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Overview: DragonMUD is the oldest continuously active MUD, founded in November 1989 on the TinyMUD code written by James Aspnes. MUDs (Multi-User Domains) such as ours are text-based virtual realities, filled with of people, places, posessions, puzzles and possibilities. Primary activities include questing, building, and socializing. Our realm is populated with creative, literate, witty and above all, diverse people from around the globe.
Description:
Unlike most MUDs, "role-playing" and having many "secondary" characters is less common on DragonMud. While it's fun to be someone else, the caring and supportive nature of our community makes it simple to slip "out of character" and stay that way indefinitely. In DragonMud think of it more as place-playing than role playing. It's still you, you're just in a very unusual world, with different laws and expectations. 



Setting 
and Theme:

	The heart of DragonMud is an early 1800's walled city known
	as TinyLondon.  Perpetually pre-industrial and heavily
	sprinkled with magic, TinyLondon is a city of cobblestones,
	carriages, gaslamps, stone bridges and ancient towers.  Wandering
	through town you'll come across pirates, spies, thieves,
	vampires, wizards, questors, merchants, poets, gypsies,
	ambassadors from other realms, Grand Dames and new immigrants.






We Are Not:

	DragonMud is not a hack-n-slash environment.  We have no
	HitPoints, ArmorClass, ExperiencePoints or hordes of suicidal
	beasts waiting to be slain.  We are a Civilized Society and 
	settle our disputes with the opposing forces of darkness (or light)
	using our intelligence! Success yields honorifics, titles and 
	memberships in prestigious guilds.
	






Ideals and
Priorities:

	The administration of DragonMud is committed to our citizens
	privacy and autonomy.  We strive to be patient, tolerant, fair, and 
	understanding.  However we do not condone abusive or crass behavior, 
	nor do we put up with marketing material or jarringly anachronistic 
	additions to our realm.  Please consider DragonMud a haven or sanctuary
	when you visit.






Current 
version:

	TinyMud version 1.6.3 July 13, 2000.
	(Also called Crane Code, or Dragon Code.  
	Very loosely based on James Aspnes original TinyMud Server.)






Technical
Data:

	DragonMud is written in ANSI C, and has been housed on Ultrix
	systems, (MicroVax II's, DecStation 3100's), and SunOS systems
	(Sparc 2's, and IPC's).  Today, to run comfortably, DragonMud
	requires 500MB of disk and 50MB of core memory, CPU speed is 
	not a serious concern.






Ownership 
and Policies:

	DragonMud is non-commercial and not-for-profit in nature.



	DragonMud exists on hardware owned by DragonMud's founder.  
	Contributions and donations are welcome, (but not expected), 
	and will be put towards the cost of our monthly connectivity.



	Our staff of highly skilled administrators are unpaid volunteers,
	and as such are free to keep the hours they wish, and help whom 
	they choose, and reserve the right to refuse service for any reason.



	Ownership of the content of the DragonMud database is unclear.
	The administrators of DragonMud treat individual 
	creations as the intellectual property of the builder.  Control 
	and ownership of creations are left primarily up to their creators.  
	In cases where modification or removal of a creation is desired
	or necessary we do our best to confirm with the owner when possible.







Robots:

Three "robots" are online at most times,


-Newt, a "maas-neotek" general purpose navigator and info gatherer,

-Thoth, a "scheherazade" style historian/story-teller, and

-TinyBen, the clock-keeper of DragonMud, of very limited usefulness, and

-Fudge, currently inactive, a roaming feline pet.




Real World
Events:

- The Megalithic Memorial Day Gathering

- The Late Summer Party

- The Labor Day Party






Online
Events:

	- DragonMud's 10th Anniversary (Wed, Dec 8 1999, 6PM PST)

	- Halloween (Tues before Halloween)

	- Town Meetings (SECOND Tues of the month or as announced in the login banner)






DragonMud is rebooted periodically.  (sometimes even intentionally!)

To date, DragonMud's longest online stretch was 86 days.

 (July 29, 1998 - October 23, 1998).


Demographic Data (last updated Wed Aug 2 2000):
    
	Titles and Ranks:
      
		1 - Dragon
      
		6 - Gods (and a god-bot)
        
			Bedouin,
			Caern,
			Jopsy,
			Mortis,
			Shar, 
			zingdol,
			(and Newt)
      
		5 - Retired Gods 
      
		44 - Wizards (16 new since 1996!)
      
		36 - Elders (only 7 more than 1996, many became wizards)
      
		27 - Ambassadors from other muds
      
		343 - Builders
      
		3294 - Citizens all total
      
	

    








	Year
	Total Number of New Players Created for Each Year
	Number of New Players Created in Each Year that Still Exist Today
	% of New Players Created Per Year that Still Exist Today
	Of today's 500 most recently active citizens, the number created in each year


<1991?27?10


1991?56?19


1992?139?39


1993?317?33


19944k+48212%32


19955k+3367%23


19965k+57211%35


19973k+35312%23


19982k+37919%29


19992k+33117%42


20001k+29229%214



( ? - Historical data was not preserved from that long ago. )



Approximately 1 in 10 visitors actually become
active members for any length of time.   1 in 100 visitors 
become long time residents.