MOOG the MOOGuide

MOOing, About

  • Don't cows go MOO?
  • What does MOO mean?
  • What is a MOO?
  • How is it different from a chat room?
  • Who is in charge?
  • What if I need help?
  • Where can I find other MOOs?
  • How do I login?
    (and how do I logout?)
  • I don't like Telnet, help me!
    (OR: Getting a MOO client)
  • How do I get a character?
    (AKA user, User ID, login name, etc.)
  • Basics

  • How to speak
  • How to emote
  • How to sing
  • How to page
  • How to whisper
  • How to think
  • How to use verbs
  • How to look at people/things
  • How to move from room to room
    (@join, @rooms, walking)
  • Describing yourself
    (including @gender)
  • Gagging and ungagging
  • @refusing and @unrefusing
  • Intermediary

  • Aliases
    (adding, removing, viewing)
  • Changing your name
  • @pasting
  • Feature objects
  • Pronouns
  • People: Myself and Others

  • Can I have a home?
  • Where is everybody?
  • How long have people been here?
  • How do I give someone something?
    (How do I get something?)
  • Setting Messages

  • Page messages
  • Teleportation messages
  • @tags
  • Modes

  • Brief
  • Verbose
  • MOO
  • IRC
  • Mailing

  • About mailing
  • About mailing-lists
  • Quick sending
  • Sending mail
  • Reading your mail
  • Replying to your mail
  • Forwarding mail (to a friend?)
  • Deleting mail
  • Taking out the garbage
  • Mailing-lists

    1. Finding lists to subscribe to
    2. Subscribing and unsubscribing to a list
    3. Applying mail commands to a list
    4. Finding a message on the list

    Mail Editor Basics

  • About the editor
  • Addressing your mail
  • Composing your mail
  • Deleting
    (Oops!)
  • Sending
    "You have mail!"


  • MOOing, About

    Don't cows go MOO?

    While it's true that cows do in fact MOO the kind of MOO we will be discussing stands for MUD Object-Orientated. MUD itself stands for Multi-User Dungeon.

    While that may sound like a mouthful to say MOOs are text-based worlds where you can interact with other users. You could think of them as a cross between a simple chat room and an interactive book as you can move about the world that has been created by other users, often referred to as builders. You can learn more about being a builder here.

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    What does MOO mean?

    MOO stands for MUD Object Orientated. MUD stands for Multi-User Dungeon.

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    What is a MOO?

    A MOO can be a complex place, but to put it simply, it is a virtual world. Most importantly a MOO is all text. Rather like this tutorial.

    You could think of a MOO as a chat room...but with loads more features.

    In a MOO you have a virtual body which you can control, a bit like a puppet if you will. You can pull all the strings. You can make it laugh, you can make it cry, you can make it smack its head against the wall. You can make it walk into the next room. You can make it blush and crush.

    A MOO can be a creative outlet as well. If you write stories or poetry and desire feedback or simply to share with others find the appropiate mailing list and let people read your work or show your work to newfound friends for feedback. You could even take this one step further and create a part of the world based on your story to really bring it to life.

    Remember it's just like the real world, only text-based.

    Never forget that you are dealing with real people and that these people have feelings. Don't lose sight of that because if you do and don't treat them with respect don't think they won't bite back. Kind of like at the zoo when they don't want you to provoke the animals. Upset the wrong person in a MOO and you could find yourself banned.

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    How is it different from a chat room?

    First you can interact with people and objects. In a chat room all you do is talk. You can't manipulate anything. A chat room is a bit like a phone call except that rather than hearing and talking you're reading and writing. (Which is great exercise for your brain.) A MOO is more like an actual world. You can pick things up and move them from room to room.

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    Who is in charge?

    Wizards.

    Not the fire-throwing mages of fiction. No, no. These are completely different. Wizards are the people in the MOO with the most power. Nobody is more powerful than a wizard. Wizards can do anything, from changing your password if you've forgotten it, to banning you from the MOO, to fixing little bugs that might be found within the MOO.

    If you want to know who the wizards are on a MOO do '?wizard-list' (without the 's) and you will get a list of the wizards. Or to find out the wizards that are currently connected do '@wizards' and you will get a list, which among other things, will tell you how idle the wizards are.

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    What if I need help?

    One of the best resources, outside of this guide are the help files that every MOO has and can be accessed while you are logged in (either as a guest or a player).

