Getting started - connecting

Connect

Connect to a MUSH by using Telnet or a MUSH client program (such as MUSHclient). You normally specify a "port" number in addition to a MUSH address.

Seeing who is already playing

After establishing a connection (and seeing various welcome messages) but before connecting to a character, you can type WHO to see who is online at present. This must be typed in upper case:

WHO

Player Name          On For   Idle  Doing
Nick                  00:29     0s  Resting after a long laugh
Gandalf               00:35    12s  Exploring the larger cave
There are 2 players connected.

Creating a new character

To create a new character (your virtual reality character), type:

create <name> <password>

for example:

 create Freddie swordfish

The password is case-sensitive, that is, upper and lower case letters are treated differently.

Connecting to an existing character

If you have played before on the MUSH, "connect" to your previous character, like this:

connect Freddie swordfish

Guest logons

Some worlds allow you to connect as a "guest" character, normally by typing:

connect guest guest

This is so you can explore the world and decide whether you like its theme before going to the trouble of creating a character. If you aren't sure if you are going to like playing on a particular MUSH, then using the "guest" character is courteous to the MUSH administrators. Otherwise you may create a character (and thus increase the size of the MUSH "database") which only gets used once.

Player registration

Some MUSHes may not allow players to create characters on-the-fly (in other words, they may disable the "create" command).

There would be various reasons for not allow unrestricted character creation, some of them being:

• The world is very popular, and it is necessary to restrict the number of characters that play at one time
• There have been some "nuisance" players on the world. Even if the wizards "boot" them off the world, they can easily create another character and continue to harass other players. By forcing new players to register the wizards can control who plays.
• By registering via email, the wizards know who you are (or at least, your email address) so they have some redress if you are a nuisance.
• The world may be "under construction" and not yet open to the public.
• The world may be for a group of friends, and never intended to be opened to the public.
• The world may have "adult" or other content, making it unsuitable for general unrestricted players.
• The wizards may wish to enforce a "theme" and only allow players to play once they have agreed to the theme.
• The world may be for special purposes (eg. victims of sexual abuse) and not open to anyone who does not fall into that category.

On these worlds you normally request a character by emailing the wizards or administrators, who then create that character, and then email you back your character name and password. In some cases, you can connect as a "guest" and then page a wizard to ask for a character to be created.

If it is possible to have a player created this way, the "announce" message (which is displayed when you connect to the world but before you connect to a character) will normally tell you which method to use.

Quitting the game

To leave the MUSH, just type:

QUIT

The word QUIT must be typed in upper case.

Logging out

To disconect from your current character, and reconnect under a different one type:

LOGOUT

The word LOGOUT must be typed in upper case.

You might use LOGOUT after exploring a world as a guest, and deciding you wanted to create your own character.

Changing your password

To change your password, type:

@password oldpassword = newpassword