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Old 12-01-2010, 10:14 AM   #1
Lipa
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Question Please recommend a MUD

Hi all!

This is my first post, so a short introduction is in order. I’m a long-time addict to interactive fiction (text adventures) and roguelike games (mostly Angband versions), so you can tell that I value text more than anything. Sadly, I’ve only recently discovered the concept of MUDs after joining the interactive fiction community at ifMUD, but now the more I read about them, the more I feel that this is something that I would really enjoy! I truly got interested!

Yet the number of available MUDs is staggering, which brings me to the purpose of this post. I’ve done some research and I found a few games that I find interesting. Aardwolf and New Worlds seem to be popular, and I’m also very interested in trying out one of the Iron Realms titles. Furthermore, as an avid Frank Herbert fan, I’m also tempted to try Dune. Unfortunately though, I simply don’t have time to try them all, and also they’re not the sort of games that you can simply “check out” in a couple of minutes.

So – I’m humbly asking for directions. And what are my preferences? First and foremost, I’d like a MUD that wouldn’t necessarily demand too much time per playing session. I could easily afford, say, one hour every couple of days (sometimes more, sometimes less), but I generally couldn’t commit five hours or so per session. This means that the MUD should probably allow me to easily save the PC and the equipment, so that I wouldn’t “lose” much at log-off. Secondly, I also like roleplaying very much, so I guess I’m looking for a friendly universe where RP is encouraged or even enforced. And finally, since there will be occasions when I would only be able to log-on for less than an hour, it’d be nice if the MUD would have something to offer for solo play, such as randomly generated quests, for example.

What would you recommend? Iron Realms games look really promising – is this something I should try (and which one)? What about the other options?

Thanks for helping another newbie into the sandbox!
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Old 12-01-2010, 11:43 AM   #2
Orrin
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Re: Please recommend a MUD

Any of the Iron Realms games would be a solid choice. They are all of a high standard as you would expect from a (relatively) large commercial company. Their charging model is quite aggressive however and that does put many people off, but they remain among the more popular MUDs with good reason.

You could skim over some of the listings here for the top games and that will give you a good overview of what's around. Keep in mind the rankings aren't necessarily an indicator of quality, but usually games ranked high on TMS are at least reasonably popular, for whatever reason.

I'll also plug my own game while I'm here . Maiden Desmodus combines role-play and goal oriented play in a detailed custom setting. We have a skill advancement system that gives a bonus during your first 2 hours of play each day which makes shorter play sessions more attractive. We also have a lot of solo content, including a sequence of 20 tasks that fit an overall story, as well as numerous other quests (both one-off and repeatable) to discover around the game world. We've also got exploration, NPC hunting, crafting, PvP and political systems to keep you busy too.

While it's true that it takes more than a few minutes to know if a game is right for you, you can certainly rule many games out in that time. Also you will probably find that the more games you try, the clearer your preferences will become. I'd recommend you dive in and give some different games a try and take note of the different features you like and dislike.



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Old 12-01-2010, 09:48 PM   #3
Ide
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Re: Please recommend a MUD

Welcome to the forum Lipa. As another person active in the IF and RL communities, I wanted to second the recommendation of Maiden Desmodus. It's a very high quality game and the web client makes play both very easy and nice to look at (MD specifically designed their game so it looks good with web fonts, rather than monospaced fonts -- the reading experience is much better this way IMO). In terms of a quality experience I would rank MD above the Iron Realms games.

The downside to MD however, and where an IR game shines, is the typical number of players online. An IR game will have many more players to interact with. On the other hand, MD is of a somewhat smaller scale than most IR games, so it doesn't feel as empty as it might if it was a big game.
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Old 12-02-2010, 01:21 AM   #4
Newworlds
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Re: Please recommend a MUD

Hello Lipa,

I would recommend trying New Worlds Ateraan if you want to get into in depth intensive roleplay, however, since you said you could only be on an hour or so every two or more days you might find another more MUD that is less demanding. While you can play NWA infrequently, you won't get the full experience on that short of a schedule.

Here is what I would recommend for you to weed through the MUDs out there and find a home that you will enjoy:



This thread will give you good advice on spending the least amount of time the most effectively to find a MUD you like.

Good Luck!
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Old 12-02-2010, 10:43 AM   #5
dentin
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Re: Please recommend a MUD

I'd recommend Alter Aeon. I'm a pretty casual player myself, and I've worked specifically on having a short startup time between logging in and playing. The solo play aspect is good, and grouping isn't that common until you reach higher levels.

The only down side is that it's not RP heavy. The introductory quests have a solid storyline and should last more than a few hours, but few people actively roleplay it.

-dentin
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Old 12-03-2010, 05:37 AM   #6
Lipa
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Re: Please recommend a MUD

Thank you all for recommendations!

Now I have selected three MUDs to try: Maiden Desmodus, New Worlds, and Lusternia. I think I'll spend a few hours on each of them to get the general feel...

See you in another world!
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