LambdaMOO
Encyclopedia
LambdaMOO is an online community
of the variety called a MOO
. It is the oldest MOO today.
LambdaMOO was founded in late 1990 or early 1991 by Pavel Curtis
at Xerox PARC
. Now hosted in the state of Washington, it is operated and administered entirely on a volunteer basis. Guests are allowed, and membership is free to anyone with an e-mail address.
LambdaMOO gained some notoriety when Julian Dibbell
wrote a book called My Tiny Life describing his experiences
there. Over its history, LambdaMOO has been highly influential in the examination of virtual-world social issues.
and Richard Bartle
to create and expand the concept of Multi-User Dungeon
(MUD) – virtual communities. Around 1987–1988, the expansion of the global internet allowed more users to experience the MUD. Pavel Curtis at Xerox Parc noted that they were "almost exclusively for recreational purposes." Curtis determined to explore whether the MUD could be non-recreational. He developed LambdaMOO software to run on the LambdaMOO server, which implements the MOO programming language
. This software was subsequently made available to the public. Several starter databases, known as cores, are available for MOOs; LambdaMOO itself uses the LambdaCore database. The "Lambda" name is from Curtis's own username on earlier MUD systems.
LambdaMOO can refer to the software, the server, or the community of users.
To the north of the Living Room is the Entrance Hall, the Front Yard, and a limited residential area along LambdaStreet. There is an extensive subterranean complex located down the manhole, including a sewage system.
Players walking to the far west along LambdaStreet may be given the option to 'jump off the end of the world', which disables access to their account for three months. To the south of the Living Room is a pool deck, a hot tub, and some of the extensive grounds of the mansion, featuring gardens, hot air balloon landing pads, open fields, fishing holes, and the like.
To the northwest of the living room are the laundry room, garage, dining room, smoking room, drawing room, housekeeper's quarters, and kitchen; a popular command allows players in the living room to push others into the kitchen and ask them to "fetch me a cup of tea"; since players can prevent themselves from being moved in such a fashion, this command is more often used on new users, who may have difficulty finding their way back to the Living Room. (For historical reasons, while there is direct access to the kitchen from the living room by heading northwest, users must head north, east, and then south from the Kitchen to return.)
To the east of the entry hall, hallways provide access to some individual rooms, the Linen Closet, and to the eastern wing of the house. In the eastern wing can be found the Library of online books, the Museum of generic objects (which account-holders may create instances of), and an extensive area for the LambdaMOO RPG.
Since the creation of the original LambdaMOO map, many users have expanded the MOO by making additional rooms with the command "@dig."
A small portion of the map, covering the ground floor of the house and the yard, has been reproduced on the web. For would-be explorers, Yib's Guide to MOOing includes a chapter on interesting places on the MOO which are well worth visiting.
took back the power they'd passed into the hands of the people, but still maintain the ballot system as a way for the community to express its opinions.
As of November 13, 2005, LambdaMOO had 10 official wizards
(administrators) and approximately 2,900 general users. Of these, approximately 1410 players reported themselves as male, and 916 as female; the remaining players either stayed with the default neuter gender, or deliberately chose another. (LambdaMOO supports custom designations of gender, and comes with the following presets: neuter, male, female, either, Spivak
, splat
, plural, egotistical, royal, and 2nd-person).
Online community
An online community is a virtual community that exists online and whose members enable its existence through taking part in membership ritual. An online community can take the form of an information system where anyone can post content, such as a Bulletin board system or one where only a restricted...
of the variety called a MOO
MOO
A MOO is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users are connected at the same time.The term MOO is used in two distinct, but related, senses...
. It is the oldest MOO today.
LambdaMOO was founded in late 1990 or early 1991 by Pavel Curtis
Pavel Curtis
Pavel Curtis is an American software architect at Microsoft who is best known for having founded and managed LambdaMOO, an online community...
at Xerox PARC
Xerox PARC
PARC , formerly Xerox PARC, is a research and co-development company in Palo Alto, California, with a distinguished reputation for its contributions to information technology and hardware systems....
. Now hosted in the state of Washington, it is operated and administered entirely on a volunteer basis. Guests are allowed, and membership is free to anyone with an e-mail address.
LambdaMOO gained some notoriety when Julian Dibbell
Julian Dibbell
Julian Dibbell is an American author and technology journalist with a particular interest in social systems within online communities. His 1993 article "A Rape in Cyberspace" detailed attempts of LambdaMOO, an online community, to quantify and deal with lawbreaking in its midst. The article was...
wrote a book called My Tiny Life describing his experiences
A Rape in Cyberspace
"A Rape in Cyberspace, or How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database into a Society" is an article written by freelance journalist Julian Dibbell and first published in The Village Voice in 1993...
there. Over its history, LambdaMOO has been highly influential in the examination of virtual-world social issues.
