Ok I know I'll probably get some flack for this post from all you Halo/graphics freaks with ADD that can't go 30 seconds without seeing something blow up.. but hear me out.. or don't read. Inc wall of text.
Dragonrealms was one of my first experiences with an MMO of any sort, back in the beta, which I think was sometime in '95 or '96. I guess you could call it a MUD.. but I've played a lot of MUDs since then and nothing has even come close to the complexity or immersion that DR had. For starters, most MUDs are based on the same or a similar engine - DR is a custom engine, and the realm itself is about 20 times the size with about 20 times the amount of detail put into it out of any other "MUD" I have ever played. I spent about 6 years playing Dragonrealms until I moved on and started playing other graphics based MMOs like UO, EQ, SWG.. and FPS's and RTS like Diablo, WC2, Starcraft, CS1.6.. etc... you name it.
But to date, no game has even come close to even resembling my DR experiences. It was my first MMO experience and remains my favorite to this day. And to be perfectly honest, I don't think any graphical MMO will ever be able to live up to the detail and sheer enjoyment that DR offered. It is a lot like the difference between a really good book and a good movie. It is extremely rare that a movie can capture ones imagination like a good book can. It all comes down to the game allowing for the player's subjective imaginations to be utilized. When you read the text in Dragonrealms, your imagination allows you to bend and mold the scene to exactly how you "thought" it should look. Every single monster, town and item could look a little different depending on who was "looking" at it. That concept added such a level of mystique to the game and no current or past graphical MMO has ever been able to replicate that effect. Well, at least for me. But it's not just because it's text-based.. but also the amount of detail and dedication put into the game and the way it is unique and stands out from every other text-based mmo of this type. It is for these reasons that Dragonrealms has been my best gaming experience to date.
But enough about why I love it so much, I'll talk about the game itself.
It starts out like most MUDs, you pick a race.. there are currently 13 races to choose from I believe. After you pick a race and your features, you are teleported to town where you begin your adventure. This is usually the point where you pick a Guild.. or your Class. You start off as a "commoner" and you must locate the guild master of a certain guild in order to join it.
Like most muds/mmos, it has all the usual classes: Barbarians, Clerics, Bards, Moon Mages, Warrior Mages, Empaths, Rangers, Paladins, Traders, and Thieves. (and soon to be Necromancers). Each class specializes in certain areas of course.. where a warrior specializes in all forms of combat, a ranger may only focus on a few areas of combat but relying more on agility and tracking and outdoor skills, whereas an Empath cannot fight at all.. as they are the only healing class in the game.. they can gain defensive combat skills but not offensive. Clerics can raise the dead, etc. etc.. Each class has it's niche and has their own unique skillsets and abilities. But this is about where the similarities end.
What sets this game apart from most, is the EXP or SKILL system. In most MUDs, you gain experience for doing anything - usually killing monsters. You gain experience and everything goes into the same pool and you raise levels once you reach a certain exp cap. Not in DR.
In DR, each individual skill has it's own pool of experience, represented numerically.. and you gain experience in that particular skill for doing tasks using that skill. You have several basic categories each composed of many different skillsets: Armor skills, Weapon Skills, Lore Skills, Survival Skills, and Magic Skills. - http://www.play.net/dr/info/skills.asp
There are approximately ~78 individual skills that can be learned and mastered.. everything from hiding, stealing, lockpicking.. to teaching, foraging, alchemy, etc.. etc.. As well, combat skills are individual skills also. You do not just learn "armor".. there is cloth armor, leather armor, light chain, heavy chain, heavy plate, bone armor.. that all have their own skills. For defensive combat, there is parry, shield, evasion, multiple opponent, etc.. and then categories for each weapon: daggers, longswords, heavy crossbows, etc. etc..