    If you need help with something type 'help' (or '@help' or '?') with a subject. Do '?index' to get a listing of the different indexes. You will likely find the answers to your questions in the general index ('?gen-index' will list its topics.)

    If you you try the index and cannot find the answer try asking the other connected players. You can ask them by talking if you are in the same room with someone, or using the page command.

    If none of them can help you then try a wizard. Remember wizards are busy people and have things to do so use them as a last resort.

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    Where can I find other MOOs?

    There are a few different lists out there. Most famous I think is Rachel's Super MOO list.

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    How do I login? (and how do I logout?)

    First you need to open a Telnet client (or Telnet itself) and establish a connection with the MOO. If you click the following link to Netsville it will open a Telnet window (or your default Telnet client depending on your settings) where you can either connect a guest or character.

    For a guest:

    connect guest

    If you have a character:

    connect <character name> <password>

    For example: connect edmund whataweakpassword

    When you have finished and wish to leave:

    @quit

    This will close your connection and log you out.

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    I don't like Telnet, help me!

    (OR: Getting a MOO client)

    You don't like Telnet?

    To be honest neither do I. You can't scroll back and see your history and editing/deleting what you were typing is less than ideal. Thankfully there are other MOO clients that you can use that provide these types of features.

    These are some of your options. By no means is this everything.

    Netsville's Java interface.

    Windows *NIX Mac
    Pueblo
    MUSH client
    CRT
    zMUD
    Tinkeri View
    Tinyfugue
    Telnet
    Savitar

    How do I get a character?

    (AKA user, User ID, login name, etc.)

    Once you are logged in:

    @request <name> for <email address>

    Replacing <name> with the name of the character you want, this could be anything not already in use.

    Checking to see if a name is available:

    @who <name>

    If you get the message ""<name>" is not the name of any player." then go ahead and use the @request command.

    @aka <player>

    @aka will tell you if another player has the name you desire either as their name or as an alias.

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    Basics

    How to speak

    There are two ways to speak.

    "<text>

    say <text>

    In either case, remember to replace <text> with what you want to say.

    For example: "Hello.

    You will see: You say, "Hello."

    Everyone else sees: Edmund says, "Hello."

    You don't need an end " because the MOO adds it automatically for you.

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    How to emote

    As with speaking there are two ways to emote.

    :<text>

    emote <text>

    In either case, remember to replace <text> with what you want to emote.

    For example: :wiggles his finger.

    You would see: Edmund wiggles his finger.

    Everyone else sees: Edmund wiggles his finger.

    You'll notice that unlike speech all the MOO is doing here is putting your user name before the emote itself. It is not smart enough to display "You wiggle your finger." to you and "Edmund wiggles his finger." to the room. Some MOOs have verbs programmed which when used will provide this type of view however they do not let you customize the text seen by other people in the room. Check out Feature Objects to learn more about this.

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    How to sing

    For when you're in the mood to sing along to your favourite song, you can share it with others.

    sing <text>

    For example: sing I wish I were an Oscar Meyer weiner. That is what I'd truly like to be. Because if I were an Oscar Meyer weiner everybody would be in love with me.

    You would see:You sing, o/~ I wish I were an Oscar Meyer weiner. That is what I'd truly like to be. Because if I were an Oscar Meyer weiner everybody would be in love with me. o/~

    Everyone else sees:Edmund sings, o/~ I wish I were an Oscar Meyer weiner. That is what I'd truly like to be. Because if I were an Oscar Meyer weiner everybody would be in love with me. o/~


    How to page

    This allows you to talk with someone in a distant room. You could also use it to communicate privately with someone in the same room without letting anyone else know that you're speaking with them.

    page <player> <message>

    For example: page edmund Hello there. I'm new.

    You will see: You page Edmund, "Hello there. I'm new."

    Edmund sees: Guest pages you, "Hello there. I'm new."

    There may also see a customized page messages. Allow me to give you an example.

    When paging Edmund:
    A white dove carries your message to Edmund.

    When Edmund pages you:
    A white dove carries a message around its leg for you.
    Edmund pages you, "Hi there. Nice to meet you."

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    How to whisper

    Whisper to someone in the same room as you, nobody else will see what you whisper.

    whisper "<text>" to <player>

    For example: whisper "I'm scared of the dark, Edmund!" to edmund

    The player you whisper to will get the whisper and nobody else will see.

