How do I connect to a MUCK?

Try the following:
    telnet (address) (port)

For example, for FurryMUCK, you would type
    telnet furry.org 8888

In this example, furry.org is
a `domain address', and 8888 is a `port number'.  You may connect either
by the domain address or the IP number - it is possible that only one of
these ways works, so try both.

To connect to a MUCK, you need to have full telnet access.  You must be
able to make telnet connections to the server (ie. your telnet isn't
restricted to local connections), and you must be able to use the port
number, otherwise you will get the system's main UNIX login rather than
the MUCK's.  On some versions of telnet, the syntax is slightly
different - such as
    telnet furry.org /port=8888

You may also connect to a MUCK using a Web browser such as Netscape.
"Open URL" as:    telnet://furry.org:8888
Netscape reportedly recognizes URLs in the format used in this FAQ, and
turns them into links, so you can click on the URLs in the list below. Or,
if you like, point to Katarn's Web page for links to several furry MUCKs:
URL:http://reality.sgi.com/employees/jturner/

You may need to ask a local guru if none of this works.  Unfortunately
some systems deliberately disable MUCK access via a `ridge' that
suppresses connections to specific ports.  In that case you need to look
for a different account.  

If you get a login banner that includes the MUCK name and some info on
how to connect, you were successful!

If you get a 'login:' prompt then whatever you did with the port
number did not work.

If you get no response or an error message, there are two
possibilities:
- The server is temporarily down or unreachable.  Check again later.
- You don't have unrestricted telnet access.  In that case you need an
  account with full access.  Look for providers in your area.

But if everything works fine, you will be asked to enter your character
name and password.  On many MUCKs, if you do not yet have a character,
you can type:

    connect guest guest

This allows you to use a `guest' character so you can get a chance to
explore a bit without getting a permanent character.  The MUCK's welcome
screen will have specific information about how to connect as a guest, and
how to get a permanent character.

To get help about a MUCK, you might try the following commands:
    help             (help about basic commands)
    globals          (help about additional commands in this MUCK)
    news             (info about this specific MUCK)
    info             (general server info)
    man              (special programming info)

To get a character in a MUCK, there are two basic ways:
Many MUCKs ask you to send e-mail to an address specified in the title
screen, including your desired character name, a password and possibly
some info about yourself. You have to wait until your e-mail has been
answered, and then you can login as your character.
Some MUCKs allow online character creation: you can ask any of the
online wizards to create you a character by paging them your desired
name and password.
To find out whether a name is already taken, you can try  page 
If it reports that no character of that name was found, it is still
free.

To leave a MUCK, you can type QUIT. If this doesn't work, there is an
emergency exit in telnet: press the telnet-escape key (for example
Ctrl-]) and type  quit  to your telnet program.

There are some problems about telnetting - depending on which telnet you
use. One might be that, since this is in realtime, what you are typing
on the screen may apparently be `interrupted' by incoming data from the
MUCK.  This can be rather distracting and frustrating.  What you will
need is a client program.  That will give you many more features, such
as connecting to several characters or MUCKs at once, saving your
sessions to log files, and much more.  For more information on how to go
about acquiring one, look for the FAQ file of the rec.games.mud.misc
newsgroup, where you can also find a lot of information about MU*s in
general.