The sense of displacement and wonder inherent in McCroskey and Richmond's statement would seem quite hollow to the dedicated MUDder, who spends in the neighborhood of one hundred hours a week doing exactly what the quote suggests that the reader merely contemplate. This lack of physical copresence is compensated for by certain features of MUD environments. Before launching into an account of how MUDders make use of these features to mimic forms of nonverbal communication on MUDs, it is helpful to note the very means by which such mimicry is effected.
The conventions (the programming) of nonverbal behavior on MUDs are provided as commands that the player may or may not choose to enact. Such commands as "smile", "bow", "drool", and "smirk" (such commands are referred to as "feelings") provide invaluable nonverbal cues that serve to enrich the communication between players. When someone types 'smile', everyone in the same room sees: '[yourname] smiles.' See appendix 5 for a complete list of feelings on the MUDs studied.
In addition to these atmospheric "feeling" commands, there also exists the 'emote' command. Rheingold (1993) refers to emoting as a "a useful kind of disembodied body language." This allows a user to attach any string of words to their name, whether it be an action or an attitude or an attribute. For example, if the character Vail were to type:
>emote grinz like a madman.Then everyone in the room would see the message,
Vail grinz like a madman.While Vail would get the output:
You emote: Vail grinz like a madman.
The combination of the various atmospheric "feelings", as well as the infinity of behaviors representable via the emote command provide MUD users with a rich textual tapestry from which to portray their nonverbal behaviors. In this chapter, ways in which these and other means are used to create nonverbal behavior in text-based adventure MUDs are examined in light of the traditional categories of nonverbal forms.
In MUDs, however, "physical appearance" needs to be reconceptualized, given that all MUD data are textual. While it may seem at first that the entire notion of "physical appearance" is nonsensical in such an environment, it actually is the case that the realm of the physical is represented creatively and, of course, textually.
Perhaps the most apt parallel for "physical appearance" is a MUD persona's name. Just as one can walk into a room and quickly gather appearance data (which tells you, among other things, whether there is anyone present whom you recognize), one can enter a MUD room and know which others are present. Even if no acquaintances are present, the names themselves present certain data.
Names on MUDs are fundamentally different from "real life" names in the following way: they are visual. That is, the marks on one's computer screen are a part of that persona's appearance. Especially long names may make others reluctant to talk to the person, for the sole reason that the name is difficult to type. Names with numerous jagged edges (e.g., Vermithrax, which also reminds one of "vermin") may seem less friendly than those with a more rounded appearance (e.g., Qdog, which also may seem to be unique or quirky due to the use of the letter 'Q'). Indeed, the appearance and sound of a name can often function as the necessary impetus to initiate contact with a stranger, as evidenced by this user's report:
The name is not the only thing that sends nonverbal messages of appearance. On adventure style MUDs, characters will often have a title, which is dependent upon their (character's) gender and class (fighter, mage, rogue, et al). For instance, on one MUD, an eighth level mage is called a Sagacious Soothsayer (or a Sensuous Soothsayer, if the character is female). In addition to the name, this title is also displayed when one enters a room and assesses who is present. For example:
Besides the data that can be gathered by simply walking into a room with people in it, there is the information to be gathered via the "look at", or "examine" command. This will provided details about the character (or whatever is looked at) like their physical description, artifacts carried, and their relative health.
In the realms that are MUDs, one's virtual physical appearance is self-selected. While people "in real life" have little choice about their physical attributes (i.e., we are a certain height, a certain build, a certain skin tone), characters on MUDs have all sorts of choices. On Ancient Anguish, there is a room in which it is possible to (for a number of gold coins, which are collected from slain monsters) "buy a description". This involves going through several menus (of things like "hair color", "build", "height", et. al.), and choosing from a host of attributes listed on each menu. Most players buy their descriptions fairly early in their adventuring career. When asked why, the most common answer is that the description gives a dose of reality to their character they become "fleshed out", so to speak. On Ancient Anguish, there is a limited range of physical attributes one has to choose from. However, there are millions of possible combinations. A couple of examples are provided below:
It should be noted that on Paradox II, TrekMUSE, and many other MUDs, textual personal descriptions are not restricted on any way. Some people will choose to have a description paragraphs long, with either great visual detail included (text only, of course), or perhaps the loves and fears, desires and motivations of the person at the keyboard. Owen (1994) refers to this sort of description on America Online as a "profile", in which people might choose to include their hobbies, professions, or e-mail address. Personal information is much more likely to be given on the "social" variety of MUD, as players of adventure style MUDs may want to adopt a fictional persona rather than portray their real life appearance.
Another array of data that is revealed via the command is the list of artifacts that the person is carrying. Besides the wedding ring that was evident in Taylor's physical description, one would also see that she was carrying chain mail armor (worn), a longsword (wielded), and a backpack (the contents of which would remain a mystery unless she were to relinquish the pack, and one were to type <look in pack>). While those items might not attribute anything to Taylor other than that she was equipped for adventuring, such is not the case for certain other items. If one were to notice that Taylor was wielding a "unique" item, it could be assumed that she was either rich or powerful or both. Unique items are singularities; programming exists such that no two of them can exist on the MUD at the same time. As such, they are very difficult to obtain, requiring great deeds of might or craftiness to acquire.
Even as singular as "unique" items are, they are still common solely in that they are part of the official game itself. Those items that exist only in Wizard's directories, but have not been approved by Quality Control, are unofficial items. For instance, a Wizard might create an object which does nothing more than make flowers rain from the heavens where ever s/he is standing. Quality Control might not approve this item for insertion into the approved realm for players, and so it would remain an unofficial item. As such, anyone carrying such an item would presumably be a Wizard, an additional attribution made on the basis of the character's appearance.
