MOOtiquette

MOOTIQUETTE

Please note: it is usually possible to find out what is considered to be acceptable behaviour in a specific MOO by logging into that MOO and typing <help manners>.

This section provides some general information about the etiquette of using MOO and offers advice about:

politeness
joining others
logging conversations
personal security

It is important for users to remember that they are interacting not only with the environment, but also with real people in MOO, and that they should, therefore, behave towards others in a way that they would find acceptable themselves.

BE POLITE

All users of a MOO should be treated with respect. Although some MOOs have a disclaimer along the lines of 'the administrators have no control over the views expressed or language used within this MOO', others state categorically that obscenity, harassment or objectionable behaviour of any sort will not be tolerated.

Like email, the register of MOO is usually informal. As a result of the relative anonymity of the technology, MOO removes the barriers imposed by age, experience, education, cultural and linguistic background, religion and so on. Learners can, in theory, talk with experts on an equal basis. For this reason, it should be stressed that it is very important to be polite to all those with whom one converses in MOO.

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JOINING OTHERS

It is permissible to enter public areas within MOO without requesting permission. When entering private areas, however, the user must always ask the owner for permission.

It is not acceptable to harass any user who, for whatever reason, refuses permission for your character to join theirs.

It is also not acceptable to refuse to allow a user to join your own character if you are in a public area. If you do not wish to be joined, ensure that you are located in a private space.

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LOGGING CONVERSATIONS

As a general rule, never log anything without the permission of all involved.

Telnet and MOO Clients allows the user to record or log everything that occurs during a visit to a MOO. Although this can be done without the knowledge of any other participant in a conversation, it is considered unethical not to obtain the permission of all those involved before logging a session. Some MOOs even point out that any text generated within a MOO (including 'conversations') is the copyright of the user who writes that text, and note that violation of this copyright is an offence.

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PERSONAL SECURITY IN MOO

MOOs can be used by anyone with access to the Internet and Telnet or a MOO client. Occasionally, even in the best-regulated MOO, it is possible to encounter an unpleasant character, and this can be extremely distressing. There are various steps which can be taken to avoid or deal with such situations:

never give personal information such as your telephone number or address (some users even refuse to disclose their email address or real name) to anyone in a MOO unless you feel totally comfortable with them.

different MOOs have different policies regarding harassment; some advise the victim to use the @gag command to prevent her/him from 'hearing' anything the offender may page or say and from seeing anything the offender may emote. This is often enough to prevent further problems, but if it does not, the perpetrator - and even the entire site from which s/he logs in - can be excluded from the MOO by the administrators either temporarily or permanently.

The policy of a specific MOO towards bad behaviour can be obtained either from the administrators of a MOO (type @wizards to find out who they are) or, often, by typing <help manners>.

It should be stressed that the number of occurrences of inappropriate behaviour in educational MOOs is very low, and that offenders are invariably quickly dealt with.

What may be seen to be inappropriate behaviour is often caused by miscommunication rather than deliberate actions and, in the next section. we examine the types of miscommunication that may occur within MOO, and offer some strategies on how to recognize and/or minimize their effect.

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Last updated 30th January 1999
Authors: Lesley Shield and Markus J.Weininger