Editing LambdaMOO

{{Infobox video game
| title = LambdaMOO
| developer = [[Pavel Curtis]], project community
| engine = [[MOO]]
| platforms = [[Cross-platform|Platform independent]]
| released = 1990
| genre = Social [[Multi-user dungeon|MUD]]
| modes = [[Multiplayer video game|Multiplayer]]
}}

'''''LambdaMOO''''' is an [[online community]]<ref name="quittner">{{cite magazine
 | last = Quittner | first = Josh | author-link = Josh Quittner
 | date = March 1994
 | title = Johnny Manhattan Meets the Furry Muckers
 | magazine = [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]
 | volume = 2
 | issue = 3
 | url = https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.03/muds.html
 | access-date = 2008-09-21
 | quote = In come into LambdaMOO through the closet.  The closet is the port of entry, the Ellis Island for all immigrants to this virtual world.  It's a dark, cramped space and I keep bumping into coats, boots, and the bodies of sleeping, huddled masses. [...] That's what's happening at LambdaMOO, a 3-year-old MOO set up by Pavel Curtis at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (see WIRED 2.02, page 90). Curtis, a programming language designer and implementer, put the MOO together as an experiment; it has turned into a real community.
}}</ref> of the variety called a [[MOO]].  It is the oldest MOO today.<ref name="maragkou">{{cite web |last1=Maragkou |first1=Eleni |title=Escape From the Internet |url=https://thecouch.hethem.nl/escape-from-the-internet/ |website=The Couch |publisher=Het HEM |access-date=1 June 2024}}</ref>

''LambdaMOO'' was founded in 1990 by [[Pavel Curtis]] at [[Xerox PARC]].<ref name="dog">{{cite book
  | last1 = Mulligan | first1 = Jessica
  | last2 = Patrovsky | first2 = Bridgette
  | year = 2003 
  | title = Developing Online Games: An Insider's Guide
  | publisher = New Riders
  | pages = 452
  | quote = 1990 [...] Pavel Curtis does substantial modifications to White's MOO code, creating ''LambdaMOO''.  ''LambdaMOO'' opens, hosted at Xerox PARC, where it promptly becomes a major influence in the development of social issues in virtual spaces.
  | isbn = 1-59273-000-0
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 | last = Bartle | first = Richard | author-link = Richard Bartle
 | title = [[Designing Virtual Worlds]]
 | publisher = New Riders
 | year = 2003
 | isbn = 0-13-101816-7
 | pages = 11
 | quote = ''MOO'' had two important offspring: Pavel Curtis' ''LambdaMOO'' (which was to become a favorite of journalists, academics, and social misfits) [...]
}}</ref><ref name="rheingold">{{cite magazine
 | last = Rheingold | first = Howard | author-link = Howard Rheingold
 | date = April 1994
 | title = PARC Is Back!
 | magazine = [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]
 | volume = 2
 | issue = 2
 | url = https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.02/parc.html
 | access-date = 2010-04-07
 | quote = One PARC researcher, Pavel Curtis, is looking closely at MUDs [...] Curtis built on the work of Steven White, a student at the University of Waterloo (Canada). In January 1991, he opened LambdaMOO. Hundreds of players flocked to it.
}}</ref><ref name="internetculture">{{cite book
 | editor-last = Porter | editor-first = David
 | title = Internet Culture
 | publisher = Routledge
 | year = 1997
 | isbn = 0-415-91684-4
 | edition = pbk.
 | last = Stivale | first = Charles J.
 | contribution = Spam: Heteroglossia and Harassment in Cyberspace
 | pages = 94–95
 | quote = I will examine this spectrum of practices with reference to a specific chat and role-playing site on the Internet, one of the numerous MUDs (multi-user dungeons or dimensions) known as LambdaMOO (MOO referring to MUD-Object-Oriented programming language), located at Xeroc PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) and installed and run there since 1990 by Pavel Curtis.<sup>6</sup>  This site is structured like a large house with nearby grounds and community.  It forms a paradigm within which participants can log on via telnet from different locations around the globe, adopt character names ranging from "real" to, more commonly, some form of fantasy, and converse directly with one another in real time.<sup>7</sup>  In this house, one may move from room to room by indicating directions to "walk" or by "teleporting" directly, create one's own personalized abode, and entertain discussion with the vast population&mdash;over 8000&mdash;of inhabitants. [...] interactions within the LambdaMOO commons, the Living Room, acclimate one quickly [...]
}}</ref>  Now hosted in the state of [[Washington (state)|Washington]], it is operated and administered entirely on a volunteer basis.  Guests are allowed, and membership is free to anyone with an e-mail address.

''LambdaMOO'' gained some notoriety when [[Julian Dibbell]] wrote a book called ''[[My Tiny Life]]'' describing his [[A Rape in Cyberspace|experiences]] there.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Dibbell | first = Julian | author-link = Julian Dibbell
 | title = My Tiny Life
 | year = 1999
 | publisher = Fourth Estate Limited
 | location = London
 | isbn = 1-84115-058-4
 | url = http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/mytinylife.html
}}</ref>  Over its history, ''LambdaMOO'' has been highly influential in the examination of virtual-world social issues.<ref name="dog" />

