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MU* Lingo: As Clear As Mud

© Sandy Brundage

MU*ers learn a new language when they start playing, one of odd acronyms and weird ASCII art. Even for oldtimers, mysterious symbols turn up that defy decoding. Here1s a collection of MUD talk both common and rare:

First, the standard emotes:
: )

: (
. . . also available in the unhappy Martian version >: (

: /

; )

And for you vampire players: : }

Now, onto acronyms:

RL — Real Life (often used with a slight tinge of derision)
IRL — In RL
VR — Virtual Reality
XP — eXperience Points

LOL — Laughs Out Loud
ROTFL — Rolls On The Floor Laughing
FOHCLASHC — Falls Of Her Chair Laughing And Scares Her Cats

AFK — Away From Keyboard
. . . used in combination with:

BBL — Be Back Later
BRB — Be Right Back
RSN — Real Soon Now
TTYL — Talk To You Later

bamf — stands for nothing, but experts claim that bamf is the sound that Nightcrawler makes when he transports. Used when someone is about to logoff.

WYSIWYG — What You See Is What You Get. Tends to pop up during spirited OOC arguments. . . . speaking of which:

OOC — Out Of Character
IC — In Character
PC — Player Character
NPC — Non Player Character

Other markers of dispute:

BTW — By The Way
ATM — At The Moment
! — Not
OTOH — On The Other Hand
WTF — What The Flip
RTFHF — Read The Flipping Help File

TmS — the dreaded TimeStop, greeted with groans. Due to IC action that requires a judge, RP can halt for days while waiting for the needed staffer.

SOYSAUCE — Sheep Overrunning Your Suburbs and Aiming for Ultimate Control of Everything (which has nothing to do with roleplay, but was too cool to leave out.)

Finally, as if acronyms and smiley faces aren't enough, lingo is applied in liberal doses. Some terms are universal, others are genre specific:

newbie — someone who has never played online before. Sometimes identified BY THEIR TENDENCY TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS, which oldtimers know should only be done in case of emergency.

bb — bulletin boards

alt — an alternate online identity or character. The basis for the OOC game of 'Guess the Alts1

wizbit — a staff alt

mav — maverick. A misdirected page or command

botspot — on the list of connected players, the one that has been on the longest usually lands at the bottom. For hardcore MU*ers, a spot of honor.

lagbeast — a demon that terrifies online RPers everywhere, as it causes an inordinate amount of time to lapse from when you type a command to when it is actually executed. Sometimes banished by dousing the keyboard with holy water (don't try this at home).

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