TMC Player Reviews: Duris: Land of BloodLust

Review Submitted By: Anonymous
Author Status: Player
Started on Duris: Land of BloodLust: 1997
Submission Date: Jul 8, 2008
TMC Listing: Duris: Land of BloodLust

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

Duris is a great game with lots of classes/races and the PKill is 
unrivaled anywhere.  There is also full looting so if you don't like 
someone, just kill them and take their equipment.

Duris's website also has automated logs that show a fair bit of 
backscroll in pvp raids.  It's definitely helpful for new players as 
they can get accustomed to what things do what.

All the other reviews are accurate in regards to the upsides of the 
mud, yet not a single one mentions any of the downsides. There are 3 
main problems with the mud:
-- the administration is awful
-- the game source has been leaked numerous times
-- balance

The administration has been littered with people who are of less than 
scrupulous character.  Many have been caught using their admins to 
scout to gain knowledge their player character could not have achieved
(Rethan).  Others have modified zones while their player character was 
in them to make certain parts substantially easier (Fotenak/San).  
Even worse, others have directly modified the game source to give 
ridiculously ungodly benefits to their player character.  Kvark did 
this with ogre slam (his character could walk in perform 1 command and 
instantly kill almost any player), ship 'automatons', and mercenary's 
grappler combat.  Astansus's lich proc'd at least once a round, and 
Dakta's psi had unlimited mana (when Dakta switched to druid, psis 
lost the unlimited mana, but druids had a 'bug' that allowed them to 
cast unlimited spells).  

As stated above, the code to the mud has been 
leaked multiple times, and many of these have been verified in the 
code, despite numerous admins swearing against this.  Admins have also 
refused to enforce rules against their friends when their friends get 
caught cheating (the weblogs often reveal various cheating).  Then 
there are the regular power trips associated with any position of 
power.

The administration this wipe had a significant change in heads and so 
everything was hyped up at the beginning of the year, but once again, 
the people in power always abuse it.  Fotenak is back to modding zone 
bosses whenever he's in them and Venthix refused to enforce raid rules 
against a group of people where at least 5 were caught cheating on the 
weblogs (the worst part is that Venthix had repeatedly reiterated the 
rule they broke just an hour before they broke it).

Although the leaked source has been good to catch cheating admins, it 
also makes it so learning zones is rather awkward.  Anyone with a few 
hours of linux experience can set up the mud on their own box and walk 
around as an admin to learn all the zones (they can also invite 
friends because it's the full blow server source).  In contrast, 
exploring a zone from scratch for the first time takes anywhere from a 
few hours to a whole real life day (yes, there are big, very detailed 
zones).  And since the mud is full pkill, sitting in the same zone all 
day is just asking to get fragged.  The result is that anyone with 
access to the source knows tons of zones, but everyone else pretty 
much can't learn any zones at all because they get fragged every 
single time without fail.

As for balance, the admins refuse to use DPS to balance the game, and 
instead 'balance' by using lists of pros and cons, and sticking two 
players in a room and saying fight.  

As for player cheating, the most controversial rules are raiding naked 
and botting.  Both of these could easily be addressed with simple code 
(making spell damage, duration, and slots more dependent upon 
equipment), yet the admins adamantly refuse to address this 'in the 
spirit of he game'.

Also, the 24-49 'minimum players online' is inaccurate.  There's 
generally between 5-10 on during offtimes (although the who_list might 
show more 10-20, most are AFK'ing in safe areas).  At peak times, 
there's generally between 30-40 players on.  Since the game is racewar 
sided, you generally only have half of those people on your side.

Overall, it's a great mud, but the admins have no credibility 
and really ruin the game.  The adrenaline rush of the pvp raids is 
amazing, but every single time you're on the receiving end of someone 
cheating, you get a sour taste in your mouth.  Save your time and pass 
Duris over.