FluffMUCK is the main place where I hang out on the internet. I've been attending for 6 years, and have definitely been through its ups and downs. I'm glad I've stuck with it because I've met most of my longstanding internet friends through it. A MUCK is sort of like a text-based chat room, but with fully described rooms you can explore, descriptions to "look" at and you play as an anthropomorphic character which you can describe. The immense variability of FluffMUCK makes the question of "What can I do?" so vast that its really more "What can't I do?" 

          FluffMUCK is a furry-type MUCK, but there's no limitations on what sort of character you can play. You can be your regular human self if you so desired, or even set your species to something as crazy as a styrafoam cup. There's only limited role play, this is NOT a place for elaborate staged plots because, well, you probably won't get the participation you are looking for. The folks at Fluff are laid back, easygoing, and simply hang out and talk about everyday stuff.

          You connect to Fluff with what's called a client. This will make it easier for you to see all the features that the MUCK has (like colors) and make your experience a little better than if you were struggling with Telnet. I use a program called BeipMU (which can be found here: http://beipmu.com/) it is highly customizable and has lots of features for its small size. When you first connect, there should be a list of MUCKs (you can customize this list, too) and on it around the middle of the list is FluffMUCK. Highlight it, and push "connect." It should bring you to the log in screen. If you'd like to use a different client, or use the Direct Connect, you can type in fluffmuck.org as the host and port 8888 as the port. Or if you'd like to just experiment with Telnet, you can click here: telnet://fluffmuck.org:8888 and on telnet should open. (note: HyperTerminal will not work) .. I strongly recommend getting a client, though. It will make your MUCKing experience a lot easier. 

          Now that you're connected? What do you do? Why, log in as a guest, of course! Simply type: connect guest guest to connect. Lots of things will have explanations once you connect if you read the descriptions. You can also type help if you need a little help moving around. look will look at the room look <person's name> will look at another person's description, and look <thing> will look at an object in the room or in your inventory. If you see something listed as an exit you can type that exit name and it will take you there, to move around the MUCK, you just type in directions on where you want to go. Fluff uses directions like north, south, east, west, up, and down. And if you think you're interested in getting a character, type info character and it will display how to get a character. You'll have to figure out (or get help for) the rest of the cool things you can do, once you get your character. Such as creating objects, getting a place to live, getting a pet, morphing, or building.

          To get a character on Fluff, you can go to the New Character Request page, all you need is a valid e-mail address. This isn't a painful process, once you get your character just log in, explore, and make friends! 

          If you get in contact with me (my character's name on there is Matrices, of course), I can help set up your character (once you get one) or answer any questions you have if you get stuck, lost, or are simply curious about something. Type helpstaff and there should be a short list of people who are connected that can help you, including myself (if I'm connected and on duty). Please be aware that I am a notorious idler. Which means I'm not always there constantly watching the Fluff screen when I am connected. If I don't respond within a few minutes I'm probably idle, and try getting my attention a little later or leave me a page #mail (example: page #mail matrices = Hi, I found Fluff from your website!) .

          How come you're never in the park, Matrices? Well, sometimes I am hanging out with my friends in my home, you can get there easily, though, in a few different ways: From the park, you can type: east, east, south (this will bring you into my area, which you can explore further) and then paradise to enter. Or, as a shortcut from anywhere on the MUCK, you can type t #16885 that will teleport you directly to the main room of my home.

          Now, hopefully you know enough about Fluff to check it out! Thanks for reading, I hope to see you there! To visit the official FluffMUCK site, visit http://www.fluffmuck.org/