ravelers.mail.cornell.edu!newstand.syr.edu!kong.syr.edu!pjkappes
Subject: How to Connect to FurryMUCK (and elsewhere) [Weekly Posting]
Supersedes: <furry/muck-faq-1-797680022@kong.syr.edu>
Date: 19 Apr 1995 09:53:21 GMT
Summary: FurryMUCK and other anthropomorphic MU*s let you roleplay a furry
.character with dozens of others around the world, around the clock.

Posted-By: auto-faq 3.1.1.2
Posting-Frequency: Every Wednesday to a.f.f{.m}; monthly elsewhere.
Last-Modified: $Date: 1995/03/15 09:10:14 $
Version: $Revision: 3.3 $
Changes-This-Version: Added mention of Official FurryMUCK Web Pages

            * Rhal's Version of an Elaborate Alt.Fan.Furry.Muck *
                    * Frequently-Asked-Questions Sheet *
           Now Divided into Several Convenient Parts, as Follows: 
Part the First, being Elementary Information about FurryMUCK (and elsewhere);
        Part the Second, containing Detailed Summaries of MU*s Furry;
  Part the Third, being a Calendar of Events and Handy List of MU*s Furry,
(And to Which has been moved the Remainder of this Headline, which Threatens
                      to Grow Into a Part of Its Own.)

>>>>> What is a MUCK?

MUCKs were derived from MUDs, `multi-user-dungeons' - the presentation
is similar to the classic adventure games, `colossal cave' or `dungeon'
- you explore a `place' with commands like north, south, up, down, in,
out (n, s, u, d, etc).

The difference is that this `place' is also populated with other
players, and you can interact with them also.  In a MUD, there's an
adventure to experience, monsters to fight, puzzles to solve, etc., set
up by the game designer; in a MUCK, the players design their own fun.
There is no combat unless players explicitly agree on it.  You can't win
anything in the game sense, but you can win lots of friends, experience
and information.

Foxen defines the TinyMUCK 2.2 Fuzzball server software as this:

| This server is a UNIX based networked chat program, with multiple
| rooms, users, and built in expandability via an interpreted internal
| language.  For those of you who know what one is, yes this is a MUD.
| A social based MUD, and not a hack and slash type MUD.  You won't find
| weapons or orcs in this game, unless you spend the time to MAKE it
| have those things. This game is primarily designed for those who just
| want to socialize.

Every player can extend the existing landscape of the MUCK by building
rooms, exits and objects, and agreeing with others on how to combine
this with the existing landscape.


>>>>> How do I connect to a MUCK?

Try the following:
    telnet <address> <port>

For example, for FurryMUCK, you would type
    telnet 138.74.0.10 8888
or
    telnet sncils.snc.edu 8888

In this example, 138.4.0.10 is called an `IP number', sncils.snc.edu is
a `domain address', and 8888 is a `port number'.  You may connect either
by the domain address or the IP number - it is possible that only one of
these ways works, so try both.

To connect to a MUCK, you need to have full telnet access.  You must be
able to make telnet connections to the server (ie. your telnet isn't
restricted to local connections), and you must be able to use the port
number, otherwise you will get the system's main UNIX login rather than
the MUCK's.  On some versions of telnet, the syntax is slightly
different - such as
.telnet 138.74.0.10 /port=8888

If you're unable to run the telnet program directly from a command line
prompt, you may be able to connect to a MUCK using a Web browser such as
Netscape, Mosaic or Lynx. "Open URL" as:
.telnet://138.74.0.10:8888
However, the telnet on your system must be set up to allow you to use it
this way; the Web browser is simply passing the address and running telnet
for you, which is a simpler way to connect if you find a web page with
telnet links... such as the web version of Part 2 of this FAQ ("Descriptions
of Various Furry MU*s"): <URL:http://web.syr.edu/~pjkappes/muckdesc.html>
or the Official FurryMUCK Web Pages at <URL:http://www.furry.com>, which
also has extensive information about FurryMUCK itself.


You may need to ask a local guru if none of this works.  Unfortunately
some systems deliberately disable MUCK access via a `ridge' that
suppresses connections to specific ports.  In that case you need to look
for a different account.  

If you get a login banner that includes the MUCK name and some info on
how to connect, you were successful!

If you get a 'login:' prompt then whatever you did with the port
number did not work.

If you get no response or an error message, there are two
possibilities:
- The server is temporarily down or unreachable.  Check again later.
- You don't have unrestricted telnet access.  In that case you need an
  account with full access.  Look for providers in your area.

But if everything works fine, you will be asked to enter your character
name and password.  On many MUCKs, if you do not yet have a character,
you can type:

    connect guest guest

This allows you to use a `guest' character so you can get a chance to
explore a bit without getting a permanent character.  The MUCK's welcome
screen will have specific information about how to connect as a guest, and
how to get a permanent character.

To get help about a MUCK, you might try the following commands:
    help             (help about basic commands)
    globals          (help about additional commands in this MUCK)
    news             (info about this specific MUCK)
    info             (general server info)
    man              (special programming info)

To get a character in a MUCK, there are two basic ways:
Many MUCKs ask you to send e-mail to an address specified in the title
screen, including your desired character name, a password and possibly
some info about yourself. You have to wait until your e-mail has been
answered, and then you can login as your character.
Some MUCKs allow online character creation: you can ask any of the
online wizards to create you a character by paging them your desired
name and password.
To find out whether a name is already taken, you can try  page <name>
If it reports that no character of that name was found, it is still
free.

To leave a MUCK, you can type QUIT. If this doesn't work, there is an
emergency exit in telnet: press the telnet-escape key (for example
Ctrl-]) and type  quit  to your telnet program.

There are some problems about telnetting - depending on which telnet you
use. One might be that, since this is in realtime, what you are typing on
the screen may apparently be `interrupted' by incoming data from the MUCK. 
This can be rather distracting and frustrating.  What you will need is a
client program such as `TinyFugue'.  That will give you many more features,
such as connecting to several characters or MUCKs at once, saving your
sessions to log files, and much more.  For more information on how to go
about acquiring one, look for the FAQ file of the rec.games.mud.misc
newsgroup, where you can also find a lot of information about MU*s in
general.

--
Part 2 of this FAQ contains summaries of the various furry MU*s; Part 3 is
posted only to alt.fan.furry{.muck}, and contains a calendar and schedule of
public events, and a summary list of addresses.
--
Slow newsfeed? Get the latest info from the Furry FAQs page!
Homepage: http://web.syr.edu/~pjkappes/furry.html
This FAQ: http://web.syr.edu/~pjkappes/muckfaq.txt
--
End of Furry MU*s FAQ (1/3) $Revision: 3.3 $ $Date: 1995/03/15 09:10:14 $