Characters on MUDs also have a physical condition, based upon their "hit points". In the example descriptions above, the first line is always "[name] is a [gender] [race] and is in good shape". This last part, the "good shape", does not refer to the cardiovascular fitness of the virtual persona, but to the percentage of total hit points the character currently has. Clearly, the characters chosen as examples were uninjured. Had any of them just returned from battle, their description might have shown them to be "slightly injured", or "hurt", or even "near death". All of these details say something about the recent activities of the character in question, in addition to contributing to the virtual embodiment of the participants.
Clearly, though most MUDs provide no graphical interface and the participants must rely on textual data exclusively, the concept of personal appearance is not nonsensical in the least. Names, titles, personal descriptions, artifacts carried, and physical condition are all sources of potential nonverbal communication analogous to the "personal appearance" category.
As has been noted, "feelings" can either be atmospheric such as in the following:
Naturally, this phenomenon applies with other "feelings"; To merely "scowl" could be meant as a signal to others in the room that one is not in a great mood. A directed scowl is a much more powerful action, implying displeasure focused at an individual. In both cases, eye behavior is implicitly involved at the level of intentional, directed communication.
On Paradox II, when players type "look at [object]", the environmental message is "Magnafix looks over the [object]". This environmental message caused some concern when players would look at each other, because the message to the person being looked at was "Magnafix looks you over." One user referred to this message as being "a bit off-putting", and that it made her "feel like a piece of meat". Several other players confirmed this sentiment, and so the Immortals changed the code so that when a player was looked at, they would receive the message "Magnafix looks at you.". This alternative output was met with approval from all those concerned.
That fact that this issue of semantics could provoke displeasure warranting an actual programming change speaks to the power of language, the importance of sensitive coding in MUD creation, and the communicative implications of eye behavior, even virtual eye behavior.
On certain MUDs, "rogues", or "thieves" have a special ability that could be categorized as an aspect of eye behavior. This skill allows the rogue or thief to take inventory of another character's possessions without the player knowing it. Often called "peek", or "judge", the skill is not always successful, and when the target notices the rogue's activities, they get the message: "[rogue's-name] glances at you slyly." Naturally, this would arouse the target's suspicions, and the rogue would probably flee before being attacked or reprimanded.
This "sly glance" is an additional example of how a MUD's programming can provide for most nonverbal eye behaviors. While merely text, the force of the words themselves can move a MUDder to drastic action if s/he suspects that s/he has been robbed. This is also one of the few examples of unintentional nonverbal communication on MUDs, as the rogue has no control over how successful his/her "peek" will be.
One mud supplies numerous feelings (emotes that are programmed into the environment) which simulate eye behavior. Among these are roll (your eyes), blink, glare, leer, lower (your eyebrows), ogle, peer, raise (an eyebrow), and stare. All of these feelings can be atmospheric, or they can be directed at another player. In addition, most have an array of possible adverbs that can be attached, all of which are accessible via the "ehelp" (emote help) command, which works in the following manner:
Another mode by which eye and facial behavior is represnted by users is the use of "smilies", or emoticons. These creative textual icons modify the emotional impact of statements, such as evidenced in the following:
It is in these ways that eye behavior is represented on MUDs. Naturally, an infinity of emotes can be constructed as well, to further enrich the virtual eye behavior of MUD participants. The fact, though, that several modes of eye behavior are actually coded into the MUD, as well as the effects of that coding (as demonstrated in the "looks you over" example above) speaks to the "real-ness" of these virtual environments. Eye behavior happens on MUDs, and is perhaps no less important there than in real life.
Haptic phenomena on MUDs does not consist solely of playful exchanges such as shown above. Besides such antisocial feeling commands as bite, kick, slap, punch, spit, and bonk, a much more alarming variety of MUD haptics has been known to occur: rape. Constructed by the same means as the hot waxing already described, people have been known to return to their computers after a break (or after an extended period of net lag) only to find that their character has been defiled and abused in unspeakable ways. While the author did not hear of a single case of MUD rape from informants on any of the three MUDs studied, it was a topic with which users were acquainted, and the subject of an extended thread of USENET discussions.
On the other hand, when two (or more) MUDders get together and collaboratively author present-tense erotica, it is known as MUDsex (also called Tinysex, cybersex, and MUDscrumping). MUDsex can be quite meaningful and/or exciting for participants. One MUDder reports that he "found mud sex enjoyable. It was partially exciting, but it had a lot of the intimacy that rl [real life] sex has at times." MUDsex, and with whom one has it, can be a source of considerable jealousy and intrigue. Another informant told the author that since he "was MUD-married, I couldn't actually have MUD *sex* with anyone else. I could fool around and stuff, but couldn't actually have sex." His statement could just as easily have come from a "real life" source.
Ancient Anguish provides a wealth of rather provocative haptic actions via their "Pink Elephant", a weightless object that was created solely for that purpose. The author endeavored to acquire a transcript of some of these actions, but when users were asked, "Do you mind if I enact a few pink elephant commands on you for my thesis data?", he was repeatedly denied (a fact indicative of the weight attributed to haptic phenemona). Hence, the following examples were enacted upon Drudge, a programmed personality, or "bot", who runs one of the local bars on Ancient Anguish.
