The next tab after character generation could be perhaps First steps in Thera, or whatever might be appropriate

First I think a rudimentary explanation of how muds work would be cool. Something about moving, ability to shorten various keywords, and the layout of various prompts. Like:

Room name
Room description
Exits: exits

Another thing that could be quickly explained is the combat system, pulses, rounds, ticks and lag.

Then the academy guide.

Some things I noticed:

l sign
Welcome, young warrior. The Guildmaster is here to teach you. You begin
your adventuring career here with several PRACTICE sessions so that you may
learn your skills with him. Concentrate now on 'PRACTICE' so that you may
see the skills you have available to learn. Also think well on what the
Academy has to teach you in your HELPful memories about PRACTICE. While
you're at it, also concentrate on 'TRAIN,' and ponder your HELPful memories
about TRAINing. You'll need to learn TRAINing well so that you can improve
your raw physical and mental abilities. STRENGTH, WISDOM, INTELLIGENCE,
DEXTERITY, CONSTITTION and CHARISMA are examples of these attributes. This
Guildmaster will offer you both the ability to TRAIN and PRACTICE with him.
Outside of the Academy, however, sometimes you will need to TRAIN and
PRACTICE with different people as not all have the ability to do both.

The Guildmaster will answer some simple questions about the things that
can be trained within the Academy, but you must speak to the Guildmaster
directly (example: SAYTO Guildmaster What should I train?).

Please LOOK at or EXAMINE the inscribed plague and sword next as they
will teach you more on the art of war.

<100%hp 100%m 100%mv 1800tnl (50.00%)> exa sword
This practice sword has been carved out of a simple shaft of wood. The
blade has been firmly wrapped in padded cloth and the pommel has been
wrapped in leathers. This weapon is clearly not meant for true battle.

A practice sword is a sword, made of wood, and weighs 2 pounds 15 ounces.

<100%hp 100%m 100%mv 1800tnl (50.00%)> l here sword
In raw combat power, you as a warrior are the most able to inflict
damage on your foes. You are the true weapon's master of Thera and
your weapon and skills are the assets you sell. Yours is rarely the
way of peace, although you can choose a path of honor, and the field
of war is where you can best make your mark on Thera. You will fight
for personal gain, and your friends will look to you to lead them into
combat, for that is where you excel. Blood, sweat, and pain are your
path to glory...just make sure that your foes bleed, sweat, and hurt
more than you.


This sign needs to spell out the look here command. As you might notice, look or examine sword might target a wielded sword.

Right in the same room, initial practicing. This needs more step by step guidance I think. The important things for a mud newbie, or in some cases cf newbie:
- important things to practice:
primary weapon
all available defenses
hand to hand if available
enhanced damage if available

This will greatly reduce the frustration of people not being able to kill anything, or be unusefull groupmates.

I think other than that, the academy does a very good work on being self explanatory. Perhaps the portion of the guide aimed at academy first steps (pre massive cavern) should only include the initial introduction to mud mechanics, practice/train help (this is not absolutely necessary, but might save some frustration when your enhanced damage is unpracticed and your groupmates hit 2 times as hard as you). It should also be noted that I took roughly 20 minutes browsing through the academy while writing this post. So, it's important to encourage a new user to also take some 20 minutes to read through the initial helps and study the signs and plaques on the way.

Comming up next... the massive cavern of many wonders.