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    How to think

    In the event you have something you might want to express...but don't exactly want to say it aloud. Everyone in the room will see it.

    think <message>

    For example: think Let's blow this popsicle stand.

    You would see: You think . o O ( Let's blow this popsicle stand. )

    Everyone else sees: Edmund thinks . o O ( Let's blow this popsicle stand. )

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    How to use verbs

    It's pretty easy to use verbs however in order to do so you will need to add a feature object that the verbs have been programmed on. You do this by using the @addfeature command and the object number of the feature object.

    @addfeature #306

    @socials

    This command will display all the verbs you can use.

    Once you've added the feature object you can use any of the verbs that have been programmed on it. Let's say you wanted to sigh.

    For example: sigh

    This will result in you sighing.

    You may also direct a verb at someone.

    For example: sigh edmund

    This would end up with you sighing at (or because of) Edmund.

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    How to look at people and things

    This is how you look at people, things laying around, and things people are holding.You can either type the word look or you can shorten it to the first letter and use "l" as I have in the following examples.

    To look at a person: l <player>

    To look at an object: l <object>

    To look at an object a person is holding: l <object> on <player>

    To look at a person in a distant room: l ~<player>

    Remember to replace <player> with a person and <object> with an object.

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    How to move from room to room

    (@join, @rooms, walking)

    There are different ways to move from room to room. You can join someone in another room, you can walk to that room, or you can go to a previously "bookmarked" room.

    Let's start with the most basic way to move around, walking.

    Walking

    In order to walk you need to type in the direction you wish to walk. Many MOOs use traditional compass directions (North, east, south, west, northeast, et cetera.) when walking around. Some places however will have doors that go by different names. If someone wanted to use a mirror as a portal they might name the door "mirror" and then you'd have to walk into the mirror. This will make more sense with a couple examples.

    north

    This will result in walking north, many builders will give the door an alias so you could type "n" instead of writing out "north" if you prefer.

    In the example where the mirror is a portal that you want to enter then you would type "mirror" instead.

    Valid directions are usually: north(n), northeast(ne), east(e), southeast(se), south(s), southwest(sw), west(w), northwest(nw), up(u), down(d).

    Some MOOs will list the directions you can walk automatically. If you see no exits type '@ways' (without the 's) to find the exits. Often times the description of the room will provide the information about exits, it might be done like this, "Trees tower all around you, largely blocking out the sun. Many of their lower limbs appear to have died. The woods are eerily quiet and you feel eyes watching you from the heights of the trees. The forest stretches out all around you. The winding forest path continues north and south from here."

    @joining someone else.

    You can use the @join command in order to teleport to another person's location. This way you don't need to know how to walk to the room and don't need to have it bookmarked in order to get to.

    @join <player>

    If a room has security and security is turned on you will not be able to enter the room until the person that owns the room (or a resident) disables security.

    Bookmarking

    First, go to a room you want to bookmark. (Either walk or @join someone that is already there.) When you get to the room you wish to bookmark you will need to use the @addroom command.

    @addroom <name>

    @addroom kitchen

    You can use any name you want to bookmark the room so long as you can easily remember it. Keep in mind the name needs to be unique or you won't be able to get back to the room this way. Let's use a kitchen for our example.

    You can also remove a room from the rooms you have bookmarked.

    @rmroom kitchen

    This would remove the kitchen from your list of remembered (or bookmarked) rooms.

    To return to the room:

    @go <room name>

    To see all the rooms you've bookmarked:

    @rooms

    This will simply display them.

    As always don't forget to replace things within the angle brackets (the <>s.)

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    Describing yourself

    Describing yourself -- describing what others see when they look at you.

    @describe me as "<description>

    For example: You see a slim young man standing before you, his head in the clouds. His dark hair hangs down over his eyes and he seems to be focused intently on the book held in his hands. He is wearing a black leather jacket and blue jeans. He appears to be wearing a pair of cowboy boots.

    Remember when you're done describing yourself to gender yourself. You'll notice that MOOs offer more than two genders.

    @gender <gender>

    If you don't specify a gender the possible choices will be printed back to you.

    When you're done look at yourself (see: here) to see if it looks okay to you.

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    Gagging and ungagging

    You can gag players who you'd rather not hear from. If you have gagged a player when that player is in the same room you are you won't see anything that person says. However this does not stop the player from communicating with you entirely. See @refusing for more information.

