Thread 3831947

I was too young or not even born when MUDs were a thing. Which ones to play to see what I missed? Also, what's the status of the genre?

I enjoyed Dark and Shattered Lands when I was in elementary/middle school

I haven't played a MUD in over 20 years. Ack!MUDs were my favorite type.

I've been wanting to play a good MUD for a while but haven't thought it worthy enough to ask vpg for.
Haven't touched a MUD since ~2006

Any titles that can entirely be played in console?

>>3831947 (OP)
there's probably something still up but whatever it is it'll be weird cliquey shit that won't give you any understanding of what they were like in their heyday

>>3832050
>weird cliquey shit
That wouldn't be that far off, I remember abandoning a MUD because some older dude trapped and tormented by character because he was friends with all the Immortals. I just noped out of it.

>>3832055
They were cliquey back in the day because people were friends IRL at least

>>3832068
Cliques form in any ongoing online game. IRL or not, doesn't matter. The particular BBS I used to connect to this MUD was part of a net of a couple of dozen BBSes, so there was spread of people.

>>3832027
Yeah you could play any MUD in Telnet, but most players used clients for additional QoL features. I used ZMud

How would you best describe MUDs? Is it like multiplayer Zork? Or I got this wrong.

>>3832223
>Is it like multiplayer Zork?
Sorta. They're like a multiplayer RPG extension of the concept of text adventure games. You type in all the commands you're doing, north, north, east, open door, kill mob, loot corpse, wear armor, cast summon dragon dildo, etc. There's other players running around doing the same shit, you talk to each other and roleplay and form parties and whatever. There's PVP for players interested in that. Usually there will be structured kingdoms/clans/guilds you can join, the DMs ("immortals") interact with the world and host events and enforce the server rules, and so on. They were the proto-MMOs (early MMOs were basically just MUDs but with 3d graphics, instead of pure text interfaces)

>>3831947 (OP)
Aardwolf is solid. 200 average active users at most times of the day, players from all over the world. Robust on-boarding system for newbies. Very "advanced" and is recommended to pick up the custom designed MUSHclient with lots of user friendly plugins and scripts (made by one of the imms of the game, free for anyone to use). As a casual player its a great place to get a feel on a mud. The cons are very ymmv; some people/guilds seem to get preferential treatment at times. PvP is infrequent but can be very one sided especially for newbies, though you lose nothing from dying. (after getting a basic idea of it, can be beneficial to be an open PK player for extra rewards if youre up to it) It will take probably a solid 6 months of hard grinding to get to "max power" tier 9. While no mud exp is needed in the slightest, I recommend you join the beginners guild that acts as a boot camp and stay there until you graduate, and ask lots of questions. People will typically get told to read helpfiles from asking questions, but this is because the help files are always detailed and answer most questions.

Its worth a play, stick around and ill give you some good gear and a spot in a guild (they call them clans) if you need a home and hit tier 4.

>>3832253
Aardwolf doesn't do it for me, I find it very meh. Not bad though.
Having said that I would definitely suggest it as a first MUD or one to relearn to get back into them because it has a damned fine newbie training area that will give you a solid foundation for playing most MUDs.

>>3831947 (OP)
i played a few dragon ball ones but they were cliquey as fuck and basically just revolved around "the people that are always here just kill new players until they give up and leave"
i played hellmoo and got fucked a lot

>>3832223
There's actual combat and classes and levels and mobs and abilities and spells and equipment, it's not just pure text adventure and roleplay.

>>3832228
>>3832253
>>3832313
side question: are there any good text-adventure RPG games out there so that match the depth of the biggest MUDs with combat and classes and levels and mobs and abilities and spells and equipment-

or is the only way to enjoy that autism goodness is to pair it with 45 year old roleplaying pros who are overly aware that there is a divide between the experienced and a newbie and eager to bring you into the circle.

>>3831947 (OP)
in Y2K, i used to play Twilight MUD as a troll berserker or something. then i died from a super-maid and gave up.

"played" some larping only MUDs for chuckles but almost no one was online.

played that meme space-roguelike-murder-sim MUD that /vg/ or something was shilling... they kicked me after 5 mins for not larping enough. absolute state of shit MUD.