Among the three adventure MUDs observed, several mechanisms for producing what might be called utterances. The terminology varied slightly (TrekMUSE was most dissimilar, being based on a different programming language), but these mechanisms can be broken down into the terms channels, shout, yell, tell, speak, say, mutter, mumble, and whisper. Each of these mechanisms will be described below.
The most reasonable real life corollary for the chat channels on MUDs is probably citizens' band (CB) radio. Depending on their guild, class, level, and other affiliations, MUDders may have access to one oir more chat channels, upon which they can communicate with others, unconstrained by the virtual distance between them. Each channel has a name, such as "[Gossip]" (for general chat), or "[Fighter]" (for those belonging to the fighter class). While violating the spatial metaphor, this is an example of making use of MUD environments in a way that would be much more complicated to effect in the "real world".
The shout command could be called the "loudest" of the mechanisms provided for producing utterances. When a MUDder shouts, s/he sends a message to every other user. The potential for abuse ("spamming", filling up everyone's screen with superfluous text) exists, and the Immortals monitor use of the command as a result. Given that the message sent goes to every other user, the use of shouts is generally limited to announcements and exclamations, as evidenced in the following examples:
In order to dissuade users from shouting excessivly, Ancient Anguish's shout command costs a significant amount of "spell points", which are required for spell casting and other activities. As the "loudest" and most invasive of the mechanisms for producing utterances, shouting may also be the least common.
Yelling is not nearly as functional as shouting, though it enhances realism and reinforces users' experience of the spatial metaphor more effectively. It is not as functional as shout, in that the message yelled does not appear on the screens of all users. It reinforces the spatial metaphor in a way made evident by the following example from Paradox II:
Possible uses of the yell command include simple atmospheric intensification of the spatial metaphor; a player may simply find it interesting, or humorous, that their muffled voice is being heard in the adjacent rooms. Another possible use may be for when two players are exploring a maze, or perhaps a darkened labyrinth (in which case, each room is merely described as "It is too dark."), just as two lost adventurers might call to eachother in real life.
The tell command (called 'page' on TrekMUSE) simply sends a message to another user, without any output for other users. As this violates the spatial metaphor by allowing long distance communication, it costs the user a few spell points (needed for casting spells) or stamina points (needed for effective combat). A shortcut command has been created on Paradox II: reply. The reply command sends a message to the last person from whom a tell was received. This shortcut can create confusion, however, when someone is sent a tell while composing a reply, as the reply goes to latest (unintended) recipient.
The say command is by far the most commonly used mode of producing utterances. It simply sends a message to everyone else in the room, preceded by the character's name and "says: ". In the following examples, the '>' character, represents the MUD command prompt.
On Paradox II, the say command has been customized in such a way that if a user simply types "say" (thus saying nothing), then other people in the room see that they "mutter something to themselves". On Ancient Anguish, a similar function is served by the "mumble" command. For example,
A colorful convention of language has been created on both Ancient Anguish and Paradox II: players may speak in different languages. These are not languages like Spanish and Zulu, but languages consistent with the fantastical milieu of the MUDs; languages such as Orcish (spoken by orcs), Elvish (spoken by elves), and Wulinaxin (spoken by satyrs). Depending on one's fluency (which is determined on Ancient Anguish by one's race, intelligence, and wisdom, and on Paradox II by one's race, and the amount of time spent training with a programmed personality called The Sage), one may or may not be able to speak fluently in the various languages. A brief example from Paradox II follows:
One final mode of MUD communication that could be said to produce "utterances" is the whisper command. This is another attempt to recreate "real life" within the boundaries of the MUD. One may only whisper to someone in the same room, and an example is provided below:
Besides the commands which produce utterances on MUDs, there exist conventions which have been gradually developed by users over time. These social phenomena have been created to mimic certain aspects of vocalics which are unavailable in text-based worlds.
Emphasis can be added to a word or string of words by capitalizing, prepending and appending the desired phrase with an asterisk or underscore, as demonstrated in the following examples from Paradox II:
Pauses and their uses are important phenomena in the study of vocalics, however pauses on MUDs are quite a different object of scrutiny. As such, they will be treated in the Chronemics section below.
Though some MUD phenomena are clearly analogous to the concerns of those who study chronemics, others are brought about by, and specific to, these environments. In addition, certain phenomena which ordinarily would be considered the domain of vocalics fit more comfortably within the purview of MUD chronemics, namely, pauses in conversation.
MUD commands are parsed only upon carriage returns, unlike the UNIX talk utility, in which two users see eachother's text at the very moment it is being produced, complete with backspaces and typos. As such, utterances (produced by any of the means detailed previously) are only broadcasted when the user presses the enter key. This has significant implications for the uses and meanings of silence in MUD conversations.
For instance, even though a user may be rapidly typing a long "say" command, her actions will be indistinguishable from idleness for anyone else in the room. MUDders occasionally attempt to make up for this idiosyncracy by keeping their utterances relative short (a sentence or two), and sometimes warning of a long burst of text, as shown in this example:
The combination of the lack of feedback between users' carriage returns and the possibility of system delays results in a curious reversal of turn-taking behaviors, pointed out by Marvin (1995). In face to face communication, when one person is indulging another with an extended utterance, the listener may be listening for pause or other appropriate juncture at which to step in with her own comment; in short, she may be wondering, "When is this person going to stop?" In contrast, when someone on a MUD is typing a long utterance (during which others see no output), a listener may be wondering "When is this person going to start?" Indeed, long pauses may lead listeners to wonder if the speaker is still participating, or has gone "afk" (away from the keyboard), or if the speaker has succumbed to lag, only to suddenly have several lines of text appear on their screen as the speaker hits the enter key.
