Set in a fantasy world that is harsh and filled with dangers, Evolution of ESOS is a roleplay-intensive MUD. There are stories to be found and made, and there is inevitable death. The goal, basically, is to live as your character and tell their tale, and maybe make changes to the world as you do. While this can sound pretty severe, it makes for immersive gameplay, as well as the chance to play out another character, and another story.

I'm pretty new to MUDding, much less roleplaying, but I have to say EOE has been an amazing experience so far, during my few months of playing it. The world is huge and has a lot to explore. The community, however small, has been friendly and helpful my entire time there. The staff, in particular, dedicate a lot to this game and are incredibly interactive with players. They have introduced and helped run a ton of plots/stories, and had supported my character's own, throwing in some conflict as well. Changes to the world seem to be encouraged as well, whether they be good or bad. The fact that a character's actions can have effects (or consequences) to the world around them is something I, as a player, appreciate and hope to take part in.

The roleplaying I've come across so far have been a mix of different sorts. Some I would say are alright, though I'm not that great a roleplayer myself, and others I honestly have to applaud. How players emote differs as well, with some the 'nod' and 'grunt' type and others the more flowery sort. Because characters in this setting are more or less literate, the written tales you can dig up one day, or leave behind, yourself, are always something I'd look forward to finding.

I've always been a more combat/explorer type, and while I haven't much experience with anything else, I like DIKU-style combat. Throwing in a few emotes during combat suits me. There -are- a bunch of kinks with the code that bother me, especially around combat. These can often be a pain, but I hear they're working on it.

Other than the bugs that may spring up and a few concerns I have with the code, I urge those who are into roleplaying, and even those who aren't, to give EOE a try, as my entire stay there has been fun and thrilling. As a player who enjoys exploring, the world has a lot to come across, with dangerous creatures going abound and hidden things to uncover. While the documentation and website could do with some rewriting and an overhaul, the game itself is active and updated often. The roleplay can be impeccable, and the stories (given they fit the theme) you can write out are practically endless.

Evolution of Esos draws you in through the gritty, harsh, and unforgiving atmosphere that only an RPI can produce. Here you will find inequality and corruption, yet a chance to leave your mark on the game world as well. The staff are constantly adding lore, items, rooms, code, and fixing bugs. I've reported bugs and seen them vanish just minutes later. Most of the players are also focused, talented, and committed to filling the niche their concept has been developed for.

I've honestly never seen an RPI approve/disapprove of characters so fast. Some of my characters were approved within 10 minutes, and the slowest it has been around six hours tops. They're on top of their game with getting your new character in quick, and if you die by bug or have your character altered by a bug, they do everything in their power to make things right by you, too.

The society of the game can be infuriating. It might initially come off as a cheap rip-off of the Armageddon noble/merchant system. Enclaves, the nobles of Esos, get many coded and social benefits while those on the outskirts get to peer in the windows of the Noble life with envy while trying to get their share on some of the upper-castes riches.

Sometimes the documents are or parts of the documents are ignored in favor of doing whatever fits the whims of players and staff. It gets ridiculous, like when slaves are made into Barons and the typically nature-loving, peaceful, and monogamous Sundown are represented by the lewdest, animal-slaughting group in town. Currently, the active members of Enclaves outnumber the unaffiliated as well. Offending an Enclave member as a nobody is a crime, and this is part of the game world. Since this is a staple of the roleplay intensive world of Esos, no one is going to listen to your complaints about unfairness either, both in game and on the boards.

I do realize that there is opportunity for even the unaffliated to have great connections without a big family name. The more I played, it became increasingly obvious this wasn't ripoff of another RPI mud. There are rich documentations for most of the walks of life in the city that most people make an coherent effort to follow. In actuality, there aren't glass ceilings, and you can even be invited into a family if you do well enough for them and yourself.

There still are some aspects of the game that leave you sour and disgruntled. The out of character circles exists, and certain staff played avatars have enormous social power and skill buffs. Players who are louder on the boards have been rewarded with more benefits and rolecalls for more players in their area while other parts and clans of the game are overlooked. Staff have asked for what changes to implement to only ignore all the suggestions from players then list their own that they will be working on.

At times, the administration has seemed abrasive to the community. With only three staff working on an ever expanding world, the workload is large and appreciation minimal, but this should never be an excuse to be impolite and uncordial. Perhaps because of the small number of staff, there are some PMs and emails that never get responses, and sometimes wishes, the command used to communicate with staff, will somtimes go unheard or just simply ignored...

Staff also aren't shy of slaughtering their players here. If they've perceived a mistake, they will let loose the hounds, super deer, or malevolent monster to butcher players. One such instance lead to most of the playerbase dying all at once.

Even with the loss of our beloved characters in a permanet death, the majority of us returned because there is a lot of fun to be had in the game world full of confict and strife. The mud seems to be suffering from growing pains and could use more players who are vocal about what needs to be fixed and some who aren't shy about calling shenanigans when they see them. The ultimate impression I get from the game however is that there is the same sense of inequality in its community that there is in its from its gameworld. If you aren't able to handle this, I'd personally suggest going to another mud to roleplay in. If you can stomach occassional pitfalls and really love the roleplay intensive genre, then Evolution of Esos could be for you and worth trying.

About a year ago, I went from a dungeons and dragons player and at my husbands insistence, joined the MUDding community. As someone who had always been more a fan of the roleplaying that my amazing DM put in than the combat system, I was very skeptical of what I would find, with so many references to the 'hack-n-slash' muds spawned from diku.

Thanks to my husband, and his being a player of a certain RPI for about seven years, I wound up finding so much more than I'd hoped. Crafting, roleplaying, trades, no levels, and so many other people equally as into it as I was. I was hooked.

But then I really started looking, and, lo and behold, I find the Southlands. I was floored. Most of my mud experience so far had been in a world that was steadily winding down, waiting for its second incarnation. In the process of that, it had lost so many of the venues available to players. Like making people work real life years for 'virtual' stores, or depriving them the ability to start plans, and leaving them always at the whim of staff plot lines, with a staff that is distant at best, disdainful at worse.

Then I came to Southlands. Refreshingly kind staff, an immersive and beautifully written world. The code is stellar on most levels, lacking very little from those of the best muds. Best of all, to me, while keeping a class system, it still allows anyone to excel at most anything.

Want to build a tower in the woods? Go for it. Want to become a farmer, miner, nobles aide, painter? The sky is the limit. Literally. With every room as a save room and most every item able to be crafted, not to mention the amazing way the staff works with players, there is little to nothing one can't do, given the time and effort is put into the task.

The less good: The crafting system, while very extensive and very detailed and unique, has a very large drain on stamina. About ten months ago, I tried the southlands, made a merchant, and spent two days trying to make something. I literally quit the game because I didn't realize the way the system worked. It's a good system, overall, but the penalty to your stamina can be -very- extreme until you become skilled in an area.

The playerbase, while providing amazing roleplay and very interesting, dynamic plots and characters, is a little on the small side, though it's slowly, steadily growing.

I miss some of the small things about the code on my old mud, such as being able to view items in stores, and being able to sing, rather than say, things, while singing.

This isn't a negative for me, as I'm not a fan of color, but a lot of people who might be used to a mud with a great deal of color might be put off by the seeming lack of it in game.

Overall: This is a wonderful mud, with a beautiful, dynamic, thorough, immersive world. It's run by a friendly, amazing, and very kind and helpful staff, and has a code that is, I would say, a nine out of ten. It allows for great and indepth roleplay with nearly endless possibilities. I am very satisfied with my experience so far and have, and will, send a recommendation of it to not only everyone I know, but anyone who will listen.