Rooms have a 'short description' and a 'long description'. When you enter a room for the first time in a game, you will be given both descriptions. On subsequent entries, you will get only the short description, and will have to use the LOOK command to get the full description again. If you want the long description every time, use the VERBOSE command; to get only short descriptions when you enter rooms, use the BRIEF command. UNBRIEF and UNVERBOSE take you back to the original "verbose on first entry" mode.

There is another pair of commands, FIGHTBRIEF and FIGHTVERBOSE (FB and FV) which you might find useful. They control the amount of text you get when a fight is taking place. Although the descriptions of blows may be interesting, they can sometimes be a pain, especially for players at 300 baud.

Your VERBOSE/BRIEF and FV/FB settings are saved with your persona, so you don't need to use them every time you play.