Obviously, lots of questions come up which people are learning their way around the MUD. Here, we've collected a list of some of the more commonly asked questions and their answers.

About Lag

• Q: What is lag?
  A:  Lag is when you type things to the game, and the game does not respond to you within a very short time. You wait and wait, and then things happen.

• Q:  Why is there lag?
  A:  There are several possible reasons for lag:
  1. There are many players logged on and doing things in rapid succesion; then the lag is due to the limited capacity of the machine.
  2. There is some other process running on NannyMUD's host machine, competing with the game for the resources. This is naturally only done when needed, and should rarely last long (but no guarantees are given). One such process is the daily backup at 07:10 each morning.
  3. There is a routing problem, perhaps locally, perhaps somewhere on the connection between you and the game. There is nothing we can do about this.
  4. Your local network/machine has lag.
  5. You are using a bad connection with high packet loss.
  6. The game has grown and uses very much of the memory of the host machine, and thus swapping has begun. Usually it takes something more than 5 days uptime before this happens.

• Q:  Perhaps a reboot will remove the lag?
  A:  Perhaps, but in most cases not (consider the cases above):
  1. Perhaps a reboot might make some players go home instead of play, but don't count on it. A reboot is not a solution. A better machine is. Donate money to this noble purpose.
  2. A reboot here will not solve the problem. We could of course stop taking backups, but somehow we think the players prefer the lag it gives...
  3. A reboot will not solve the problem.
  4. A reboot will not solve the problem.
  5. A reboot will not solve the problem.
  6. This is about the only time when a reboot will reduce lag, and be sure we will reboot if needed. Trust us.

• Q:  I get a prompt like this and can't login.

    UNIX(r) System V Release 4.0 (lysidor)
   
    login: x
    Password: 
    Login incorrect
    login:
  

  A:  There are several possible explanations here:
  
  1. You forgot the PORT NUMBER, I.e 2000, you should connect to port 2000 of the computer. If you get something like that above you are trying to log onto the unix machine directly, and that is impossible for you. Try to add the 2000 as a portnumber somewhere in your telnet application, in unix like this:
     mud.lysator.liu.se 2000
  2. Some account providers in the states make it so that you can't connect to certain ports and sometimes (altho I dont know why/how) they get to connect but time out after a while. There is nothing WE can do about it.
  3. There is something else that is wrong, and in this case you are on your own - again.

• Q:  What happened? My character is suddenly reserved!?
  A:  If you manage to logoff without earning any experience points or money for the caracter, there will be about an hour before the character is available for a new try.

• Q:  Can I play with email?
  A:  No. It is an interactive, roleplaying simulation with lots of action.

• Q:  Why doesn't http://mud.lysator.liu.se:2000 work from my browser?
  A:  telnet://mud.lysator.liu.se:2000 is the correct thing if you want to start a telnet session from your browser.

• Q:  Why doesn't telnet://mud.lysator.liu.se:2000 work from my browser?
  A:  Your system might lack a telnet application, or your browser does not know where it is. As it is a local problem, it must be solved locally; ask your local system administrator or call your vendor.

• Q:  Why do I get file not found when i click on the connect thing on the NannyMUD homepage?
  A:  That is a local problem at YOUR computer. It probably means that browser can't find a telnet application to start on your disc, and that is a problem you or your system administrator have to fix.

• Q:  I press enter but nothing happens, what is wrong?
  A:  That is also a 'local' problem, meaning that it has to do with the preferences on YOUR computer and terminal program. Unfortunately, there are standard differences in the computer world, even for linefeed and the carriage return. Some computers, like PCs tend to send two characters for linefeed, both "LF" and "CR", ascii codes 10 and 13. The mud only listens to LF, ascii code 10. Consult your terminal manual or local administrator to configure your program to send the correct linefeed code to the mud. Please, don't send us mails asking how you should do in the program that YOU run, there are hundreds of terminal programs in the world and we can't possibly know how all work!
  You can usally try if this is the problem by pressing CTRL-j instead of enter.

