The Eternal City is a Roman Based, Fantasy MUD connecting players in a world unlike any other available on the internet. Recently having gone Free to Play with Subscription Options (no cash shops or pay to win) I returned to this MUD to find it advanced in combat, role-play, and GM interaction to a level not seen since the glory days of MUDDing in the 90s. It is not without it's issues, but those are eclipsed by the active, passionate, and dedicated players and GMs.

Pros

Sandbox -The Eternal City allows a player to embark in a true sandbox, where ones own actions, skills, etc affect how that character is perceived in the game world. Players run the Army (Legion), the police force (Constables) and participate in a government and legal system based off of early/mid Republic Rome. A new player is brought through a tutorial and thrust into the action, sometimes without guidance, but players quickly step in to provide advice, armor, and basic equipment to get your started. You can then set off building a gladiator, Legionary, Thief, Bandit, or aid to one of the cities wealthy patrician families.

Combat - Combat itself is fast paced, extremely detailed with a body part and critical system, and dozens of skills that can make or break you in PvE and PvP fights. You need to keep on your toes in battle and simple macros of slash, jab, strike will no work. PvP and PvE entail some strategy and in large battles, especially involving the war between Iridine (Rome) and Cinera (Gauls/Etruscans) things can move very quickly and get your heart pounding.

The GMs - Responsive, bug fixing, event holding, team of dedicated indivuals

The Lore - The world, Midlight, is extremely rich in lore and players are put in the forefront of it through their daily interactions. The world is rich with history, religion, warfare, adventure, and danger.

RP - Always there. Usually excellent and it is enforced.

Neutral

Player base - This game needs more people. When Skotos took it over and it became Pay-To-Play the numbers declined. A few hearty folks can -definitly- make a name for themselves getting involved now and I have done that. Now that is has a free to play option, slowly growing but dedicated players base, it has great potential.

Cons

Evolution - The game progress slowly, with time seemingly dragging on. The war between Iridine and Cinera, for example, has not progressed much from 10 years ago. The Government has never had an election in recent memory. However, this is not a drastic problem as the game revolves around the players building stories and not some of the background info.

Learning Curve - Initially Steep, but what MUD isn't? Once you get a friend or two you're well on your way.

Economy - Not much of one to speak of. No real money sink as players have made oodles of cash. You can act as a trader and broker to move nice, custom items around, but no player run shops are supported.

Overall:

Pretty awesome game, especially for combat enthusiasts and those wishing to get away from the 'high fantasy' MUDs and play something gripping like the Roman Republic it is based on. This game has a ton of potential and, with the right players, will shine.

The Eternal City is a game I've been playing off and on since 1998, and one that anyone who enjoys Roman Themed games and role-playing games in general should try. The strongpoint lies within its unique combat system. Instead of automated attacks where you input skills, you choose how, when and where you want to attack. All skills use a skill-based system, controlling the difficulty of the skills making way for strategic approaches to fights.

But the detailed combat system isn't all that the game has to offer skill-wise... The game also has detailed non-combat playability. Aside from role-played non-combat abilities, which the game provides for with its plethora of essential items and free emote commands, the game has skills for hunting, outdoor survival, pickpocketing, sneaking around the streets, tailoring, and healing. All of these skillsets are just as, if not more, detailed than the combat structure of the game.

The gameworld is very expansive, and includes many different environments and cultures within in. It is loosely-based on Roman times, which is shown through the equipment in the game, as well as the technology available. The main location, Iridine, is even based off of Rome itself.

The game itself is free to play and you get a free month to try the paid service. Come on by and give us a look, you might be surprised with what you find!

Are you tired of stomping through Moria and battling orcs? Do you get sick of combat that's so mundane and uncustomizable that you may as well be playing Diablo? Well, I'd like to introduce you to a game called The Eternal City.

The Eternal City is a roleplay enforced game which takes place in a fictional Rome-like city called Iridine. Its culture, history, and social structure mimic that of Rome as well. Unlike other roleplay intensive games, The Eternal City does have a global channel, though it is not OOC in nature. It's called the think-net, and not only is it kept IC, the conversation is normally of extreme importance to the gameworld.

Combat in the Eternal City is very advanced, with each individual round of combat controlled by the person behind the keyboard. If you want to jab with your gladius (sword) you can jab. If you want to sweep with your stave, you can do so. And if you want to drive your opponent to the ground, impaling through their entire body with your spear, well you can do that too. Combat effectiveness is controlled both by stats rolled when you first create your character, and skill gained from the time you begin your combat training. Some weapons also have different styles, offering you a variety of ways to fight using the exact same weapon. Because of the depth of the combat system, you'll never find two combatants exactly the same.

Is combat not your thing? No worries. The Eternal City also has a number of non-combat skills to occupy you. My main character, Leafus, is a hunter and outdoorsman. This means he can set traps, make torches, even build crude shelters to protect him from the elements and from animals he might encounter in the wild. There are also skillsets for locksmithing, healing, and even tailoring. The Eternal City also boasts the most advanced pickpocketing and thievery mechanics on the entire web, and I stand by that. Working up your skill in these works exactly like it does with combat, by actually using the skills involved.

Do both of these sound fantastic to you, but you don't think you'll be able to master all of them with one character? No worries there either. All accounts to the Eternal City boast a number of OOC features, including two characters per basic account. Not only that, but for every hour you're logged into the Eternal City, you'll be earning role-points, which you can spend on fun OOC items, in-game skill points, items, character alterations, even custom attacks to help you slay your foes.