==History==
LambdaMOO has its roots in the 1978–1980 work by [[Roy Trubshaw]] and [[Richard Bartle]] to create and expand the concept of [[Multi-user dungeon|Multi-User Dungeon]] (MUD) – virtual communities.<ref name=Malloy>{{citation |first=Judy |last=Malloy | author-link=Judy Malloy |url=http://www.well.com/user/jmalloy/moopap.html|title=Public Literature: Narratives and Narrative Structures in LambaMOO |access-date=2008-08-05 |work=Art and Innovation - The Xerox PARC Artist-in-Residence Program |publisher=MIT Press |year=1999 }}</ref> Around 1987–1988, the expansion of the global [[Internet]] allowed more users to experience the MUD. Pavel Curtis at Xerox PARC noted that they were "almost exclusively for recreational purposes."<ref>Pavel Curtis and David A. Nichols. "MUDs Grow Up: Social Virtual Reality in the Real World". Xerox PARC, May 5, 1993.</ref> Curtis determined to explore whether the MUD could be non-recreational. He developed ''LambdaMOO'' software to run on the LambdaMOO server, which implements the [[MOO (programming language)|MOO programming language]]. This software was subsequently made available to the public. Several starter databases, known as cores, are available for MOOs; ''LambdaMOO'' itself uses the LambdaCore database.  The "[[Lambda]]" name is from Curtis's own username on earlier MUD systems.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.g4tv.com/techtvvault/features/38666/The_Incredible_Tale_of_LambdaMOO_pg2.html| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929121601/http://www.g4tv.com/techtvvault/features/38666/The_Incredible_Tale_of_LambdaMOO_pg2.html| archive-date = 2007-09-29| title = G4 - Feature - The Incredible Tale of LambdaMOO}} </ref>

LambdaMOO can refer to the software, the server, or the community of users.<ref name=Malloy/>

==Geography==
''LambdaMOO'' central geography was based on Pavel Curtis's California home. New players and guests traditionally connected in "The Coat Closet",<ref name="quittner" /> but a second area, "The Linen Closet" (specially programmed as a silent area) was later added as an alternative connection point. The coat closet opens onto the center of the house in The Living Room, a common hangout and place for conversation;<ref name="internetculture" /> its fixtures include a fireplace (where things can be roasted), The Living Room Couch (which periodically causes players' objects to 'fall through' to underneath the couch), and a pet Cockatoo who repeats overheard phrases (which is sometimes found with its beak gagged). Occasionally, the Cockatoo is replaced with a more seasonal creature: a Turkey near Thanksgiving, a Raven near Halloween, et cetera.

To the north of the Living Room is the Entrance Hall, the Front Yard, and a limited residential area along LambdaStreet. There is an extensive subterranean complex located down the manhole, including a sewage system. Players walking to the far west along LambdaStreet may be given the option to 'jump off the edge of the world', which disables access to their account for three months.

To the south of the Living Room is a pool deck, a hot tub, and some of the extensive grounds of the mansion, featuring gardens, hot air balloon landing pads, open fields, fishing holes, and the like.

To the northwest of the living room are the laundry room, garage, dining room, smoking room, drawing room, housekeeper's quarters, and kitchen.

To the east of the entry hall, hallways provide access to some individual rooms, the Linen Closet, and to the eastern wing of the house. In the eastern wing can be found the Library of online books, the Museum of generic objects (which account-holders may create instances of), and an extensive area for the ''LambdaMOO'' RPG.

Since the creation of the original LambdaMOO map, many users have expanded the MOO by making additional rooms with the command "@dig."

==Politics==
While most MOOs are run by administrative fiat, in summer of 1993 ''LambdaMOO'' implemented a petition/ballot mechanism, allowing the community to propose and vote on new policies and other administrative actions. A petition may be created by anyone eligible to participate in politics (those who have maintained accounts at the MOO for at least 30 days), can be signed by other players, and may then be submitted for administrative 'vetting'. Once vetted, the petition has a limited time to collect enough signatures to become valid and be made into a ballot. Ballots are subsequently voted on; those with a 66% approval rating are passed and will be implemented.  This system suffered quite a lot of evolution and eventually passed into a state where [[Wizard (MUD)|wizards]] took back the power they'd passed into the hands of the people, but still maintain the ballot system as a way for the community to express its opinions.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Bartle | first = Richard | author-link = Richard Bartle
 | title = [[Designing Virtual Worlds]]
 | publisher = New Riders
 | year = 2003
 | isbn = 0-13-101816-7
 | pages = 60
 | quote = The original designers only create the core of the world and the means by which it can be extended; thereafter, they hand it over to the players to do with as they wish (although there's a problem if what the players wish for is that the designers will take back control, as they famously did with ''LambdaMOO''). 
}}</ref>

==Demographics==
The population of ''LambdaMOO'' numbered close to 10,000 around 1994, with over 300 actively connected at any time.<ref name="internetculture" /><ref name="netgames">{{cite book
 | last1 = Maloni
 | first1 = Kelly
 | last2 = Baker
 | first2 = Derek
 | last3 = Wice
 | first3 = Nathaniel
 | year = 1994
 | title = Net Games
 | publisher = Random House / Michael Wolff & Company, Inc.
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/netgamesyourguid00malo/page/210 210]
 | isbn = 0-679-75592-6
 | quote = Definitely the leading candidate for the title of largest MOO (more than 8,000 residents), ''Lambda'' is a veritable universe, centering on a cavernous mansion [...]
 | url-access = registration
 | url = https://archive.org/details/netgamesyourguid00malo/page/210
 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Internet|Society}}
*"[[A Rape in Cyberspace]]"

==References==
{{Reflist|40em}}

==External links==
* [http://lambda.moo.mud.org/ Home page]
* [http://lambdamoo.blogspot.com/ Status blog]
* [http://www.livejournal.com/community/lambdamoo/ LiveJournal community]

{{MUDs}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambdamoo}}
[[Category:MU* games]]
[[Category:Video games developed in the United States]]
[[Category:Xerox spin-offs]]