My First Wiz

If not, please move on to the next article, how to get a glow.

Way back when I was at school there came a computer with colour, sound and 64 kb of memory, and an accessory port.

This was the Commodore 64 (CBM64).

Around September 1984 the CBM64 modem was launched, a 1200/75 or 300/300 plug in the phone line device (not acoustic coupling with rubber suckers!). Along with this Commodore launched the on-line service for CBM64’s, Compunet.

Shortly after the launch MUD (MUD1) was opened, with a free client or a (50p!!) extra featured client.

I had been playing adventures on my old vic20 – Scott Adams, maybe level 7 etc., so I was keen to see what an online version with real people and intelligent monsters would be like.

I had been playing MUD for a few months (despite the parents' phone bill going up a lot!) when we heard that MUD & Richard Bartle were going to be on TV on the BBC Micro show. Remember that? When BBC computers (from Acorn) were going to go into every school???

Anyway, MUD became locked and kicked out the players just before the broadcast started – yes, it was live!

We watched Richard and the show presenter, Mac, run through MUD to a few locations and Richard talking him through it. Both were wizards ...

After the TV show finished, my friend and I were at my parents house on my CBM64 and in MUD. I wondered what had happened to the Mac the Wizard persona created for the TV show. Hmmm ...

Now, MUD1 didn’t have the 3 persona per account limit as MUD2 does, any name was fair game if you had the password. Not sure if British Legends (MUD1) still has this?

So, obviously, I tried MAC as the persona, and would you believe, password of MICRO. AND IT WORKED!

I was a wizard.

My mate looked on as I looked at the wiz command list, tried some commands and did what wizards would normally do. And tried more. ( e.g. g wfall; dr wfall in lounge ) to re-arrange the furniture.

I don’t recall there being any one else on at this time so we caused no great problem for players ...

Now, my mate who played MUD1 as Bobby had to go home for tea. So I logged out and had my tea too.

I logged on a couple of hours later to play MUD and thought to try the wiz persona ... but to no avail ... it came up as Mac but novice not a wiz.

Try as I might I could not get Mac to be a wiz.

It was only some weeks later that my mate admitted he had used the command Wiz Unmode and left wiz mode, but as we didn’t have the Wiz Mode password he couldn’t go back to Wiz!!!

Doh!

Wiz for 10 minutes.

That taste gave both of us a hunger for Immortality, and we both achieved that in the comings months, Fred the wizard and Bobby the wizard, Compunet.

PS – wiz mode password feature isn’t in MUD2. AFAIK ... ;-)