    @gag <player>

    This effectively gags a player so you no longer see or hear from them. In order to see or hear from that player again you will need to ungag them.

    @ungag <player>

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    @refusing and @unrefusing

    Use of the @refusal command.

    @refuse <action(s)>

    This allows you to refuse an action, such as whispers, no matter who whispers to you.

    @refuse <action(s)> from <player>

    This refuses all specified actions (pages, MOOmails, et cetra) from that person.

    Note: The default period of time for a refusal is one week. If you wish to refuse something longer just add a time to the end of the above.

    For example: @refuse page whisper mail flames from edmund for 12 weeks

    Edmund will not be able to page, whisper, or privately mail you. If you specify "flames" as in this example you will not see any posts from Edmund on any mailing lists you are subscribed to. You can specify more than one action when entering the command.

    If you wish to hear nothing from Edmund for twelve weeks '@gag edmund' and then '@refuse all from edmund for 12 weeks' and that will be the end of it. Remember though, at the end of twelve weeks Edmund will still be gagged unless you @ungag him sooner.

    If you decide after just a few weeks you no longer wish to @refuse things from Edmund you can '@unrefuse all from edmund'. In addition to ungagging Edmund this will allow you to hear from dear old Edmund once again.

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    Intermediary

    Aliases

    (adding, removing, viewing)

    If you have a long name it helps to have shorter aliases that people can use to address things to you. Let's use our pal, Edmund as an example. His name isn't too long but let's say he changes it for a holiday and it's Edmund_the_Lion_Tamer. You don't want to have to type all that out, do you? Me either. Fortunately there are ways to avoid typing it all out. :)

    So first let's view Edmund's aliases.

    Viewing aliases:

    @aka edmund_the_lion_tamer

    Result: Edmund_the_Lion_Tamer (#111) => Edmund, dnumdE

    We see Edmund has two other aliases. Let's say Edmund wants to add a shorter one. We can do that this way other players can make it easier to interact with him.

    Adding an alias:

    @addalias ed to me

    Edmund now has the alias 'ed' so you can 'sigh ed' instead of 'sigh edmund' to sigh at him.

    Removing an alias:

    @rmalias dnumdE from me

    This removes the alias 'dnumdE' from Edmund and you can no longer 'sigh dnumdE' you will have to use a different alias.

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    Changing your name

    So you think Edmund had a good idea changing his name and you want to alter yours to something to reflect the time of year and show your holiday spirit? Or you're tired of your name wish to try something new? Let's tackle that together.

    @rename me to "<name>", <alias1>, <alias2>, <alias3>, ...

    Remember not to forget any of your aliases or you'll lose them. You might want to view your aliases before renaming yourself.

    Be sure to replace <alias1> with your first alias, <alias2> with your second, until you have all your aliases included.

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    @pasting

    Pasting works two ways. You can either paste privately to someone whether they are in the same room or not or you may paste for the whole room you are in to see.

    Public Pasting:

    @paste

    <Hit Ctrl+V to paste something you've copied (with Ctrl+C)>

    <It can be multiple lines.>

    <Hit . on a blank line to finish and paste.>

    This will paste for everyone in the room to see.

    Private Pasting:

    @paste-to <player>

    <Paste or type whatever here.>

    <End with a . on a blank line.>

    For instance say I want to paste the Oscar Meyer weiner song. This is how we would do it. Line by line.

    @paste

    I wish I were an Oscar Meyer weiner.

    That is what I'd truly like to be.

    Because if I were an Oscar Meyer weiner

    everybody would be in love with me.

    Everyone in the room sees the following:

    ---------------Edmund------------------
    I wish I were an Oscar Meyer weiner.
    That is what I'd truly like to be.
    Because if I were an Oscar Meyer weiner
    everybody would be in love with me.
    ---------------Edmund------------------
    Tada, done! Now everybody knows the words to the Oscar Meyer song.

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    Feature objects

    Feature objects are objects with verbs you can't get anywhere else. Instead of typing out elaborate emotes every time they allow you to type a shorter command such as 'hug edmund'. This will result in a custom message for you, the person on the receiving end of the verb--in this case Edmund--and anyone else in the room.

    In order to use the verbs (or commands) you must first add the feature object (also known as a FO) so that you can use it. To find out about other FOs you can ask other players. Once you've found the FOs you wish to add you'll need to do the following:

    To add a feature object:@addfeature <object number of the FO>

    Do this for each feature object you wish to use.

