[sorry this text need some formatting, it is just a copy from the in-MOO 'help beginners']
Here is some summary information on how to do the most basic actions in a
MOO. Note that there are lots of other commands; these are best learnt through
practice, by observing and asking other participants.
You can always type 'help' to get an index of help topics. To get specific
help about communication, for example, you can type 'help communication'.
To find out what the room you're in looks like, just type 'look'. To get
information on the objects around you, you can:
look <object>
'examine <object>' to get the description, and additional information, like
To know who else is connected at any time, type '@who'. You get also
information on where they are, for how long they have been connected, and
when they were active last. To communicate with people not in your room, you
can 'page' them (see below). Note people may be idling and/or be away from
their console.
Usually when you are in a location (called "rooms" in MOO terminology) exits
connecting to other rooms are listed. To go there just type the exit name,
e.g.:
up
To join a person, type:
@join <name>
Note that is is usually polite to page a person and ask whether you can
To go to a remote place, type:
@go <place>
both @join and @go use an algorithm that will walk you there if possible,
In the following examples, your character name is 'John'. To communicate
with people in the same room you're in, you can talk, emote, whisper,
think and more:
3.1 Speaking
say Hello, there.
"Hello, there
Those are equivalent methods for speaking. Visible to everyone in the same
3.2 To communicate with people not in your room, you can 'page' them:
page Jane Do you have some free time?
'Jane Do you have some free time?
3.3 Emoting:
emote smiles.
:smiles
Those are equivalent methods for 'emoting': expressing non-verbal
You see: John smiles.
3.4 Whispering:
whisper "Jane, I am bored" to Jane
The message is only visible to Jane, but other people will see that you're You see: You whisper, "Hello, Jane darling" to Jane.3.5 Thinking:
think I think therefore I am.
Thinking is visible to everyone in the same room.
You see: John . o O ( I think therefore I am )
3.6 Directed speech:
Often when several people are in the same room, you may want to address a
particular person:
-Jane I agree with you.
`Jane I agree with you.
You see: You say to Jane, "I agree with you."
Jane sees: John says to you, "I agree with you."
Others see: John says to Jane, "I agree with you."
3.7 You can also page-emote:
+Jane is shaking his head
You see: "Jane sees: John is shaking his head"
Usually when you get a character (or username) here, you will need to
customize your "look":
Your description describes you "visually"
@describe me as "A tall person with a white beard"
You also should set your gender to male or female (for pronoun substitution)
@gender male
Structured information about yourself can be entered via the Web interface.
If you want to customize your office and/or build rooms and objects,
type 'help building', in particular 'help creation'.
To change your password:
@password <old password> <new password>
If you have trouble with text running off your screen, or if you
@wrap on -- to make the MOO wrap the text you read
@linelength XX -- to set the length of your lines, in letters, to XX
@pagelength XX -- to set the length of your page, in lines, to XX
@more rest/flush -- to read/flush suspended output
Finally, to logoff: @quit