Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Practicum Project: Post 3

Well, I'm still alive and kicking in my DiscWorld, I think. So far, I've travelled through two enchanted forests, chatted with some really interesting people and even burnt myself on a lantern. The interesting thing about this "world" I've learned is its sense of a community.

In discussion, we were talking about online chat rooms being the on-ramp for sexual predators, pedophiles, etc. People can go to a site like Yahoo! Games or something, but just because they visit the site, doesn't mean they want to actually play the game. They may want to...do...different things, To Catch a Predator type things.

However, DiscWorld and the MOO community seems to be 100-percent about the gaming going on. Any people I talk to will make small talk, but it's soon right back to business. They ask what to do when they get to certain buildings, where not to go, who to avoid, etc. Having only played this game for about 6 hours, I kindly tell them that I really have no idea. And instead of doing a screen shot of exactly what it's like on here with the game, I thought I'd copy and paste in some text. Ivan has the luxury of putting awesome pictures up; I really don't. Just picture this game as a regular video game, but instead of moving the characters, you type and tell them what to do--never seeing them at all.

So here's some transcripts from my journey:

The air is fresh, the noise here is low, and this pretty park seems
a perfect place to sit and contemplate in peace. A pine bench has
been provided for just that purpose.
It is a very warm spindlewinter's morning with almost no wind and
packed cloud cover.
There are two obvious exits: north and west.
A pumpkin lantern is dangling from a post.
You close the north door.


You open the north door.
A swift glance around this cosy hut reveals a small cot and an open
window, looking out over a welcoming village. A very large and
informative sign has been hung on the wall.
Type read sign to read it.
When you are done here (and have read the help file!), you can
start the introduction by typing south.
There are two obvious exits: south and climb through window.
A large sign is hanging on a wall.
You close the south door.

Another weird thing I've noticed about the sense of "community" in MOO land is that a lot of people seem to remember me each time I'm on here. It truly makes it feel like a social community. That's all for now. Stay tuned for more adventures.

Wish me luck...

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