• Q:  I can logon as guest, but when I try to logon as a real char and I have typed the password nothing happens, what is wrong?
  A:  That is also a 'local' problem, meaning that it has to do with the preferences on YOUR computer and terminal program. When the text password is written a local-echo-off is sent from the mud so the password does not appear on your screen while you are writing. Once you have entered the password a local-echo-on signal is sent from the mud. Unfortunately, some client programs seems to be unable to understand those standard signals. In some clients it might be possible to turn on local echo manually, some other clients hangs when they get these signals. In this case try to download a newer better client/telnet aplication that has this bug fixed. Since players use so many platforms we can not keep updated pointers to clients for all computers. For Windows 3.x, Windows 95 and Windows NT the sites http://www.lysator.liu.se/~zander/ewan_dl.html and http://djr.com/~dkt/win95/telnet/telnet.html currently (961023) have telnet programs. For Mac try checking out this link.

• Q:  I have read everything in the FAQ about login and i can't login anyway.

  A:  Oki, here goes:

  _weird prompt_>telnet mud.lysator.liu.se 2000
  Trying 130.236.254.159 ...
  Connected to mud.lysator.liu.se.
  Escape character is '^]'.
  
    ___A___                                   ___A___
   ( __ __ )_________________________________( __ __ )
    |  \  |                                   |  \  |
    |  \  |         Welcome to the            |  \  |
    |  \  |                                   |  \  |
    |  \  |   NannyMUD MultiUser Adventure.   |  \  |
    |  \  |                                   |  \  |
    |  \  |     Driver: NannyMOS 1.12.2       |  \  |
    |  \  |    Number of players on:  50      |  \  |
    |  \  |                                   |  \  |
    |  \  |  Visitors, use the name 'guest'!  |  \  |
    |__\__| __________________________________|__\__|
   (___ ___)                                 (___ ___)
       V                                         V
  What is your name: "TYPE YOUR CHARACTERS NAME HERE"
  Password: "TYPE YOUR PASSWORD HERE"
  
  

  If you give a new name (I guess that is what you want) it will say 'New character.' directly after the 'What is your name:' line. If not, you have entered a name that already exists and NannyMUD will ask your for THAT characters password. It can also say 'That name is reserved.' and that means you are not allowed to have that name. So pick another one.
  When you have got this far, just answer the questions the mud asks you and you are now playing NannyMUD.

• Q: What is a login queue?
  A:  A login queue is a queue that you end up in when the game is full and does not accept more players. People in the queue is on hold, and allowed on as soon as somebody else quits. First into the queue is also first onto the game; this might take some time, however.

• Q: Why won't NannyMUD start a login queue?
  A:  There are many reasons not to have a login queue. Here are two:
  1. A login queue does not solve the basic problem, which is that the game is run on a machine with less than adquate resources. A new machine would probably solve the problem. Donate to this noble cause.
  2. In an environment with limited resources, no cost for the user and a great demand, creating a login queue would eventually result in that you try to login to the queue, and find that full, rather than trying to login to the game and find that full. Thus, a login queue would be less than useful.

• Q: What is a reset?
  A:  A reset is a way of re-freshing the game; many things are made to happen when reset occurs. Monsters might re-appear, magic might get restored etc.

• Q: When is the next reset?
  A:  This is a well-kept secret, and it will not be revealed to a mortal. Spare yourself some frustration, do not ask this. Those who can answer, won't.

• Q: Why isn't the item where it should be?
  A:  Isn't it? How can you be so sure that you know where it should be? Perhaps you have been plain lucky so far, that it appeared in the same place every time? Or perhaps the creating wizard made a small change to his/her/its creation?

• Q: How do I get a character on NannyMUD
  A:  It is very easy, in most cases. You pick a name you want and try to log in with it. If the name is already in used, or not allowed (e.g sysop, root, shithead), you will be told so. If the name is ok, you will be asked for a password etc. Some sites have restriced access to NannyMUD, though.

• Q: Do I have to give my email address?
  A:  The email address is used by us when we need to get in touch with you. Should you forget your password, then a valid email address is the minimum requirement for us to attempt to give you a new password. In short, you do not have to give your email address, but we would prefer you to. By default, your email address is only available to the NannyMUD administration.

• Q: What is cracking?
  A:  Cracking is when somebody tries to break into a computer system that they do not have legitimate access to. A common way is to figure out the password of the system administrators. On NannyMUD, cracking attempts are usually people trying to figure out the passwords of the God and the Arches.

