[Traveler]

Greetings. I am on a (never ending) search for a MU* to call home. I currently frequent two quite satisfying games for my Hack N' Slash Frontier Lands and my World Exploration UL needs. They fill their roles quite well and are both superb games but I am still plagued by a bit of wanderlust.

My list of Wants are as follows:

* Roleplayed required but not neccesarily intensive.
* The ability to progress/level/advance with out a total reliance on Combat/Bashing. Repetition is fine so long non-combat actions count increase the characters progression.
*Objective and FAIR staffers.
*Lore. Plotline. Storypoints. All of which the playerbase is expected to adhere to and which can be furthered by character actions.
*The option of playing a shamanistic/druidic character that is not a carbon copy from D&D. Or, at least such a character that is not forced to be a stereo typical flower child. I like my shamans/druids as much like Merlin/RL Historical Celts as possible.
* Storytelling. Not to be confused with RP. I want to play a character in story not a just stay IC.
* Good natured, mature players/staff.  

My list of Things to Be Avoided

*People who can't seperate game from RL. (I love storytelling but I even I know enough to put the book down.)
*HAXXORS. L33T.
*Staying IC passed of as RP.
*Staff that argues with players. Players that argue with staff. Players that argue with players.
*MUDsex, RL sensibilites, OOC friendships brought in-game  that violate Lore for no apparent purpose.
*Grief players.
*Emotional Instability in staff or players.

I realise that list bit is probably impossible but I'd like to cut down my IM ignore list.


So? Any suggestions?

[HaiWolfe]

I wholeheartedly recommend Armageddon as a MUD that fits essentially all your wants.

Roleplay is mandatory, of course, but what I think sets Arm apart from many of the other roleplay-required MUDs out there (and the reason it's the one game I keep going back to) is its sheer potential for storytelling and character development.

Originally Posted by * The ability to progress/level/advance with out a total reliance on Combat/Bashing. Repetition is fine so long non-combat actions count increase the characters progression.

There are no levels and advancement is completely skill-based. You select a starting skillset and get better at things like fighting, crafting, riding a mount, and so forth by doing them. There are endless possibilities for non-combat characters, from armor and weaponsmiths, stoneworkers, cooks, herbalists, and tailors (to name just a few of many crafts), to nobles' aides, to con-artists and spies.

Originally Posted by *Objective and FAIR staffers.

Armageddon's staff is among the most professional and courteous I've come across in all my time MUDding.

Originally Posted by *The option of playing a shamanistic/druidic character that is not a carbon copy from D&D. Or, at least such a character that is not forced to be a stereo typical flower child. I like my shamans/druids as much like Merlin/RL Historical Celts as possible.

There is a unique system of magick and the culture and attitudes surrounding it, which I think you might like. The only caveat is that play of magicker characters is restricted until you've proven yourself trustworthy to the staff of handling such power.

Originally Posted by *Lore. Plotline. Storypoints. All of which the playerbase is expected to adhere to and which can be furthered by character actions. * Storytelling. Not to be confused with RP. I want to play a character in story not a just stay IC.

I have to emphasize this again because this really is the biggest draw to the game for me. Playing Arm is like becoming a living, thinking, and feeling character in a never-ending novel, one with an incredibly intricate, detailed, and convoluted plotline co-written by hundreds of creative players and staff over the course of a decade. This is not an exaggeration in the slightest bit. There are players and even staff who have been around for years, and feel as though they've barely scratched the surface of the history, conspiracy and intrigue that is Zalanthas, the world Arm takes place in. You can act out the story arc of your character in as mundane or epic a manner as you want, limited only by your imagination and persistence.

In this game, players have scraped and toiled for their next drink of water, smuggled illegal goods for risky profits, risen from lowly recruits to high-ranking officers, rallied armies and laid siege to city-states, settled down and raised families, schemed and plotted the assassination of nobles, traveled the dunes between cities and outposts to conduct trade, raided merchant caravans, composed and performed bardic songs, and terrified a populace with foul magicks, or been the arm of the merciless law to bring the enemy down.

Every great plotline has a real and lasting impact on the gameworld. The friends you make and the paths you follow are entirely up to you. Death, which is permanent, only opens the door for you to jump back in with a new concept and try out yet another of the myriad aspects this game has.

Well, I've rambled on long enough. I hope some of this has piqued your interest enough to check the place out, read through the documentation on the website, and decide if Zalanthas is the right home for you.

