T E M P O R A   H E R O I C A

Frequently-Asked Questions

Every so often a question is asked about Tempora Heroica that warrants being added to the MUD’s list of Frequently-Asked Questions. More questions will be added to the list as the need arises.

Questions about playing Tempora Heroica:

Is there a newbie area?

Yes, the Wivernhoe Guild Hall Cellar is a specially-designed area to help newcomers to Tempora Heroica learn about the MUD by playing. The cellar can be entered by sliding down the brass pole in the MUD’s entry room, or by descending down the stone staircase in the southwest corner of the Guild Hall’s main floor.

Is there a newbie guide?

Yes, there are two. To assist creating your first hero and entering the MUD, there is the “Creating Your Hero” guide. The “New Player’s Guide” can help you learn the ropes after you enter the MUD and begin playing. It may also answer many other questions new players might ask.

What are some of the MUD’s characteristics?

Tempora Heroica takes place in a persistent world where each player creates a hero (also known as a character) to roleplay. The player chooses to be a member of one of the four kiths: the Faerie Kith consisting of brownies, elves, pixies, satyrs, and selkies; the Hominid Kith consisting of humans and halflings; the Jotun Kith consisting of giants, ogres, and trolls; and the Nibelung Kith consisting of dwarves, gnomes, and goblins. With their hero, a player explores the game world, which is centered around the town of Wivernhoe, and battle monsters.

In June 2005, a new combat engine and skill system was introduced to the MUD. The combat engine uses events, instead of the rounds or turns found in most role-playing games, to regulate battles. Heroes are able to queue tactics before and during melee. The skills system arranges skills in a skilltree and skills are improved, when challenged, through use.

Can another player’s character kill my hero?

Yes, BUT only after you opt-in to the PvP (player-versus-player) part of Tempora Heroica. To opt-in to PvP system your hero joins a clan. With the benfits that clan-life brings, there are also a few risks, including death by another player’s character. If you choose to have your hero not join a clan, he or she will not be able to be killed by other players’ characters.

Do I have to role-play on this MUD?

No, but then even if you don’t specifically role-play, you’re still playing a role. There are not any role-play enforcers that are counting the number of times you say thee and thou like on some other MUDs. Tempora Heroica believes that you should have the freedom to play your hero in any style you wish to play him or her. So, if you want to role-play your hero, then feel free! The players on Tempora Heroica are encouraged to play their hero in any way they choose, as long as they are respectful of the other players and follow the “Rules of Conduct”.

How often does the MUD change?

Tempora Heroica is a living, constantly evolving project. Changes can come fast and furious, or slow and gradual. All major changes are announced in advance in the MUD on the announcement boards. The MUD staff listens to the ideas of the players and we grow in the ways that improve the MUD.

How can I see any recent changes that have taken place?

Log in to the MUD and type ‘bravoroll’. A list of recent changes will be displayed.

How much does it cost to play the MUD?

There are no direct costs to play Tempora Heroica. We won’t charge you a penny to play. We are a volunteer-run MUD and do not accept any donations, other than that of time and hard-work.

What does “A strange force bars your movement in that direction.” mean?

The area in that direction is unfinished. Rather than let your hero wander in empty rooms, the MUD prevents movement into that area.

Does my hero have to pay rent to keep his or her equipment?

There are four ways to keep your hero’s hard-won equipment from one gaming session to another. First, your hero can simply quit anywhere in Wivernhoe if you have ten or fewer items. Second, your hero can camp outside of towns and cities and save up to twenty-five items with him or her. Third, your hero can store up to thirty-five items by renting a room at the inn. (Tempora Heroica does not charge a daily rent fee. The rent fee is an upfront, one-time charge.) Forth and last, your hero can purchase a house and store up to one hundred items, plus thirty-five items on his or her person, plus allow up to four friends as your houseguests.

What if I have specific questions about my hero?

The staff of Tempora Heroica is responsive to all of your questions. The MUD also has extensive help files. On the MUD, type ‘help index’ and it will list all the help files available to you.

Questions about the MUD and the Server:

Who hosts Tempora Heroica?

The public’s library and digital archive, ibiblio.org, hosts the MUD. It is a great home!

Geographically, the MUD and the ibiblio.org servers are located in the continent of North America in the country of the United States of America in the state of North Carolina in the county of Orange in the town of Chapel Hill at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Manning Hall.

In February 1999, Tempora Heroica was invited to move from its place on ruby at the School of Information and Library Science to ibiblio.org. Physically, the MUD moved from Manning Hall’s first floor to its second floor. Spiritually, we moved from being squatters on SILS’s ruby to a welcomed contributor on ibiblio.org.

