This page contains some useful instructions and commands for players who may be connecting to SpinDizzy for their very first time. The goal of this page is to provide the easiest to consume amount of information necessary to log in, begin interacting effectively with other players, and finding help if you get stuck.
Connecting
The easiest way to connect is with the SpinDizzy webclient. Log-in by typing connect guest guest and hit enter.
Starting Out
SpinDizzy is a text-based, multi-user world where players take on all sorts of imaginative roles to talk, interact, and role-play with one another.
When you first connect as a Guest on SpinDizzy you will find yourself on Newcomer's Island in the body of a randomized guest creature. It's likely that you'll be the only character in Newcomer's Island at the time. Don't worry though: We'll get you out and talking to other people soon.
Talking, moving, examining things, and everything else you can do on SpinDizzy is achieved by typing in a command and hitting enter. Here's a list of some basic commands that will be useful when you're just starting out.
To say something you can use say <text> or double quotes "<text> for short. This will let everyone in the Try typing say Hello, SpinDizzy. and hit enter. You should see
You say, "Hello, SpinDizzy."
To pose doing something you can use pose <action> or a colon :action for short. Try typing :smiles. You should see something like
Guest1 smiles.
To look at someone or something you can use look <thing>. Typing look by itself will look at the current room. Try typing look me. You should see a description of your guest character, which could be anything from a dinosaur to a ghost squirrel.
To leave newcomer's island you can type out. This will take you to the Rose Garden, the center of SpinDizzy and usually one of the busier rooms. Try typing out. You should see a description of the Rose Garden and, if people are logged on, the chatter and actions of others.
To send someone a private message you can use page <name>=<text> or just p <name>=<text>. Look for someone in the Rose Garden and send them a hello. For example to say hi to 'Lepus' type p Lepus=Hi.. If he's logged in, you should see something like:
You page, "Hi." to Lepus.
To see what other people's characters are type ws. You'll get a listing of the name, sex, and species of characters in the same room as you. Try using this when you're out in the Rose Garden. Remember you can take a closer look at someone with look <name>
There are many, many commands on SpinDizzy but these should be enough to get you started interacting with other people.
Help!
If you're having trouble the best thing to do is to ask someone else for help. This can be as easy as asking "How do I _____? in the Rose Garden or using page to ask someone privately.
If there's no one responding in the Rose Garden, you can try asking the wizards or helpstaff for help. Wizards are the administrators of SpinDizzy and helpstaff are volunteers willing to give you a hand. Type wizzes and helpstaff to see a list of them. Look for someone whose Status isn't '[Asleep]' and page them. For example:
page Ping=Hi. How do I get to the Rose Garden?
Getting A Character
After you've explored SpinDizzy for a while and met some residents, if you've decided you'd like to join us, you can request a character. To do so, find a wizards with the wizzes command and page them. They'll have some questions before making your character. If there are no wizards currently awake, you can also send an email with the name you want and some information about your character to character@spindizzy.org and wait for a wizard to get back to you.
Once you have a character, log-in with them and go to character setup from Newcomer's Island.
Next Steps
If you find yourself logging into SpinDizzy frequently, you may want to download a more feature rich client. We maintain a list of MuckClients for various platforms. We also host an advanced webclient written by Kandra, which provides logging, file uploads, ease of use for puppets, and many other useful features.
There are lots more commands than the ones listed above. There's a list of UsefulCommands to get you started.
For more in-character lore of the MUCK, check the CategoryRolePlaying hub.
And most of all, don't be afraid to ask in-game about things you're curious about.