Prodigy Academy/Disharmonia MUCK

Welcome to the latest Prodigy upgrade for die-hards, returning players, and new players alike, our very own MAL club! The goal of this club page is to provide Prodigy's playerbase with an interactive, fun database from which to keep tabs on information related to the MUCK, such as policy, storyline development, and character creation guidelines. This club also serves as a place to chat about characters, set up sub-plots (TPs), easily view prodigy's maps, and maybe even make some new friends! <span style="color:blue">Prodigy can be accessed by the appropriate client programs at 66.93.212.213, using port 18009 (pueblo, beipMU enhanced), or port 18011 (telnet).<!--color--></span> For the club's (and the MUCK's) adult content statement, click the spoiler tag below (please do this <span style="color:red">BEFORE<!--color--></span> requesting to join this club or make a character): <div class="spoiler"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.nextSibling.nextSibling.style.display='block';this.style.display='none';" value="Show spoiler"> <span class="spoiler_content" style="display:none"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.parentNode.style.display='none';this.parentNode.parentNode.childNodes[0].style.display='block';" value="Hide spoiler"><br> <span style="color:red">Keep in mind that the reason club access is set to <private>, is because Prodigy is still, as it always has been, an MUCK which is supportive of adult themes. We'd love for non-players to check this club out and ask questions, but if you're not of legal adult age in your home country, you may neither request a character, nor join the club. We're friendly people here, I swear, but we're serious about this, and we've had to check up on liars in the past. By requesting to join this club, or submitting an application to create a character on Prodigy, you attest to us that you are of the legal age limit in your home country to view adult content (if we are unable to verify the limit in your country, we will default to the United States limit, which is 18 years of age). Prodigy is a place for dramatic, anime themed roleplay, but at the same time, adult situations can, will, and do occur. Nobody related to Prodigy will accept ANY sort of liability if you choose to lie to us about your age, and then proceed to be exposed to content that your parents, your teachers, your ministers, or anybody else would condemn. It's YOUR fault if you've done this. Prodigy is meant to be a fun, enjoyable community for all adults. If you are an adult, but don't approve of adult situations, well...certainly nobody's going to try to force them on you, and you can very well still get an entertaining experience out of playing our game, since adult content isn't the focus. However, if you feel that strongly about it, you might be advised to direct your internet experiences elsewhere--we're not gonna be responsible if you end up 'offended'.<!--color--></span><!--spoiler--></span></div> But enough of that. Welcome to the club! If you're a member of MAL and a player or prospective player on Prodigy, then please request to join. We'd love to start up some conversations on here. Everything from idle banter to discussion threads about your character's background or requests to get people involved in roleplay are more than welcome! <span style="color:orange">As a new feature of the club, we're going to start using the club's character relations section to link to series characters that are currently being played on the MUCK. See somebody you always wanted to roleplay with? Consider playing another character from the same show!!<!--color--></span> If you're not a member of MAL, certainly you're still welcome to use this page as a reference point (hence why this club isn't set to <secret>). You can always make use of the public chat channel on the MUCK proper for discussion. Consider taking the time to join the MAL community, however. You're probably on Prodigy because you love anime anyway, right? That's what MAL's all about, and it's a lot of fun! <span style="color:blue">If you'd like to know more about what exactly a MUCK is, and some information on Prodigy's OOC/RL (out of character, real life) history, click the spoiler tag below:<!--color--></span> <div class="spoiler"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.nextSibling.nextSibling.style.display='block';this.style.display='none';" value="Show spoiler"> <span class="spoiler_content" style="display:none"><input type="button" class="button" onClick="this.parentNode.style.display='none';this.parentNode.parentNode.childNodes[0].style.display='block';" value="Hide spoiler"><br> <span style="color:red">Prodigy Academy has been in constant operation since roughly May of the turn of the century (2000). At the time, MUCKs were in style, and hundreds of different themes with thousands of players were active. MUCK is an acronym standing for Multi User Created Kingdom (check the wiki article for more about this). The concept is similar to a MUD, or Multi User Dungeon, with some key differences. MUDs are the online predecessor of what most people know as the MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online Roleplaying Game). Everybody's heard of these--games like World of Warcraft or Everquest. MUDs are the same basic idea, except that they usually consist of either static images, two dimensional environments (games such as The Realm), or they're completely text-based. Both MUD and MMO games usually have a set 'combat engine'--in other words, rules that the computer maintains so that players can go out into the world, slay monsters, gain experience for their characters, win magic items and treasure, and so forth. What MMOs have going for them is that they're composed of beautiful, three dimensional, interactive environments for the player to enjoy. What they don't have going for them is the extreme lack of the 'RPG' portion of the acronym. It's not that they aren't fun and addictive, it's just that as you play them, you'll notice that the concepts of 'playing a character' are pretty much out the window as you group up with your friends and tackle the mighty dungeon. When playing an MMO, don't expect to hear people saying things like "Well met, traveler", "Shall we dance?", or "Have at you!" Rather, you're far more often going to encounter, "w00t! pwned badman01843!", or "DING! 47!" The concept of 'lather-rinse-repeat' to level your character over and over again until you reach the game's limit, and then waiting around for the developers to increase said limit, makes these online experiences more akin to hanging out at an arcade with your friends, each of you behind a different joystick on the same machine. MUCKing is a labor of love, IE, nobody who works on a MUCK tends to get anything out of it other than the satisfaction of giving others a fun online gaming community to enjoy. Because of that, MMOs have swallowed up a lot of what MUCKing used to be, and to this day, only a handful of MUCKs still survive with a decent player base. MUCKs are unique in the online gaming world--drastically different from MUDs and MMOs in the sense that it's up to you, the player (not the computer) to determine how your character advances and progresses through their lives. Hack and slash (though still in existance) takes a back seat to character development, and how you play the person you've created for yourself. There are no combat engines to dictate who accomplishes what. If somebody throws a punch at you, you have to decide if the circumstances surrounding your character and the scene would mean you take the hit, or dodge out of the way. If somebody falls in love with you, you have to decide if you intend to return those feelings, and whether or not to act accordingly. Throw the concept of "I'm not having fun unless I'm winning" right out the window before you step into the world of MUCKing, because the joy of the game is working together to create a wonderful, enjoyable story for all involved. A MUCKer's interactive environment is in his or her head as he or she reads the text, just like with a good novel. It sounds complicated, yes, but it's really not as tricky as it seems, and there are always people willing to help you out! After all, we don't care if you can slay the dragon in the pit of fire, to gain the mighty sword that only those level 70 "<insert cool word here> elves" can wield or not. If you've a mind for creating your own stories, come and play!<!--color--></span><!--spoiler--></span></div> ~Q (Headwizard of Prodigy) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------