To make up for this idiosyncracy, MUDders may warn others of an impending extended utterance (as evidenced in the example above), but more often, utterances are kept short, and users become adept at maintaining more then one conversational thread at a time, which can sometimes lead to ambiguity, as evidenced in the following transcript.
This is a chronemic phenomenon for which there is no clear analogy in face to face communication. While it is perhaps possible, in theory, for an individual to maintain conversations with more than one person in a (real life) room, it is difficult to imagine that one would be able to absorb anything of what one's partners were saying. On MUDs, one has the luxury of utterances being preserved on the screen, and many operating systems support screen buffers hundreds of lines long, giving conversants the opportunity to refer back to previous stages of their conversation(s).
Another chronemic MUD phenomenon which has no comfortable parallel in real life is typing skill. While it is true that speech impediments and rate of speaking have an impact in face to face relations, it is less of a chronemic issue than it is a vocalic issue. On MUDs, a user with a fast link (i.e., they are experiencing little lag) who types ninety words per minute will produce the vast majority of utterances in a conversation with a user who is just learning to type. Also, it may prove difficult for the slower typist to keep up with such a conversation, for as soon as they've typed a response, they may discover that their faster counterpart has already made their remark irrelevant.
A character's age has communicative import as well. Age is calculated by simply adding up all the time that a character has spent logged into the MUD. Some players will weigh someone's age against their level to ascertain skill level. This information is provided via the "finger" command (which is also borrowed from UNIX), so that one would see:
One implication of the various causes for silence (being "afk", lag, typing long utterances) is that users can claim any of them as an excuse for silence. For example, someone could sit idle at the keyboard for several minutes, so that people would think she was no longer participating in the conversation, when in fact she was watching the conversation take place with great interest, but not contributing. Likewise, one could not answer a difficult question by claiming that they were "afk", or that lag had descended upon them.
A chronemic phenomenon with a clear counterpart in real life (and especially other studies of CMC) is that of response time to MUD-mail. Just as a prompt reply to an e-mail can show involvement and courtesy, so too is the case with MUD-mail, the intra-MUD mail system.
While the term "chronemics" in the context of MUD communication is not nonsensical, it refers to whole different class of phenomena than it does in face to face situations. As Carlstrom (1992) reminds, "[MUDs are] a new kind of communicative environment," and as such, not all nonverbal communication forms will be readily translatable.
One of the most notable schemes for classifying the structural elements of the nonverbal code of kinesics is Eckman and Friesen's (1969) outline of emblems, illustrators, affect displays, regulators, and adaptors. In the this section, the representation of MUD kinesics will be examined in light of this reknowned categorical schemata.
Emblems are those kinesics behaviors which have a direct verbal translation and are most often used with the concious intent to transmit a message, such as lifted shoulders and upturned palms to indicate "I don't know". While this category may prove to be superfluous in a world created entirely by words, a few examples will show that some commonly accepted emblems are represented on MUDs. For instance, Paradox II supports numerous varieties of the emblem described above; the output of the "ehelp" command is shown below.
Illustrators are those kinesic acts which aid in the description of what is being said. While in "real life", such behaviors would generally be concurrent with the speech being produced, this isn't possible on MUDs, except insofar as the following example shows:
Regulators are those kinesic behaviors which aid in the turn-taking of conversations. Given the fact that turn-taking is quite a different phenomenon on MUDs than it is in face to face interactions, the regulator code becomes problematic. For instance, interruptions may occur on MUDs (insofar as someone may change the topic while one is still typing an uterance related to the previous topic), but they are not the same phenomenon as they are in face to face interactions at all. While face to face coversations can (and often do) involve simultaneous speech, the sequential parsing of MUD commands effects a kind of automatic turn-taking enforcement. Hence, the regulator kinesic code is less meaningful on MUDs.
Adaptors are similarly problematic when applied to MUD interactions. Adaptors are those behaviors which are essentially private reactions to stimuli, such as fidgeting when nervous. Ordinarily, adaptors are thought of as being involuntary, which is from whence the problem for MUDs derives. In other words, for a MUD persona to fidget when nervous, they would need to voluntarily type something like "emote fidgets fitfully". This is not to say that such actions do not occur. On the contrary, while observing a MUD wedding on TrekMUSE, the author was intrigued to note that the bride-to-be "checked herself in the mirror", "bit her lip nervously", and "wrung her hands" when the groom was late to the ceremony. Such adaptors are probably more common on MUDs on which role-playing is encouraged.
Besides Eckman and Friesen's categories, there exists a class of phenomena on MUDs which seem to be kinesic in nature, but may be unique to MUDs, having no comfortable analogy in face to face interactions. Whenever a MUD persona enters or exits a room, a message is transmitted to the room being entered and the room being vacated. The vast majority of the time, these messages take the simple form "Vail leaves east." and "Vail enters." However, there are exceptions to this generality. Immortals can set their enter and exit messages to anything they prefer. A couple of examples follow:
Through these means, stimuli analogous to real life gestures and movements are simulated on adventure MUDs. As noted, the analogy is not always perfect, and these difficulties will be examined more closely in Chapter 5. However, such things as enter and exit messages and numerous feelings work to reinforce users' sense of how important "body language" is, hence contributing to their feeling of embodiment and reality on the MUD.
One possibility is that these three codes truly require mutual physical copresence to be meaningful. It is difficult to imagine notions of personal space or smell being of any particular concern in video conferencing, for example. In a strictly text-based environment, they may be even less so.
