I went to the CUNY MOO: what a trip. Cyber MOO space is a freaking jungle to the untrained MOO-guest. Obviously my inexperience with the commands plays a large part in my feeling this way, but being in a strange MOO, not knowing anyone and less than comfortable with the commands was tricky. I definitely felt much more comfortable in the UF MOO – I was with my classmates, the MOO atmosphere was familiar, I felt less inhibited…so what does this mean?
I can understand how once you get involved in a community of MOO-ers and familiar with the commands/‘terrain’, this could potentially be a useful tool to assist L2 learners.

With regards to the level of the L2 participants, I believe it would have to be beginner advanced or intermediate in order to participate actively and truly enjoy the experience.
I was in an ESL MOO and struggling to not get too frustrated about being trapped in one area and so I think that some command over the L2 would be highly beneficial.

In a MOO, I would expect that FL students navigate the MOO with a focus on seeking out dialogue/communicative exchange with fellow FL participants.

I’m not sure that I personally would implement this type of activity into the FL classroom as I can’t fully justify its value yet, but I would be willing to further investigate the advantages and disadvantages.