Harshlands MUD

[Frygyd]

Figured some of the Grim might have spare time when they can't access graphical games and might be interested in an immersive text based role-playing game. I've been involved in the following MUD for nearly two decades now.

What is a MUD you ask? MUD stands for Multi User Dungeon/Domain. It is a text based world that allows you to interact with others and move around in a world that is richly detailed in description and characters to meet. People play these games by Telneting or using a MUD program to access the server that the text world is saved on. You can do anything in this text environment that you could do in any video role-playing game and usually much more. You can become better at your chosen trade, buy/sell, travel, fight, get a job and the scope is pretty much endless.

The world of Harshlands is huge. Currently, the world consists of the island of Harn, off the coast of the nearby continent of Lythia. Current building on the Mud has not yet finished the island of Harn. There are over 16,000 rooms (we stopped counting), all of which pertain to the Harnic world - and all are original.

Harshlands is a heavily role-play-oriented MUD based loosely upon the fictional "Harn" world created by N. Robin Crossby, we consider Harshlands to be a low-fantasy medieval cooperative RPG - role-play, storylines and events are primarily player-driven in nature with the staff acting as stage-hands of sorts in order to provide support, random events, and reasonable consequence to the drama unfolded by players.

The staff also serves as administration for the numerous behind the scenes mechanics of building and altering the game world based upon changes the players have inflicted upon it, and even as policing of sorts to keep the disruption caused by abusers of code and OOC information to an acceptable minimum.

If you are interested in the code used to run the game it is heavily altered DIKU base. The game emulates the Harnmaster system very well. Skills based progression. Injuries are body part based rather than a HP pool. Fatigue can play a factor in movement and other esoteric matters, etc.

The magic system of Harnmaster has been deemed too daunting to code currently so we have not opened any playability for Shek-P'var (mages) but there is a fully functional clergy system with rituals to call on deities for aid as well as skill based psionics.

Full functional combat system for conflict resolution. Rich emotive command system. Functional economy. And the local tavern to hang out in and chat or just people watch.

If you are interested please stop by and submit a character.

http://harshlands.net

Want to ask a staff member a question?

Email staffATharshlands.net with Harshlands in the Subject.

Hope to see you soon in the only 24x7 Harn game around!

[Anaie]

I used to MUD like crazy... it was responsible for some friends nearly failing out of (ok some actually did) school. Was fun.

Used to love actually solving quests... sigh. Didn't know folks still played them!

[Aureilya]

I love muds! I used to play MajorMud and then later on, Medievia. I haven't heard of this one but the fact that it's been around for so long proves that it must be good. I'll try to check it out next time I have the urge.

[Frygyd]

Unfortunately Harshlands doesn't have coded quests like I've seen with some adventure oriented MUD's. No repeatable and unrealistic content to run thru, etc. It is a role-playing world rather than a quest world.

Think of it more like a world you visit where you can live the life of a character. You can be a good or bad person, guilds person pursuing a trade, soldier defending a country or church, cleric furthering your deities cause, town guard policing the populace, explorer of the dangerous world about you, etc. You can set your own goals and try to attract others to your cause or avoid interference by other players.

[Ashenfury]

Man I remember playing a lot of MUDs. Avalon was by far one of the most polished. That game world was teeming with character. I remember within 5 minutes of character creation you're walking around and you get a game message saying "Inspect that rock" then it says "Lift that rock" and you level up from the experience gained by looking under a rock.

I also played a really deep vampire one where you start out as a human and you try to get as badass possible. You could turn vampire at any time but if you were a badass human then you could become extremely powerful by turning vampire after that. The problem was that as a human you were running and fighting all these other players that had already turned. Really fun!

Then my favorite one. CastMUD. I actually got banned from that one. Go figure. That one played out a lot like a modern RPG so at the time it was different from everything else. I really think that text based gaming will make a minor return one day. Not today and probably not even any time soon but it will happen.

[Sunderpalm]

I played muds almost exclusively after high school. Played mostly emlen coded pkmuds. Everwar primarily. MUD pk has given me some major adrenaline rushes. No other game has given me that much of a rush.

[Ashenfury]

The very first coding I ever did in my life was writing an alias that acted like a script for PVP in a mud. I made some 3 letter acronym alias that would draw my weapons, cast my "buffs", begin weapon attack, cast a spell, and then go into a defensive stance all at once.

Here's something that may or may not take you back. How about mapping areas back then?! I had an entire notebook dedicated to nothing but mapping areas. Once I had an area mapped I would dedicate 2-3 blank lines to directions. So most of the page was this big huge mess of lines and at the bottom there would be a couple of lines that were like: NNWSUUESDWNWEDS so that I could rapidly go from one major point of interest to another.

Back when games required you to think and to actually build upon and use life skills in order to play adequately. If an RPG was released today without a map then people would go apeshit.

[Pincus]

tintin++

That is all.

(I also have some patches for CircleMUD floating about...added spells to items. Fun stuff, the old days!)