@icanbeyourmuse
This could be fixed by having the +finger code read data/text on the &afinger of the +fingeree, and emit that data to them... while stripping anything but ansi and simple substitution logic. Much like some games pass you either %0 as the one doing the fingering, or whatever. So while %ch%cr would work for them, [pemit()] (a return emit to the +finger-er) would get stripped out.
I am liking this forum software more and more, and think that Coin may be onto something about using Soapbox as the 'kernel' of the forum aspect of such a project. But I see other functionality replacing areas of the Soapbox, so it is up to the admins of THIS project on how they would want to integrate, if at all.
For instance, a submission/update webapp would supplant/replace the New Games Advertisements forum here. Maybe it could be coded so that a new Submission could post automatically to the forum itself, for any thread conversation to be housed.
Maybe a wiki sort of submission/approval area for code submissions, whatever solution is dreamed up there.
I could see the project supplanting services on a community scale, but are you asking for the project to host game-specific forums? I could see that becoming a management load on the admins of the project. But, maybe in the long-term, maybe it could be done? I envision it as possible, certainly, might just take some server-side scripting and coding to get it automated as possible.
Your idea brings to mind places like Wikia, where projects can get a wiki for their stuff. I have no idea what bandwidth, storage and traffic that sort of functionality would need to support it. What absolutely needs to be considered is that this needs to be a free service, and thus, very cheap to maintain the hosting. I don't think any subscription-based approach would work well at all, over time.
I agree. Theme-based forums, for instance, or tags that people can use. I think the WoD community is ahead with this site, and other communities could benefit from the same idea. Maybe they already have them, I dunno.
But yes, this site would be geared directly at all MUSH/MUXes, theme-agnostic, but allowing for areas for theme discussion, etc.
We will recruit others, drag them kicking and screaming to the site, honestly. We could do some campaigning, but I think just getting it up and going would be a good starting point. Give everyone something to come to. I think enough non-WoD game runners frequent the dev sites that we could make some inroads, tap those folks to help with the campaign. But once word gets out that this is happening, I think game owners will come, if even just to advertise for more players.
I can offer to register a domain, host it on unlimited space and DBs, and turn over control/passwords to those that are going to take the reins. Like I said, I can do some to get the ball rolling, but I'm not proposing this to take on a new project by myself. That isn't my goal, nor would it be what should be happening. So I'll write EmmahSue down as a volunteer?
@Arkandel
I can agree to that. I think +finger, the command itself, is outdated. Most people have no idea where it came from and so on, but we all use it. I bet every one of us logs into a game and doesn't even check +help, they just type +finger <name>. AMIRITE?
There, so tell me why this is a bad idea. Tear it apart, make me stop thinking about it.
The conversation has come up on MUSH (the PennMUSH Dev/Community site) about MU visibility on the web, resources and attracting new players. I thought I would post it here, as well, since this is another active collaboration area of MUs.
So here's the idea. What I am proposing is not really my idea, it has been kicked around a few times by several people. It has been poopooed and smirked at, but it keeps coming up.
What I would love to see is a central community-run place where we can disseminate information. OGR/MU-Gateway used to be a great place to find new games, now it is mostly dead (sorry to those that run the place, it needs life). We did discuss a few weeks back MUDStats.com and the ever-loving MushCode.com listings and how they were tied together, but suffering from single ownership (slow updates, etc). The idea came up to band a community site together where not a single person or two administrated it, but many did.
I think it is worthwhile for us, as a community, to get together and form this idea. Elect a committee, build a damn nice website that is collaborative and solid, and ad-campaign the hell out of it to draw everyone in MU*dom in. Not necessarily the players at first, but the MU owners, the developers, the coders, etc. The players will then come naturally.
This is an effort that we all benefit from. Game information/ads and lists, softcode releases, softcode repositories, coding forums and discussions, server/hardcode forums, Guides on how to run MU*s, etc. We all contribute everything we can find, we sort and organize it, and we invite others to curate and update that information trove.
Software projects get big on consolidation and collaboration. That is what we should be aiming for, IMNSHO.
Now, MuSoapbox is clearly already a step in this direction, but since it focuses on specific areas (guides, discussions, some code), I think it is a piece of the solution. I foresee MuSoapbox being either a link off of this idea-site, perhaps even worked into it so that everything is in one spot, still run by @Thenomain , @EmmahSue and @Glitch .