    To remove a feature object:@rmfeature <object number of the FO>

    To learn more about a feature object see if there is a help file for it. Often times if there is a help file for the feature it will tell you what the FO does.

    ?#<object number of the FO>

    For example: ?#123

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    Pronouns

    Pronouns are, for the most part, more of an advanced subject. However they are important when you are dealing with messages, which I'd like to address here.

    You are likely to use the pronouns only when setting messages at first. I would advise reading the help on pronouns in the MOO if you want to know more by using the command '?pronouns' when you are connected to a MOO and print it out and keep it nearby for reference.

    If you change your name it will be helpful to use pronouns in your @page and teleportation messages.

    If you change your name and you aren't using the pronoun substitute in your messages then other players might see:

    There is a cloud of smoke and when it disappates Edmagnificent appears.

    If you look around the room though you'd see Edmund and nobody by the name of Edmagnificent. Using a pronoun instead of the name will mean you don't have to constantly change your messages when changing your name.

    Instead of setting the message as: There is a cloud of smoke and when it disappates Edmagnificent appears.

    Try using the following message: There is a cloud of smoke and when it disappates %n appears.

    This will ensure the correct name is always displayed no matter how often you rename yourself.

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    People: Myself and Others

    Can I have a home?

    Absolutely! Unless you are already a builder you will need to use an existing room. I cover how to build your own rooms in the builders guide.

    Once in the room you wish to use: @sethome

    That will make the current room your new home. When you connect to the MOO you will connect in this room. When you use the 'home' command you will teleport to this room.

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    Where is everybody?

    This is an easy way to find out where people in the MOO are located.

    @at

    This will display the room name and then the name of the connected people in that room.

    If you wish to join people in a private room be polite and ask first please. The best way to do this is to page someone that is in the room.

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    How long have people been here?

    Depending on how you mean that there are two different commands we can use. The first shows everyone that is currently connected, how idle (or inactive) they are and their room location. Some MOOs may display a tag message in lieu of a room location. The other command will tell us how long a specific player has been a member of the MOO.

    @who

    This will list each player on, how long they have been connected, how idle they are, along with their location. If you only want to know about a specific person you can do that.

    @who <player>

    For example: @who edmund

    This will tell you that information for the player if they are connected. If the player is disconnected it will tell you the time the person disconnected and what room the person is sleeping in.

    @age <player>

    This command will simply tell you how long it has been since the person created their character.

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    How do I give someone something?

    (How do I get something?)

    If you have an object you can give it to someone else. By the same token someone else can give you something. There is nothing you need to do in order to accept an object.

    give <object> to <player>

    As long as the object you are trying to give away is in your inventory you will hand to the other person. If you don't have it in your inventory you'll be told you can't do that.

    To find out what you are holding: i

    This is short for 'inventory' and will display what you are carrying.

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    Setting Messages

    Page messages

    By paging someone you can speak with a person in a distant room. You can also page someone in the same room as a way to speak in private or if they are in the same room you could also whisper.

    These messages customize what the other player will see when receiving a message from you and when they send you a message.

    When you page another player they will your @page_origin message. I'll cover this first then we'll review the @page_echo message which players will see when they page you.

    @page_origin me is "<message>

    Edmund sends a flying monkey with a message.
    He pages, "Hey there, cowboy."

    For the above example we would do:

    @page_origin me is "%n sends a flying monkey with a message."

    When another play pages you they see your @page_echo message. To set it:

    @page_echo me is "<message>

    For example: Edmud's flying monkey has taken your message to him.

    To set this: @page_echo me is "%n's flying monkey has taken your message to him."

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    Teleportation Messages

    These are the messages you can change to tailor what other players see when you teleport in and out of a room. This messages are used when you use the @join, @go, and home commands.

    This message is when you teleport IN to the room:

    @player_arrive me is "<message>

    @player_arrive me is "arrives in a puff of smoke.

    Results in: Edmund arrives in a puff of smoke.

    This is what people see when you teleport OUT of the room:

    @oself_port me is "<message>

    @oself_port me is "disappears in a puff of smoke.

    Results in: Edmund disappears in a puff of smoke.

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    @tags

    Some MOOs support using a tag message instead of displaying your room location when using commands such as @who. In order to change this message you need to use the @tag command.

