Shadows of Isildur is the only other MUD I've played. Tolkien fantasy theme based in Laketown with roleplaying required, I absolutely loved it. Looking for a new, modern MUD with active staff and players, hopefully with lots of roleplay. Hopefully Starmourn is it!
Shadows of Isildur is the only other MUD I've played. Tolkien fantasy theme based in Laketown with roleplaying required, I absolutely loved it. Looking for a new, modern MUD with active staff and players, hopefully with lots of roleplay. Hopefully Starmourn is it!
Shadows of Isildur is the only other MUD I've played. Tolkien fantasy theme based in Laketown with roleplaying required, I absolutely loved it. Looking for a new, modern MUD with active staff and players, hopefully with lots of roleplay. Hopefully Starmourn is it!
I worked on SoI for a while. You are... patient.
Hah, agreed progress was quite slow, and that is why I eventually stopped playing. Still, the RP aspects and being willing to engage for weeks to slowly learn about the various PC's / activities going on made it worthwhile. I'm definitely hoping for a more active, less cliqueish RP friendly experience here though.
I worked on ToP for a couple of years, and while that was fun, I guess it's not technically playing.
You lasted a lot longer than me - I gave up after about 2 weeks. My role there very much required decisions/approval before I could move on to the next thing, and that was really lacking.
Were you a writer or coder?
Writer I guess, although the deal was to be progging as well, later on?
I was supposed to come up with concepts for areas, abilities and quests. I did some initial concept work for a newbie zone and quest line, had several long conversations on skill sets, and then worked out that it wouldn’t go anywhere quickly.
Not my first rodeo, as they say, and it’s honestly really sad to see hard work from so many people go down the drain, so I’m glad I left as early as I did.
I worked on ToP for a couple of years, and while that was fun, I guess it's not technically playing.
You lasted a lot longer than me - I gave up after about 2 weeks. My role there very much required decisions/approval before I could move on to the next thing, and that was really lacking.
Were you a writer or coder?
Writer I guess, although the deal was to be progging as well, later on?
I was supposed to come up with concepts for areas, abilities and quests. I did some initial concept work for a newbie zone and quest line, had several long conversations on skill sets, and then worked out that it wouldn’t go anywhere quickly.
Not my first rodeo, as they say, and it’s honestly really sad to see hard work from so many people go down the drain, so I’m glad I left as early as I did.
Ah cool. And yeah, definitely sad to see but was a fun time in a lot of ways nonetheless. I'm glad IRE stuck with the sci fi idea even after that debacle.
I’ve played every IRE MUD. Started out with Achaea thanks to 13 or 14 year old me hearing Leo Laporte plug Achaea on TV. Having a shitty computer with dial up internet, it was a dream come true circa 03 or 04.
Went from Achaea to Lusternia thanks to an in-game friend named Bauto, stayed in Lusternia while making the occasional alt in other games for multiple years. Recently have spent a decent stint in Aetolia, the best IRE currently has to offer.
Outside of IRE, dabbled in some random games as per MUDConnect, including things like RetroMUD, but IRE was the only one to ever stick.
I actually got my start playing text-based roguelikes (mainly Angband, NetHack, and their variants) on my dad's computer when I was younger, and word-of-mouth in that community got me to make the jump to MUDs/MUSHes in 2008-ish. I played Imperian and Lusternia irregularly until I stopped around 2012, because I was heading off to university.
I'd actually completely forgotten about all of it until a few months ago when I fired up my old laptop and found my NetHack folder sitting on my desktop, and then one thing led to another and I've starting playing Imperian again, which is how I wound up here.
If I don't accidentally try to engrave Elbereth from sheer muscle memory at least once in my Starmourn career, I'll be deeply surprised with myself. :pleased:
I have played many over the years with a MUD called Outer Space being my first. I have been playing Achaea for some time, although I have been mostly dormant lately due to not having a working computer and it is hard to do stuff mobile. I can't wait for Starmourn to launch. If it is anything like Achaea then I know i will enjoy it.