The benefits:
To give an idea of what we envisioned, MushCode.com/MudStats.com's MUSH listings, curated and ran by a team instead of one/two people. Forums for discussions like this. Code repositories with full credit given to authors/sources but just dragged and stored in one place. Links to the github repos and project sites for PennMUSH, TinyMUX and RhostMUSH (and any others that opt in). A blog-like front-end for announcements, RSS feeds subscribable (do people still do those?), new games going up, releases, etc.
We have this expertise in the community. We have a need. We have people looking for it. I think we should get people together and start it. I will even volunteer to get things off the ground until we get the ball rolling, people step up to take curatorship of various areas, etc.
@Cobaltasaurus
I took the afinger out because it typically resulted in people being annoying about it.
As long as you aren't locking the AFINGER attribute to someone other than the player themselves, they can remove it (&AFINGER me=), and the annoyance is gone. Some players demand AFINGER functionality. So much so that in my coded systems, I made it a toggle for viewing of items that it /might/ make sense on. But, then again, I try to externalize Preferences on how code functions as much as I can to players, like entirely changing the ANSI color scheme of the game's code to whatever you want.
By not providing AFINGER functionality, and coding +finger to where players cannot parse non-harmful code like embedded pemit() calls, you are flipping the coin over and forcing functionality (or lack thereof) onto your players.
And it isn't just AFINGER. Small 'features' such as this are always preferences by player.
</curmudgeon>
@Arkandel
I like the idea, but would worry that this would cause bloat. I would think that this is better served as a +info sort of tidbit? If you coded +info to filter available entries based on the viewer, then allow for locking for groups, races, whatever, then this becomes much more useful in this context.
I would prefer to see games where there is the +finger (OOC info, usually) and +info/+profile/+whatever (IC info), separated. I have considered building +finger to where it isn't a single command, but can store entries like +info, for OOC stuff like RP Prefs, Schedules, etc. That draws a very solid line between IC and OOC categories, if it is important to your game. Many can do IC and OOC in one screen/command/area.
Kinda makes me of the mind to award less XP/Reward since there was very little RP. Powers should be a backup, not the go-to. Just my opinion, though. I mean, if they are going to +jobs everything, why RP? We should be able to play by paperwork, right? I mean, shit, we're all busy people... who has time for all this /roleplaying/?
Web designers that 'forget' to map either a proper tabbing pattern into their pages, or who somehow disable/kill 'enter' from submitting the form/search.
Does anyone frequent this place any more? I seem the same 10-15 people logged in, and the activity level seems very, very low compared to a decade ago when it was /the/ place to go for finding a new MUSH to play on.
What resources do you guys use, other than here and word of mouth, to find or advertise new games? MuConnect, MudStats, mushcode.com?
Aha! Okay. Thank you for that. I was wondering what rumors I had missed...
I am sure I could figure who and what but eh. Sorry? I think? 
Wait, whut? Stole your whosit? I haven't built any damned descer?
@HelloRaptor said:
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of having to know all the ins and outs of the character's mind before I've played him. Some of the template specific ones are really irritating if you're making a brand new member of whatever, too.
Neither am I. As a new player to the game, you might miss a perfect niche event that your character could have fit into, or conversely, would have been devastated by, or some other key change. It is a bit heavy to assume that you, a new player, know everything.
Also, I think it paints people into a corner. Character Generation should be just that, a shell that you grow into and expand. You have hopes and dreams for the persona, but won't be strung up if you can't make them happen. Hell, I've played with the idea of letting someone 'tweak' CharGen point allotments based on their first month of play. Sometimes you find out that the Merit/Flaw that you took is on everyone, and now it's just a sap of points that has a sour taste.
@Pyrephox I like your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. No, seriously.
I really like this approach and idea. We planned on doing this on a game-wide scale, as there will be mechanics that are directly affected by the outcomes of player actions and plots. We are building everything around the possibility/hope that the player-base will move mountains, as you will, and change the face of the setting and theme.
EDIT: I realize I keep chiming in with unrelated-but-sorta-related remarks. I like the conversations about the how and why of MUSHdom, so that is how I read through the topics. But I understand that many of these threads are game-specific things.