[Hajamin]

Have you looked at Lusternia? Besides many of the things on your list, we also have a lot to explore as well as kill, things you mentioned you get from your other games.

My list of Wants are as follows:

* Roleplayed required but not neccesarily intensive.

While not fully enforced, it is highly encouraged. Only thing inforced is not talking about RL things, and that ever annoying leet speak. Also names, but it is mainly our players that try to keep the poorly named people(like darkknight for example) are changed into something more appropriate for a roleplaying environment.

* The ability to progress/level/advance with out a total reliance on Combat/Bashing. Repetition is fine so long non-combat actions count increase the characters progression.

This is one of the things we pride ourselves in. We have influencing, which is simular to bashing but non-violent(ie, you dont' kill them). We also have tons of quests from the minor to the major ones, all of our major ones are dynamic and are slightly different each time you do it. Some of them, such as the comm quests, actually effect the games economy.

*Objective and FAIR staffers.

We go out of our way to make sure any problems are investigated and looked at from an objective point of view.

A while back there was a major bug abuse that quite a few players were part of, most of those that were caught and punished felt that they did deserve their punishment, and are still with us today. To me, that kind of reaction is a sign that things were done obejctively and fairly.

*Lore. Plotline. Storypoints. All of which the playerbase is expected to adhere to and which can be furthered by character actions.

One of the biggest comments we've had is the rich history that we have, which we strive to keep all editions and major events to adhere too.

*The option of playing a shamanistic/druidic character that is not a carbon copy from D&D. Or, at least such a character that is not forced to be a stereo typical flower child. I like my shamans/druids as much like Merlin/RL Historical Celts as possible.

We have two forest communes, Serenwilde is a "natural" forest and has Wiccan's, Druids and the Serenguard(warriors) as their main guilds. Glomdoring is the dark forest, with the same three types of guilds, but their skills and RP match the darker aspect of their forest.

* Storytelling. Not to be confused with RP. I want to play a character in story not a just stay IC.

Our story is the struggle of the communes versus the cities, as well as the light versus the taint. Most of our players adhere greatly to these different struggles which produces many good stories, battles and RP.

* Good natured, mature players/staff.

The staff are all mature, unfortunately I don't think anyone could say EVERY player in there game is the same. The majority of the players are mature, and those that are not tend to leave as most players will do thier best to NOT interact with them.

My list of Things to Be Avoided

*People who can't seperate game from RL. (I love storytelling but I even I know enough to put the book down.)

Some people do get pulled deeply into the story, and in the game the story is all that matters, there is no RL. The forums are another thing all together, where there players will give advice to anyone regardless of their IG status.

*HAXXORS. L33T.

Instant banning.

*Staying IC passed of as RP.

As I said above, staying IC is what we enforce, but most players stick to their RP on their own. Most people that don't have RP, have a hard time as other players tend to ignore them.

*Staff that argues with players. Players that argue with staff. Players that argue with players.

Staff should never argue with the players, players on the other hand will always argue if they feel they are right and someone else is wrong. These things, expcept in the RP of a mortal disagreeing with a God, are kept out of the game.

*MUDsex, RL sensibilites, OOC friendships brought in-game that violate Lore for no apparent purpose.

Most of our players are good at keeping their OOC relationships OOG.

*Grief players.

Every game will have these, but we do our best to limit the ways they can grief and try to speak to those that are seen as griefers to curb their actions. Thus far this approach seems to be working fairly well.

*Emotional Instability in staff or players.

As I've said before, you won't see such things in our Staff, players are people so you never know what you get.

[prof1515]

Originally Posted by (Traveler @ Dec. 20 2005,19:38) *The option of playing a shamanistic/druidic character that is not a carbon copy from D&D. Or, at least such a character that is not forced to be a stereo typical flower child. I like my shamans/druids as much like Merlin/RL Historical Celts as possible.

Well, most of what people consider "historical" Druids isn't really historical.  Honestly, little to nothing is known of the Druids.  Most of what passes as facts about them is fiction or conjecture at best.

As for true Celtic culture, I do recall seeing one MUD once that had a fairly good representation of true Celtic culture, but for the most part, again, what passes for Celtic culture on most MUDs is cliche and fantasy. Sadly, I do not recall the name of this MUD, but if you run a search using Celtic as a keyword, it might come up along with lots of other MUDs unfortunately.

