<s>
MU*	B-Protocol
is	O
an	O
abbreviation	O
which	O
refers	O
collectively	O
to	O
a	O
family	O
of	O
text-based	B-Application
multi-user	B-Operating_System
virtual	B-Application
world	I-Application
servers	O
comprising	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
asterisk	O
is	O
often	O
used	O
in	O
computer	O
programming	O
languages	O
to	O
represent	O
a	O
wildcard	B-Algorithm
(	O
any	O
number	O
of	O
arbitrary	O
characters	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
suggests	O
a	O
usage	O
that	O
encompasses	O
MUDs	B-Application
in	O
general	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
confusingly	O
,	O
MU*	B-Protocol
is	O
often	O
used	O
in	O
a	O
manner	O
exclusive	O
of	O
services	O
specifically	O
described	O
as	O
MUDs	B-Application
,	O
with	O
the	O
MU*	B-Protocol
term	O
meant	O
to	O
distance	O
the	O
TinyMUD	O
family	O
of	O
"	O
social	O
MUDs	B-Application
"	O
from	O
"	O
combat-oriented	O
"	O
MUDs	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
dominant	O
usage	O
of	O
MUD	B-Application
being	O
as	O
a	O
generic	O
term	O
rather	O
than	O
specifically	O
denoting	O
combat-oriented	O
games	O
—	O
indeed	O
,	O
both	O
TinyMUD	O
and	O
MOO	B-Application
are	O
MUDs	B-Application
in	O
name	O
(	O
MOO	B-Application
stands	O
for	O
MUD	B-Application
,	O
Object-Oriented	O
)	O
,	O
while	O
MUSH	B-Application
and	O
MUCK	B-Application
are	O
backronymed	O
puns	O
on	O
"	O
MUD	B-Application
"	O
—	O
this	O
positions	O
MU*	B-Protocol
as	O
actually	O
being	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
MUD	B-Application
.	O
</s>