However, this is not to say that no attempt has been made to represent smell, space, and environmental cues on adventure MUDs. Nor is it the case that MUD users have no sense of these three codes within the MUD environments. The ways in which olfactics, proxemics, and environmental cues are created and compensated for on adventure MUDs is testimony to the ingenuity of those who have helped create MUDs and the zeal with which MUDders reify MUDs as meaningful, legitimate spaces for interaction.
Olfactic phenomena are represented in a limited sense on two of the MUDs studied. On Ancient Anguish, there exist "bottles of perfume". When applied (by typing "apply perfume"), the character begins leaving a scent of lilacs behind as s/he travels about the MUD. In other words, as others enter a room the perfumed character left recently, they get the message "The scent of lilacs hangs in the air here."
The use of space, or proxemics, can be meaningful on MUDs as well. For instance, just as the mortal/immortal dichotomy is quite distinct, wizard-space and player-space are distinct. Wizards make efforts to stay out of player-space, and the players have no means to get to wizards' rooms (because they cannot teleport, in general). In addition, the cartographic features of the MUD environment can make distances quite pertinent to users. For instance, mortals must often type hundreds of commands (e.g., "east, "west", "cross bridge", et. al.) to get from one end of the MUD to the other. This is especially true of Ancient Anguish, with its 5000+ rooms.
Rooms can also become crowded, even though space is not specifically depicted within rooms (i.e., a room is as large as its description asserts). While there is no limit to how many users can actually "fit" in a room (unlike real life), there is most certainly a limit on how many users can comfortably and effectively interact in a room. Cherney (1995a) describes how users on a social MUD (the events which transpired could just as easily have occurreed on an adventure MUD) recognized and then dealt with this fact. A meeting was held, at which a relatively large group of users were in attenmdance. Everyone had something to say, and suddenly everyone's computer screens were scrolling wildly as various threads of conversation and debate were produced by the multitudinous attendants. In short, chaos reigned. Quickly, the organizers recognized the problem, and first tried to solve it by asking everyone to raise their hands (via the emote command). This, of course, simply produced a flurry of hand raising, hardly solving the problem. In the end, programming a special object was the solution: a microphone. Only the person with the microphone was able to speak, and it was passed around with some semblance of order.
Environmental cues can be of some import on MUDs as well. On TrekMUSE, great care was taken to choose an appropriate location for a wedding (an observation lounge on a space station was the final choice). Also on TrekMUSE, there are strict interplanetary laws which govern when individuals of various rank and class are allowed to visit the home worlds of the various organizations. On Paradox II and Ancient Anguish, the various guilds and classes all have rooms to which non-members are not allowed visitation (this also being an issue of proxemics -- the guild halls are the guilds' personal spaces). The guild and class halls act as conference rooms and help to reinforce group identity, much as they do in the "real world".
So, while the codes of olfactics, proxemics, and environmental cues may be of limited utility when applied to MUDs, they are not meaningless, as has been shown. Essentially, the degree to which any nonverbal code is made important on a MUD is limited in part by the creativity and ingenuity of the programmers.
Table of Contents
Physical Appearance
Personal physical appearance usually provides the first available data about a stranger. Right or wrong, people make inferences based on this "superficial" data daily. Inferences are made based on others' height, weight, skin color, hair style, clothing, and any other of a host of physical attributes and artifacts.
Well, sometimes I would be meeting someone I already know, and
we talk about whats new, or what interests us. Sometimes, I would
get to know new people....I usually look at the list of names, pick
an original name that sounds cool, and try to get a conversation
going.
He goes on to say that he usually tries to pick a feminine sounding name, which of course is another appearance implication of a MUD-persona's name. Just as a young man might choose to initiate a conversation with a woman on the basis of her appearance in a crowded bar, so too might he do so in a MUD room.
>east
You enter a room with high ceilings and yellow curtains.
A table and chair sit in the middle of the room.
Obvious exits are: south and west
Newtrik the Sagacious Soothsayer
A character's title says certain things about them. Besides whatever attributions might be made about the name "Newtrik", an experienced player would recognize his title as being that of a mage. He or she might even know that this particular title designated Newtrik as being of the eighth level of experience. As such, he might be a good person to ask about the surrounding area. If Newtrik's title had been "Newtrik, the Monomaniac Myrmidon", one might ascertain that he was an eighteenth level fighter, and probably a good person to ask for help in dragon slaying.
Taylor is a female elf and is in good shape.
Taylor is petite and curvaceous, with lily-white skin, and
emerald eyes.
Taylor has a scar on her right arm. She is soaking wet.
Taylor has wavy, dark red hair reaching to the middle of
her back.
Taylor is wearing a wedding ring on one of her fingers.
The wedding ring emits a soft glow.
[The scar means that her character has been killed by a monster
at some time. The "soaking wet" means that the MUD-weather
must be rainy. She will dry out in a few minutes. The wedding
ring, of course, means that she has a MUD-husband, who is
currently logged in (the ring is glowing).]
Dagoretth is a male human and is in good shape.
Dagoretth is tall and muscular, with tanned skin, blue eyes,
and short, straight black hair. Dagoretth is wearing a wedding
ring on one of his fingers.
[Descriptions similar to Dagoretth's are common. It seems like
the natural course that players would want their male characters
to be "tall and muscular". However, not everyone takes that
course, as can be seen below.]
Kaldor is a male half-elf and is in good shape.
Kaldor is gangling and wiry, with coppery skin, icy blue eyes,
and extremely short, bristly silver hair.
