Review Submitted By: Jared
Author Status: Player
Started on RetroMUD: About 2 Years ago
Submission Date: Mar 21, 2004
TMC Listing: RetroMUD
The following review is the opinion of the review's author [Jared]
and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff.
I first began playing RetroMUD about a year and a half ago.
I have been playing MUDs since 1996 and have played a lot
of MUDs. Very few MUDs have ever met my standards. What I
look for in a MUD is something that is unique and offers
something more than just repetitive combat. I first learned
about RetroMUD from a banner on a MUD search engine. To tell
the truth the name RetroMUD always turned me off trying
out the game when I frist saw the banner about 3 years ago. I
would see the banner and go RetroMUD? What kind of name is
that. Finally one day i decided to take a look at it. I first
went to their website. There was a lot of information and I
learned that it was an LP MUD. Why is that important? Well, it
completely depends on personal preference. I tend to like LP
Muds because of their system command structure, and that they
usually have races and more focus on RP than DIKU based MUDS,
but that is just a personal preference.
RetroMUD's website was very well done and provided alot of
information about the game, races, guilds, skills, and spells.
This was important to me because I have played a lot of games
with poor websites (little or no information) and was simply
turned off to the game from the lack of effort in their public
presence on the web. I am not saying this is one of the most
important features, but it was a major factor in helping me
decide to try RetroMUD for the first time. I was intrigued by
the many races and the significant differences between them.
I was amazed at how many guilds you can choose from, and the
idea of a guild path. Probably the number one factor in my
trying this game for the first time was the Dragon race. I
mean whoa, I can be a dragon? I wonder if they are powerful? How
is it balanced? Those are some of the questions that led to my
first character on RetroMUD.
In RetroMUD you get exp for every new room you explore. This
is a very good thing for newbies and at first I found it to be
fairly entertaining. I began to explore the 'Retroverse' and I
began to see some really neat features that I had not seen on
other MUDs. There were 6 worlds with their own individual
features, methods of interplanetary transportation, layout, and
theme. The first feature that stunned me was depth. And when
I say depth I mean that you can fly and swim above and below
the current plan. RetroMUD has a color ASCII wilderness map,
and that map is not two dimensional but three dimensional. This
means you can fly up into the clouds or swim to the bottom of
the ocean.
An example of a neat feature that I have not seen anywhere
else is the planet Raji. Raji is the air planet and is made of
many floating islands. You need to fly from island to island
to get around. There is also a ship that can take you to the
major islands, but true freedom on this planet requires flight.
The Races of RetroMUD are amazing. In most MUDs I have played
races are just a different set of standard stats. Meaning if
you are a strong race you have a bonus and a weak race you have
a penalty to the appropriate stats. In RetroMUD stats are not
the only thing different about races. Races have individual
and different racial commands, emotes, size, armor slots,
regeneration rates, skills and spell maximums, and vision. The
vision aspect of RetroMUD can be very anoying, but whoever
thought of it was a genius. There are races who can only see
in the dark. I have never seen that on another MUD. Most of
the time races with dark vision can pretty much see all the
time. In RetroMUD there are four different light levels and races
can be divided by what light levels they can see. This can
sound complicated, but it adds an interesting twist to the game
playing a dark seeing only race trying to find your way around
on a well lighted world.
Guilds on RetroMUD are another feature that makes RetroMUD
stand out. RetroMUDs guild system is extremely complex but
allows players the freedom to pretty much create any character
they wish. The maximum level in retromud is 100, during those
100 levels you join various guilds. These guilds give you
skills, spells, and stats. By the choices you make you form a
guild path that determines what kind of character you are.
From a mage specialized in poison damage to a fighter
specialized in fencing weapons. Another significant feature is
the inclusion of trade guilds. Merchant and Alchemist are
guilds that allow players to be intergrated into the economy of
RetroMUD. Armor and weapons can only be worn if they fit your
size. Thus they need to be resized by a merchant. Weapons
don't keep their resize past reboot, so they need to be resized
every day. Alchemist can add elemental damage to your
weapons.
RetroMUD is an extremely complex game, that's why I like it.
However it is not very newbie friendly. In order for a newbie
to succeed here he either has to have had some experience with
MUDs, have a friend that can help them learn, or be very
determined. RetroMUD has a lot to offer players, but it takes a
long time to get there. Leveling is slower than any other MUD
I have played. This can lead to a lot of frustration.
Another important fact is that RetroMUD is not really a solo
MUD. As you gain levels it will become more and more difficult
to solo. So if you don't interact well with other people you
will struggle in retromud. However if you are a friendly person
who is willing to learn you will enjoy the how different players
come together to take down tough opponents.
Come and join us, though the path be long and difficult, the
journey will be worth it.
Strega Streyclaw
