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Old 12-30-2010, 07:24 PM   #1
Vendayn
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Join Date: Aug 2008
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Sort of beginner looking for MUD to play (lots of info, long post)

Well, first before I go into what I'm looking for in a MUD...

I've been playing MMOs the past many years, started with Asheron's Call and then moved to Ultima Online. The thing is, MMOs are just not doing it for me these days, at least modern ones. Maybe I've outgrown/outplayed them.

I've played MUDs before...tried the Iron Realms muds, but they seemed a bit expensive after playing a while. They were closest to MUDs I've liked, but not quite. And like I said, way too expensive for me. I also played Aardwolf, but that wasn't what I was looking for at all. I also paid for a mud for a couple months, it was another popular one...can't think of the name, but the company had like 3 muds under their belt and some graphical games. This one I liked a bit more than the Iron Realms muds...OH...it was Gemstone IV. Dragonrealms was another one I really liked by that company.

The problem with those, and I probably would go back to those two...I lost my job (one reason I've stopped playing MMOs too), and I get disability every month by the government...long story...but I don't get paid much, so Gemstone IV and their other games are too expensive for me as well. Even though it is only 15 dollars a month, I can't really afford it.

So, I'll get back to MMOs, and then I'll talk about what I liked about those two MUDs I mentioned.

Favorite MMOs:

Asheron's Call...huge world, world events, fun dungeons, classless so I could choose what skills/spells//stats/etc...I wanted. I would earn EXP from killing things or doing quests and choose what I wanted to raise.

Ultima Online...the world seemed a bit small for me for an MMO, but the world events were fun, I enjoyed exploring and again, a classless based system. Though, as a negative, I much prefered AC skill/stat system. In UO I would get 6 skills raised, and suddenly be at cap...seemed really limited to me. Very nice crafting system as well.

Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted (formally Horizons: Empire of Istaria)...could play as a Dragon (favorite animal, mythical or not), large world, tons of game events, tight knit, but friendly community, very fun crafting system. Was sort of fun to go off exploring too.

EVE Online...HUGE universe, fun events that move the storyline, not too bad of a crafting system, lots of player interaction...pvp was fun, but a bit too hardcore for me, since I prefer more exploring/crafting/PVEing. I do like PvP too, but heh. It was annoying flying around and being wrp scrambled and losing everything. Better than perma death...still death meant something as you lost stuff, which is nice. Better than "lol I died. Free teleport to town".

Asheron's Call 2...don't remember much about it, the world was tiny which was a big negative for me...it was fun rebuilding towns and stuff, though. Classes were really unique.

Fallen Earth...awesome setting (love post-apoc stuff)...great for exploring...didn't like the crafting because it didn't feel post-apoc at all. Everything you crafted could easily be bought off merchants...fine in some games, not in a post-apoc game...at least my opinion

Auto Assault...LOVED this game. Actually felt post-apoc, lots of action, open and large world. Going around destroying buildings and other structures was fun.

Tibia...2d MMO, and I love the idea of it. HUGE world, tons of things to explore, love the skill up system, even if it is partly class based...problem? Worst community ever.

Runescape...good size world, not huge like Tibia but not bad either. The problem I have with RS, at least for free member area...everything is built up, every inch of space as a fence or building on it. That made me quit, too urbanized for me. But other than that, could find cool stuff by exploring, awesome skill/stat system (love it)...community is on the young side, but not really that bad

And I'll go for my favorite singleplayer RPGs

Morrowind...nice open world, fun quests...was fun turning into a vampire and werewolf, don't remember much else about it

Oblivion...nice open world and for a singleplayer game was rather big...though I much prefer Nehrim Total Overhaul mod, which has really awesome crafting (use bellows to light a forge, use forge to craft resources, then use water trough for final product)..and Nehrim is like 3 times the size of Oblivion.

Fallout 3 and New Vegas are awesome, purely for the setting alone, and they are open world too, which is a nice bonus. Though, I found Nehrim/Oblivion have much greater atmosphere than the Fallout 3/New Vegas games.

Fallout 2, love this too, more so than the newer Fallouts...mostly because it has much greater atmosphere to it.

