I sat down to write a decent-ish bog entry which may interest a few people. Unfortunately I am bunged up with a painfully tight head cold, hubby has the flu, the cat has a cold and doesn't like being treated, and the apartment needs cleaning. But I shall forge onwards, though rather weakly, with a few MUD reviews.
1. The Lands of Evermore MUD -- http://evermore.de
This was one of the first MUD's I ever played, and the first MUD I ever built/coded for. As an LP mud some of the features were a little restricted to begin with, but they did a lot with it. If your looking for RP however, don't come here. Also, if your looking for a friendly environment.... well, my first urge is to say 'stay well away', but thats not particularly true. When your a newbie they can be very friendly. It's only when you have been around a while that you realise how far up each others asses the staff are. A lot of the areas that are being put out into the game these days are very boring, due to some very poor staff selections. (Which the admins, being to busy preening to take care of their own MUD, won't do anything about.) However it can be an interesting MUD, and it is certainly very addictive. My advice: Go and look, play about a bit... but remember that some muds really are just playgrounds for the Admin.
2. Shadow Siege -- http://shadowsiege.com
Talking about playgrounds for the admin - this is one of the worst I have come across. Its such a pity, as it is a wonderful MUD in some ways, which once attracted some of the best RP and RP'ers I have ever met. (See Utopia's recent blog posts on this subject.) However, I no longer play here. I quit when I realised that the entire place is just a big playground for one man to wack off over. What this MUD lacks, is free will. Characters here have no free will if they wish to RP. If you want to be involved in anything, a main plot for example, your character must become a puppet. I wasn't willing to do that. I had spent a long time, several years, developing a set of characters I loved dearly. They were all very different, and I had some really great RP with all of them. But in they end they all got screwed over, and I noticed... they were all screwed, one by one, in the same way, by the same forces.... It made me angry, and that gave me the chance I needed to take a step back and see the direction the MUD was going in. I left, and haven't been back since. I also have personal reasons. I left the MUD once before because one of the Admins accused me of having an affair with another player in RL, and breaking up his marriage. Anyone who knows me, knows that I would never do that. Also, I had never met this guy. We were good friends, but his marriage fell apart for other reasons, reasons which I know but will of course not advertise here. This mud could be everything a true RP'er wants - as long as you can stand the staff. That's your choice alone - I couldn't stand it. But obviously, others can.
3. Time of Darkness -- http://timeofdarkness.com
This is the MUD, of all the ones I am reviewing, that I had played for the shortest time. However, I can say this: the staff seem sensible, friendly and approachable. The mud itself is fun, and the players are not only (at least the small amount I have so far seen) excellent RP'ers, but generally friendly guys. Hopefully more RP can be introduced here, that is one thing I would wish for - without that, it's a lot of fun, but I don't know how long it would manage to keep my attention for anything other than hack and slash.
4. Mozart MUD -- http://mozartmud.com
Mozart has been around since 1990, which is pretty old for a MUD. I don't play here very often, but every time I do I am welcomed warmly as if no time has passed. Mainly hack and slash, the mud has a terrific regular player base and many, many original areas. (The MUD boasts of 28,000 rooms in over 200 zones.) The only drawback for this MUD that I have found is that unless you know the other players very well, although they are all very friendly, they can be a little clique-ish.
5. Primal Darkness MUD -- http://primaldarkness.com
This MUD has a lot of fun features, though whenever I have been around the player numbers have been quite small. I have found it very unique, and the staff here are pretty good - they can be quiet, but they are always friendly when approached. They try to involve the players whenever possible, including a contest for a player (with prizes) to design the new website for the MUD. On the down side, if you like RP I have never seen any here, despite my best efforts.
Thats all the MUD's I will review for now, as I don't know if anyone at all will be interested in this at all (doubtful, I don't know how many readers, not that there are many, are MUDders.) but of course, if you do want to know anything about MUDs or MUDDing you can always let me know.
Now. Back to boredem and sniffles. And soup.