• Q: Why is it hopeless to try to crack the admin on NannyMUD?
  A:  First, we have all restricted access to a few places. If you try to logg on from somewhere else, you won't even get to write the password for your test. Then, we have all very good passwords. We run tests on our passwords using cracking programs, and if the passwords fail that, we pick another.

• Q: What will happen if I try to crack NannyMUD?
  A:  Not much will happen. Eventually we will get fed up with the bad manners, and block your access. This block might be in effect for a while, or it might stay forever. We will probably also mail your sysop with a complaint. This usually makes him aware of that people are playing MUD on his machines, and then he might cut off any external access you had. Yes, this has happened.

• Q: Why can't I shout whatever I want over the whole of the game?
  A:  The shout command is a very powerful one. What you shout is heard by about everyone logged on and then some monsters. If you abuse it, you might very well end up not having this command available for an hour or so. This temporary removal is called 'a shout curse'. Now follow some examples of shouts that would quite possibly be followed by a shout curse:
  foo where R U??????????
  AAAAAARGH!!!!!! LAGGGGGGGGG!!!!!
  who stole my kill?????
  all foobars are assholes!!!!
  sword for sale at green, 10000 coins!
  You might think that the last example is a little harsh, but see About trade below.

• Q: Where can I buy whatever item I need?
  A:  There are several points in the game where you can get different equipment. The shop in the central village is a good point to start looking if you need something. If it is not there, ask the members of The Traders Club. Whatever you do, do not start shouting your need over the game.

• Q: How do I join The Traders Club?
  A:  All you have to do is to find the club tent, enter it and join. A search near the small clearing west of the village will probably be enough to find it.

• Q: What is the purpose of The Traders Club?
  A:  To supply a forum in which players can trade with other interested players. The club has a chat line, which interested players listen to. If they are not listening, they are not interested. Thus, using shouts instead of the line will only render you a shout curse. See also About shouting above.

• Q: What does restricted access mean?
  A:  Restricted access means that people at some sites cannot freely connect to and play NannyMUD. Special measures must be taken if they are to be allowed on line. There are two types of restrictions:
  
  1. Nobody from the site is allowed to log on.
  2. No new players are accepted from the site.

• Q: How do I know if my site has restricted access?
  A:  A message to that effect is printed when you try to log on, and then the connection is closed.

• Q: Why does my site have restricted access?
  A:  It is very simple. People from your site have behaved badly (harrased others, repeatedly shouted profanities, tried to crack the admins passwords, etc.), and we have got fed up with their behaviour. Banning their characters did not help, they just logged on new ones. Thus, once again, a few bad apples have spoiled the fun for the whole basket.

• Q: Can I personally be allowed to play from a restricted site?
  Q: How can I play if my site has restricted access?
  A:  Yes, it might be possible for you personally to play from a restricted site. You will have to email us an application. Such a request might or might not be granted, and it might well take some time before we have time to process your application.

• Q: Why can't I get my HP and SP in the prompt?
  A:  In short, because it cannot be made reliable with reasonable expense.
  

• Q: So how can I keep track of my HP/SP?
  A:  You can use the 'hpinfo' command to see your current status, and you can toggle it so it will automatically show your status when it has changed. This is both inexpensive to the driver, and accurate.

• Q: Can I put up a WWW page with NannyMUD related things?
  A:  You can of course put up a WWW page with things related to NannyMUD. If you want to have the Dragon Picture on your page, you should include it through an URL to the original, and not by copying it.

• Q: Can you help me create my own MUD?
  A:  Many people ask us for help with creating an on-line, multi-player role-playing environment like NannyMUD. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to do so. We recommend that you visit some search engine on the net, and search for 'mud build resource'. You should get quite some hits, and then you just have to read on.

• Q: Why does my telnet in Windows XP lock up?
  A:  Problem: The builtin Telnet in Windows XP, appears to lockup after the password prompt. What happens is that the 'enter' you press after typing the password is not interpreted correctly, and it appears that your telnet has 'locked up'.

  There are several workarounds:

  • If you press 'ctrl+enter' instead of 'enter', it will work. This will have to be done during the entire telnet session, which you might find awkward.
  • If you press the escapecode in telnet, often 'ctrl+]', you can type 'set crlf'. This will make sure all enter-keys will be interpreted correctly even after the password prompt.
  • Download and use an alternative mudclient. Some can be found (2002-04-18) at http://www.tucows.com/home/mud95.html.