>>3832092
some graphical MUDs need those clients too.

>>3832430
>good text-adventure RPG games out there so that match the depth of the biggest MUDs with combat and classes and levels and mobs and abilities and spells and equipment-

Elona has lots of text. was shilled a lot by >>>/jp/ but i never tried it.

>>3832430
>>3832447
bot posts

>>3832448
im the jaypee guy answering a question. and reminder that pretending to be a armchair mod is a bannable offence, summer tourists.

>>3832450
bot post

>>3832430
The idea that MUDs were about roleplaying is really overrepresented. For the most part they had as much roleplaying as MMORPGs do, which is to say a handful of weirdos were into that when the vast majority were playing a multiplayer videogame just like you would now.

>>3831952
I just visited their website, they suggest using a dedicated client. Can I still telnet into it you think?

>>3832504
Yeah you can play it with just Telnet, but using a client will be more convenient/less annoying, hence the suggestion.

>>3832517
Is this the case with every MUD? Browser and clients are banned at work and my only option is telnet lol.

>>3832519
>Is this the case with every MUD?
Most likely, but it’s also been like 30 years since I played any. The mud client is for your convenience, not a requirement for the server.

I would also offer you a friendly recommendation to not play games at work, and to do your job instead. If your computer is locked down you’re probably being monitored and fucking around in Telnet will likely be logged.

Are there any classless MUDs? Kinda like Brogue for those who played it, even if it's not a MUD.

>>3832542
Anything that has ever been in an RPG has been in a MUD.

>>3832228
All this is happening real-time?

>>3831947 (OP)
I played Achaea for a few weeks back in, I don't know, 2016, 2017. It was pretty fun, I really like MUDs as a concept, but there was a lot of weird paypig lifer aura.
I took the roleplay somewhat seriously, but it was clear that there was a limit to how competent a character could be without spending money.
Eventually I drifted off. Which was a shame, because I had made a few, if not friends, I had met a few people I looked forward to playing with on a nightly basis while I was in college.
I've tried playing Aardwolf too, but I was turned off by how most of the players seems to be level 500 superhero dragonlords or whatever the fuck. Okay, how the fuck am I supposed to play with these guys? Also, they're all whales who just spent a bunch of money.
I recently tried playing Legends of the Jedi as of 2 or so years ago, but I was annoyed with how the map had no functional relationship with where I could actually go. I'm obviously not an oldfag so I like to have a basic GUI, and having the GUI be irrelevant bothered me. I waited for like a month for someone to care enough to fix it, but nobody did, so I stopped playing.

Ultimately, I really like the idea in concept, it's just that it's an obviously dead genre that only a very dedicated, autistic audience of paypigs still keep up with. Trying to onboard yourself is a real commitment when you don't have a pre-existing familiarity. I've always hoped I could be an early adopted for a new MUD that hasn't existed for like 30 fucking years, but as I said, dead genre.

>>3832544
there's typically an underlying cooldown so you can't just type cast fireball 50x and get 50 fireballs
pretty much exactly like MMORPGs

>>3832544
It’s basically discrete turn based under the hood usually, but rounds automatically progress server side after N seconds per round, maybe 6 or 10 seconds or something like that. Similar to real time without pause.

>>3832550
Hmm, maybe a MUD that restarts every 30 days or something that compensates with replayability?

Is Mudlet good launcher for this shit or are there any other better ones ?

>>3832253
Aardwolf seems ok but it also has that "baked with ubers" overoptimized feel. Not sure how *I* get to actually explore an rpg in this environment

Some things you've just missed out on and there's no going back. You can't recapture that environment of MUDs constantly popping up and crawling through MUDlists to find something interesting. It's over.

>>3832761
yeah you're right man I'm gonna stop searching and go bedrot instead

>>3832253
I'm enjoying Aardwolf as a MUD noob. I'd probably enjoy it more if it was slower pace but I groove with a completely text-based RPG. By my figuring of how these systems work
>tier 4
is way beyond what I'll ever do but none the less.

