Review Submitted By: Mike
Author Status: Player
Started on Ashirion: The Broken Sphere: January, 2005
Submission Date: Oct 16, 2005
TMC Listing: Ashirion: The Broken Sphere
The following review is the opinion of the review's author [Mike]
and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff.
Ashirion is a massive, original world with so much history that your
first few hours on the MU* are spent swimming in it. At first this
seems like a daunting task but when dealing with any new world is it
not important to have a decent background? A decent hold on what is
going on? In this regard, Ashirion more than provides.
Now, in my opinion, a detailed history is great but I enjoy equally
creative races or species. I have played on a number of fantasy MU*
and after awhile, the basic human, elf, dwarf combo with it's variety
of variants becomes tiresome. Not trying to bash these races/species,
they are after all classics in many a sense, but playing something new
and exciting, stepping out of the box, can be a refreshing experiance.
Once again, Ashirion provides both of these things. Ever played one of
the cat-like Felin, the Foxlin (the name gives it away ;) ), or
jackal-headed Ishanti? Or, better yet, if your rp is up to snuff and
you can provide a substantial background for your character, perhaps
one of the application races is for you. In any case, a host of both
old and new races/species (they are referred to as species in
Ashirion) are available to play.
Another beautiful thing about this MU* is its incredibly free form
environment. I can easily say that it is the most free form out of any
MU* I have ever played. This is accomplished in two main ways:
Firstly, there is no combat system in the usual sense. Combat is a
consent-based series of poses (actions) that the players enact as
their characters. That is, one person may say lunge in an open-ended
pose and the other will literally choose how or if they are wounded
based on their skills and the other persons and the overall basic
structure of their opponents pose. When this style is done properly,
(I'll get to the opposite shortly) it is a lot more fun than watching
a computer battle for you.
The second way the MU* accomplishes its freedoms is through a unique
magic system. You, the player, get to literally create your set of
spells based on a set of factors (your skill at magic in general for
example) and limitations (can't have gods walking around now can
we?). The staff are more than helpful in working this out with the
players though, for a variety of very good reason which I won't get
into, first time players are asked to play more mundane characters or
take the magic skill and learn their specials on the grid.
As you can see, with these and a few other tweaks to the roleplaying
environment you turn what can be slightly static to a something that
is constantly evolving and highly player interactive. But, I know what
you're thinking... A lot of room for twinkish people to mess up,
right? 'So and so's death ray blasts your face off. You die!!!'
Well, this brings me to the staff on the MU*. They monitor stuff like
this and try and keep a balanced and fair atmosphere. People who act
in this manner are taken to the side and explained why this sort of
thing is not allowed (though it is usually obvious for most).
In a more general sense, the staff are friendly and always willing to
help with your problems. They also actively create large plot lines
which you can get your characters wrapped up in and encourage you to
create your own so long as you keep them informed and do not create
events that threaten the overall theme or important key events that
are going on. Though, if you /really/ want to try and kill the Queen
you can try, but it is likely her guards will stop you, you will be
charged with treason and then you will be killed. Under those
circumstances, the saying 'you made your bed, now sleep in it' fits
nicely and thus, these actions remove your characters right to
consent.
Now, if these reasons do not convince you to at least investigate
this incredible MU*, then I am at a loss. On the other hand, if a
craving to explore and become apart of this amazing and dynamic world
is upon you, check it out at http://ashirion.co.uk/ . I recommend it
to the nth degree.
