Introduction

In multiplayer online games, a MUSH -- a variation on MUD most often expanded as Multi-User Shared Hallucination, though Multi-User Shared Hack, Habitat, and Holodeck are also observed -- is a text-based online social medium to which multiple users are connected at the same time. MUSHes are often used for online social intercourse and role-playing games. Traditionally, roleplay consists of a series of "poses". Each character makes a "pose" – that is, writes a description of speech, actions, etc. which the character performs. Special commands allow players to print OOC (out of character) messages, distinguished by a prefixed string from IC (in character) action. This medium borrows traits from both improvisational stage acting and writing. Roleplaying is one of the primary activities of MUSHes, along with socializing.