S

(DIKU) [ROM version] To destroy an object by offering it to a god inreturn for a reward.

Often abbrev. sac.

See: god .

To store the important data associated with something to disk (whereit may be recovered in case of trouble). Most often refers to the"save" command which forces the game to save a player's data to disk.This data is used to re-create the player whenever they logon (or whenthey use "restore" on some games).

See: quit , restore .

Say, v.

This command is also (") or (') on many MUDs. It allows the actor tosend public messages in the local room. Example: "say hello!" wouldlet any player in the same room as yourself See: "[your name] says,hello!"

See: emote , tell , chat .

Score, v., n.

This command is available on many MUDs and displays statistics aboutone's own character.

See: stats .

Scratch MUD, n.

MUD that was written without using existing MUDserver or driver code for its foundation. The termis derived from the expression, "cooking from scratch."

See: stock MUD , vanilla .

Script, n.

(1) Program that serves some function. Oftenowned by a user and used with his or her client to send commands to a game.

(2) From Unix. Method of logging what occurs in a game.

Scroll, n., v.

(1) Magical spell item. Most often lacks reusability.

(2) To move across a computer screen as text commonly does.

Scry, v.

(1) Common Mage spell gives vision about the room thetarget is located in. Can only be used on players of equalor lower level .

See: at , goto , recall , spell (magic details), transfer .

Season, n.

Simulated atmospheric changes. Closely related to weather .

See: weather .

Semi-public, n.

Game that screensprospective players before granting them characters .

Server, n.

Also driver .

Actual game program that maintains the rules by which allobjects within a MUD must interact. This term is most oftenapplied to games which get most of their instructions on how tooperate from code compiled on the HOST .

Service, n.

Online product requiring a client-server relationshiplike e-mail or www (worldwide web) servers.A MUD is a service too.

See client , server .

Sex, n.

Gender status of a character. Typical examples: female, male,neuter .

See: race .

Sexual Harassment, n.

Unwanted attacks of a sexual nature.

See: harass , rape , spam .

Shie, pro. pronounced she-hee [Comp. of She/He/It.]

Rarely used.

(1) Character with an indefinite or unknowngender.

(2) Generic pronoun for use with any character .

(3) Having the characteristics of multiple genders.Examples: Shie is here.

See: gender .

Short, n.

This is what MUD builders call the brief summarydescription of an object. Example: "a sword."

See: long , keyword .

Shout, v.

Command of this name once existed in most MUDs . It allows the actorto broadcast a public message to most of the players presently in thegame. Its usage is almost always denied to new players and has latelybeen replaced by channels .

See: tell .

Shutdown, v., n. [Comp. of Shut Down.]

To turn off. To close. The act or event of turning a MUD off.When this happens play is no longer possible. A shutdown may be causedby the machine which the game operates on (when it shuts down). ormore likely by the administrators of the game or automated manager forthat purpose. Shut downs are performed regularly on many games toreduce the lag caused by an accumulation of 'lost' objects andfragmented memory. It often occurs (aswell as crashes) on games in theearliest stages of development.

Site, n.

Machine (Host ) or origin of some communication. Usuallyrefers to the "home" of a user or service .

Skill, n.

(1) Ability to perform a particular act unrelated to magic .Examples: brewing, fencing, mending, pickpocket.

(2) Numerical of presented in the form of stats.

Skill Based, n.

Alternative to the Level Based system .The progress of eachcharacter takes the form of individualskills rather than an overall level .Some MUDs allow players to purchase or improve skills with EXP .On others skills are increased with use.

Skilltree, n.

Organized system of abilities, skills or spells ,in which a higher ability has prerequisites, particularabilitie(s) that must be acquired before the higher one can be.For instance ability C. might require that you haveability A. and B.before you can acquire it.Ability Z. might only require C. but implicitly this means A. thru C.(as C. requires A. an B.).

Slay, v.

Command kills a character . Used byimmortals . Esp. Diku.

Snail Mail, n., adj. (or adj.+n).

(1) Any physical mail delivered via courier. The speed of deliverywill be slower, that is at a snail's pace, compared to electronicmail.

(2) Physical mail delivered by government postal service.

Snip, n.

Indicates that something has been deleted. Used precisely likeelpisis ("...").

Snoop, v. (n. snooper).

To detect all that another user does and sees. It is generallyconsidered impolite for anadministrator to snoop you without yourknowledge. And in the United States the Telecommunications lawactually makes it illegal forthe administrator(s) to share anything they may learn in this waywith the public.

Social, n.

Aspect of a game dealing with player to player interaction.Esp. simple communication known as chatting .

See: emote , socials , soul ,and system for balance relationship.

Socials, n.

Commands related to the expression of emotions. Used by playersto communicate.

See: emote , soul .

Soul, n.

(LP) Refers to all those actions (mostly social) which a player mightdo. Example: To smile is a soul function on many LPs.See: emote .

Source Code, n.

Computer instructions intended for humans to read. Most oftenin high level languages like C/C++.

See: codebase , program .

Spam, v.

(1) Act of disrupting normal communication, usually throughrepetitive means. Example: Someone making yourterminal display hundreds of"SPAM!" messages in a few seconds. Example: Someone harassing you on aMUD by telling you the same senseless message over and overagain.