    @tag me is "<tag>

    Once you pick something you want as a tag it is a breeze to set the message.

    If you wish to have more than one tag and have the MOO randomly select one to display you'll need to use the editor. This is the same as the mail editor. (@edit me.tag_msg to begin, don't forget to 'save' and 'quit' when you finish.)

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    Mailing

    About mailing

    Within the MOO you can mail people. A bit like regular email except that you can only read and send this mail while connected to the MOO.

    You can use mail to communicate with other players as well as read, send, and subscribe to mailing lists. Some provide important information about the MOO others may be more relaxed, such as for Quotes Out of Context (QOOC).

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    About mailing-lists

    Mailing-lists in the MOO as much as they are on the web. After you subscribe to a mailing-list you'll be notifed when you connect (unless you indicate otherwise) that there is new mail on each list which has new mail you haven't yet read.

    There are different mailing-lists for different interests.

    Remember when sending to a mailing-list to keep messages that are only for one person off the list. If you have things to say to a bunch of different people it's more polite to mail these people privately rather than over a list. While this etiquette applies to email when it is overlooked in MOOs it can lead to flame-like responses.

    It is considered inappropriate to discuss private matters, such as a fight, or if someone has gagged you and you want them to ungag you over a public mailing-list.

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    Quick sending

    If you have a short mail you can use the @qsend command. This allows you to write the message without leaving the room and going to the editor, although you will be unable to participate in conversation until you finish and send the message.

    @qsend <player> subj="<subject>" (return)

    <your message, it can be multiple lines>

    <when finished hit . on a blank line to send it.>

    Bingo-bango, you've just sent a quick, short, mail without even leaving the room. However, if you had made a typo or mistake you wish to fix instead of sending the mail enter '@edit' (without the 's on a blank line) and you will be whisked off to the editor where you can edit the message to your heart's content. If you wish not to send it you can '@abort' and the message will be canceled.

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    Sending mail

    Sending mail, using this command will send you to the editor to compose your message. (Learn more about using the editor.)

    @send <player/mailing-list>

    "<text>

    The " indicates a new line/paragraph in the editor.

    send

    Once sent the MOO tell you the message has been sent.

    If you change your mind while composing the message you can cancel it. You can abort the message any time after entering the editor via the @send command and before you use the 'send' command to mail the message and exit the editor.

    @abort

    You can @abort at any time after invoking the @send command as long as you haven't completed the message using the 'send' command on a blank line.

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    Reading your mail

    There are a handful of basic commands you'll need to navigate reading your mail in the MOO.

    @read

    This will show you your current message. (If you have new mail this shows the last read message. Not any of the new ones.)

    @next

    As you might guess this will show you the next message.

    @prev

    Shows you the previous message.

    @mail

    This will show you a listing of your current mail. If you have more than fifteen messages it will only show fifteen at a time. It will list who the mail is from, the date received, and the subject.

    @nn

    This stands for "next new" and will display the next new unread message. This includes your personal mail as well as any new mail on any mailing-lists that you are subscribed to.

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    Replying to your mail

    To reply to mail you'll use the @reply command which will send you to the editor. When you finish with the editor don't forget to 'send' the response.

    @reply

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    Forwarding mail (to a friend?)

    You can forward private mail that's been sent to you to another player.

    @forward <message number> to <player>

    For example:@forward 5 to edmund

    This example results in message number five (of your mail) forwarded to Edmund. Make sure it wasn't anything you don't want Edmund reading.

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    Deleting your mail

    Here is how to get rid of that old mail that you just don't need anymore.

    If the message you want to delete is the message you just finished reading use:

    @rmm

    This will send the message to the trash. You can recover the message if you deleted it by accident. You can also delete messages if you know the number without reading it again.

    @rmm <message number>

    For example:@rmm 5

    This will result in Edmund deleting mail message number five.

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    Taking out the trash

    Once you've finished deleting mail you don't need you're ready to empty your trash.

    @renumber me

    That's all there is to it. Now all the messages you deleted with @rmm are gone for good.

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    Mailing-lists

    Finding lists to subscribe to

    Often times a MOO will have multiple mailing-lists. The two most common lists I see are General and Quotes out of Context (QOOC). To find out what mailing lists exist you'll need to use the @subscribe command.