As for the two muds...

I actually don't remember too much about them, but the communities were nice, and the events were a lot of fun.

So I guess what I'm looking for in a MUD...

Not expensive or have to pay every month...my income is shot, so I can't afford even 10 or 15 dollars a month. Need that extra money for food/rent/bills

large world, doesn't really matter the setting...I prefer fantasy the most. Post apoc is very nice too, but any will do...not into space based MUDs (if there are any out there). Sci-fi games with guns and stuff are kind of low on my list of favorite genres, but hey, I kind of like them too. But I don't relate to them as much as Fantasy or Post apoc.

Good crafting system, because I love to craft.

Good exploration, so I can be out and find cool things, I might find a shrine in middle of nowhere that has a story behind it or is engraved with words. Like a statue saying "Here is King Seralon. Ruling in the years of AD 238..." and maybe some extra story to that...there doesn't need to be a uber item at the end of it. I just like to explore and find neat things.

Events. I'm not big on static worlds...I like things to change, either by PvE or PvP. Not fun being in a game world that is the same for years and years...this is a HUGE negative for me if things never change.

But not all the events have to be game changing...events are fun overall. Asheron's Call didn't change all at once, but things changed, like I remember one event a town was destroyed by I think "Bael'Zharon" who led armies across the land attacking places randomly. And the town was permanently gone. That was fun. Plus Asheron's Call changed with the seasons, so it went from snowy to spring to summer and then to fall...well, AC's versions of those seasons. Istaria/Horizons had awesome events too. And the community worked together to "unlock" stuff...like bringing resources to a bridge to connect it to a new land, that would then unlock a new race.

For MUDs...I'm not big into 100% forced RP ones (guess that would be hardcore RP?) where I need to act out my character the whole time. Hey, I won't talk off topic as that kind of ruins the immersion of the MUD...but a MUD where I need to say "Thou art thou romeo, where thee..." I probably screwed that up, I'm tired as heck right now, so sorry if I did...but you get the point. I don't tend to talk off topic in MUDs or about real life things, but at the same time, acting out my character is a bit hard. But hey, I wouldn't mind giving it a shot if the MUD matches what I'm looking for. So actually, I guess this one isn't really a required one.

But I'll be a beginner at RPing and sort of a beginner at MUDs. Having said that...a good ongoing story in the MUD/game is a HUGE bonus.

Now for the minor things that don't matter too much compared to what I listed above.

A variety of races to play with is nice, but mostly if each one isn't half-done because its there just to add to the race selection...if thats the case, I prefer a smaller selection of better lore in those particular races.

Classless or class based system doesn't matter...both are fine. Though, over the years, I've kind of moved my preference to class systems, mostly since thats what most games use anyway...if thats the case, having a large selection of classes is nice. And even better, a large selection of skills and/or spells. I like class combos too, mix/match classes, but thats only a small preferrence.

Dragons are nice to play as...but I see not too many games let you play as one. A nice bonus though to the MUD.

as for combat preference...I like the typical gemstone IV/Dragonrealms/Ironrealms combat system. I have played a few MUDs where the combat was very actiony, where you controlled where you hit the npc/player and it was very fast paced...nice, but not my cup of tea.

Community size doesn't matter too much. I mean, 0 players active is boring...but a small, tight-nit and active community is just as good as a large community, but just for different reasons.

Well, hopefully with looking at what MMOs and singleplayer RPGs I've liked, and the other info...there will be a MUD that fits me.

Thank you in advance.

(edit)

Also...here is a list of books I really like, that may help find a MUD that fit me

Also, one last comment for this thread. Here is a list of my favorite books, that I think can fit somehow into a good MUD for me.

Dragonlance, my first Fantasy novels
Dune, my favorite books EVER...amazing series
Forgotten Realms by R.A Salvatore...with the Dark Elf

and those are the main ones.

I also have liked Shannara series by Terry Brooks
Lord of the Rings are of course a must, but not among my favorites
Isaac Asimov Foundation is great

and thats off top of my memory

Last edited by Vendayn : 12-30-2010 at 07:31 PM.
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