gestural itself.MUDs show none of the four distinctive features Kiesler, Siegel andMcGuire have described computer-mediated communication as having: anabsence of regulating feedback, dramaturgical weakness, few socialstatus cues and social anonymity.[2]  Despite being textually based,MUDs are sites for social interaction and cultural meaning.  Thevirtual worlds created with MUD software are dramaturgically andsocially rich, and MUD players have been able to devise means ofcommunicating social context cues through the textual medium.  Thesubject of this first chapter is the methods which MUD systems and MUDplayers use to provide themselves with a social context and a socialpresence.---MAKING SENSE OF THE WORLD---Each MUD system begins as a blank space.  It is nothing more than aset of commands and possibilities.  A MUD program is, in essence, aset of tools that can be used to create a socio-cultural environment.It is this that sets MUDs apart from other textually based computer-mediated communication tools.  The latter merely provide an interfacethat separates what one person types from that of another, and soallows a form of written conversation.  MUDs, by contrast, allow thedepiction of a physical environment which can be laden with culturaland communicative meaning.  They allow imagination and creativity tofurnish the void of cyberspace with socially significant indicators.It is this that makes a MUD system a form of virtual reality.  Thefirst step in the use of a MUD program is the creation of a MUD worldand the peopling of it.  Those setting up the program must act astheir titles suggest, as Gods and Wizards.  They must create theuniverse--they must, to invoke a MUD command, '@create light.'The basic MUD program, whether MUSH or LPMUD or any other variety,consists of a number of tools and commands to be used to create adatabase of textually described 'objects', as they are called.  Theobjects created are symbolically linked--in both the technical and thecultural sense--to create the textual illusion of a world.  Databaseentries representing spaces are linked together such that one can beaccessed from the other by using a command such as 'out' or'north'.  Entries representing things such as chairs or swords orspaceships are placed within these virtual spaces, and givenproperties that allow them to be manipulated by players.  Lastly,entries representing the players themselves are set free to roam andinteract with these spaces and things, and often to create more ofthem.Together, these three types of objects--places, things and people--make up the context that the MUD community operates within.  AsKiesler, Siegel, and McGuire have suggested, the chief problem facedby electronic interlocutors is the "dramaturgical weakness ofelectronic media".[3]  To compensate for this lack in the medium,players must become actors and must provide their own scenery.Imagination must take the place of physical reality, and must bemanifested in forms accessible to players on the system.  Each objectin the MUD universe--each person, each place, each thing--can be givena description by its creator.  This description can be as simple or ascomplex as the creator wishes, and can be viewed by every other playerby use of the 'look' command.  When a player connects to a MUDthrough the computer network, he or she is immediately provided with atextual manifestation of the MUD's virtual environment.  OnLambdaMOO, the player will seem to enter the coat closet in thesprawling house which is at the core of the LambdaMOO world:     The Coat Closet          The closet is a dark, cramped space.  It     appears to be very crowded in here; you keep     bumping into what feels like coats, boots, and     other people (apparently sleeping).  One useful     thing that you've discovered in your bumbling     about is a metal doorknob set at waist level into     what might be a door.          Don't forget to take a look at the     newspaper.  Type 'news' to see it.          Type '@tutorial' for an introduction to     basic MOOing.  Please read and  understand 'help     manners' before leaving The Coat Closet.This coat closet is a remarkable place.  It may be small and cramped,but it provides an initial point of reference in the LambdaMOO worldand it furnishes the newcomer with a host of information about thecultural nature of the world he or she has entered.  Most if not allMUDs are provided with such an anteroom.  It is often a cramped, darkplace, and rarely an open space containing a great many objects todistract or disorient the newcomer.  Closets, cracks under bandstands,teleportation rooms and hotel hallways--to suggest just a few of theanterooms on a few of the MUDs I have visited--might not seemespecially inviting places in the actual world, but on textuallyrepresented virtual worlds they provide a space in which players maybecome accustomed to the virtual environment.  These spaces aresparsely furnished; they do not overload the newcomer withinformation.  At the same time they provide the reassurance ofothers' virtual presence, most often in the form of sleeping bodies,and they allow the player to take a virtual breath before stepping outinto the main area of the virtual landscape.  Most importantly, manyMUD anterooms contain pointers to helpful information and rules.LambdaMOO novices are directed to a newspaper, which will tell themabout recent events on the MUD, a tutorial, which will tell them howto interact with the virtual universe on a technical level, and someadvice on etiquette, which will tell them how they should interactsocially on LambdaMOO.Once ready, LambdaMOO newcomers may decide to open the closet door andventure into the greater part of the virtual world.  They will thenfind themselves in the living room:     The Living Room          It is very bright, open, and airy here, with     large plate-glass windows looking southward over     the pool to the gardens beyond.  On the north     wall, there is a rough stonework fireplace.  