I've played several very different roleplaying games over the years: Guild Wars, Dungeon Runners, RuneScape, Mount and Blade, Siege of Avalon, Aardwolf, Achaea and many others I can't remember at the moment. The Discworld MUD is the only one that keeps me coming back.

DWMUD stands out from other MMORPG's for several reasons, but the biggest ones are tight-knit player community and the game's pervasive, lighthearted atmosphere. This is a game in which everyone- even and especially the coders- are having a great time interacting with each other and the game world.

Speaking of the game world... it's HUGE. Really, really HUGE- we've got a million plus rooms, fleshed-out cities, continents, oceans (with sharks in), you name it. The sense of scale is amazing, and the whole world is well put together. I've played other games that feel like a bunch of small farmable zones connected by speedwalks or portals; Disc, on the other hand, feels like a whole world...

...filled with AWESOME STUFF. Many games have only a limited number of items available to players- a token selection of clothes; a couple dozen weapons; a few suits of armour and magic items that all, really, feel the same. The Disc is the complete opposite; there's great heaping PILES of different clothes, hundreds of mix-and-match armour pieces, an easy-to-use custom item system... instead of the typical disappointing selection of basic items, the Disc has so many different items that great sweeping player databases can't keep up with them all. Trust me- it's a Good Thing.

The player community, as I mentioned before, is tight-knit and helpful. The Disc is really great for making new players feel welcome- there's ready access to general and Guild-specific chat channels, and even a dedicated volunteer team of Newbie Helpers who happily take time out of their gameplay to actively (you guessed it) help newbies. And that's just help with information. Certain players and player clubs just as actively help set newbies up with a basic kit, or point them toward easy ways to make money or gain equipment.

In addition to all that, there's a huge and established quest system; a brand-new, oft-hilarious achievement system; and an intricate craft system that is rapidly being developed. Player-created items such as jewellery, quilts, and pottery are already in game; players can decorate an item with engravings, paint or dye; and rumor has it that player-created clothes are in the works.

The admins are selected for their ability as coders and team players, not for their characters' strength- the result is a fun, helpful, and most importantly, accessible admin team that many games lack. You can send a Trustee a tell and if you're nice, he'll probably answer you.

Egad, this post has gotten long-winded. But that's really another piece of evidence: I'm not an admin, or a creator, or even an important player, but I took the time to write a nearly 500-word review gushing about how fantastic this game is. So, if you've got a couple hours to spare, log in, create a character, and come play with us on the Discworld MUD- one of the best role-playing games on the Net. :-)