Here we come to the bad news about The Eternal City. It is a pay to play game, with a monthly cost of 12.95 USD. Keep in mind that there is a 30 day free trial, with nothing required of you but your name and an email address. This trial account won't only grant you access to the Eternal City, but a whole slew of fun and intriguing games, roleplay and otherwise. These include Grendel's Revenge, a game where you play as a monster trying to protect your world against a human invasion, and Ticket to Ride, a board game based upon building railways around the United States and Europe. All in all, it's well worth the money I've been paying in for the last few years.

I'm just asking you to stop in and give it a try. I'm sure you'll be hooked in a matter of hours. If you want to include a referrel, my account name is themanofwar. I'm a recruit for an organization called the Divortium Auxilii, which exists completely to help those new to the game. If you see me in the welcome area, or my character in game, I'll be happy to answer any questions you have, as will any members of the divortium auxilii. I hope you see you there!

The Eternal City is a unique MUD that isn't for everyone. For starters, RP'ing isn't optional; it's enforced. There aren't 'traditional' classes such as warrior, rogue, etc. The skill systems are fluid, allowing you to be anything you want to be. You can be an innocent healer, tending to the wounded by day and a nefarious cutpurse by night. You can be a stalwart legionary with the know-how to signal his comrades with Thief's Cant. You can be anything you want to be, the only limit is your imangination.

The game world is enormous, alive, and full of mystery. Venture into the God of Death's realm to attain a cure for someone afflicted with the sun curse, head to the holy city of Monlon to visit the Temple, explore the town of Rock Valley and the barbarian tribes to the south, or gaze at the undone hidden among the throngs of people in the city's slums district.

The combat system is incredibly complex with many, many skills and sub-styles. One can wield sword and shield, the mace, a stave, the knife or fighting dirk, the gladiatorial weapons such as tridents, whips, and the cestus (spiked gloves), the one-handed axe or venture to the barbarian tribes in order to learn the two-handed axe. One can become a freelance mercenary and learn the Avros style of swordsmanship in order to better distance himself and deal with multiple foes, learn the Nelsor style of sword combat to make flashy strikes and show-off in the arena, or become a member of the Legions and employ the Pardelian style of shield-to-shield line combat.

If fighting isn't for you, there are also non-combat based skill sets. Outdoorsmanship such as building a lean-to shelter out in the woodlands, foraging for grubs and berries, and making rope. Hunting Lore in order to track and kill game, set traps, fish, and skin your kills. Healing, such as cleaning a minor scrape or stitching a near-fatal bleeder. Pickpocketing, with skills to lift a purse, or pull off the feats of an escape artist. Setups to mark a victim of the thieves' trade. Street Smarts to navigate the grimy backalleys of the slum district unseen. Tailoring to stitch together a traveling cloak for the poorest commoner, or the finest silk toga for a noble patrician. Locksmithing, to forge and replace new keys and crack open those bothersome locks.

There are hundreds of professions that don't depend on skills or player-interaction, either. Open a locked coffer for a citizen who misplaced his keys, guard a caravan from bandits and brigands, dive for clams and pearls, grind flour, clean nets, scavenge through the dumps, etc.

There's plenty to do in The Eternal City, so why don't you take a look?

A lot of changes have taken place in the world The Eternal City calls its home. From the vast range of combat weapons you can choose from, to the pattern additions of tailoring, to crafting a key as a locksmith. Living the life of a warrior, a humble tailor, a loner hunter, these are just a few of the many aspects of The Eternal city. With such a large scale world and roleplaying happening all around you, you can't help but get involved and enjoy the game.

The Eternal-City is one of the best MUD's ever created, if not the best. It has everything you can wish for: combat skillsets, non-combat skillsets, pickpocketing related skillsets and many more.

Roleplaying is mandatory in this game, meaning that you have to keep your character in a roman-set theme all the time.

You can play mostly anything you wish, but there is no magick involved in this game. All the skillsets provided are of weapons or skills that were actually used in the roman times.

The gameworld is huge, it has well over 30,000 rooms and well descripted ones. The gameworld keeps on improving and getting bigger every year.

The combat system is one of the best to ever be created, it isn't as simple as Achaea's or other games of the like. You can actually aim your attacks and there will be various blocks for different attacks. In this game, you do not have EXP, it is based on SP; skill points. Skills points can be earned throughout a weekly cycle which is restarted every cycle (meaning that you keep any SP made, but that it will be easier to make new SP's at the beginning of the next cycle).

If you are looking for a world where you can submerse yourself into, TEC is for you, since it has great role-playing capacities and many skillsets as well as politics that are well established and written. In this game, your actions can have an impact on various political outcomes. If you get arrested too many times, you may end up having a trial and being penalized.

I've played this game for a very long time and I must admit that I have never seen any other MUD's that could possibly come close to this one.

The author of this game is the one who made Star Chamber, known as the best independent game of 2005.

Come give it a try, it's free for the first month and then you can decide whether or not it is worth paying for this game.

Don't believe the hype.

There's only one real crafting system, tailoring, and it's limited at best. There's no PK without stringent authorization and acceptance by the party to be killed.

The mechanics of the system are torqued and unstable, as is the server. There are no quests, and skillsets get nerfed instead of fixed because the staff of coders they have don't have a clue how to do their job. If you pick a stat modifier in character generation that's bugged you deal with it, because it won't be changed or fixed anytime soon.