The     east and west walls are almost completely covered     with large, well-stocked bookcases.  An exit in     the northwest corner leads to the kitchen and, in     a more northerly direction, to the entrance hall.     The door into the coat closet is at the north end     of the east wall, and at the south end is a     sliding glass door leading out onto a wooden     deck.  There are two sets of couches, one     clustered around the fireplace and one with a     view out the windows.          You see Cockatoo, README for New MOOers, a     fireplace, a newspaper, Welcome Poster, LambdaMOO     Takes A New Direction, The Daily Whale, a map of     LambdaHouse, The Carpet, The Birthday Machine,     lag meter, and Helpful Person Finder here.          Guinevere, jane, MadHatter, Fred, Obvious,     Alex, jean-luc, tureshta, Bullet_the_Blue,     Daneel, KingSolomon, lena, Laurel, petrify,     Ginger, and Groo are here.[4]The importance of anterooms on MUDs becomes clearer in the light ofthe quantity of information which entrance into more dynamic areaselicits.  The LambdaMOO living room is a social and virtually physicalnexus.  From this point players of the system may enter an everincreasing number of virtual places.  The main body of the livingroom's description details the places that can be visited from thatroom.  Having come this far, most novice players are provided with astrong sense of physical context, which provides a sense of theconceptual limitations and possibilities of the virtual world.Physical context is a dimension of social context; place and time areas much loaded with cultural meaning as are dress and gesture.LambdaMOO provides the place, and makes it non-threatening andcomfortable.  With fireplaces and couches, books, sunlight, fresh airand pool-side views, the LambdaMOO house is definitely a desirableresidence.  It is a place to relax and chat, and that is exactly whatpeople do in it.Along with virtually physical centrality, the living room providessocial centrality.  It is the main meeting place for LambdaMOOinhabitants.  It is quite likely the first port of call for newcomersseeking to find a social niche in the virtual setting.  FromLambdaMOO's beginning, the living room was presented in such a way asto offer a sense of social orientation to newcomers.  Fixtures in theroom included a simple map of the main areas of the ever-growingLambdaHouse, a welcome poster and a device enabling the newcomer toget in touch with players designated as 'Helpful People' willing toanswer questions and provide aid to the confused.  As LambdaMOO hasevolved, its denizens have added to this list of fixtures.  The morepopular additions have included a device for registering one'sbirthdate and finding out the birthdates of other players, as well asthe LambdaMOO newspapers, which are commonly filled with social notes,gossip, announcements and opinions.  All of these objects, and thefunctions they perform, create LambdaMOO as a space held together byinterpersonal sociality.  Birthdays are remembered and commemorated.Help is easy to find, and clearly advertised.  All newcomers areoffered a welcome, and the day-to-day social lives of LambdaMOOdenizens are reported and commented upon.I have been unable to find a MUD that does not provide the player withboth an anteroom and a central social nexus point, each roomcontaining information about the physical and social context of theMUD.  The nature of that context differs widely between MUDs.  Some,such as LambdaMOO, give an impression of warmth and friendliness.Others might be competitive and dangerous, or might offer andadventure and challenge.  The information transmitted differs, but notthe method of transmission.  MUDs create their own context out ofwords.  The cues normally associated with sight and sound and touchare provided through description.  The information with whichnewcomers are met allows them imaginatively to place themselves withinthe virtual world, and encourages them to treat these textual cues asif they were real.  This information provides a common basis forinteraction between players.---MAKING SENSE OF EACH OTHER---The MUD system provides players with a stage, but it does not providethem with a script.  Players choose their own actions within thecontext created by the MUD universe.  They are not technicallydictated to by the MUD, but are instead given tools which enable themto act and speak virtually.  Interaction on social-style MUDs such asLambdaMOO is carried out through the use of five commands known as'say', 'pose', 'whisper', 'page' and 'page-pose'.[5]  Eachof these commands allows communicative information to be channelled indifferent ways.  The 'say', 'pose' and 'whisper' commands areused between players in the same virtual space.  If a player in theliving room, who might be called Fred, types 'say Hi there!' thenall the players in the living room will see that:     Fred says, "Hi there!"If Fred then types, 'pose grins amiably' then all those in the roomwill see:     Fred grins amiably.The pose command can also be used to mix actions and utterancestogether.[6]  If Fred were to type, 'pose hugs Ginger warmly andsays, "It's great to see you again!" ' those in the living room,including a character named Ginger, would see:     Fred hugs Ginger warmly and says, "It's great to     see you again!"If, however, Fred wished to communicate only with Ginger, he mightchoose to use the whisper command.  Typing 'whisper Hi there! toGinger' will cause Ginger, and only Ginger, to receive the following:     Fred whispers, "Hi there!" to you.Even if Ginger were not in the same virtual room as Fred, he couldstill communicate with her.  The page and page-pose commands allow thesame function as do say and pose but allow messages or virtual actionsto be sent to players in other virtual rooms.  The results of thesecommands appear this way:     Fred pages, "Hi there!" to you.and     In a page-pose to you, Fred grins amiably.Described baldly, this sui