Review Submitted By: Player of Arcum
Author Status: Player
Started on Redemption: 2010
Submission Date: May 17, 2010
TMC Listing: Redemption
The following review is the opinion of the review's author [Player of Arcum]
and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff.
First and foremost, I am NOT a long-time player of Redemption. In
fact, I have only been playing there for a few weeks at this point.
Therefore there are many specific details of the MUD that I am unable
to talk about. However, I wanted to write this review to give my
impressions of the MUD to anyone looking for a new game to play, and
to encourage them to give Redemption a shot. To give a little about
me, I have been mudding for over a decade and played as an imm on a
number of MUDs.
In all honesty, Redemption has given me a sense of excitement that I
haven't felt in years playing MUDs. I had reached a point where I
thought I had seen most everything and I was beginning to doubt my
faithfulness to MUDs in the age of WoW and other MMORPGs. Redemption
really changed all that.
There is a small stock base, so those of you familiar with ROM and
RoT will find a little comfort in the starting city and the
surrounding stock areas. However, there have been so many custom
changes that Redemption really is a game unto itself. Most areas that
you will spend your time in are completely original, as is much of
equipment you will be wearing (and from what I gather, ALL high-level
hero equipment is totally custom). In addition to Terra (the continent
that the starting city is on) there is another continent called
Dominia that is totally custom so you will never get bored in areas
that you already know!
About character creation and leveling, this is where Redemption
really shines. I truly believe that they reached the perfect balance
between given players enough combos o choose from that they will not
get bored and keeping it somewhat limited so that all combos can be
fairly balances. I don't have much experience with the PvP in the
game, but from what I have seen, success in pk really comes down to
the skill of the player rather than the race or class they chose. And
the choices are excellent, highlighted by dragons, where you will
randomly get 1 out of 10 colors at level 10! That's the kind of
randomness that I think makes the game really fun. Also, each class
has two reclasses which give you all kinds of cool skills and spells.
Redemption is mainly a PvP-based game. Most characters are driven
solely by PvP. The game is balanced mainly with PvP in mind. I have
never played on a MUD where most race/class combos are as balanced as
they are in Redemption. Every race/class has advantages, and every one
has its disadvantages. If you are looking to showcase your PvP ability
in a MUD, Redemption allows a skilled MUDder to really shine.
I do think the game could use some RP improvement. It has a very
detailed backstory about a war between the gods on each continent, and
the mortals struggle, each continent trying to take over the other.
However, at some point this seems to have been lost because many
people on the MUD just want to fight everyone else. This has leaked
into the clan system, which seems to be lacking RP as well. HOWEVER,
even though I am new, I really feel like there is a portion of the MUD
that wants to bring RP back, at least casual RP, which would allow
heavy-RPers like myself to operate within the MUD. Also, the imms seem
very committed to establishing a better RP of the MUD, and many give a
variety of small bonuses if they see you actively RPing! So come join
me!
Let me tell you why right now is the perfect time for you to join
Redemption. First, there is some clan shake-up going on, which I
always think is a perfect time to join a MUD. Find an upstart clan
that you want to be loyal to, join up, and help craft the RP of the
clan! Also, the imms are currently granting the mortals double
experience points so that they can level characters quickly. It's the
perfect time for you to start playing, you'll be a powerful
high-level character before you know it! I'm sure the imms would
extend the double experience for a bit if they know new players are
around!
One word of warning: There is a small contingent of players who can
be annoying at best, and downright harassing at their worst. I can
offer no explanation for them. They almost made me quit the MUD. But
then I realized that 90% of the other players have the same opinion of
them as I do, and you realize to just put up with them, and mostly
ignore them. Please, don't hesitate to ask players for help, most are
tremendously willing to assist! You can DEFINITELY contact me, I'd be
more than happy to do anything for you. Currently, I play the
characters Arcum, Alecto, and Salem. I look forward to seeing you on
Redemption!
