This MUD is definitely a mixed bag. It does a lot of things right, and a few things...not so right.

First, the good news. Job balance is being worked on constantly, and there are a ton of viable endgame builds. A few are still better than (or worse than) others, but whether you want to use magic or physical attacks, you should find something to please you. Ditto missions. More and more are being added, and it makes you feel like you're part of a story. The player base is small but pretty polite, with virtually none of the flaming and ridiculousness claimed in old reviews. Typos are few, and the game world is built quite well. Areas are still being updated and added pretty regularly.

Now, for the not so great news. First and foremost, quests. Quests are optional, but it's very neat to do them. And you can't talk about them at all. You can't even ask for a strategy to beat a boss, or for a syntax clue. You might not get nuked for it, but it's severely frowned upon and no one will help you. Some quests aren't too bad, but some of the higher-level ones are brutal. Next, accessibility. The game is pretty accessible, but battle moves fast. Enemies are relentless. And one fight in particular (which actually happens to be related to a quest) runs a script that changes its weakness from one thing to another. Needless to say that reading this with a screenreader and trying to keep up with the insane amount of damage dealt is kind of difficult. Difficult enough that forty levels above the recommended level I was still dying. I'm told that triggering can help get around this, but I've never used triggers myself, and this is definitely something to bear in mind. Most of the game is fine here, but some bosses are just mean. Next, tedium. It takes a long, long time to level once you get fairly strong. You will be killing literally hundress of mobs per level, and there are no alternative ways of gaining exp. Missions help, but they start becoming more sparse at high levels. Settle in for the long haul. Next and last, death. Death makes you lose up to 30 percent of your exp, with the caveat that if someone raises you from the dead your suffering is only about half of that. At mid to high levels, you can lose hours of progress by dying. Oh, and might I add that while you're dead and waiting to be raised, you can't do anything at all except talk on the death channel. Players are usually pretty good about helping, but they have exactly 120 seconds (2 minutes) to do it in. Die when no one's around, and it's going to hurt. And you will die, I promise.

So, in conclusion, this is a fairly challenging mud with a relatively steep learning curve and some really obnoxious quests and bosses, but it's built well and has a ton of customization as far as how you want to play. Just be aware of what you're getting into. None of the 'bad news' I cited should be taken as condemnation, as I still play there sometimes, but if things like that are deal-breakers for you, stay away. If not, though, come and join the fun.

Hello MUDders, I started up on The Unofficial Squaresoft MUD a few months ago and wanted to share some of my experience with you. I have been MUDding for approximately 15 years now and have experience with many of the major code base derivatives and the more popular MUDs operated today. I have been very impressed with UOSS for it's originality, quality and accessibility.

The game obviously pulls from a lot of existing Squaresoft content, but has built a unique and interesting world around it specific to the game. There are several different Squaresoft games represented with a primary theme around Final Fantasy. SImilarly, a job system has been adapted from Final Fantasy Tactics, but has incorporated inspiration from many different sources. On top of that there are several additional quirks in the quests and 'side quests' throughout the game to unlock special equipment, classes and areas.

As a long term MUDder, I have certain biases and expectations from any MUD that I play. One thing that I notice immediately, and UOSS has done well, is a clean presentation. The game is well parsed, written and formatted to make it much easier to read and engage with. Pet peeves aside, the game is also organized and balanced across the world and across the class/job system. Even more than that, there is an intelligent and active staff that is working on making additions and improvements all of the time, which is great to find in a MUD these days.

The last thing I'll mention is the thing that got much hooked, which is the game's accessibility. This covers several things, starting with a very quick and straight forward newbie school to get you directly into the game. There is also a great wiki with documentation that is particularly helpful for finding the right equipment and areas to help you keep momentum as you play. The last, and a personal favorite, is a mission system that will provide you with mini-quests to help you explore new areas around your level as well as giving rewards to accelerate your advancement.

