MOO is a text-based virtual reality system that originated in 1990 and allowed users to socialize and game together. LambdaMOO, created by Pavel Curtis, was the most popular MOO with over 10,000 members, but it has since dwindled in popularity due to more user-friendly alternatives. MOOs were used for teaching, online forums, and creating fantasy worlds. MOOs had administrators called wizards and allowed users to create their own objects, rooms, characters, and commands. MOOs were accessed through UNIX-based servers via telnet connections and were often associated with internet flirting and explicit sexual relationships.
MOO stands for MUD object oriented and the acronym MUD can be translated as multi-user domain, multi-user dimension or multi-user dungeon. The MOO is a text-based virtual reality system that was once commonly used as a means of socializing or gaming. The idea for MOOs came from the number of people playing online games together, which were often text-based adventure games.
Early MOO programming was developed by Stephen White, but the first big step was the text-based “world” called LambdaMOO, created by Pavel Curtis, which fixed previous bugs in White’s programs. It first originated in 1990, when most people only had dial-up connections to the Internet, and were often accessed through UNIX-based servers, via telnet connections. Users could not only talk and chat in various “rooms” together, but they could also create their own objects, rooms, characters and commands using a fairly simple programming, called the MOO programming language, which would then be added to the total MOO.
At the height of its popularity, Lambda had over 10,000 members, but now that number has dwindled with more user friendly text-based Internet virtual worlds. Unfortunately, Lambda has mostly been associated with internet flirting and explicit sexual relationships. Early servers and too much traffic on MOOs could also create significant “lag” that created impatience and annoyance among users.
A more ‘friendly’ application than MOOs was applied to teaching distance learners or conducting online forums and classes, as these domains allowed more users to communicate. Other MOOs allowed like-minded people to play scrabble together, or perhaps meet on matters in their profession. Still others have become the new forum for adventure games or creating fantasy worlds like Rupert, based on Douglas Adams’ book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
MOOs tend to have administrators called wizards, who can kick people off the MOO and might occasionally offer technical assistance. However, newbies have been advised to read all of the help and frequently asked questions (FAQs) before turning to a wizard for help. Some wizards resented intrusions when information on a question could be found elsewhere. Some MOOs also had registration limits built in, but many MOOs like Lambda allowed people to register as guests. Even if their characters were kicked out, they could come back.
MOO’s heyday is mostly over. There are now more user forums online which allow for faster communication, chat and the like, and even allow for graphics-based fantasy worlds instead of text-based ones. The appeal of MOOs, however, was the individual’s participation in the design. People have come together to build “new worlds” of text.
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