Kaldor has a scar on his left knee, his right hand, his forehead,
and his right cheek.
MUD players find that having a description (which in no way benefits game mechanics) is preferable to not having one. Interestingly, Taylor's description was bought for her by her MUD-husband, which is explained below. She chose the attributes, but he paid the gold pieces. Clearly, the husband wanted something more in his MUD-wife than a mere "Taylor is a female elf and is in good shape."
Occulesics and Facial Expressions
The eyes, the "windows to the soul", have been characterized as "the most significant area of the body for communicating messages," (Richmond & McCroskey, 1995, p.67). While characters on MUDs may seem to have no bodies, no faces, and certainly no eyes, there are several aspects of MUD communication which are analogous to that most significant of nonverbal behaviors.
>smile
You smile happily.
Or, the feeling can be directed:
>smile baldoren
You smile happily at Baldoren.
In the second example, the character named Baldoren would get the message: "[yourname] smiles happily at you." There is a dramatic psychological difference between someone just smiling and someone directing a smile at an individual. When someone "smiles at you", it suggests not private amusement or ambient pleasure, but intentionally directed appreciation, affection, or happiness.
> ehelp stare
**stare (happily, sadly, worriedly, lazily, rudely, dazedly,
hungrily, absent-mindedly, sternly, longingly)
> stare h
You stare happily into space.
> stare l graveweed
You stare lazily at Graveweed.
As can be seen, "stare" can either be an atmospheric command, or can be directed at another player, in this example, Graveweed.
1.[Gossip] Beaker: Spring break starts 1pm tommorrow
for me. :)
2.[Arch] Magnafix: do that for me? if ya dont mind ;)
3.[Arch] Aarchon: that's a tough one :(
4.[Arch] Aarchon: oops, that was a frowny- uh oh ;)
5.[Arch] Aarchon: at least Ender had a motive O:)
In the first example, Beaker lets listeners know how he feels about the onset of his spring break by including a smiling face :). In example 2, Magnafix softens a request with a winking smiley. Example 3 shows Aarchon's frustration with a task. In example 4, Aarchon shows his sarcasm with a winking smiley. Finally, Aarchon makes reference to his other character, Ender, who was constantly doing good deeds, and hence wore a halo.
Haptics
Haptics, or the way in which we use touch to communicate, is a fundamental nonverbal code which has a significant impact on how we perceive our relationships with those around us. Touch can be used to stress a point (as evidenced in such examples as "Aarchon punches you in the face to get his point across"), lighten interactions, control interactions, greet new friends and old enemies, and provide pleasure and pain. While the uninitiated may suspect that as mere detached avatars of immaterial consciousness, the notion of touching and being touched within MUD environments seems fanciful or even absurd. On the contrary, MUD enthusiasts' sense of embodiment extends into those realms that make haptics quite meaningful, as can be seen in the following example of haptic banter:
Medea says: Anyone want the pleasure of pulling it off....
Medea grins mischievously.
Jordan says: ouch
Jordan hands Flint a lot of painkillers
Suze says: i'll pass
Medea grabs a bit of the wax and gently begins to
remove it SLOWLY!
Kaldor watches with interest.
Medea grins mischievously.
Suze says: slowly just increases the pain. do it fast
Medea says: I know Suze..but...
Medea grins mischievously.
Medea waits just a moment and then yanks all the wax
off the left leg.
Medea rubs her hands across the smooth surface...
Medea says: soft and smooth as a babies butt
The preceding transcript, edited for clarity, was observed on Ancient Anguish in February of 1996. A popular immortal had been in the room previously, and then had become invisible, so that the players (mortals) in the room could not be sure whether he had subsequently left the room, or remained invisible. In an attempt to get a rise out the invisible, possibly present wizard, Suze, Medea, and Jordan decided to wax his legs. Though the entire charade was a fantasy (perhaps doubly so), being constructed creatively with the emote command, the fact that such a strategy occurred to these virtual ne'er-do-wells is indicative of the importance MUDders attach to haptic phenomena.
>dkiss drudge
You give Drudge a deep kiss, leaving him gasping for air.
Drudge bustles about the bar, cleaning and tidying.
>ltouch drudge
You touch Drudge with loving hands.
>jeans drudge
You sneak your hands into the back pockets
of Drudge's jeans, pull him close and give him a deep,
lingering kiss.
Drudge says: Can I get you something to drink?
>nclimb drudge You climb in Drudge's lap and nestle against him.
Drudge looks at you with twinkling eyes.
>button drudge
You stick your tongue into Drudge's belly button and place
hot kisses around it. He shivers with delight.
Through feelings and emotes, the haptic code is richly represented on MUDs. Experienced users will generally touch and react to touches in much the same way as they might in real life; they'll slap a stranger groping them and hug a friend. Even restricted to a strictly textual means of communication, haptic phenomena can be creatively and meaningfully portrayed in MUD environments.
Vocalics
Vocalics, or the communicative phenomena which one's voice provides, provide a vast quantity of nonverbal cues in ordinary face-to-face communication. Nuances of pitch, tone, rate, loudness and pauses can supply a wealth of communicative meaning beyond, or even in contradiction to, the actual words that are spoken. While at the time of this writing, no known MUDs support a real time audio interface, certain mechanisms of the MUDs, as well as the creative contrivances of MUDders, make for phenomena clearly analagous to this important nonverbal form.
Kathy shouts: When anyone sees QDOG tell him I
hate him, that ass.
Thor shouts: does anyone know the ftp address to
Georgetown University?