History
LambdaMOO has its roots in the 1978–1980 work by Roy TrubshawRoy Trubshaw
Roy Trubshaw was a programmer at the University of Essex who co-authored MUD1, the first MUD, with Richard Bartle on a DEC PDP-10. Both of them now work together at Multi-User Entertainment with Trubshaw being the company’s technical director....
and Richard Bartle
Richard Bartle
Richard Allan Bartle is a British writer, professor and game researcher, best known for being the co-creator of MUD1 and the author of the seminal Designing Virtual Worlds. He is one of the pioneers of the massively multiplayer online game industry.-Life and career:Bartle received a Ph.D...
to create and expand the concept of Multi-User Dungeon
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
(MUD) – virtual communities. Around 1987–1988, the expansion of the global internet allowed more users to experience the MUD. Pavel Curtis at Xerox Parc noted that they were "almost exclusively for recreational purposes." Curtis determined to explore whether the MUD could be non-recreational. He developed LambdaMOO software to run on the LambdaMOO server, which implements the MOO programming language
MOO programming language
The MOO programming language is a relatively simple programming language used to support the MOO Server. It is dynamically typed and uses a prototype-based object-oriented system, with syntax roughly derived from the Algol school of programming languages....
. This software was subsequently made available to the public. Several starter databases, known as cores, are available for MOOs; LambdaMOO itself uses the LambdaCore database. The "Lambda" name is from Curtis's own username on earlier MUD systems.
LambdaMOO can refer to the software, the server, or the community of users.
Geography
LambdaMOO central geography was based on Pavel Curtis's California home. New players and guests traditionally connected in "The Coat Closet", but a second area, "The Linen Closet" (specially programmed as a silent area) was later added as an alternative connection point. The coat closet opens onto the center of the house in The Living Room, a common hangout and place for conversation; its fixtures include a fireplace (where things can be roasted), The Living Room Couch (which periodically causes players' objects to 'fall through' to underneath the couch), and a pet Cockatoo who repeats overheard phrases (which is often found with its beak gagged). From time to time the Cockatoo is replaced with a more seasonal creature: a Turkey near Thanksgiving, a Raven near Halloween, et cetera.To the north of the Living Room is the Entrance Hall, the Front Yard, and a limited residential area along LambdaStreet. There is an extensive subterranean complex located down the manhole, including a sewage system.
Players walking to the far west along LambdaStreet may be given the option to 'jump off the end of the world', which disables access to their account for three months. To the south of the Living Room is a pool deck, a hot tub, and some of the extensive grounds of the mansion, featuring gardens, hot air balloon landing pads, open fields, fishing holes, and the like.
To the northwest of the living room are the laundry room, garage, dining room, smoking room, drawing room, housekeeper's quarters, and kitchen; a popular command allows players in the living room to push others into the kitchen and ask them to "fetch me a cup of tea"; since players can prevent themselves from being moved in such a fashion, this command is more often used on new users, who may have difficulty finding their way back to the Living Room. (For historical reasons, while there is direct access to the kitchen from the living room by heading northwest, users must head north, east, and then south from the Kitchen to return.)
To the east of the entry hall, hallways provide access to some individual rooms, the Linen Closet, and to the eastern wing of the house. In the eastern wing can be found the Library of online books, the Museum of generic objects (which account-holders may create instances of), and an extensive area for the LambdaMOO RPG.
Since the creation of the original LambdaMOO map, many users have expanded the MOO by making additional rooms with the command "@dig."
A small portion of the map, covering the ground floor of the house and the yard, has been reproduced on the web. For would-be explorers, Yib's Guide to MOOing includes a chapter on interesting places on the MOO which are well worth visiting.
Politics
While most MOOs are run by administrative fiat, in summer of 1993 LambdaMOO implemented a petition/ballot mechanism, allowing the community to propose and vote on new policies and other administrative actions. A petition may be created by anyone eligible to participate in politics (those who have maintained accounts at the MOO for at least 30 days), can be signed by other players, and may then be submitted for administrative 'vetting'. Once vetted, the petition has a limited time to collect enough signatures to become valid and be made into a ballot. Ballots are subsequently voted on; those with a 66% approval rating are passed and will be implemented. This system suffered quite a lot of evolution and eventually passed into a state where wizardsWizard (MUD)
Wizard is commonly used in MUDs, particularly LPMuds, AberMUDs and MU*, as a term for the MUD's developers and administrators. The usage originates with Richard Bartle's original MUD1 and MUD2. It is frequently abbreviated "wiz", which is sometimes used as a verb; to wiz is to become a wizard...
took back the power they'd passed into the hands of the people, but still maintain the ballot system as a way for the community to express its opinions.
Demographics
While the population of LambdaMOO once numbered close to 10,000 with over 300 actively connected at any time, these days it is rare to see more than a few dozen actively participating connected players at one time.As of November 13, 2005, LambdaMOO had 10 official wizards
Wizard (MUD)
Wizard is commonly used in MUDs, particularly LPMuds, AberMUDs and MU*, as a term for the MUD's developers and administrators. The usage originates with Richard Bartle's original MUD1 and MUD2. It is frequently abbreviated "wiz", which is sometimes used as a verb; to wiz is to become a wizard...
(administrators) and approximately 2,900 general users. Of these, approximately 1410 players reported themselves as male, and 916 as female; the remaining players either stayed with the default neuter gender, or deliberately chose another. (LambdaMOO supports custom designations of gender, and comes with the following presets: neuter, male, female, either, Spivak
Spivak pronoun
The Spivak pronouns are a proposed set of gender-neutral pronouns in English popularized by LambdaMOO based on pronouns used by Michael Spivak. Though not in widespread use, they have been employed in gender-neutral language by some people who dislike the more common alternatives "he/she" or...
, splat
Asterisk
An asterisk is a typographical symbol or glyph. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often pronounce it as star...
, plural, egotistical, royal, and 2nd-person).
External links
- Unofficial homepage and connection instructions
- Status blog
- LiveJournal community