While several of the other writeups here suggest that
Tapestries MUCK is
little more
than a virtual
whorehouse, there is a lot more to it than that. While it
is very true that plenty of sexual activities take place, there is a lot of
other stuff that goes on, as well. In fact, I would dare to say that
Tapestries MUCK is perhaps one of the best places to go should you be looking
for truly expert roleplayers. It's interesting to note Zorin's writeup, where he states that he'd rather "
exercise the mind rather than the penis", but the way I see it, with
Tapestries MUCK, it's possible to exercise either -- soley at your discretion.
There is no doubt that Tapestries MUCK was founded for the sole purpose of
offering some kind of 'virtual playspace' for fans of the BDSM sexual
subculture. However, that is by no means a limiting factor. Any type of play
(sexual or not) is permitted on 'Taps', provided that you don't disrupt
anyone else's activity. Indeed, if sexual roleplay is not your game, there
exists a 'g-rated' flag for placement in your wixxx.
For the most part, from what I have noticed, I haven't seen very many furs who are interested in heavy BDSM at all. Most are simply interested in so-called 'light' play, a little scratching or nibbling of fur here or there, but no straight out bondage.
Therefore, you do not have to be involved with the BDSM community at all to enjoy your
time at Taps. The MUCK has attracted a wide array of participants, ranging
from those who simply desire a non-sexual (yet intimate) roleplay, to anime
(hentai or not) fans, housewives, curious women (or men), and plain everyday
people like you and I. The MUCK usually attracts anywhere from 400 to 500
people logged in concurrently per evening, which is no small number, ensuring that there will always be someone online who shares the same interests that you do.
As for roleplaying, there seem to be many unspoken rules about it that point
to the fact that Tapestries MUCK offers a high-quality roleplaying
environment. People who cannot spell are not welcome, complex scenes with
an interesting and detailed plot are commonplace, most participating
characters have very interesting and detailed backgrounds, and everyone
respects one another (and their scenes). For example, if you were to walk into a room with
a handful of furs in it, and began to roleplay about anything, most of them
will roleplay along with you.
A concern often cited by an old friend of mine while participating in strict
roleplaying-only MUCKs or MUDs is that either the number of players whom
actually roleplay is low, or, the administration gets in the way of any
active roleplaying (i.e. by implementing hindering policies, or having a rogue
executive). However, I must say that for the duration of my stay at Taps
(nearing four years as of this writing), I have never actually seen -- with
my own eyes -- the administration do anything. Largely, they seem to hold
some kind of 'hands off' policy, which allows furs to work out difficulties
among themselves, unless the problem is far more serious.
Naturally, there is much more to Tapestries MUCK than can be described in
a single writeup. The only way to find out is to see it for yourself --
grab a good MUD client, register for a (non-human!) character on their
webpage
(http://www.fur.com/tapestries/), connect to tapestries.fur.com port
2069 after you've been approved, and explore. The world of Tapestries MUCK
is a massive world where there exist a wide variety of locations, characters,
people, and ideas. Keep your mind open at all times, and don't be afraid
of what you might see.
After all, there's a reason why it's called Tapestries :)
Please, if there exist any factual or spelling/grammar errors in my writeup, /MSG me and let me know about it instead of downvoting. Thank you :)