud List, n.

Listing of games including most recent statuses. Often dividedinto categories like fantasy and historical.

Mudology, n.

(EM ) MUD centered biography. In its simplest form an individual mightprovide a resume of MUD work in application to a new MUD project.In the fuller form details in extent comparable to an Encyclopedicbiographical entry.

Mudsex, n., v.

To engage in social activities on a MUD which clearly demonstratereal life sexual activity.

MUG, n. [Comp. of Multi-user Game.]

Multi-user Game [British].Any game played by more than one user. Not necessarily a MUD.Better to use the less vauge MUD.

See: MUD .

Multi-Class, n.

System in which a character may initially pickmore than one class to play. Multiclassing is

Multi-player, n.

(1) Type of game that allows a user to own or control more than oneplayer character (PC).

(2) Person controlling more than one player character (PC)simultaneously.

See: PC .

Multiple User, n.

Environment (such as a computer operating system or MUD) thatsupports more than one simultaneous user .

Multi-user, n.

Same as Multiple User .

MUSH, n. [Comp. of Multi User Shared Halucination.]

Popular MUD base. Typically social or strict RPG in nature.

N

Neuter, n.

Being neither male or female in gender. Paradoxically, "neuter" may be referred to as the "gender" of a gender neutralcharacter .This is probably the result of programmers posing binaryquestions like, "What gender are you (Male, Female, Neutral)?"(gender should only be "male" or "female") when more than onequestion or a better formed question is needed.

See: gender , race .

Neutral, n.

Moral alignment of zero. This is neither good or evil.

See: evil , good , constitution .

Newbie, n.,adj.

(1) One who is a novice to playing MUDs.

(2) One who is a novice in a particular experience. Example: newbiecoder.

Newlock, n.,v.

(1) Condition of a game when the creation of new PCs is not allowed.

(2) Command to affect (1).

See: wizlock .

Nibble, n.

Half a byte .

See: chomp .

Nickname, v.

Command to replace matching words with a nickname.Finds words after the first word in subsequent command entriesthat are nicknames and expands them to the word you have nicknamed. Feature can be overidden by placing a backslash (\) before theword you do not want to be treated as a nickname.This allows you to use shortened words to refer to othercharacters and objects . Sending tells toplayers with long names is no longer an annoyance!

Nod, n.,v.

Indicates agreement. Examples: Joe nods. Joe says, "nod".

See: g .

Nog, v. slang.

(DIKU) Form of nod that indicates partial understanding.

See: boggle .

NPC, n. [Comp. of Non-player Character.]

All of the data and characteristics of any object used by a game torepresent an actor which is meant to operate without much humanintervention.

See: PC .