Wheel of Time Mud intro

<BODY>Welcome to the <h1>Wheel of Time mud (WoTmud)</h1>: may you live many adventures on our little wild corner of the Internet! WoTmud IV has, at the time of writing (end '05), been going for 12 years, and things have never looked better than they do at the moment. We've got players from 89 countries, and our website now gets an astonishing 1.5 million page impressions per year. Most of the clans are filling out nicely, and there are now always enough people online to help new players ('newbies') find their feet. Over the years a lot of good features have been built into the game, and it is only now that the game is beginning to approach the vision that we had all those years ago when we started. Of course, more can always be added, and as the players will testify, new features continue to be added on an almost daily basis. If you like what you see on this introduction, then set aside some time to browse the rest of the site before logging on. Muds are based on the Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) of yesteryear. But, just as the Internet has come a long way, so have D&D, and there are now something like 3,000 Muds out there covering every conceivable fantasy and science fiction genre. You won't get fancy shiny 3D graphics or whizzbang audio effects at muds. At WoTmud, what you do get, are Wheel of Time-themed races, places, weaves and weapons that are as accurate to the books as possible, where you can interact with up to 100 players playing on a level playing field, all set amidsts the adreneline rush of the race war. To play the mud all you need is Telnet software and a live connection to the Internet (Sorry folks, it doesn't work on web TV). Telnet software is loaded onto all Windows operating systems, but there are also plenty of places that you can download one for free such as Tucows. WoTmud's address is below: read the helpfiles and just follow the instructions (the port is 2222). By way of explanation, Telnet is simply another way of using the Internet. When you use a web browser such as Netscape or Explorer, you use the http 'protocol' and when you use Telnet you use the telnet 'protocol'. For more help with Telnet, see here. You can also use a telnet applet at our site: follow the link beside 'java' below. Wotmud, the Wheel of Time mud, started out in 1993, and still has much the same people running it today as it did then. Flash runs the whole show and pays the bills. He also owns the computer that the mud runs on. There are far too many other people to mention, all of whom have created zones or helped out in some way or another and without which the game would be infinitely poorer. Of the people at the top, all of us have real jobs, and do this "because we can":- purely as a hobby. Essentially, the game is a network of linked rooms that you traverse by going in a cardinal direction, such as west or north. You can see and talk to other players, you can use a range of emotions, and you need to keep yourself fed and rested. Come across an enemy, and you'll get into a fight, during which you defend yourself by using the skills that you've learned or the weapons and armour that you're wearing. The game tries to be as realistic as possible, which leads to a fair amount of complexity. We suggest that you'll save yourself a LOT of hassle by reading WoTmud's beginner's tutorial! Perhaps the key defining characteristic and feature of the game itself is the race war. Everything revolves around the struggle by the clans and people on the 'light' side (humans) against the tribes of the dark (Trollocs and Fades). As in the books, the 'light side occupies the south of the continent and is very much the majority - players are urged to resist playing the 'dark' side until they are familiar with the game. People die during war, which involves losing everything that you've got (but not your skills). This is known as PK (playerkill), which is unrestricted but player-regulated. In other words, people are likely to come to your aid if you're in trouble against the enemy. Just as a player on the opposing side can kill you, you can also kill them. It is only natural for people of the same type to congregate, which is why WoTmud has a full clan structure. Joining a clan is generally a good idea as it offers you comradeship, bonusses and other advantages. However, it is considered something special to be in a clan, so you have to 'prove' yourself first, and each of the clans has quests that you must complete to be invited to enter. Clans have their own clanhomes, and each have missions and obligations. They get clan equipment which has good bonusses, and as the clanmember rises in clanlevel there are other bonusses too, such as leading soldiers. But, being in a clan means that you will be held to a fairly strict roleplay environment, which is supervised by the players themselves overlooked by the roleplay immortals. So if you play a Child of the Light and you decide to go and whack all the villagers in Andor for some easy cash, don't be wildly suprised if you find yourself being chased by either other players or an immortal-controlled guard. The mud has, at the time of writing, around 330 zones, giving the game a reach from Thakan'dar to Seandar, and from the Aiel Waste to Falme. All the named cities to the left are in the game or in development. True to the books, Caemlyn is the busiest town around. Also at the Wheel of Time Mud (game) site: <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/intro/index.html" title="About Multi User Dungeons, what you need to play, where to get it (free!), and how it works.">What's a "MUD"?