<s>
Discworld	B-Application
MUD	I-Application
is	O
a	O
popular	O
MUD	B-Application
,	O
a	O
text-based	O
online	O
role-playing	O
game	O
,	O
set	O
in	O
the	O
Discworld	B-Application
as	O
depicted	O
in	O
the	O
Discworld	B-Application
series	O
of	O
books	O
by	O
Terry	O
Pratchett	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MUD	B-Application
was	O
founded	O
in	O
1991	O
and	O
opened	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
in	O
1992	O
(	O
receiving	O
continuous	O
updates	O
since	O
then	O
,	O
now	O
thirty	O
years	O
later	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
containing	O
a	O
small	O
section	O
of	O
the	O
then	O
rather	O
loosely	O
defined	O
Ankh-Morpork	O
,	O
over	O
time	O
more	O
locations	O
have	O
been	O
added	O
as	O
the	O
world	O
has	O
been	O
further	O
described	O
in	O
the	O
book	O
series	O
,	O
and	O
laid	O
out	O
in	O
the	O
map	O
supplements	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
The	O
Streets	O
of	O
Ankh-Morpork	O
and	O
The	O
Discworld	B-Application
Mapp	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MUD	B-Application
was	O
founded	O
in	O
Perth	O
,	O
Western	O
Australia	O
,	O
by	O
David	O
"	O
Pinkfish	B-Application
"	O
Bennett	O
,	O
Craig	O
"	O
Furball	O
"	O
Richmond	O
,	O
Sean	O
A	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
an	O
outgrowth	O
of	O
another	O
MUD	B-Application
called	O
Discworld	B-Application
II	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MUD	B-Application
ran	O
for	O
a	O
while	O
on	O
a	O
machine	O
in	O
Melbourne	O
before	O
moving	O
to	O
run	O
in	O
the	O
UK	O
on	O
a	O
machine	O
at	O
Compulink	O
where	O
Gordon	O
"	O
DrGoon	O
"	O
was	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
administration	O
team	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MUD	B-Application
was	O
later	O
hosted	O
for	O
a	O
time	O
at	O
Trinity	O
College	O
in	O
Hartford	O
,	O
Connecticut	O
by	O
one	O
of	O
its	O
undergraduates	O
:	O
Michael	O
"	O
Bastian	O
"	O
Hammill	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
Bastian	O
"	O
served	O
as	O
chief	O
administrator	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
and	O
"	O
god	O
"	O
of	O
Discworld	B-Application
(	O
a	O
character	O
role	O
)	O
,	O
while	O
"	O
Pinkfish	B-Application
"	O
continued	O
in	O
his	O
capacity	O
as	O
head	O
game	O
developer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
mistake	O
cost	O
the	O
MUD	B-Application
another	O
one	O
of	O
its	O
homes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
Bastian	O
"	O
assured	O
both	O
Pratchett	O
and	O
his	O
attorney	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
fan-based	O
effort	O
and	O
invited	O
the	O
author	O
to	O
visit	O
"	O
Pinkfish	B-Application
's	O
"	O
creation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Discworld	B-Application
project	O
was	O
allowed	O
to	O
continue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Discworld	B-Application
has	O
publicly	O
released	O
the	O
code	O
base	O
under	O
which	O
it	O
runs	O
on	O
a	O
couple	O
of	O
occasions	O
,	O
allowing	O
other	O
MUDs	B-Application
to	O
use	O
the	O
same	O
base	O
for	O
writing	O
their	O
worlds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MUD	B-Application
's	O
software	O
is	O
divided	O
into	O
two	O
sections	O
—	O
the	O
mudlib	O
and	O
the	O
driver	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MUD	B-Application
is	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
from-scratch	O
mudlib	O
and	O
runs	O
on	O
FluffOS	O
,	O
a	O
fork	O
of	O
the	O
MudOS	O
driver	O
,	O
placing	O
it	O
in	O
the	O
LPMud	B-Application
family	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
driver	O
is	O
largely	O
open-source	O
,	O
with	O
new	O
releases	O
usually	O
made	O
available	O
quickly	O
,	O
while	O
cut-down	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
mudlib	O
including	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