Overall, I'm having a great time on this game and I would recommend it for anyone searching. I live in Aus and keep strange hours, but there are regularly active players online who are friendly and helpful if you have any questions when you stop by.

Cheers, Teahupoo

As a long time fan of Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, and other classic Square Enix games, UOSSMUD is probably the most wonderfully nostalgic online game - MUD or otherwise - that I have ever played.

You use a job system straight out of the game with the best job system ever made: Final Fantasy Tactics. Except, not entirely. Where the skills from FFT don't translate well to a MUD, or where it would simply be interesting or beneficial to do so, they add in classic Final Fantasy skills from other games, such as some of Final Fantasy 9's Knight and Dragoon skills, some of Sabin's skills from FF6 in the Monk job, a large number of FF5 skills, and even some entire jobs that weren't in Final Fantasy Tactics, such as Red Mage, Blue Mage, Marksman, Magitek Knight, SOLDIER, and Trainer.

Similarly, the worlds in this MUD are all straight out of old Squaresoft games. You can explore all of Final Fantasy 5, 6, and 7, Chrono Trigger, and Secret of Mana. And they are AMAZINGLY accurate to the original Super Nintendo and Playstation games. Uncannily so. If you have played the original games, you will never get lost.

With that in mind, they didn't really have to put a lot of work into making the game *good*. It was enough for me that it was so much like the games I loved. But they did it anyway. The wizards at this MUD have actually put a huge amount of work into the game to make it fun and entertaining. Not all of their decisions are popular, but overall they've managed to combine systems from many different Squaresoft games to create something that somehow manages to feel unique and fun. One of the best examples of this is the fur shop. An ability from Final Fantasy Tactics that lets players skin monsters as they're slain was added last year, and works in conjunction with the license system from Final Fantasy 12 and the synthesis system from Kingdom Hearts to let the player create powerful equipment if they're willing to put in the work. That sounds convoluted, and is a little complicated, but it works together better than I thought it would. There are a lot of examples of this type of thing, though some of them work better than others. There are a few miserable failures, like the Deep Dungeon and certain quests, but I just ignore those parts of the game. (And, hey, maybe someone likes the impossible quests...)

If there's one problem with this MUD, it's the animosity between the immortals and some of the older players. It gets ridiculous sometimes, as they're both apparently convinced the other is trying to destroy the MUD and/or murder a litter of orphaned kittens, and they will scream at each-other for a while before I get sick of listening and turn the channel off. If they could shut up once in a while I might stay online for longer. But as long as no one is arguing incoherently about tedious BS, it's a high quality MUD with a fantastic sense of nostalgia.

This MUD in my opinion is possibly the BEST FF MUD ever. However as the years went by, this MUD becomes worse and worse due to the decisions made by the head admin. Many classes have become what is believed to be 'balanced' or in other terms useless. Many staff try their best to fix this, but under the evil dictatorship of Mecha, they fail. He runs this mud with an iron hand and sadly, it's horrible because of it. This is one of those imms who has a great mud and codebase, but refuses to take outside suggestions. So as time goes by, people who come by and try to help, just leave and give up. Many still log on occasionally hoping the MUD has changed are sorely disappointed.

I write this review out of sheer frustration because I know, eventually this mud will completely close down because no one except the few who still log on everyday will play it. Sadly those players are just a handful now. I hate it, when such a great MUD codebase like UOSSMUD has to go down because of someone who can't control his own ego. I wish Kesac never passed it down to Mecha. He never cared even in the beginning. He's just ruining it on purpose for everyone else.

To start, I'd like to say that I haven't MUDed in a few years before this time. However, finals were over, and I was bored. A friend of mine suggested I try UOSS(The Unofficial Squaresoft MUD)(waits to see if they change their name to Square-Enix), since he knew I really enjoyed the various Squaresoft RPGs out there.

