Appendix A: A MOO Session

[APPENDIX B: The VUW Campus] [APPENDIX C: Online Help] [Back to Main Paper]

A typical VUW MOO session follows. Here, a MUD administrator conducts an online class meeting which includes both on-campus and distance education students. The session is viewed from the perspective of the administrator (referred to as "You"), with his commands in bold type. An ampersand (&) preceding a user name identifies that user as a course instructor.


@go hagey hall

You teleport to...

______< The Conference Hall >_______________
You are at the beginning of a very long hallway. To the north you can see that doors line the hallway. Each door leads to a separate discussion room, one for each Module and one for each Tutorial on the course. These rooms serve as informal student forums for interaction on course-related topics. West is a large archway leading to a special room reserved for discussion of the entire course of English 210e in general. You can also choose to go directly to any room by simply typing the name of the topic. Available topic-destinations are: Resume, Letter, Manual, Online, Report, Style, Standards, Audience, Form, Usability, Graphics, and Design. To go to the Resume Discussion Room, for instance, type "resume".

---Available Exits---
<south> to Just Inside Hagey Hall
<north> to Hallway -- Outside `Resume'
<west> to English 210e General Forum

go west

______< English 210e General Forum >_______________
A large conference room that looks like it would fit a huge amount of people. People come here to discuss issues on the course in general. There are several bulletin boards here students can use to make others aware of their feelings, concerns, and opinions about the course. Discussions very specifically related to a particular module or tutorial should be held down the hallway just east of here.

---Contents: Objects and People---
You see Suggestions Board [0 notes] and Comments Board [1 note] and Clem here.

---Available Exits---
<east> to Conference Hall Foyer

Clem says, "Hi, Colin. Can I ask a question?"
You say, "sure, go ahead"
Clem says, "Well, I just am not sure what I should be doing; I feel like
I'm behind, but I don't know what I should be doing"
You say, "have you completed your resume and submitted it?"

@time

Current time in Waterloo: Tue Oct 3 18:30:57 1995

Cori knocks politely to see if she may enter.
page Cori, "Come on in, I'm just meeting with Clem..."
Cori walks into the room from the east.
You wave to Cori.
You say to Cori, "great to see you!"
Cori waves at you.
Clem says, "Well, actually I've already started, but I don't know where to find the resumes"
You say to Clem, "I don't think you two have met...this is Cori"
Cori smiles at Clem and exclaims, "hi!"
Cori says to Clem, "pleased ta meetcha"
You say, "about the resumes, Clem, as I understand it, the resumes are now posted in a better format you can access from the course home page"
Clem says to Cori, "Same to you."
You say, "though that's something you can ask the TA's when they arrive tonight"
You say to Clem, "I'm checking the home page right now...I think the description is there under assignments"
&Peter_Goldsworthy walks into the room from the east.
&Peter_Goldsworthy says, "Hi there everyone!"
Patrick walks into the room from the east.
&Peter_Goldsworthy says, "tonight we'd like to answer any questions about the course, if there are any?"
Patrick says to &Peter_Goldsworthy, "will the assignments be posted or updated sometime this week"
&Peter_Goldsworthy says, "Patrick, the updates occur somewhat manually, so it may be awhile before you see them"
Sandy walks into the room from the east.
Sandy waves to &Peter_Goldsworthy.
Sandy says, "Sorry I'm late..."
Patrick says to Sandy, "Hiya Sandy. The meeting just started."
Sandy says, "Have the due dates been bumped back with accordance to the lateness of assignment #1?"
&Peter_Goldsworthy says, "originally, we planned enough space (we thought) between assignments to allow for flexibility, but keep in mind that if we need to move assignments we will"
Sandy says, "In other words those of us going home for Thanksgiving are in for a rough ride..."
Clem says, "Especially if you watch football ;)"
Sandy says, "What about people who haven't formed groups yet? (My group only got finalized earlier this evening...)"
Clem says, "I need one other person for my group."
Clem says, "How about this, all students who need a group type @go plaza, discuss it there and then come back?"
Clem teleports out.
You say, "That's a good idea...I'll tell everyone."

A MESSAGE TO ALL USERS FROM COLIN: "STUDENTS NEEDING GROUP MEMBERS, TYPE: @go plaza"

Patrick teleports out.

@go plaza

______< South End of Plaza >_______________
You are at the southern end of a large, glass-enclosed hallway. It is very light and open here. You can see the surround areas through the glass walls. The hallway continues to the north and exits to the south . There is a cafe to the west and you see the scrabble viewing gallery to the east.

---Contents: Objects and People---
Clem and Patrick are here.

---Available Exits---
<north> to Middle of Plaza
<south> to University Shops Plaza Entrance
<east> to Scrabble Gallery
<west> to The Blue Wren Cafe

Clem says, "well it looks like it's just us two that don't have a group finalized."
Clem says, "Patrick: do you want to be with us?"
Patrick says, "Clem> yeah, that'd be great."
Clem says, ""ok. I'll tell Erin about it. That's her name :)"
Patrick says, "Okay, thanks. :-) You have my email address, right?"
You sense that &Paul_Beam is looking for you in English 210e General Forum.
He pages, "Hello there, Colin, world traveler, how was Atlanta?"
Clem says, "Yeah I think so. Can you post it on my board in my room here so I'll have it next time I log on please?"
Patrick says, "sure"
Patrick tears of a sheet of paper from his note pad and writes something on it.
Patrick says, "So should we leave if we've formed a group?"
You say to Patrick, "perhaps that would be best...you can return to the general meeting"

Patrick teleports out.

Clem teleports out.