I can't remember my first, but I've played Avalon, Ardwolf, Gemstone, Dragonrealms, Dragon's Gate, Achaea, Modus Operandi, and several others that I can't even recall. I've always found MUDs have the potential to be far more complex and immersive than the majority of games I've played
Achaea gave me my introduction to the MUD/MOO/text based games at the ripe old age of ten. I played at the local library computers every scrap of time that I could find. I was in love. I've been looking forward to this since I heard about Tears of Polaris. Haha. Since then I've played quite a few. All of the IRE games, Iceus a little, Avalon, Sindome currently, Aardwolf. I guess some of those aren't MUDs, oh well. O.o
Achaea, back in 2007 from an online friend (whom I've lost touch with since). I've tried to play a couple of others, but Achaea was pretty much the best one that I continuously played.
Achaea, back in 2007 from an online friend (whom I've lost touch with since). I've tried to play a couple of others, but Achaea was pretty much the best one that I continuously played.
Same time I started playing and introduced someone to.. 🤨 Achaea for me as well.🤔
Mainly Aetolia, for me! It was my first MUD 12 or so years ago and still going strong. Outside of it, I have dabbled in mostly other IRE games (Achaea and Lusternia mostly).
I started in Avalon many, many moons ago. (I saw a few of you played there off an on, I was Lukien btw!) From there I went to Aetolia and have happily resided there ever since!
Here's my first post to these forums, thought this is a good topic to start with.
I first started playing MUDs....18 years ago now I think, stumbled across them when I was looking up things related to the Wheel of Time series that I was reading at the time, and incidentally played the WoT mud for a while. Found out there were more MUDs out there! Dabbled in other IRE games, Lusternia and Imperian but been playing Achaea for perhaps 17 years on and off.
Midkemia Online, Dragonball Advent-Truth, Lusternia and Ring of Power (don’t judge me) have all held my attention at some point. I briefly tried Achaea but I really didn’t like it. 90% of my MUD time overall over the years was MKO.
been playing Achaea for perhaps 17 years on and off.
Every time I read a comment like this, my mind short-circuits and I stare blankly into space for a second. Has it really been that long?
"They are elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty." — Oscar Wilde
"I'll take care of it, Luke said. And because he said it instead of her, I knew he meant kill. That is what you have to do before you kill, I thought. You have to create an it, where none was before." — Margaret Atwood
Been a bunch over the decades. SWMUD was my first and is one of the ones that I still play since.. 1996ish. Elephant Mud was around the same time but I only played it a few months. Then there was Legends of the Jedi and Imperian for maybe 6 months followed by Aetolia (several years) and Lusternia (~year). Avatar Mud is the other one that I still occasionally drop into for a few weeks at a time.
Like many here I got my start in Achaea, having found it via a banner ad on vgcats in. probably 2005 or 2006?
Achaea basically defined my adolescence, and since I had very little unrestricted internet access I had lots of time to dream up characters, concepts, and the like. I'd say this is probably the main reason I always cared more about RP than about raw numbers - an interesting character with a compelling story and vivacious personality in an engaging, immersive setting is way more value to me than TrumpMemes69 walking up to the world's Crystal Dragon Jesus and YEETIng it into oblivion by the power of crunched numbers.
I got tired of Achaea around 2008 or so and drifted into Lusternia after dipping a toe into the various other IREs. Lusternia had some of that interesting worldbuilding that had started to wither in Achaea (or maybe it was the novelty and my own maturing that had made Achaea lose its luster). I flipped between Achaea and Lustenia for a while. Around 2012 I started playing the Discworld MUD which had some *amazing* stuff that really scratched my "I need immersion, I need to imagine myself writing an interactive story" itch, so it became my main MUD. It's still up there; to this day I still play the character that I made then! I also had the misfortune of playing HellMOO during this time. Yikes.