Oddly, I was warned that UOSS was not overly newbie friendly, and that I should be careful of what I said over public communication. Heck, even the MUD's profile here mentions Adult orientation. After venturing forth with some trepidation, I quickly encountered quite the opposite of the above. Players and staff alike quickly answered questions on their 'newbie' channel. Without even asking, higher leveled players assisted me with various things. And as far as saying things across public lines, responses were fairly mature and sometimes adult oriented, but nothing was responded to hostilely or rudely.

A little more on the populace: The playerbase is very active, with a good range of low level players to ones at the top end of the spectrum. The staff seems to be fairly active, with frequent updates on new areas, quests, and general interaction with the players.

Playing experience: Upon entering the MUD, you have the chance to learn the basics on most aspects of adventuring through a neat little newbie school. There is only one race you can start as (though a few others open up after reaching much higher levels), and you play by using various jobs/classes based on Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy 3/5. This system allows you to set a Primary and Secondary job, as well as a counter and special inherent ability from any job you've learned. You gain points to spend on the skills/spells in each job through combat. It all works rather well, one might argue that the syntax to using abilities is a little tedius, but you get used to it very quickly. Stats: When gaining a normal level you are given a random set of stat combinations you can choose from (Strength, Agility, Vitality, Wisdom, and Willpower). Also, there is no level limit in place, so stat expansion goes as far as you take it.

Misc: Various things I found to be fun/interesting/cool, the quests, there are quite a number of them, whem completing one you receive quest points that give you special powers and a reduction in experience to the next level(%) after each level, some also grant you a new job or some kind of item(weapon, armor, etc). They do not require you to eat, drink, or sleep, which was a huge plus to me! There is also a PK system, but it is completely voluntary, so you won't be affected if you don't choose to be PK 'on'. Something very creative is the Militia, a army composed of players, run by players and some of the staff, with the goal to defend the main town (Elsendor) against the evil Lucavi armies. Clans do also exist, however, they seem to be limited in activity at the moment.

All in all, this has been one of the most pleasant experiences I've had with a MUD. If you can appreciate a varied array of conversation, like Squaresoft games, and of course enjoy a mostly hack-n-slash-n-(spell of your choice) with a variety of quests and side events experience, then you should most definitely give UOSS a try!

The statements below are entirely the opinion of the player writing this review:

Alright, first and foremost, I want to say, this MUD DOES have some neat coding tricks. You can switch jobs, neat magic, balanced'ish' classes.

The problem is.. they're all jerks. Every last person on this MUD is a complete and utter arse-rag. They say that asking questions on 'newbie' is supposed to illicit honest answers, but even this isn't true. I was verbally abused extensively, told that I was wrong, etc. When I proved that I was right, they didn't apologize.. they said 'well why didn't you say so sooner you stupid loser?'

Unless you intend to play this well coded MUD entirely solo, with all channels off, don't bother spending the time to go through the more or less useless newbie school.

Much much better MUDs out there, with much better players.

Okay, UOSSM. Alot to say about this mud. I've tried playing three times and I'll be flat and level. I only came because one of the wizards, a friend, asked me to. So I played for about fifteen levels, and got fed up with alot of stupid people I found on the mud. Couple that with personal matters that do not reflect upon the mud, I stopped. I came back, made it to level 60 and I suicided because frankly I set things up poorly, no one to blame but myself.

The MUD rocks, I really do enjoy playing it. The people as prior statements go, are pretty accurate. Alot of them flame and generally make morons of themselves. Some do it in fun, some just are. But if you turn off the apropo channels or learn to deal with it, it's not so bad.

The job system is very spiff, hidden classes, per se', with reqs that actually take some thought and work is a definite plus. The classes are sort of balanced, there are a few that stand out as being unholy, but it's not easy to attain, so in and of itself they balance out.

The admin are generally fairly helpful, if you catch them unidle. *coughs* ;) But overall, they're able to help newbies in distress or lowbies, what have you.

That's the long and short, really. It's a good quality mud and always something to do. My only REAL gripe is lack of RP. It has the potential, but no one is willing. ^_- IF you see me on ask and if I can help or provide insight I will.