Another game some of you will like and most won't have heard of ... (longish)

[____________Bobinski]

Hi everyone -

Not sure if this is allowed, but I'd like to post a kinda 'advertisement' for a game other than AO. A fantasic online game called Mud2.

Mud was the first online role playing game ever, created in Essex University, UK. Mud2 is the latest direct decendant of this game. All online games owe Essex Mud an enourmous debt of gratitude, so I'm hoping that the management here won't mind this post too much.

What can Mud2 offer you then?

A real challenge. There is always more to learn in this game. I have been playing for about 3 years on and off and I probably know less than 1/2 of the game, and still haven't managed to visit all of the locations in the mortal world (because I don't know how, not where).

An exciting fighting system. For the first few days it appears that fighting in Mud2 is just the same turn-based boredom as in other games. Heh - your opinion on this will soon change after you've been PKed a few times.

PKing - like to PK? In this game a skilled lvl 1 character could conceivably take out a not so skilled lvl 9 (very high, like lvl 180 or so on AO) character. At higher levels you are of course far more powerful, but skil and knowledge is all. Hate PKing / being PKed? Just change your character to a Protected Persona. You can still do almost anything a mortal can do.

Being mortal. Mud2's unofficial slogan is : 'You haven't lived till you've died in Mud2'. When you are killed by a player or a mob in Mud2 that's it, you're dead. Back to ZERO exp. We call it dead dead. Your character can take months to get to your highest level yet, then a PK takes you out in 2 seconds or you make a stupid mistake. Months wasted. But you learn from the mistakes and PKs and get better. You level faster and eventually getting to sorcerer takes you perhaps 4 hours instead of 2 weeks. And eventually, you might achieve the Ultimate Goal.

Become Immortal. The highest level in Mud2 is Wizard or Witch (wiz). A wiz can do almost anything that is possible in the game. A wiz can move rooms, or create new mobs or items. A wiz can force you to perform almost any in game action he / she likes at any time. A wiz can 'snoop' anyone at any time (and under certain conditions mortals can too!) and see exactly what is on the screen of that player. Wizzes can kill anyone but a fellow wiz by just using a 3 letter word. Wizards are of course given guidelines and there is such thing as Arch-Wizzes to police them, but they are prettty much omnipotent in the game.

And lastly - The best graphics in any game ever! Heh, sorry, this is only true in a very roundabout way. Mud2 is a text game. Don't give up reading now! Stay with me for a few minutes more, now. Those of you who have ever played Zork or another such game will know what I mean by this, but those who haven't - just trust me. The first few times you enter a room in Mud2 you will read the descriptions carefully, always loking for puzzles or clues (of which there are plenty). After a while you will simply run through these rooms. You already know what they look like. But the odd thing is that in my head I can and do envisage all of the locations in Mud2 in glorious 360 degrees infinite resulution true 3d techinicolour. No graphics card can ever compare with the one in your head.

Incidentally, I am not associated with this game other than by the fact I play it. Honestly.

So, if I've interested you enough to try it out (there's a free intoductory period of course [Edit - not sure about this at Mud2.com]) you might like to visit :

www.Mudii.co.uk (Based in the UK, where I play. Say hi to Tharg if you see him.)

Or

www.Mud2.com (Based in the US.)

Oh, I should add, as a newbie, don't demand attention, be nice, be polite you will find most people are very helpful. And if you see a wiz tell them you are a newbie and ask him / her for advice. And check the websites etc. for guides, otherwise you'll most likely either quit in frustration or bug everyone untill they hate me for introducing you.