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What Is a MOO?

MOOs (and the related MUDs, and MUSHes) serve a purpose similar to chat in that people can communicate with each other by typing messages, although they allow for more control of the discussion environment. A MOO is best described as a textual space that typically uses architectural metaphors to organize discussions. When you enter a room in a MOO, for instance, you can receive a detailed description of the room and its inhabitants. More importantly, the inhabitants of a room may or may not be people. They may, in fact, be robots (or programs written by the designer of the MOO) that will ask you questions, or respond in programmed ways to you and other people in the room. Moreover, the people in the room may not look like people. The descriptions they provide may suggest that they are actually parrots or alien beings or even common household appliances.

This probably sounds confusing—and a first visit to a MOO, MUD, or MUSH can be just that. But don't worry. These virtual spaces are much more welcoming and easy to use than they sound. One way to get a better understanding of MOOs is to learn about their origins. These spaces were developed by people who liked to play games such as Dungeons & Dragons. They saw the computer as an ideal way to make the games more dynamic and interactive. The first environments of this kind were called Multiple User Dungeons, or MUDs. Later, these environments were enhanced in various ways and new names were coined, the most widely used being MOO—or Multiple User Dungeons, Object Oriented. Today, these online environments have been developed for a wide range of uses, both academic and social. Classes are regularly held in MOOs, as are social gathering and role-playing games of all kinds.