What to do on the Mars Society Chapters Meeting Server

Meet People, Converse, and Explore

While on on the MS Chapters Meeting Server, you should explore a few locations in the world, and meet and converse with some of its inhabitants. This is a social virtual environment after all, so get out there and mingle!

Exploring is the best and only way to really get a feel for the place. Be aware of the fact that this is our community, and that you have to be aware of, and observant of the norms and ethical standards of that community. Observe others, and be well-mannered.

Use the Help Feature

The first thing to do if you are new to MOO's in general is to type 'help' for an introduction to the avaiable commands. The help system will give you a quick introduction to the most common commands. In general, when in doubt about a command, refer to the help system, either by typing just 'help', or 'help <command>'.

The MS Chapters MOO has an extensive help system. If you add capabilities to your reportoire, the help system knows what additional commands to tell you about, so keep using it if you become a builder or a programmer.

Patience Pays Off

Several of the MOO regulars often sign on to the MOO and stay signed on for most of the the day while they are using their machines for other things. Folks might not respond immediately to your attempt at conversation. That doesn't mean they are ignoring you; it just means they haven't noticed that you are there. Be patient; anything you say will be seen by everyone at your current location, so folks usually will eventually respond.

Commands

Here are some of the most common and useful commands for starting out. If you want to get a more in-depth explanation or a listing of available commands, refer to the help system by typing help in the MOO.

look or l or l [username]

This is the way to have a look around in a MOO. By typing look or l you will get a description of the room you are currently in, a list of users currently here, and a list of exits out of this location. If you specify a username, you will get a description of that user. (The user need not be in the same room as you). You can also look at an object or in a direction, such as "look clock" or "look east".

Navigating around the MOO

You move around in the MOO the same way you move in the real world -- pick a direction and go there. Locations are connected to each other with exits that lead from one location to another. To move from one room to the next, you follow the exit (type the exit's name). A list of exits linked to the current room can be obtained through look.

Example: Current exits are to the north and south.
south
You see: You go to the south

@who or @who <username> or @who <#user-number>

Without an argument, this command gives you a list of people connected. With an argument (username or #user-numbers can be used interchangably) it returns the location of the user if that person is currently logged in, or the last disconnect time if the person is not currently available.

say <your-message>

This is the basic way to communicate with everyone in the same room that you are in.

Example: say Hello everyone!
You see: <yourname> says, "Hello everyone!"

"<your-message>

You can use the quotation mark as a shortcut for say. It works exactly the same as say.

Example: "hello everyone!
You see: <yourname> says, "hello everyone!

emote <third-person-description>

Use emote to describe your actions to everyone in the same room as you are in.

Example: emote jumps up and down
Everyone at this location sees: <yourname> jumps up and down

:<third-person-description>

Short for emote. works in the same way as described above.

Example: :jumps up and down
Everyone at this location sees: <yourname> jumps up and down

page <username> <your-message>

This is how to communicate with a single person located anywhere in the MOO. It is the single-person, long-range equivalent of say.

@knock <username>

This is a polite way to ask if it is OK for you to enter the location that someone else is in. If the other person agrees, you may use the join command to teleport to that person's location. If not, please don't intrude. Knock only applies when people are in private rooms, and not in public areas.

@join <username>

This command teleports you to the same room as the person you specified. Sometimes this won't work because the other person's current location does not allow teleporting in.

@quit

The way to quit out of the system.