My time in IRE MUDs probably reached its height in late 2013-early 2014. I rose to some prominence in Lusternia - became one of Those People. The ones that people Talk About. The ones who are Big, Important Figures. The ones who Matter.
It was awful. It was stressful, it was hard work, and I burned out hard. Didn't touch an IRE for a couple of years.
From that experience I learned that it's best to take IRE games easy. If you let them, they WILL consume you, and there'll always be someone just below you who'd be happy to take your position as org leader/guild paperwork bot/local celebrity, so you can't catch a break lest you risk losing the position you worked hard for.
When I did shuffle back into IREs, it was playing an unambituous and unassuming nobody. I didn't gun for big House or City positions. I didn't bother with jumping through hoops or even trying to bash all that high. I just lived in the world. Wow, it was fun again, in a way I hadn't previously appreciated!
Now granted, I've focused somewhat myopically on my IRE experiences. I have a lot of Opinions about IRE games but don't feel that this is the place for them. A brief rundown of the other MUDs I've played would include The Inquisition: Legacy, Haven, Elysium, Armageddon, and Lost Souls, all of which I gladly recommend, and all of which should, to those veterans of the genre, help paint a picture of what kind of games and play style I like and seek out.
Whew! Talk about rambling.
Edit: I did play some SWMUD but didn't expect it to have such representation on these forums! :awesome: Anyone remember Cina? That was me!
I fondly remembering opening day. And a few of us defecting from
Serenwilde to go hang out in Glomdoring Forest before we had a commune
and EVERYTHING wanted to eat us.
Mirkwood was probably the first MUD I played, ages ago now. My little brother's first experience with MUDs was watching my starved character eat the entrails of some mob he'd just killed and subsequently die from poison. Good times, those.
I've drifted in and out of boatloads of MUDs over the years...Materia Magica, Discworld MUD, BatMUD, and the Unofficial SquareSoft MUD are the main non-IRE ones that come to mind. I also played Achaea some, and to a lesser extent Imperian and maybe Lusternia.
I've long had a love/hate relationship with IRE games. While I'm not a huge RPer, the IC-enforced environment creates immersion and cultivates a more mature type of community that I really appreciate. I'm also not a huge fan of the lack of character customization as far as classes and abilities, and as I don't spend IRL money on the games, I get a little frustrated with what seems like slow ability progression and high barriers to entry for things like crafting. I'm hoping to be able to buy some credits every month in the future, but I was recently laid off and am trying to cut expenses where I can for now...
The things that really keep bringing me back to IRE games, though, are the player-run organizations and the way the worlds develop over time. They create a dynamic that I really haven't found in any other games, and it's friggin' awesome.
"You know what the chain of command is? It’s the chain I go get and beat you with ’til you understand who’s in ruttin’ command here."
Comments
Thanks for your work on SoI!
I was supposed to come up with concepts for areas, abilities and quests. I did some initial concept work for a newbie zone and quest line, had several long conversations on skill sets, and then worked out that it wouldn’t go anywhere quickly.
Not my first rodeo, as they say, and it’s honestly really sad to see hard work from so many people go down the drain, so I’m glad I left as early as I did.
Went from Achaea to Lusternia thanks to an in-game friend named Bauto, stayed in Lusternia while making the occasional alt in other games for multiple years. Recently have spent a decent stint in Aetolia, the best IRE currently has to offer.
Outside of IRE, dabbled in some random games as per MUDConnect, including things like RetroMUD, but IRE was the only one to ever stick.
Played some non-Iron Realms MUDs too but never got super into them in the same way (hundreds of hours on each of the above ^)
I'd actually completely forgotten about all of it until a few months ago when I fired up my old laptop and found my NetHack folder sitting on my desktop, and then one thing led to another and I've starting playing Imperian again, which is how I wound up here.
If I don't accidentally try to engrave Elbereth from sheer muscle memory at least once in my Starmourn career, I'll be deeply surprised with myself. :pleased:
I've been in a sci fi mood as of late so I'm very excited to see what Starmourn has to offer!