As for Merlin, he's not historical, he's fiction and as relevant to Celtic/Druid culture as Indiana Jones is to understanding the eventual outcome of World War II.  

Take care,

Jason

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by As for Merlin, he's not historical, he's fiction and as relevant to Celtic/Druid culture as Indiana Jones is to understanding the eventual outcome of World War II.

I am fully aware Merlin cannot be proven as an actual historical character but I was referring more to an Edison Marshall style Merlin then a Grail Lore style of Merlin.

Originally Posted by Stuff Hajamin said.

I have played various I.R.E. games including Lusternia. They do have wonderfully built locations in game and interesting class options. Lusternia was however the poorest experience I have ever had in an on-line gaming environment. I won't blame the entirety of the staff but I will blame the player the base in Lusternia specifically.

I will give Lusternia its 'props'. I can think of quite a few other games, table-top, CCG, online and otherwise would benefit from the steam roller pace at which Lusternia rolls out new 'toys'. It is a veritable smorgasbord. The converse is that I encountered a high level of spite, hate, and pettiness from players in Lusternia and it appeared that the staff on occasion kowtowed to said behavior in order to try and silence it. It seemed every effort I made to RP based upon what I thought was expected from the Lore I made an immediate enemy IG and OOG. I eventually retreated to Achaea short term where the cliché is that RP is dead but at least I was safe from verbal assault.

Originally Posted by HaiWolfe

I've considered Armageddon in the past but I'm not overly fond of the Dark Sun theme. it does sound promising so perhaps I'll give it a go.

[prof1515]

Originally Posted by (Traveler @ Dec. 21 2005,09:58) Originally Posted by As for Merlin, he's not historical, he's fiction and as relevant to Celtic/Druid culture as Indiana Jones is to understanding the eventual outcome of World War II. I am fully aware Merlin cannot be proven as an actual historical character but I was referring more to an Edison Marshall style Merlin then a Grail Lore style of Merlin.

Didn't mean to suggest you didn't.  I've just come to realize that sometimes a lot of people don't know the difference between fact and fiction when it comes to history, especially in America where half of what the average kid is taught in grades K-12 is totally inaccurate.  That trend tends to be less true of MUDders since people who actual play text-based games are literate, something as much as forty percent of Americans (depending upon the study) can't claim.

If I recall the name of that Celtic MUD, I'll PM it to you.  Right now I'm drawing a total blank and a bit too busy with some RL stuff to sort through every MUD that's likely to come up on a search with the keyword of Celtic.  Good luck in your quest though.

Take care,

Jason

[Richter]

Originally Posted by (Traveler @ Dec. 21 2005,06:58) Originally Posted by I will give Lusternia its 'props'. I can think of quite a few other games, table-top, CCG, online and otherwise would benefit from the steam roller pace at which Lusternia rolls out new 'toys'. It is a veritable smorgasbord. The converse is that I encountered a high level of spite, hate, and pettiness from players in Lusternia and it appeared that the staff on occasion kowtowed to said behavior in order to try and silence it. It seemed every effort I made to RP based upon what I thought was expected from the Lore I made an immediate enemy IG and OOG. I eventually retreated to Achaea short term where the cliché is that RP is dead but at least I was safe from verbal assault.

Strange, I've had an excellent experience from day one, with a few minor bumps along the way (but what game doesn't have good and bad days?).

I was actually going to write a glowing reccomendation for Lusternia, but I'll comment on your post instead.

It is a pity that your experience wasn't what you'd hoped for, and I as a senior player feel bad any time anyone deems that their time is not well spent in the game. However, I am a firm believer that it excells in many areas that you spoke about wanting, and the areas you did not want were not a problem.

I'm not sure what the circumstances were around your character's treatment, but I find that the majority of the players stick to their roles, even if they are not actively roleplaying. So yes, if you joined my home of Glomdoring, you would not be welcomed by most Serenwilders, just as certain real people would not be welcome in some areas of the world. They have very real viewpoints, biases, and prejudices.

However, this thread is about you looking for a home, and it's not about me defending mine. If you should with to give Lusternia another try, do look me up, and perhaps you'll become attatched to some of the players I've come to enjoy.

If you find yourself looking elsewhere, I wish you luck. After all, these are games, and this is what we do in our free time to have fun.

-marc