TMC Player Reviews: Buffy Mud

Review Submitted By: Altrez
Author Status: Player
Started on Buffy Mud: Early Beta
Submission Date: Apr 30, 2010
TMC Listing: Buffy Mud

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

Buffy MUD is set in the town of Sunnydale, California which happens
to be centered under a hell mouth, and a whole lot of mystical energy.
If you've seen the show, you know the story. You might also know that
in the Television series it was destroyed. Well, they brought it back.
They don't explain how, something big happened, poof. Which is
sometimes the case in Buffy, so that's fine. In this game you
generate your own character from a selection of races and classes,
thrusting yourself into the buffy world. Okay, first I'll get the
unprofessional stuff out of the way.

CHEATING: Ever since I started here it's been whispered, rumored,
accused, etc that the staff abuse their positions here to make
horrendously overpowered characters that rule the game. I can't
confirm or deny this, but I'll tell you... What I know: In early beta
phase, I witnessed the staff member 'Scarlock' trade character names
with his mortal, 'Loki'. Scarlock then became a very powerful
half-demon tiger warrior who abruptly smashed all opposition within
days. (Including myself, and a friend who at the time were top vamps.)
NOW. This doesn't mean he cheated, because being staff, he might have
just understood the game better than we did and used this to his
advantage.

I also saw, repeatedly, in my on/off play time here characters of the
suave and successful type, well dressed, rich, etc, who suddenly swoop
in and take over. These I have suspected as being Tyr, the main admin.

While the other stereotype tends to be the crude, brutish, and foul-
mouthed (F this, F that! F'in F!) villain that walks about being bad
and causing trouble.

These I usually suspect are Scarlock/Loki's alts. AGAIN, I don't
really have proof, and in my most recent play times on the game it
seems that these stereotypes have disappeared, so I also suspect the
cheating has stopped (If it ever existed). But anyone who had played
as long as I have, in the earlier times, will probably tell you (Read
the past reviews) that there was cheating, a very annoying staff pet
named Jacob (Who I think still plays), and the OOC channel being
removed because people were calling them on their antics. (It has now
been replaced with a different channel that you have to pay to
access.) But, then again... maybe the vast majority of the player base
were just all liars at that time.

Okay, now that we have the ugly out of the way, let's get to the
good, and the bad.

GOOD: CUSTOM Characters: Out of almost every game I've played, Buffy
MUD has the best options for customization. As a half demon, or demon
you can purchase horns, skins, tails, claws, wings, defense
mechanisms, offense mechanisms, and give each of them their very own
brief description. It also includes 'changeto' and 'changefrom'
descs, so as a half demon when you 'transform' or 'shift' between
your human and demon form. You can actually write what you want people
to see. Ex: Reviewer roars loudly as large demonic wings rip out of
his back! This makes virtually anything possible in Buffymud (that can
use Kung FU... See BAD). Zombies, Blobs, Lizard Men, Robots, Cyborgs,
Any type of demon you can imagine, Hawk-men, Raven-men, The Kool-aid
Guy. Whatever! You can make it here. It works.

The MENTOR System: As a newbie starting out in the MUD, you'll be
hooked up with an evil, or good mentor. Depending on your alignment.
This supplies you with a knowledgeable player whom you can ask
questions of on your very own Mentor Channel. This even carries over
to In Character assistance, granting you your very own friend and
guide with very little effort on your part. It makes starting the game
a lot easier, and it helps to have someone to watch your back.

BAD: The CODE: is very buggy. You'll probably notice frequent bug
notes listed on the boards. Most of the features that were coded into
Buffy MUD that are meant to be a plus, can actually end up being very
annoying. The 'MAP' feature is broken, and only gives you a general
idea of where you are, sometimes not at all. Sometimes quest mobs will
give you negative exp. Certain shop items will have descriptions for
something else entirely. Leaving some lairs will magically transport
you to the other side of the map. You get the idea.

This wouldn't be so bad, except... they never seem to fix these
issues! These have been around since I started here! YEARS ago! The
only bug issues I find fixed are the really major ones, or the ones
that are nagged out to an extreme. There are often crashes, but it's
always quick to pick it up with an instant reboot, usually not even
disconnecting you.

PLAY style: One of the biggest things that has bothered me from the
start is that Health and Movement have been bunched into ONE stat,
which is called 'Condition', or 'CN'. This means when you move,
you lose health. You have to instead use the designated commands,
'walk', 'jog', or 'run' - the last is the same as just typing
the exit direction. These paces are tedious, and you'll find a lot of
players with the wings buff so they can simply fly around.

The COMBAT system is automatic, with some mid combat commands, based
on a rock/paper/scissors function that relates to 'styles'. Kung
fu/Aikido/Karate/ and Kick Boxing. You have to change styles as you
fight to keep on top of your opponent. The problem of this from a
roleplay perspective is that not every opponent in Buffy uses martial
arts.

There are different demons, and entities that fight differently. But
the system treats all opponents like human on human mortal combat.
When you die, you're taken to the hospital, (or demon hospital) where
you receive an injury timer, or 'IT', which means that you can't
leave until your timer is up. If you encounter aggro mobs (carrying
visible weapons and such will get you beat down by a mob of police, or
demons, after some warning), or bite off more than you can chew you
could end up waiting anywhere from 10 - 30 minutes. Sometimes more,
sometimes less.

In an effort of realism, there is also showering, stench, clothes
getting dirty, or bloody, and work out commands put into place. These
all seem nice, but the little things start to annoy me after a while.
There is no 'dry' command, after you shower, which means you have to
wait 10 minutes for the code to dry you off. Clothes become dirty very
easily when you're cutting open monsters for hours to get the next
level, and eventually people don't even bother to change bloody
clothes. Benching, or jogging to raise your chest or butt attribute
(appears in your look as 'average' unless you devote time to it)
will slowly raise it, but also slowly decline, even when you're
offline. There are also jobs, with horrible code set in place, which
is another way to grind for money in order to buy things. (Clothes,
weapons, even skills cost money here.)

There are only a few healing spots in the game. Private apartments,
your house, and the Bronze. The bronze is of course, always filled
with people. But this is where the dropping off point is for staying
true to the show. In the television series, you'd often see
characters getting R&R in the bronze, relaxing after a hard patrol. In
the game, you'll find dozens of people resting around couch areas,
sitting RIGHT next to the evil they had just gotten done fighting.
Boundaries are virtually non-existent. Why? Because evil characters
need to heal too, and The Bronze has the highest healing rates. This
forces people into unrealistic situations that only end up creating
childish face offs, bullying, elitism, and all of that crap. If
you're looking for quality RP here, you'll be disappointed.
Especially if you're intent on experiencing the same kind of drama
that you'd see in the show. The best you'll find at Buffymud are
random squabbles, being abruptly shot down in the streets without
warning or reason, and the idea that a perfect villain is akin to a
bully.

My FINAL Word: This review doesn't even begin to cover all of the
things wrong with this train wreck, in my opinion. Like, for example,
... Idle Checks that will randomly pop up to ask you a math question
while you're AFK or fighting, which if you fail or don't answer in
time, boots you off game.

But to be fair, I'd say if you're a hack & slash player and casual
roleplayer looking for a new atmosphere, who likes to be creative with
his characters, give Buffymud a try.

But if you've seen the show, are a fan, and often go looking for a
'buffy fix'...of real, meaningful RP, with plots and growth.. don't
get it here. If anything, this game makes a mockery of the television
show, and could even be described as one of its 'hell
dimensions'....