Gossip: The MUD Chat Network

Gossip is a new cross game chat network, located at gossip.haus. This is a new network using WebSockets as the underlying protocol. Gossip is written in Elixir and MIT licensed, the source code is on GitHub.

We currently have three games connected to the network, you can view the games that are online here. If you wish to join the network, the documentation for the WebSocket protocol is available on Gossip.

Right now only cross game channels are supported. The current list of channels to see what is available and also follow along on the web is here.

If you have an ExVenture or Ranvier game, support for Gossip is built in already! ExVenture natively supports it and there is a bundle for Ranvier on GitHub.

In the future I would like to add direct messaging and sending remote mail to other users. I am looking for feedback on protocol, see the docs, if you decide to add Gossip support to your game. You can find me on the MUD Coders Guild Slack.

Finally, you might be asking why a new network?

I created Gossip to be based around the standardized technologies of WebSockets and JSON, and to make sure the transport layer was secured via TLS. I am aware the I3 network exists. I wanted to create something with new standards in technology in mind.

Sample Connection

Below is a sample of connecting to Gossip, sending, and receiving messages on public channels.

First connect to the WebSocket and send an authenticate event.

SEND
{
  "event": "authenticate",
  "payload": {
    "client_id": "4519e9ab-f58f-4585-bcef-fedc389d0ad6",
    "client_secret": "42f00f84-d856-484f-a463-4c8c222f0692",
    "supports": ["channels"],
    "channels": ["gossip"],
    "user_agent": "ExVenture 0.23.0"
  }
}

After you are authenticated, Gossip will start sending heartbeats. You must respond to these to stay connected to the network.

RECEIVE
{
  "event": "heartbeat",
}
SEND
{
  "event": "heartbeat",
  "payload": {
    "players": ["player"]
  }
}

You can send a new message to a channel you are subscribed to with the “messages/new” event.

SEND
{
  "event": "messages/new",
  "payload": {
    "channel": "gossip",
    "name": "Player",
    "message": "Hello everyone!"
  }
}

When another game broadcasts on a channel you are subscribed to, you will receive a “messages/broadcast” event.

RECEIVE
{
  "event": "messages/broadcast",
  "ref": "89036074-446f-41ab-b87a-44ef1f962f2e",
  "payload": {
    "channel": "gossip",
    "message": "Hello everyone!",
    "game": "ExVenture",
    "name": "Player"
  }
}

There are a few other events that you can do, but this covers almost all of the current interactions with Gossip. See the docs to research more.