underlying	O
features	O
are	O
occasionally	O
released	O
(	O
most	O
recently	O
in	O
2003	O
)	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
basic	O
object	O
classes	O
and	O
tools	O
of	O
the	O
MUD	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Discworld	B-Application
command	O
system	O
is	O
a	O
customized	O
text	O
parser	O
allowing	O
for	O
flexible	O
interactions	O
with	O
objects	O
and	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
specify	O
how	O
the	O
command	O
is	O
structured	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
purely	O
message-based	O
interaction	O
,	O
the	O
MUD	B-Application
provides	O
a	O
talker	B-Protocol
system	O
with	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
fixed	O
channels	O
,	O
including	O
general	O
chat	O
channels	O
,	O
channels	O
for	O
development	O
organisation	O
,	O
and	O
channels	O
reserved	O
for	O
members	O
of	O
many	O
in-game	O
organisations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Roleplaying	O
is	O
optional	O
,	O
and	O
players	O
can	O
be	O
observed	O
playing	O
in	O
many	O
different	O
roles	O
both	O
in	O
and	O
out	O
of	O
character	O
,	O
from	O
organisational	O
,	O
to	O
social	O
,	O
to	O
'	O
numberchasing	O
 '	O
(	O
grinding	B-Application
,	O
especially	O
for	O
skills	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
areas	O
with	O
no	O
player	O
council	O
,	O
no	O
written	O
player	O
laws	O
apply	O
,	O
and	O
only	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
acceptable	B-Application
use	I-Application
policy	I-Application
,	O
invariably	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
"	O
the	O
rules	O
"	O
,	O
applies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Taking	O
the	O
humorous	O
aspect	O
of	O
Pratchett	O
's	O
work	O
and	O
running	O
with	O
it	O
,	O
the	O
atmosphere	O
on	O
Discworld	B-Application
MUD	I-Application
is	O
frequently	O
whimsical	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
general	O
fondness	O
displayed	O
for	O
silliness	O
and	O
nonsense	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
fundamental	O
game	O
mechanics	O
of	O
the	O
MUD	B-Application
are	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
'	O
stat/skill	O
'	O
division	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
player	O
's	O
stats	O
(	O
statistics	O
)	O
relating	O
to	O
intrinsic	O
properties	O
,	O
being	O
semi-permanent	O
,	O
and	O
skills	O
(	O
relating	O
to	O
aptitudes	O
)	O
increased	O
by	O
spending	O
experience	O
points	O
to	O
self-teach	O
,	O
or	O
to	O
learn	O
from	O
other	O
player/non	O
-player	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
large	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
intent	O
for	O
Discworld	B-Application
MUD	I-Application
was	O
to	O
move	O
away	O
from	O
a	O
restrictive	O
class	O
system	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
allow	O
a	O
player	O
to	O
do	O
(	O
almost	O
)	O
anything	O
with	O
enough	O
effort	O
and	O
advancement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Content	O
has	O
been	O
worked	O
upon	O
continuously	O
as	O
the	O
Discworld	B-Application
series	O
of	O
books	O
has	O
been	O
growing	O
,	O
therefore	O
there	O
are	O
smatterings	O
of	O
continuity	O
taken	O
from	O
different	O
books	O
introduced	O
in	O
different	O
regions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
1999	O
,	O
Discworld	B-Application
was	O
selected	O
as	O
The	O
Mud	B-Application
Connector	O
's	O
Mud	B-Application
of	O
the	O
Month	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Total	O
PC	O
Gaming	O
,	O
UK	O
edition	O
,	O
Discworld	B-Application
was	O
2nd	O
of	O
the	O
Top	O
Three	O
MUDs	B-Application
in	O
the	O
MMO	O
Supplement	O
in	O
issue	O
7	O
,	O
and	O
received	O
a	O
special	O
mention	O
in	O
the	O
MMO	O
Supplement	O
in	O
issue	O
15	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
"	O
We	O
Love	O
"	O
section	O
.	O
</s>
