Many reviews here of Dark Risings are gushingly positive. By the turn of the year and into 2014, this is unfortunately no longer the case. In all of 2013, only a single change was added to the public changelog: a new thing anyone with five minutes experience building could have toggled back on. For well over a year now, approaching two, the game has been effectively dead with no new major features being implemented. If you're looking for a vibrant and active behind-the-scenes with a stream of new content, look elsewhere. The current staff are sparse and apathetic towards player's needs. While players are backbone of any roleplay, DR's lack of candid, back-and-forth conversation between players and staff, the ones able to add the tools to RP with (echoes, restrings, etc) creates a sterile, stuffy environment with RP possibilities as wide and expansive as any generic chat room... Until good grace from above decides to enable something interesting. If you are looking to be able to work closely with those who foster roleplay to make your story come to life, look elsewhere. As an actual game to play, DR is shockingly barebones for being over a decade old. Gameplay is very primitive, and it's a surprise to see other games do so much more with combat, exploration, and even basic object interaction than Dark Risings does. Classes have variances, but all play similarly enough to a degree. If you're a caster, you have a power spell to spam and a set of utilities. If you're a fighter, you autoattack more and have a set of fighter abilities to spam. You will find nothing truly innovative in terms of what classes are or do. If you're looking for a deep, engaging MUD on a sheer RPG mechanics level, look elsewhere. Many areas are either stock, or, again, primitive. Some areas are extremely elaborate with their mob programming, but these are the exception rather than the rule. The vast majority of the game world can be safely ignored without much lost, as the mechanical side of equipment and mob fighting has been 'solved' ages ago, with little room for shocking discoveries off beaten paths. If you're looking for a rich and well-written world to get lost in for hours, look elsewhere. Dark Risings is, in every way, a relic. A game once great for it time, that missed its chance to be polished to something relevant in 2014. Instead, what is here is a limping skeleton kept up by nostalgia. If you are looking for a MUD, for roleplay, PK, both, or otherwise, look elsewhere.
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