(2) Repetative actions intended to break or illegal gain access to thesystem . Example: spamming a skill in order to gain morerapid advancement in that skill.

(3) Disruptive actions directed at a player orgroup of players.

See: harass .

Spell, v., n.

(1) (v). To cast.

(2) (n). Ability to use magic.

(3) (n). Specific magical affect. Spells come inmany forms. The basic structure is outlined below.

Invocation: typically the spell caster selects a target orvictim and then speaks or uses a tool of some sort (such as a wand).Affect: all spells cause some change to occur but the degreeof change depends on various conditions outside of the control of thespell caster. At a minimum the spell caster or tool has a reduced abilityto cast another like spell. The conditions include whetherthe target is protected againstmagic or of a nature (such as having some strength) that resists theparticular spell being attempted. The duration of spell affects maybe independent of these conditions, that is one spell may alwayscause "affects" that last 1 hour regardless of the fact that theintended victim doesn't notice. A spell might be 'instantaneous',that is the duration cannot be measured.After Effect:Some spells don't actually require a victim but they indirectlyaffect characters nonetheless. For instance posioning the food orwater that other characters need to drink or items suchas clothing or weapons with diseases are examples of indirecteffects.-- Note that in the methodology of MUD programming aliving target (such as a character ) isknown as a victim regardless ofwhether the affect of the spell is considered good or bad.If you're a victim you might say, "She cast a spell on me." =)

See: cast 1 , magic , skilltree .

Stabber, n.

Nickname for a thief .The stabber is responsible for starting a fight with a powerfulbackstab. After that, she is rescued by the tank .

Stat, v.,n.

(1) Any single one of a PC's stats.

(2) Administrator command used to review an object's stats.

See: stats .

Static, n.,adj.

Unchanging. That which remains the same.

Statistics, n.

See: stats .

Stats, n.

(1) Mainvariables used to determine how a PC reacts tostimuli. Ex. stats: DEX; dexterity , CON; constitution , DEX; dexterity ,EXP (or xp); experience , HP; hit points ,Mana , Quest Points , Spell (Points).

(2) Strength or weakness associated with a particular ability. Thetypes and number of skills varies widely but in general they existonly on combat oriented games where they are"learned" artifically. Usually very specific such as the abilityto pick door locks. Often exclusive to a particular class of player.

(3) Variable that the server can display to users within the game (the more exotic ones being reserved foradministrators ).Ex. stats: short , long , keywords .

Stock, n.

(1) Original version of a particular mud type.

(2) Uninspired copy of something else, as in a stock MUD .

See: base , vanilla , Stock MUD .

Stock MUD, n.

MUD which uses code that has not been significantlymodified from thatavailable in the public distribution of a MUD server ordriver's source code release.

See: Scratch MUD , stock .

Storeroom, n.

Room where items intended for sell in a store are stored.Example: a store selling dictionaries might not have any in themain purchase room but holds an inventory of dictionaries inthe storeroom (typically off limits to players).Akin to a warehouse but smaller.

Strict RPG, n.

Same as RPG , except that player cooperation is manditory.

String, n.

Text.

(1) Any text forming a distinct continuous unit. In a MUD this isgenerally percieved as being related to how quickly a given pieceof text is printed relative to other text. If one line of textprints and then there is a pause before the next line, the twolines are distinct from one another and are seperate strings.

(2) Part of a text. Text as a player sees it may appear to be asingle string 1 when in fact it is composed of multiplestrings from the programmer's perspective. To the programmer stringsare one or more letters represented within the game program by a variable .

Structure, n.

Organized system. Most often refers to the layout of a program .

Sublocation, n. Sublocated (adj.)

(EM ) Placement of an object within a location withgreater precision than the basic unit of measuring room distancesor the traditional inside of or outside of relations.Notrelated to coordinate systems or ranged weapons systems. Examplesof sublocation: 1.) object A. is next to object B, 2.) dividinga room into four parts and saying that object A. is in part 1while object B is in part 3., 3.) or many variations of these.

Suicide, n., v.

(LP) Command for self-deletion. Allows a user to permanentlyremove his or her character . This can be of assistanceto the MUD administrator because it frees up resources that wouldotherwise be dedicated to the character (such as diskspace).Players should consider the permanent affects of the commandcarefully before using it. Note: that while suicide destroys your characterit isn't likely to prevent someone else from creating a newplayer with the same name as your old one. Also most MUDs deletecharacters that have not been used for a long time. You can contact yourMUD administrator to find out how often this occurs.

See: deletion .

Switch, v.

Command to temporarily give a user's control over a differentcharacter or object .

See: become , snoop .

System, n.

(1) Both the constructed and natural parts of the artificalenvironment of a MUD.Typically includes social , economical and combat aspects of play.A construct is a rule or program instituted and maintained bygame administrators (also calleduniverse rules while the natural are those thingsprovided by the players . Broadly speaking administratorswant balanced games, that is a game with predicted and desired behavior inthe constructed and natural areas (ie: the whole system.)Having a perefectly balanced gameis considered to be the Holy Grail of MUD design and implementation.This would be simple to attain if there were not so many elementsconsidered essential to present an interesting game.

See: virtual reality .

(2) Collection of programs such as constitute a MUD or operatingsystem.