TMC Player Reviews: Legends of the Jedi

Review Submitted By: Pakan
Author Status: Player
Started on Legends of the Jedi: 2000
Submission Date: Sep 22, 2005
TMC Listing: Legends of the Jedi

The following review is the opinion of the review's author [Pakan] and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff.

LOTJ…where to begin. To start off, I’d like to say that I’ve been
playing LOTJ for roughly 4 or 5 years…way before the current Immortal
administration came into place. I devoted a lot of time and effort
into the game back then, and I –thoroughly- enjoyed it (actually, I
loved it). The game had a much, much smaller playerbase, creating a
more communal environment, and the game pretty much remained stock,
with some code and building modifications here and there. The two main
Immortal administrators at the time were far from perfect, one who was
seemingly addicted to the ‘slay’ command, and the other who liked to
create godly, all-powerful mortals which he used to kill the rest of
the players, but I loved the game nonetheless. Suffice it to say, I
was an LOTJ addict.

And now we come to LOTJ today. It’s clear to me, that things have
drastically changed. Though it is true that I have been an on and off
player since the current Immortal administration took over, I’ve been
here long enough to make some clear distinctions between how things
used to be run, and how things are run now. The current owners of the
game, Anna and Orion, came to the game in 2003 as builders. With a
rift between the then-owners of the game (Ghost and Raven), Anna and
Orion somehow propelled themselves into full-time Immortals with much
more power than builders. Raven eventually quit due to his
disagreement with Ghost, and Ghost, realizing that he had no more time
for the game, gave LOTJ away to Anna and Orion.

In their two year reign as owners and head-Immortals…Anna and Orion
have done a lot for the game. I mean a lot. They have spent
–countless- hours coding and building new areas, with the product
being some fantastic areas and game systems in place. They have hired
a plethora of Immortals to take care of building and PR issues, and
have created an RP Council…whose sole aim is to settle disputes
between players. And their labor has indeed borne fruits, them being
the 50+ players on average (as opposed to the record high of 20 back
under the old Immortal administration). LOTJ has drastically grown and
become one of the biggest and most known Star Wars MUDs out there.

But sadly, for all the good they have caused, bad has also followed.
There have been two drastic changes, and those two are the rise of
nepotism, and the implementation of an Immortal driven storyline. It
is my –strong- belief that the current stance on rules is absurd.
Orion seems to have created a rule for everything (there are about 14
helpfiles telling you what you can or can’t do). I basically can’t
even take a crap without violating some rule…it’s really frustrating.
It –totally- ruins the MUD dynamic…and LOTJ is no longer a game, but it
is more of a Immortal run story that the players are mere pawns in.
We, the players, have no say in what we can or can’t do because it is
the Immortals who decide everything for us. They decide when the
timeline shifts (there are three timelines on LOTJ, Old Republic
Era, Imperial Era, and New Republic Era), they decide who leads each
clan (through application), and they decide what clan can do what. It
drives me nuts. The other problem that I see is nepotism which seems
to be practiced by the Immortals quite often. More and more I see
incompetent, loud and annoying people placed into important roles
(some are made PR Immortals, some are given leadership of clans).
After observing and assessing their behavior, it strikes me as
apparent that some of these people lack intelligence and leadership
potential. So then I ask, why are they given such positions? Also, the
people who are the loudest and most annoying on OOC (those considered
“popular” via their constant stupidity over OOC) are usually the ones
who are the leaders of the game. Mere coincidence? Personally, I think
not. And it is also funny how the general populace bends over backward
to cater to Orion’s needs. Orion is hailed and practically worshipped
on LOTJ. Intelligent people, with experience and knowledge, are often
times ignored and those who suck up the most get whatever they wish.
An unfortunate situation. I would also like to add that many of the
Immortals are rather unfriendly, and not very helpful. I rarely ever
ask anything of the Immortals, and when I do occasionally ask a
question via the ‘Immchat’, I am almost -always- ignored. What…art
thou too holy to answer my pitiful questions? Am I not good enough?
It’s strange….though I would just like to add quickly that Lydia, a PR
Immortal who deals with players, is fantastic, and the few times that
I have personally messaged her, she has always responded with kind and
courteous replies. Compel, another PR Immortal, also does a good job.
For the most part though, most Immortals totally ignore people and
only cater to the needs of those who suck up, or their friends.

The conclusion I came up with is that if you are a quiet, intelligent
person who wants to log on to play a game and RP, and who wants to
contribute to the game through action and not baseless rhetoric, than
the game is not for you. The rules will stifle your potential and
character RP, and you’ll end up being just another ‘filler’ for the
IMMs and their story. Constrained by the rules and the sheer amount of
Immortal controlled puppets who will not give up their seats of power,
you will feel powerless and will quickly lose interest in the game.
The game I loved is no more. But than again, that is just my opinion.
I would encourage anyone and everyone to try out the game, and draw
your own conclusions. What works for one, might not work for another,
and vice-versa