Unless restricted by a convention creatively referred to as "earmuffs", the above messages would have gone to every user on the MUD. On Ancient Anguish, users can set their earmuffs to various levels, thus creating a filter for messages of varying levels of importance, measured by the level of the person shouting (wizards being the highest level).
Phlabgst yells: RESCUE ME!
[ Everyone in the same room as Phlabgst sees the above,
while users in adjacent rooms get the message below: ]
You hear a male human yell: RESCUE ME!
[ While people in the room adjacent to the second room
get the message below: ]
You hear a voice yelling nearby.
In the second message, which goes to everyone in the rooms adjacent to the room in which the person yelling resides, note that phrase "male human". Had Phlabgst been a female ogre, that fact would have been indicated.
Aarchon says: Hiya, Mag.
>say hello
You say: hello
On Ancient Anguish, the say command has been customized to recognize the '!' and '?' characters at the end of a sentence, hence producing the output "Aarchon asks: Howya doin?", or "Aarchon exclaims: That absolutely rocks!".
>mumble pesky administrators
You mumble something about pesky administrators.
[ and others in the room would see: ]
Magnafix mumbles something about pesky administrators.
These conventions serve solely to add color and interest to a mode of communication that might seem dull to the uninitiated.
Magnafix says something in Terrakarn.
>speak in terrakarn can I speak this language?
You don't know how to speak Terrakarn.
Magnafix says in Kendrall: can you understand this?
>speak in kendrall yep!
You say in Kendrall: yep!
Of course, if one is not sufficiently proficient in a language, one's words end up rather jumbled, as this user experienced:
>speak in terrakarn hi there, I'm headed for the store.
You say in Terrakarn: hamster blarg duh burrito womble
something lait jello.
As one's proficiency increases, the messages become less and less jumbled until finally, one is completely proficient.
>whisper vandal what do you think about this?
You whisper to Vandal: what do you think about this?
Vandal whispers to you: Seems fine to me.
[ Meanwhile, others in the room would have seen: ]
Magnafix whispers something to Vandal.
Vandal whispers something to Magnafix.
The whisper command's utility lies in its ability to entice others in the room with the knowledge that a conversation is being held which is purposefully being made known, but in which they are not included.
Aarchon says: if I didn't have to butt heads with you EVERY
time!
Ender says: Gosh, I *love* this place!
Wraith says: _I_ never took your equipment.
An impressive array of terms, acronyms, and ASCII depictions has also been invented, such as afk ("away from keyboard"), brb ("be right back"), lol ("laughing out loud"), bbl ("be back later"), irl ("in real life"), and imho ("in my humble opinion"). The single character "?" is often used to mean "Excuse me, I didn't catch that?", or "I don't understand." On Paradox II, players use the expression "[]" to refer to the village square, the center of the MUD's geography. Immortals may speak in "codespeak", or use the logical symbols of MUD-programming in the course of conversation. In the first example that follows (both are taken from Paradox II), use is made of the logical symbol "!=", used in coding to mean "not equal". In the second example, the "add_limb()" function is parodied, ordinarily used to add a non-standard limb to a creature an Immortal is building, such as a horn to a horse to create a unicorn.
Aarchon says: kin bugged me about it, and I said "Had
it occurred to you that Giant king != Giant elder?"
Aarchon says: call kinslayer;add_limb;ego :)
Accents can be represented textually through word choices and spellings, though sometimes this can result in interpretations other than the speaker had intended, as evidenced in the following log:
You say: you reckon it _cannot_ support initiation and
retirement ?
> '?
You say: ?
Elrond gasps. Elrond says: your showing hick spech mags
-u reckon :)
>:reckons so.
You emote: Magnafix reckons so.
>'"reckon" I actually picked up in Australia. :)
You say: "reckon" I actually picked up in Australia. :)
Elrond nods.
Lanarth grins.
Elrond is jealous of ppl who have traveld.
Likewise, it is sometimes clear that a participant does not have a complete grasp of the English language. While it is true that a few MUDs cater to those who speak other languages (such as German, Dutch, and Spanish), the vast majority have been created with English speakers in mind.
Chronemics
The use of time as a communicative channel can be a powerful, if subtle, force in face to face interactions. While it can evoke strong emotional reactions (e.g., when someone is late for an important or symbolic event), it can be difficult for a group or dyad to recognize shared perceptions of time, hence it can be of ambiguous meaning. In addition, cultural conceptions of the importance of time vary widely, which can lead to further confusion and ambiguity.
Phlabgst says: what should we do now?
Tanya says: well,
Phlabgst nods.
Tanya says: I really think that it's important that we run
back to the shop before we even attempt the bank
guard. I mean, we couldn't carry all the bank guard's
stuff anyway, right?
Phlabgst shows his understanding of this MUD-communication technique by nodding after Tanya begins with "Well,". The time between the appearance of Tanya's two utterances on Phlabgst's screen may have been up to a minute or more depending on Tanya's typing skills and whatever net or system lag was in effect (net lag being a delay caused by Internet traffic, and system lag by an overworked MUD server).
1 [Elder] Magnafix: I see how you make channels unspeakable
2 [Elder] Battalis: and change the help if you wish... will
move the test object to it
3 [Elder] Battalis: where? How?
4 [Elder] Magnafix: in a define at top of channel_d
5 [Elder] Battalis: that was, the test object.c to Object.c
6 [Elder] Magnafix: ANNOUNCE_CHANNELS
7 [Elder] Magnafix: and then later if (member_array(verb,
ANNOUNCE_CHANNELS)!=-1) return 0;
8 [Elder] Magnafix: should say, "you cannot speak on that
channel"
9 [Elder] Battalis: ok... the new Object.c file is in, with a
backup of the old file
10 [Elder] Magnafix: cool.