For a complete list of the skils you can see here - http://www.elanthipedia.com/wiki/Skills
There is an extraordinary amount of detail that plays into every skill which I cannot even begin to go into extreme detail with but can only begin to explain. For example, let's say you want to wear leather, and avoid most attacks by having a very high evasion.. well many factors play into your ability to evade, including your actual evasion skill but also; the enemy's attack bonus, your current encumbrance, (heavy armor and carrying a lot of items would make you encumbered.. but training your strength to high levels would negate that, and also training that armor skill to a certain rank would diminish the encumbrance.), and several other factors. Let's say you want to steal from a shop.. your stealing skill is the biggest factor.. but also if you are hidden, the shop-keepers perception compared to your stealing, if your stealing is hindered (by wearing any gloves) and several other factors which can either handicap you, or give you a bonus. Virtually every skill in the game works like this. Suffice it to say it is incredibly complex and I couldn't even begin to explain it all.
PvP in this game permitted, but it is not a free-for-all. For example, you can't just go around killing random people at your leisure.. for one you'd probably get in trouble with the GMs (unless you join the "alternate DR - The Fallen".. in which there are zero rules).. but you'd also have a bunch of pissed off players who would want your head. If you kill someone within town limits, the guards will come find you, take you to jail.. and you will have to pay a very hefty fine. However, killing someone outside of town is fair game. Same deal with stealing, if you get caught stealing you will become wanted and the guards will eventually come find you and haul you to jail. There are many areas where you give someone consent to PvP, such as if you steal from someone and they catch you.. they have every right to attack you.
Items in this game are open. There are no "soulbound" items. Anything someone is wearing, can be equipped by someone else. You can kill someone, and potentially loot their grave and steal their items.. but this is very frowned upon and can have serious consequences.
The way death works is as such: you lose any experience you were currently learning before you died, and your body slowly rots over time. A cleric can come rezz you, or you can 'depart' from your body, which will ressurrect you at the nearest temple and you will have to walk back to your grave, dig it up and get all your items. There are some caveats though - a grave can only be dug up by the person whos grave it is, for the first 10 minutes. Also, a paladin can put a glyph over their grave so that no one else can touch it and when that person gets back, they can simply touch it and be wearing all their items again.
You also have a thing called "favors" with the gods.. everytime you "Depart" it uses a favor with your god, if you depart with 0 favors you run the chance (~50% chance) of "walking the road".. (character deletion). You gain favors by visiting special areas and completing a puzzle, and then using this orb to sacrifice current experience into the orb which you sacrifice to the god, and you get a favor.. you can get as many as you like. Yes that's right you heard me.. you have to quest for lives.. you can't just mindlessly die over and over and over with no consequences whatsoever.
Also, role-playing is enforced. Not to say that you HAVE to roleplay.. you just can't run around using 1337 speak and talking about out of game things and using emoticons all the place.. you kind of have to stay in-character. Not that you have to run around being all like, "Oh thee is thine", but you just can't be a noob retard.
But suffice it to say, this game is incredibly detailed and complex, and I could probably write page after page after page about how it works, but I think I've written enough. I don't expect a lot of people to be interested... but if you are, I highly suggest you give it a try (the first 30 days are free..) and I'd be glad to help anyone get started and point you in the right directions and learn the mechanics, etc etc. It's a very fun game to play with friends. And we need more people to level up and join our clan which will be feared throughout the realms! mwahaha.
So in conclusion.. if you like to use your imagination, and you don't mind reading... this is one of the most advanced, imaginative and in-depth games I have ever played, and if you like fantasy/mud/D&D on crack type stuff, I highly recommend it.
The graphics don't make this game - there are none. There are no shiny objects or noob-friendly user guides or dumbed down class mechanics. What makes this game great is the mechanics behind it, and the people that play it, your imagination makes this game the most amazing of all. Not to mention, it helps expand the old vocabulary... as well as your ability to speed read and absorb and comprehend. But if you are looking for a game where you can hit the level cap in a week.. or even a month.. this isn't it. Actually, I don't even know if there IS a level cap anymore.. because nobody can hit it. I know a couple people are around level 125, I think it may cap at 150 right now but no one knows.
The game was free way back in the day, but like anything with a company behind it and a team of dedicated GMs and devs.. they had to start charging at some point. Well worth it I would say. I play it over ANY graphical game on the market today.
[/nerdrant]
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