[Lotherio]

The help files, while not required, are indeed extensive.

Because I personally enjoy this Mud and some folks might be deterred by this comment, I'll say that while there is a lot of information in the help files, its all useful.

This is one of the few places one can come to, read the files and play without having to ask tons of questions on channels to figure things out.

The help files are available at their website as well as their wiki, so one can multi-tab or window to both play the game while being able to search for information they are looking for.

I for one dislike going to chans/newbie lines/etc. to prod for help with quests/exploration of the game - I like to discover it myself as best as I can.

For instance, I found myself recently trying an old mud where I simply couldn't find information on something in the help files. Their quest system wasn't explained in help files nor were all their commands available in the help files. I had explored the newbie area, found an item after searching that seemed related to the quest but its description in conjunction with the in game list of quests, available at a trainer, gave no real indication on how to proceed. It was after I probed on the newbie line that a staffer hand held me through the quest, pointing out commands that I was unaware of at that point.

As much as mutli-play can be fun, solo exploration is also enjoyable for the sense of accomplishment in figuring these things, and this is just such a place that gives one enough tools to figure things out by ones self. Haven is expansive enough to also be appealing to those who like to explore.

Not to mention the large selection of magic and armours. Magic is available in several forms (including songs for those who like bard-types), each with a large list of individual spells to learn and I really can't say more to expound on this than did the original poster. Magic doesn't look like other muds and, indeed, there are a great many spells one can have access too without changing classes and trying other races.

Armour is rather in-depth as well, with multiple limbs/areas to place armour and stacking of cloth armours/items with regard amour (ie, shirts/pants/cloaks as well as things like plate/chain/leather/etc. armour). With the amount of armour types (full armour, body armour, etc.) one can truly create interesting stacks.

Edit: For those who don't want to read the 'help newbie' file or look through the newbie book in the starting room of the game, while the 'who' doesn't work at level one, one can still use the ooc line to talk with other players 'ooc whatever'

For those who enjoy fighting, here is a present armour stack I have on one of my characters:

head:
(T1 cloth) elegant eyepatch (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) pendant (10% damaged)
(T6 plate) helm (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) sanjaku-tenugui (0% damaged)
right leg:
(T6 plate) steel cuisse (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) jika-tabi (10% damaged)
(T1 cloth) shinobi shozoku (0% damaged)
right foot:
(T6 plate) boots (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) jika-tabi (10% damaged)
left foot:
(T6 plate) boots (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) jika-tabi (10% damaged)
left arm:
(T6 plate) wall shield (0% damaged)
(T6 plate) steel breastplate (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) sleeve (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) shinobi shozoku (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) shirt (40% damaged)
torso:
(T6 plate) breastplate (10% damaged)
(T6 plate) steel breastplate (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) shinobi shozoku (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) shirt (40% damaged)
left leg:
(T6 plate) steel cuisse (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) jika-tabi (10% damaged)
(T1 cloth) shinobi shozoku (0% damaged)
right hand:
(T5 chain) silver ring (10% damaged)
(T5 chain) silver ring (20% damaged)
(Non-Armour) belaying pin (10% damaged)
(T6 plate) gauntlet (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) sleeve (10% damaged)
(T5 chain) silver ring (20% damaged)
right arm:
(T6 plate) steel breastplate (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) sleeve (10% damaged)
(T1 cloth) shinobi shozoku (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) shirt (40% damaged)
left hand:
(T6 plate) gauntlet (0% damaged)
(T6 plate) wall shield (0% damaged)
(T1 cloth) sleeve (0% damaged)


Yes, it can be repaired in game by learning the skills to do so. And one can see certain items are designed to cover multiple areas, such as steel breastplate which covers arms and torso, or the tabi armour which covers foot/leg much like real tabi.