</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/features/index.html" title="The Wheel of Time MUD has been developed for 12 years. In that time we have built up an impressive list of features, see a brief overview here.">Game Features</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/rules/index.html" title="Of course... there have to be rules. Basically, there are really only five, the rest all come off these.">The Five Rules</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/areas/index.html" title="For folk who may not be all that familiar with the world that Robert Jordan has built in the Wheel of Time, and how this applies to the Wheel of Time MUD">Tour of the Land</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/wheeloftime/index.html" title="Also for folk who may not be all that familiar with the world that Robert Jordan has built in the Wheel of Time, a very brief overview of the novels, what's happened in them etc.">The Wheel of Time</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/help/index.html" title="Various things to help you get started at the Wheel of Time MUD.">Help and Hints</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/roleplay/index.html" title="About role play at the Wheel of Time MUD.">Role Playing</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/pk/index.html" title="Pk (player killing) at the Wheel of Time MUD, and the war between the races.">The Race War</A><BR><BR><span class="wot">1st Time?</span><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/telnet.html" title="Telnet is the application used to play. You almost certainly have this application on your computer already, but you just didn't know it. More about it here.">Using Telnet</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/game/help2.html" title="A 29 part tutorial how to play the Wheel of Time MUD. Essential reading if you've never played a MUD before.">How to Play</A><BR>  <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/forums/viewforum.php?forum=9&2" title="If you're stuck in the mud, post here to receive help from some of our most experienced players. No registration neccessary, anonymous posting permitted.">Ask for help!</A><BR><BR><span class="wot">This Site</span><BR> <a HREF="mailto:ingleslenobel@btinternet.com" title="General game and website contact - not for specific player issues. For those, please contact an immortal in the game.">Webmaster</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/credits/index.html" title="Lots of people have played a part in building the Wheel of Time. We give credit to some of them here: absent friends remembered.">Copyright</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/sitemap.html" title="A very basic sitemap of some of the 'static' pages on the site. Alltogether the site is about 60,000 pages; most of these are in the Wheel of Time forums which are 'dynamic'.">Sitemap</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/game/awards.html" title="although this is an entirely amateur effort, the MUD and website have received some excellent reviews. Read some of them here.">Awards</A><BR><P><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/forums/" title="The Wheel of Time Forum">The Forums</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/forums/viewforum.php?forum=10" title="Important notices from the staff at the Wheel of Time">Admin Notices</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/forums/viewforum.php?forum=74" title="Discussion about the Wheel of Time">Game Discussion</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/forums/viewforum.php?forum=33" title="Light side role play announcements at the Wheel of Time">Tales of the Light</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/forums/viewforum.php?forum=34" title="Dark side role play announcements at the Wheel of Time">Tales of the Dark</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/forums/viewforum.php?forum=35" title="Seanchan role play announcements at the Wheel of Time">Imperial Tales</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/reav.php" title="Reavers at the Wheel of Time, the deadliest dark side players">The Reavers</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/seitaer.php" title="Sei'taer at the Wheel of Time, the most feared Seanchan players">The Sei'taer</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/tav.php" title="Ta'veren at the Wheel of Time, the most powerful light side players">The Ta'veren</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/struggle.php" title="The struggle between the Light, Dark and Seanchan sides at the Wheel of Time">The Struggle</A><BR> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/game/faq.html" title="The Wheel of Time FAQ">Faq</A><BR><BR><br> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/names" title="The Wheel of Time name generator. Generate 100 Wheel of Time themed names at a time, using the algorithm from the books.">Name Generator</A><BR> <a target="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/oldwww/public/codex.html" title="The Wheel of Time Codex, a Wheel of Time reference guide to objects from the books">The Wheel of Time Codex</a><FONT COLOR=#ff9933>Play: </font> <a HREF="telnet://wotmud.org:2222/" title="To play the Wheel of Time using the telnet software that you already possibly have on your computer, click here. Enter a fantasy name when prompted, choose your attributes and away you go!">telnet</a>                  </FONT><FONT COLOR=#ffffff><FONT COLOR=#ff9933>Play: </font> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/client.html" title="To play the Wheel of Time via your browser, click here. Choice of 3 java clients.">browser</A></FONT><FONT COLOR=#ffffff> </FONT><FONT COLOR=#ff9933><FONT COLOR=#ff9933></FONT>                Home: </FONT><FONT COLOR=#ffffff> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/" title="The Wheel of Time MUD homepage (this page)">wotmud.org/</A></FONT> <a TARGET="_top" HREF="http://www.wotmud.org/num.php" title="See the status of the Wheel of Time MUD - is it up, is there downtime, how many are playing, etc">MUD Status</A> also check out the <A HREF=http://wotmud.org/game/glossary.html>glossary</A></BODY>