So, possibly odd question. MUDS.

[Metahuman1]

Does anyone on the playground happen to play them?

I'm considering getting into one, cause I think I can play one at work when things are slow.

I'm looking for one that ISN'T adult rated. Something that is very old school dungeon crawler in manner, and that doesn't force me to spend money to get into it.

Being populated would be good as well.


Anyone know of one that fits the bill? Perhaps one there playing?



In fact come to it, do we have anyone that has a MUD they currently play?

[Eldan]

I've played a few, uhm, Discworld MUD, Achaea, one or two others, but honestly, I found most of them rather boring, after a while. They all seemed pretty monotonous and grindy. (Achaea is the worst. You'll spend your first 30 levels at least killing rats or running errands.)

[Metahuman1]

I've played a few, uhm, Discworld MUD, Achaea, one or two others, but honestly, I found most of them rather boring, after a while. They all seemed pretty monotonous and grindy. (Achaea is the worst. You'll spend your first 30 levels at least killing rats or running errands.)

I might find them boring. I dunno. I've honestly never tried one before.

I'm looking for recommendations though, cause I've got chunks of time, and I think I can afford to use some of it to experiment.

Maybe I'll take to it. Maybe I won't.

And even if I don't, I will have at least had the experience. Which is a sort of Retro Gaming thing I feel I ought to have. (I felt this way about Dungeons and Dragons too once. That worked pretty well for me I'd say.)

[Eldan]

Try Topmudsites.com. It lists the most popular muds, as voted on by players. (Keeping in mind that a lot of muds offer goodies for voting) and gives some description of what they are about. Votes also give you a bit of an idea how big the player base is, the biggest ones have a few hundred online at their peak times.

[tensai_oni]

(Achaea is the worst. You'll spend your first 30 levels at least killing rats or running errands.)

Now that's just inaccurate. Achaea has had newbie areas of Minia and Lodi since it was released over two decades ago, and basically regardless of level you always will have better alternatives for earning exp and cash than ratting. Unfortunately it also has a lazy playerbase who will often tell a newbie player to go kill rats instead of doing something worthwhile with their time, but that's the players' problem, not the game.

Unfortunately the game's still got a load of flaws to talk about. The community I already mentioned, it's also extremely pay to win and the devs play favorites and cater to whales while ignoring unpaying players, and aren't even trying to hide it. This creates an environment where new players feele extremely unwelcome, or at least find it hard to catch up to veterans who have been sitting in the game for over a decade. This isn't just Achaea's problem by the way, all IRE MUDs are like that.

And don't get me started on pvp. Getting my university degree was an easier task than becoming a decent pvper in any IRE MUD.

[DodgerH2O]

I used to play MUDs forever ago, unfortunately the only one I can vouch for charges a monthly fee, rather large for a MUD too (~$15 USD). Also as I haven't played in years the playerbase may have declined sharply, but as recently as a few years ago there were still over 150 people on at peak times. It's called Dragonrealms and honestly was far better IME than any of the dozens of free MUDs I tried back in the day.

I believe they do offer a free-to-play mode now but no idea of the restrictions on such an account. It's on topmudsites actually, now that I check. Website is here: https://www.play.net/dr/

[Kadesh]

Runescape Classic? While much of the content is gated behind Members, much of the core game is F2P, and not too grindy - you can usually use the quests to level up your stuff quickly, and get enough gear to complete the next stage. This will give you an idea if you like the game or not.

[Metahuman1]

Runescape Classic? While much of the content is gated behind Members, much of the core game is F2P, and not too grindy - you can usually use the quests to level up your stuff quickly, and get enough gear to complete the next stage. This will give you an idea if you like the game or not.

Isn't Runescape Classic an MMO and not a MUD? It's got graphics and everything.

[Maryring]

Runescape is indeed an MMO and not a MUD. Anyway, the best MUDs I've seen, technically made, are the IRE MUDs. Unfortunately, all the ones I've tried also have terrible playerbases, so I don't think I can really recommend them. Still, if there's nothing better you might want to give it a shot. While all of them do have a certain barrier for payment, I know that Lusternia at least used to be very liberal with credit gifts.

[Wookieetank]

If you want MUD-esque, but very unique there's Fallen London and Improbable Island. Fallen London is very story heavy, but stats do play a role, and its set in a lovecraftian version of Victorian London which is pretty neat. Improbable Island has a very strong Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy vibe to it, but is much closer to the usual MUD than Fallen London.

[Lord Torath]

One of my college roommates ran a MUD called Alter Aeon (and a sister-MUD Alter-Shadow). I haven't been on it since 2000, though, so I can't vouch for how populous it is. At the time, it was fairly clean (with the action "Shagging" being explicitly defined as "dancing", not sex or rape), and the gods were good about adjudicating disputes.

Hope that helps!