[Realedazed]

I feel you. The guild thing really gets annoying fast. Especially when you have to jump through a bunch of virtual hoops, talk to like 9 PCs (that may be on a totally different play schedule as you) just to get access to skills and/or status. It gets very annoying when the lack of guild skills and and status exclude you from some parts of the game.

I only like it when guilds or clans are more of a social group than a gatekeeper of required skills. In my opinion, only a few games do it for me.

In Armaggedon, your clan/guild doesn't give you any skills. However, they may make learning them easier. Also, they may provide a safe place to sleep (logout), access to clean water and food. As well as the RP benefits as contacts, events, etc. Plus, to get in, its all RP and some time a task: hunt this, steal this, con that guy, etc.


In Lusternia (and I thinking all of the other IRE games, since their guild structure seems the same), you get access to a few guild skills and they give you a check list of chores to do as a novice. I actually hate that check list, but if you are complete newbie, it helps you learn the game's story, survival, etc. I do hate the essays, though. But, there are tons of quests and the other players are not that strict with the well known or main city quest details. Also, there is crafting. You only get one, though. I'm only familiar with Lusternia's system, so I'm not sure about the rest. Lastly, I spent money in Lusternia. However, you can do other things for credits and buy them in game, too. It just really depends on your play style, wallet or both.

DartMud Is a cool game. You can learn almost every skill on your own, but its faster to get a teacher. There are other "shady" skills that MUST be learned from a teacher, though. Don't ask publicly about them either. There are quests to find, however you have to ask around in game for info on some of them. Also, as someone replied earlier, crafting is really repetitive. What I do is hang out with other crafters, work out my crafts while RPing. I think that's kinda cheesy though. Also, in my opinion, no one really sells anything other than quest rewards, so there's no real economy. Plus most players can make everything, so there is no supply and demand. Also, Everyone just cooks steaks to sell to the store to pay for rent on their inn rooms or castles.

All that aside, the details of crafting is amazing. There are so many materials to apply to the various crafts. You can make yourself a red silk cloak with black velvet stitching and cheetah fur lined hood, for example. I read in an old ad for the game that the cooking skill alone has about 300+ recipes (One reason why I hate that everyone always makes steaks and roasts!)