I first started playing MUDs....18 years ago now I think, stumbled across them when I was looking up things related to the Wheel of Time series that I was reading at the time, and incidentally played the WoT mud for a while. Found out there were more MUDs out there! Dabbled in other IRE games, Lusternia and Imperian but been playing Achaea for perhaps 17 years on and off.
— Oscar Wilde
"I'll take care of it, Luke said. And because he said it instead of her, I knew he meant kill. That is what you have to do before you kill, I thought. You have to create an it, where none was before."
— Margaret Atwood
Achaea basically defined my adolescence, and since I had very little unrestricted internet access I had lots of time to dream up characters, concepts, and the like. I'd say this is probably the main reason I always cared more about RP than about raw numbers - an interesting character with a compelling story and vivacious personality in an engaging, immersive setting is way more value to me than TrumpMemes69 walking up to the world's Crystal Dragon Jesus and YEETIng it into oblivion by the power of crunched numbers.
I got tired of Achaea around 2008 or so and drifted into Lusternia after dipping a toe into the various other IREs. Lusternia had some of that interesting worldbuilding that had started to wither in Achaea (or maybe it was the novelty and my own maturing that had made Achaea lose its luster). I flipped between Achaea and Lustenia for a while.
Around 2012 I started playing the Discworld MUD which had some *amazing* stuff that really scratched my "I need immersion, I need to imagine myself writing an interactive story" itch, so it became my main MUD. It's still up there; to this day I still play the character that I made then! I also had the misfortune of playing HellMOO during this time. Yikes.
My time in IRE MUDs probably reached its height in late 2013-early 2014. I rose to some prominence in Lusternia - became one of Those People. The ones that people Talk About. The ones who are Big, Important Figures. The ones who Matter.
It was awful. It was stressful, it was hard work, and I burned out hard. Didn't touch an IRE for a couple of years.
From that experience I learned that it's best to take IRE games easy. If you let them, they WILL consume you, and there'll always be someone just below you who'd be happy to take your position as org leader/guild paperwork bot/local celebrity, so you can't catch a break lest you risk losing the position you worked hard for.
When I did shuffle back into IREs, it was playing an unambituous and unassuming nobody. I didn't gun for big House or City positions. I didn't bother with jumping through hoops or even trying to bash all that high. I just lived in the world. Wow, it was fun again, in a way I hadn't previously appreciated!
Now granted, I've focused somewhat myopically on my IRE experiences. I have a lot of Opinions about IRE games but don't feel that this is the place for them. A brief rundown of the other MUDs I've played would include The Inquisition: Legacy, Haven, Elysium, Armageddon, and Lost Souls, all of which I gladly recommend, and all of which should, to those veterans of the genre, help paint a picture of what kind of games and play style I like and seek out.
Whew! Talk about rambling.
Edit: I did play some SWMUD but didn't expect it to have such representation on these forums! :awesome: Anyone remember Cina? That was me!
I'm talking like when Lusternia opened.
I've drifted in and out of boatloads of MUDs over the years...Materia Magica, Discworld MUD, BatMUD, and the Unofficial SquareSoft MUD are the main non-IRE ones that come to mind. I also played Achaea some, and to a lesser extent Imperian and maybe Lusternia.
I've long had a love/hate relationship with IRE games. While I'm not a huge RPer, the IC-enforced environment creates immersion and cultivates a more mature type of community that I really appreciate. I'm also not a huge fan of the lack of character customization as far as classes and abilities, and as I don't spend IRL money on the games, I get a little frustrated with what seems like slow ability progression and high barriers to entry for things like crafting. I'm hoping to be able to buy some credits every month in the future, but I was recently laid off and am trying to cut expenses where I can for now...
The things that really keep bringing me back to IRE games, though, are the player-run organizations and the way the worlds develop over time. They create a dynamic that I really haven't found in any other games, and it's friggin' awesome.