    @subscribe

    This provides a list of all the mailing-lists. The ones that say "[public]" next to the name are ones you can subscribe to unless you've been granted access by the administrator of the mailing-list.


    Subscribing to a list

    Subscribing to a list is pretty easy.

    @subscribe *<mailing-list name>

    For example: @subscribe *QOOC

    You'll see: Edmund is now subscribed to the list *QOOC.

    Don't forget the * prefixed to the mailing-list name without it you won't be able to subscribe.

    If you are tired of the mailing-list and no longer want to receive its mail we'll need to unsubscribe.

    @unsubscribe *<mailing-list name>

    @unsubscribe *junk-mail

    Edmund is no longer subscribed to the list *junk-mail.

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    Applying mail commands to a list

    This is relatively simple. Like with many of the commands we've already discussed in this guide what we will need to do is target the command to the mailing list instead of letting it default to working with your personal mail.

    Let's say you want to read the next message on *junk-mail (which has the alias *jm.)

    @next on *jm

    Instead of using '@next' all alone as we did for our personal mail by adding the 'on *jm' it knows we want the next message on the *junk-mail mailing-list.

    Simple, right? Just add 'on <mailing-list name>' to the end of the command for the list you wish to apply the command to.

    Revisit mail commands for a refresher on the mail commands.

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    Finding a message on the list

    Don't you hate it when you remember seeing a mail message you wanted to go back to but you can't find it? I'm going to show you how you can find a message on a mailing-list. For our example let's say that you knew the message was about TVs. Since you know what list it was on let's track it down. We're going to continue to use the *junk-mail list for this example.

    We can find the message a number of different ways. In this case since it's about TVs we'll look for "TVs" in the body of the message.

    Search the body:@mail body:TVs on *jm

    Search by author:@mail from:edmund on *jm

    Search by date:@mail since:mon on *jm

    @mail since: 05-02-2001

    Keep in mind the date format is dd-mm-yyyy.

    Search by subject:@mail subj:TVs on *jm

    You can combine these and search for a message from Edmund since Monday about TV on the list *junk-mail. Let's see how you would do that.

    For example: @mail from:edmund since:mon body:TV on *jm

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    Mail Editor Basics

    About the editor

    The editor is a very powerful tool. You can do anything you'd ever need in it with the exception of running a spell check and grammar check. The MOO doesn't do that. Sorry.

    The editor can be used for more than just editing your mail, you can also use it to edit things like your description (so that it's multiple lines) and your tags (which allows you to have more than one.)

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    Addressing your mail.

    "Mail, come here! I need to read you!" What, you mean that doesn't work? That's too bad.

    You usually address the mail before entering the editor however if you realize that you also want to send your mail to Edmund that can be done. You'll need to use the 'also-to' command.

    also-to <player>

    For example: also-to edmund

    Doing this will ensure that Edmund will now receive the message once it is sent.

    You can change the subject in the editor in the event you change your mind about what the best subject will be for the message.

    subj <new subject>

    For example: subj Test.

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    Composing your mail

    Once in the editor you're free to compose as you want. There's just one simple rule. Put a " before what you wish to write. Think of it as having the editor do dictation.

    "<text>

    "Hello, Edmund.

    "Im sorry I missed you. The movie took longer than anticipated.

    "Sincerely, your friend.

    list

    'List' results in listing what you've written thus far. This makes it easy to catch any typos or grammatical errors you may have missed while writing.

    Now if you look at the example the apostrophe is missing in "I'm" so let's delete that line and fix it next.

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    Deleting

    (Oops!)

    We saw that we goofed and on line two we forgot the apostrophe. Let's delete line two and fix it.

    del 2

    This results in deleting line two. The next line we insert (dictate) will go below line one.

    "I'm sorry I missed you. The movie took longer than anticipated.

    This fixes our error. Now to get to the end of the message. (In case you have something else to add at the end.)

    next

    If there was more than one line simply add a number to the end of 'next' and it will skip down that many lines. You can also go to any 'prev'ious line. It works the same way.

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    Sending

    "You have mail!"

    Once you've finished editing your message and are ready to continue.

    send

    Which sends off your mail and you will return to the room you were in before writing the mail.

    If however you've decided that you don't wish to continue the mail and don't want to send it at all you can abort it entirely.

    @abort

    You can @abort at any time after using the @send command. As long as you have not used 'send' to send off the mail yet.

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    © July MMI
    Last updated 06 July MMI