>>3831952
I played DSL in HS; even got to play a demon remort. Fun MUD.

I miss Hellmoo

>>3833102
We all do. I'm frankly glad it died, though. Community went to shit when Gilmore had his meltdown and started protecting cybersexers and the people who took over after him wanted to remove a ton of content for being 'problematic'. In a necrophilia sim.

>>3831947 (OP)
I used to play one in 1997 called Illusia. It was pretty fun. The community was nice, the game was pretty fun too. Open world and had some nice visuals here and there. My character died though and he had to stay dead or some shit. I went back but then moved on when Everquest came out in march of 99.

Simutronics' MUDs Dragonrealms and GemStone IV are the pinnacle of MUD development imo. Worth taking a look at if you're serious about playing MUDs.

>>3833178
MUDs as a business are awful. GemStone IV is full on cash shop shit now.

I sued to play a MUD about 20 years ago called Nightmist, and I've literally never heard anybody ever mention it.
Shit was cash in the era before WoW. I still remember the map layouts for a lot of it too.
From the nightmist arena to the sleeping fox tavern. e e n n n n w n n n n e
The most unique thing about it I remember was it had a pacifist class, which was forbidden from grouping with other players and could only cast healing spells. No attacks at all. You had to level up by healing players you had to manually follow around, or by casting heals of undead creatures to kill them.
I mostly played a druid though. Did literally anybody else ever play this?

>>3832519
You're going to hate doing routine things that can be put in a macro by hand over and over again. Things like casting, butchering, automoving even.
Doubt that playing a multiplayer game at work will be an enjoyable experience.

>>3832550
>I've always hoped I could be an early adopted for a new MUD that hasn't existed for like 30 fucking years
Be the change you want to see.
>but it's hard n sheeeit
Oh, really.

>>3833517
>I sued to play a MUD
why? muds are free

>>3833549
kek

>>3832550
> I've tried playing Aardwolf too, but I was turned off by how most of the players seems to be level 500 superhero dragonlords or whatever the fuck.
Any remaining MUDs that don’t suffer from this?

>>3831947 (OP)
I was there at the time but that shit was too gay for me.
I'd rather play my single player games on my own.

>>3833894
>t. touch typer

>trying to MUD
>mfw I realize my level 10 skill I ignored will combine with my level 65 skill in a neat way
>mfw I realize this realization does nothing because MUDs are trivial difficulty as RPGs

>>3834093
it's funny how these bots can't handle MUDs as a topic because it's so rare. like, look at it trying to bait nonsensically to the 6 people here who have played a MUD

>>3834102
At least he got a pity reply.

>>3834102
I just want a meaningful MUD that requires me to apply myself. Instead, everything is just trivially easy automated powerwank grind on a donation/cashshop. It's embarrassing.

>>3834142
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XheYpT7-7sE

I was having a lot of fun in the Lotr MUD that's operating still. Had a few players help show me the ropes and get off my feet. Really great community. Can't believe some people play as trolls! It's hard enough understanding what's going on in the game without having to monitor daylight hours. Dunno why I gave it up. I suppose I'd still play if I made some friends on it.

>>3835466
>the Lotr MUD that's operating still
This doesn't narrow it down.

>>3836043
NTA, but it does. Its literally THE lotr mud, its basically the oldest operating mud out there. Perhaps the most notable mud of them all. If you can't find it you didn't try.

>>3836441
I tried finding "THE" lotr mud and I found 3 all acting like they're THE lotr mud with 3 more lotr muds

>>3836686
DESU I did forget about The Two Towers, so I get ya on the confusion.
But the actual mud in question is https://mume.org/
Its been in operation since about 1991.

>>3836707
Do you recommend to a beginner?

>>3836707
Trying MUME and I liked it A LOT but it looks small in world size and with this cloud of PK focus hanging over it. Otherwise it's almost ideal.
Trying The Two Towers and I'm less enthused (but still like it more than something like Aardwolf) but it appears huge.

>>3838082
PK = player killing? which ones don't focus on this?

real niggas remember Basternae

>>3838400
wiggers didn't play MUDs

I spent about 25 years playing MUDs. I doubt that I'll get back into them, and I doubt there's going to to be anything new that's really good coming out. It's a genre dying a slow death.