11 [Elder] Battalis: I don't get that when I try to speak on
announce
12 [Elder] Magnafix: I'll look at _read
13 [Elder] Magnafix: I know,.
14 [Elder] Magnafix: that's a wish
15 [Elder] Battalis: just get "what?"
16 [Elder] Battalis: shouldn't be too hard to do...
17 [Elder] Magnafix: eh?
18 [Elder] Battalis: the "You can not speak on that channel"
bit
19 [Elder] Magnafix: righto, needs a notify_fail
20 [Elder] Battalis: but, go ahead and cp it in...
21 [Elder] Battalis: yep
22 [Elder] Battalis: the _read.c file that is
23 [Elder] Magnafix: arrg, two convos at once ;)
In this conversation, two Immortals on Paradox II, Magnafix (the author) and Battalis are discussing (on the chat line called "Elder", which is restricted to certain Immortals) two separate coding conundrums, one regarding the interaction of the read command and the basic inheritable object, the other regarding the daemon which determines which chat channels can be spoken on by whom. So, lines 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, and 21 discuss the channel daemon, while lines 2, 5, 9, 10, 12, 20, and 22 refer to the object/read issue, and lines 17 and 23 reflect one participant's frustration with the multi-layered conversation. Note that this could have been even more complex for Magnafix had he also been maintaining a conversation via "tells", "says", or on another chat channel(s). Experienced MUDders grow quite adept at this multi-level conversational technique, sometimes maintaining upwards of five separate conversations through various independent channels.
> finger cael
High mortal Cael is the Immortal Bound
Male artrell monk of the Serpents.
Level: Level 20
In real life: Tony
Birthday: Capella 10, -2 BC Single
Age: 1 day 8 hours 48 minutes
E-mail: *****@mail.oit.osshe.edu
Last on: Thu Feb 29 01:49:25 1996 from ****.****.****
Cael has read all of his 3 messages.
From the information given above, one could ascertain that Cael advanced 20 levels in a mere 32 hours, indicating either consummate skill or significant assistance from others. Likewise, if one saw the following,
> finger death
Death the Serpentine Initiate
Male elf mage of the Serpents.
Level: Level 11
In real life: lord of the dead
Birthday: Sirius 15, -3 BC Single
Age: 5 days 19 hours 18 minutes
E-mail: *****@midwest.net
Last on: Fri Mar 8 22:02:50 1996 from marion12.*.*
Death has no mail.
one could ascertain that the character named Death has advanced a mere 11 levels in over 139 hours, a rate that indicates either painfully slow MUDding skills, or (more likely) that Death has spent much of his time socializing, or puzzle-solving, or other activities that do not contribute to the advancement of one's character.
Kinesics
Kinesics, as "one of the richest nonverbal codes" (Burgoon et. al., 1989, p. 36), provides communicators with a wealth of nonverbal information in face to face interactions. This statement holds partially true when applied to MUDs. It breaks down only in that, in face to face interactions, it is impossible for able-bodied humans to not display any kinesic cues, for even as one tries to remain absolutely motionless, others will quickly discern that goal.
> ehelp shrug
**shrug (helplessly, pathetically, dejectedly, carelessly)
Any one of the adverbs provided may be attached to an enacted feeling command, thereby altering the tone of the shrug. Paradox II also supports a command arguably categorizable as emblematic: the "brb" command sends a message to other users present, "[Your-name] will be right back". Ancient Anguish supports one of the most celebrated (and reviled) emblems in their "ffinger" command, which returns the output "You give [player] the finger.", (the double 'f' being required to delineate it from the Unix "finger" command). So, while emblems may prove to be a problematic kinesic code (given the textuality of MUD environments), they are representable.
Phlabgst says: Maybe we could get in there *points to
the locked door*.
Affect displays are those kinesic behaviors which display emotion. A couple of the more colorful affect display feelings available on Paradox II are "dance" and "bounce".
> dance h mag
You dance happily with Magnafix.
> bounce a mag
You bounce around the room with Magnafix.
Clearly, the enacter of the examples above is quite pleased, and this fact is made clear via affect display kinesic actions. Another affect display command available is the "puzzle" command, which sends the message to others present, "[Your-name] has a puzzled look on her face".
A globe of blue light floats in and resolves into Aarchon.
Aarchon trips, misses the ground, and drifts off into the clouds.
A mass of inky green smoke appears, and Magnafix steps out!
Smiling, Magnafix dissolves into a maelstrom of jagged shadows.
Mortal enter and exit messages are only changed under certain circumstances. For instance, Paradox II supports limb-based combat (meaning that attacks don't merely "hit", but that they hit an arm or a leg or a hand), and limbs are occasionally severed in the course of adventuring. When a foot is severed, the mortal's enter message becomes "Vail crawls in.", while the exit message would change to "Vail crawls east." On Ancient Anguish, a character's intoxication level (as measured by the amount of "firebreathers", or other healing beverages, have been consumed) can affect their enter messages, by changing "leaves" and "enters" to "stumbles".
Olfactics, Proxemics, and Environmental cues
The three nonverbal codes regarding smell, space, and environmental cues have been grouped together in this section because of their limited utility as applied to MUD interactions. This discovery prompted the author to examine whether these three codes had some commonality, some linking attribute which would explain why certain other codes are well represented on MUDs, while these few are less so.
Proceed to Chapter 4
©
John Masterson