What is the IP address for Tempora Heroica?

The MUD can be found at:

WEB: http://www.ibiblio.org/TH/
DNS: login1.ibiblio.org 2895
IP: 152.19.134.132 2895

Did Tempora Heroica once have another name?

Yes, it began its life in November 1993 as Archipelago. It was run by Ponder out of the Psychology Department at the University of Essex. In 1996, Ponder left his job at the university and Magnifico took over running the MUD. After a rocky start, Archipelago evolved into Archipelago Classic and then Tempora Heroica.

Why did the MUD change its name?

When Ponder retired from Archipelago, he and the other immortals were idealistic and thought it was a good idea to put the code publicly available on the Internet. A few splinter MUDs formed using that code and began using the MUD name Archipelago.

The name Tempora Heroica was chosen in April 1997 to help distinguish the MUD from a rash of Archipelago clones that were badly run and poorly maintained.

What code base does the MUD use?

The MUD started out in 1993 using CircleMUD 2.2, which is based off of DikuMUD. Since then the code has evolved into the ArchCode short for Archipelago Code.

Where can I get the source to Tempora Heroica?

From nowhere. The source code for Tempora Heroica is not publicly (or privately) available.

Where can I get the source to Archipelago?

Ponder’s original source can be downloaded from the CircleMud source code repository site. It has a few problems that prevent it from compiling with ease. To help out, a compilable version of source for Archipelago is available. It is unsupported code. A step-by-step walk-through for compiling this version with Cygwin is also available.

What’s the difference between the publicly available source code for Archipelago and the source code for Tempora Heroica?

Quite a bit has been changed and improved since Summer 1996, and those changes are too numerous to list in detail. The MUD is maintained daily and large new areas of functionality have been added since the source was publically available.

Why was there a player wipe (pwipe) in October 1999?

The MUD had gotten out of control and wasn’t fun anymore for new players. From 1997 to 1999, Tempora Heroica was an unrestricted player kill (pkill) MUD and the players at the time had become very predatory.

Additionally, a few administrators were cheating for their friends and basically things were screwed up. The MUD was closed for two months for reworking. Also during the closure, the players and the corrupt administrators were deleted. Tempora Heroica reopened for New Year’s Eve 1999.

MUD Trivia:

What does Tempora Heroica mean?

It is Latin for “the Heroic Age”. The phrase was coined by the Greek poet Hesiod and was one of the “Five Ages of Man”. The Latin form was chosen as homage to the MUD’s Ars Magica roots.

Is it true that Tempora Heroica is one of the oldest MUDs around?

Having been founded in 1993, TH is one of the oldest DikuMUDs (and therefore one of the oldest online games) still running. Ponder made the first public announcement for Archipelago on August 12, 1994 in a Usenet post to rec.games.mud.diku, 'Need area builders and playtesters':

We are creating a new mud based on modified Circle 2.2 code. We have thrown away all stock circle zones and are in the process of building a completely original world. So far we have just over 1200 rooms built. Our intention is not to blossom overnight into some gargantuan 30,000 room mud but rather expand slowly in a structured and planned manner with (hopefully) well thought out and well laid out totally original areas.

We need primarily builders but playtesters are welcome...

Now, more than 15 years later, we still are a custom-crafted MUD and expanding "slowly in a structured and planned manner" with "totally original areas." And, of course, we still welcome builders and playtesters players!

Why is Wivernhoe spelt with an ‘i’ instead of a ‘y’?

Wivernhoe is named after Wivenhoe; a town near Colchester and the University of Essex in East Anglia, England. The town is where Ponder was living at the time he started Archipelago. An ‘r’ was added to the town’s name to make it more fitting for a fantasy role-playing game.

Who was on the original Archipelago staff?

This is a list of the most active staff when the MUD was running on port 24 at island.essex.co.uk. The original implementors were Ponder, Kalliste, and Scarrow. The original builders were Arg, Ansalon, Magnifico, Ratatosk, Saladin, Grace, and Xero. The original home page and game credits for Archipelago are in the MUD’s archives.

Who was the MUD’s first avatar?

On Archipelago, the first avatars were Eq and Littleone. Many of the characters who were avatars on Archipelago continued their avatarship when the MUD was renamed Tempora Heroica. Min was the first to avatar on Tempora Heroica since the 1999 player file reset. She beat Pea to avatardom by a few days in a hotly contested race.