Merentha was a great LP mud. > 20,000 rooms. Fighter, Mage, Monk, Cleric, Rogue classes with a bunch of subclasses. Tons of races. You grind mobs for xp to improve stats and skills.
It's definitely got a major learning curve at the start before you know about healing salve and mp orbs and how to get money to afford them.
Good news is that it doesn't matter what you start as you increase all your stats and can theoretically change race if a white cleric is around higher level than you when you die.

>>3832223
It's text based MMO. The game updates every 2 seconds which isn't really different than mmos with their gcd fuckery.

>>3832253
Pay2win for a fucking MUD is some bullshit.

>>3838464
>he didn't play Basternae

>>3839178
If I was just interested in a brainless MMO I'd just play a brainless MMO that actually has graphics and engaging systems. The problem with so many MUDs is just that; instead of utilizing the novelty of text-based gameplay they all circled the same drain of being noveltyless grindfarm.
Blurring class roles through grind actually makes it worse.

So far, MUME has been the best MUD mentioned in the entire thread.

>>3839287
You only say that because you've never played Dragonrealms.

I consider myself an expert on this topic. It's rare for me to talk about MUDs outside the medium of them. I've rarely spoke of them.

I've played hundreds of MUDs. Maybe 10 of them, I've put more than 1000 hours into. A few of them, I have many thousands of hours each. One, I've had over a year in total hours spent playing. More than 365 days of play time. After the decades I've spent playing MUDs, my brain has been trained to do sight reading. I can read an entire page of text in an instant.

The mechanically best MUDs I've ever played have been HellMOO and Discworld MUD. They innovate on the medium greatly, or innovated in the case of HellMOO. There was a great PVP MUD that I played, but it's been shut down for some years now.

I would definitely recommend Discworld MUD to people that are new to MUDs. It's mechanically rich, and if you're interested in magic the wizards in it are great, though pick the class you're most interested in.

>anime avatar posting
so... do the exact opposite of whatever this faggot said

>>3839380
Oh- And when I say that I recommend Discworld MUD. The players there tend to be friendly, and helpful. Be nice to people if you try it, and if you don't want to be nice then just don't play it.

>>3839380
>the medium
lol

>>3831947 (OP)
I remember playing quite a few of Russian MUDs back in the day, such as Былины and Aлaдoн. The latter specifically, the comunity there is very helping, even played from a phone on trips. I wonder if my character has been deleted over the years.

>>3833178
>Pay to play MUDs good
Are you that Simtronicsfag that goes nuts if anyone talks shit about them and requires hundreds of players for a mud to be good because you are an insufferable cunt that no one will interact with when it is low population?
You might not be but that guy is in every mud thread and is always a laugh when they spurg out.

>>3839464
Nope.

Tangentially related to the thread, but which would you guys prefer, a traditional/MUD style text game where everything is text or something that's text + an UI for inventory and the like?

>>3839775
Not to pick on you, because you're just trying to converse, but I wouldn't want to play a game made by someone who asks this question.

>>3839775
I played a game like this.

It was called Realms of Kaos. That was about 25 years ago. It's still running but under a different name.

I actually have a memory from that game that I remember vividly. Travelling between towns was dangerous and there was hostile NPCs. Someone offered to take me to the next town, and we stopped somewhere to camp in the wild. And I remember him giving me a crystal dagger and I thought that was the coolest thing ever.

>>3839775
Simutronics MUD frontends are an example of the most UI I would want.

>>3839793
>Realms of Kaos
I'm pretty sure I either seen or played this in the past.

>>3839795
>Simutronics MUD frontends
That's a great reference.

Thank you anons.

>>3839828
This was it

>>3839872
Well that's a staff screenshot. Here's one as a player

I used to like Ages of Despair. It's effectively dead, but I really enjoyed the classes, the hack & slash, and the world. It's on the cloud so it's eternal now, but sucks it's not more active. It does still have a couple wizards on it, though, who seem to be fixing and adding content, so maybe it's not as dead as I thought.