<s>
In	O
multiplayer	B-Application
online	I-Application
games	I-Application
,	O
a	O
MUSH	B-Application
(	O
a	O
backronymed	O
variation	O
on	O
MUD	B-Application
most	O
often	O
expanded	O
as	O
Multi-User	O
Shared	O
Hallucination	O
,	O
though	O
Multi-User	O
Shared	O
Hack	O
,	O
Habitat	O
,	O
and	O
Holodeck	O
are	O
also	O
observed	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
text-based	B-Application
online	O
social	O
medium	O
to	O
which	O
multiple	O
users	O
are	O
connected	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUSHes	B-Application
are	O
often	O
used	O
for	O
online	O
social	O
intercourse	O
and	O
role-playing	O
games	O
,	O
although	O
the	O
first	O
forms	O
of	O
MUSH	B-Application
do	O
not	O
appear	O
to	O
be	O
coded	O
specifically	O
to	O
implement	O
gaming	O
activity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUSH	B-Application
software	O
was	O
originally	O
derived	O
from	O
MUDs	B-Application
;	O
today	O
's	O
two	O
major	O
MUSH	B-Application
variants	O
are	O
descended	O
from	O
TinyMUD	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
fundamentally	O
a	O
social	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUSH	B-Application
has	O
forked	B-Application
over	O
the	O
years	O
and	O
there	O
are	O
now	O
different	O
varieties	O
with	O
different	O
features	O
,	O
although	O
most	O
have	O
strong	O
similarities	O
and	O
one	O
who	O
is	O
fluent	O
in	O
coding	O
one	O
variety	O
can	O
switch	O
to	O
coding	O
for	O
the	O
other	O
with	O
only	O
a	O
little	O
effort	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
source	O
code	O
for	O
most	O
widely	O
used	O
MUSH	B-Application
servers	O
is	O
open	B-Application
source	I-Application
and	O
available	O
from	O
its	O
current	O
maintainers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
primary	O
feature	O
of	O
MUSH	B-Application
codebases	O
that	O
tends	O
to	O
distinguish	O
it	O
from	O
other	O
multi-user	O
environments	O
is	O
the	O
ability	O
,	O
by	O
default	O
,	O
of	O
any	O
player	O
to	O
extend	O
the	O
world	O
by	O
creating	O
new	O
rooms	O
or	O
objects	O
and	O
specifying	O
their	O
behavior	O
in	O
the	O
MUSH	B-Application
's	O
internal	O
scripting	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
programming	O
language	O
for	O
MUSH	B-Application
,	O
usually	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
"	O
MUSHcode	B-Application
"	O
or	O
"	O
softcode	O
"	O
(	O
to	O
distinguish	O
it	O
from	O
"	O
hardcode	O
"	O
the	O
language	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
MUSH	B-Application
server	O
itself	O
is	O
written	O
)	O
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Larry	B-Application
Foard	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
TinyMUSH	B-Application
started	O
life	O
as	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
enhancements	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
TinyMUD	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
MUSHcode	B-Application
"	O
is	O
similar	O
in	O
syntax	O
to	O
Lisp	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Roleplaying	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
primary	O
activities	O
of	O
MUSHes	B-Application
,	O
along	O
with	O
socializing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
nothing	O
in	O
the	O
code	O
base	O
that	O
restricts	O
a	O
new	O
MUSH	B-Application
from	O
being	O
a	O
traditional	O
hack-and-slash	O
MUD-style	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
earliest	O
uses	O
of	O
MUSH	B-Application
servers	O
were	O
for	O
roleplaying	O
and	O
socializing	O
,	O
and	O
these	O
early	O
trends	O
have	O
largely	O
governed	O
their	O
descendants	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
MUSH	B-Application
servers	O
provide	O
a	O
flag	O
that	O
,	O
when	O
set	O
on	O
a	O
player	O
,	O
bestows	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
view	O
and	O
modify	O
nearly	O
everything	O
in	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
players	O
are	O
usually	O
called	O
Wizards	B-Application
,	O
and	O
typically	O
form	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
the	O
MUSH	B-Application
administration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Maintainers	O
and	O
developers	O
of	O
MUSH	B-Application
servers	O
have	O
traditionally	O
shared	O
ideas	O
with	O
one	O
another	O
,	O
so	O
most	O
MUSH	B-Application
servers	O
include	O
concepts	O
or	O
code	O
developed	O
originally	O
in	O
other	O
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
particular	O
interest	O
in	O
ensuring	O
that	O
common	O
MUSHcode	B-Application
features	O
work	O
similarly	O
across	O
servers	O
.	O
</s>
