Review Submitted By: Xyzzyn
Author Status: Player
Started on RetroMUD: February 2006
Submission Date: Jun 18, 2008
TMC Listing: RetroMUD
The following review is the opinion of the review's author [Xyzzyn]
and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff.
RetroMUD is an LP-type MUD with fully customised areas. There are
usually between twenty and fifty players online, depending on the time
of day. Roleplaying is encouraged, but not mandatory. The MUD is free
to play.
The RetroMUD universe is structured in six planets, each of which has
different cities and areas. Not counting the planet surfaces, there is
a total of over 15000 rooms to explore. Characters can be one of
currently 62 races, many unique to RetroMUD and all different, such as
the anakim, a race of good aligned half-angels, or the evil, reptilian
vypirs. Each character starts in one of 18 primary guilds, which
provide spells or skills according to the guild's nature. After
finishing the primary guild, characters choose from many secondary and
tertiary guilds which expand on that training.
The MUD's overall theme is medieval, with a battle between the good
and evil gods and their followers being the driving force of most
player and non-player characters. A large number of quests are
available to players which vary between pure puzzles and difficult
combat. Individual themes are original or inspired by carefully
researched historic environments, ranging from Dark Age Europe to
Mesoamerica and Polynesia, and including various fantasy settings.
RetroMUD is friendly to newbies, who receive free equipment and
various advantages in terms of the rules, a newbie guide that helps
with getting around and access to many newbie areas of appropriate
difficulty. Combined with a channel for questions about the game and a
very helpful playerbase, newbies can thus be assured of getting
answers when stuck or confused. Newbies are also encouraged to begin
playing by exploring the cities and areas; at low levels, this yields
a considerable number of experience points which get the character far
enough to be able to fight.
Among negative aspects of the game, the lack of freeform emotes is
the most noticeable. Although there are several hundred defined emotes
with a similar number of adverbs to modify them are available, there
are still situations where these are insufficient. Another is that
because roleplaying is not mandatory, interacting with other players
while staying in character can be difficult. Nevertheless, there are
usually opportunities for roleplaying with like-minded players.
The game is addictive and can be played for years. Few players have
seen everything. The players and staff are friendly and helpful. I
recommend RetroMUD to anyone interested in playing with nice people in
a beautifully designed universe.
