I've been a MUD player on Darkover since 1996 (or so), and have poked around looking at other text-based MUDs in the meantime, but I keep going back to Darkover. The regulars are friendly and helpful, but it's the challenge I love. You don't get skills and spells handed to you--you quest for them after level ten. It's not too big, but far from being small. The intimate atmosphere has led to many game friends. Want more info? Check out my fan page noted below. You'll at least get a good laugh from the MUD humor page (especially if you've played AD&D of old) and check out Lyth's Kitchen for recipes to impress your GF with (or to get a GF). www.darkovermud.moonfruit.com Cheers, Lythande Winteroak.

As a long term player and fan of Darkover, I feel it is time to update the review section and give a bit of information regarding what darkover is and will become. In the past eight or so years of mudding, the majority of my time has been spent watching and participating the ups and downs of life on darkover, so the following is a little bit about my experience. Darkover is a medieval based mud that has been expanded upon a circlemud codebase to be nearly entirely original. It has the basics of race and class selection with a 50 level maximum range, but it is much more than would be expected. There are a total of 9 regular races, with 9 additional remort races, and a total of 17 regular, distinct classes with 10 remort classes available. Each race and class combination allows for a different variety of gameplay. There are four main hometowns, allowing race and 'alignment' based segregation between good and evil classes and races, allowing for a complex hiearchy of good and evil characters. There are thousands upon thousands of rooms, and after 8+ years of play, I have still only explored approximately 80% of the mud. There are hundreds of homemade quests, as skills can not simply be learned from just anyone, but instead must be gained through quests from teachers scattered around the world. There are also hundreds of other quests with rewards of equipment and experience, allowing for hours of exploring in an attempt to discover something new. The item and equipment system is well expanded, with thousands of differing items to find and equip yourself with, giving you the option to look different from other people of the same race and class as you. The equipment is also stat and class/race based instead of level based, so it restricts who can wear what. As a player levels, they are given training points to individually affect their own stats and allow them to become better at certain traits over others, giving another option for uniqueness. The remort system allows for class and race changes along with bonus stats for your character, allowing for players to continue to expand their character and become more powerful. (max 3 bonuses) And best of all, the people that play darkover are very friendly and willing to help anyone who needs it. Starting as a new player you will be greeted by the players and immortals alike, as we are always looking for new players. And lastly, Darkover is undergoing an expansion while we attempt to change some gameplay and add new areas and quests, so there are often immortals around offering immortal ran quests for the entertainment of the players. If you are looking for something new to try, we would gladly accept you into the world of Darkover and help you get moving to join the ranks of the heroes.

I fully agree with Aislinn i think Darkover should get some more recintion, i have play lotz of muds but for about the past 4 years i have always come back to darkover, just because of the great people that are on it and u can always gaurnteen u will learn something new every day. the immortal staff have put quite about of care into making this one of the best muds ever i think. i would like to see this mud become more played it is great!

I was looking around for a new mud site today because the server is down on my favorite, Darkover! I have MUCH respect for this game and the people who play it. I know there are tons of mudd games, but as a groupie of Darkover the word 'Greatness' comes to mind. I can't pick what part of it i am addicted to the most, the people or the care put into Darkover. Just when I thought it couldn't get better, the Gods have planned to take it to the next step. They wont tell us how they are improving the game. After 5 years I still haven't mastered this game and have many alts that I love to play. If Darkover is given the chance I know no other mudd would look the same. You notice the lack of ansi or care put into other muds, like they were thrown together in a week and left to fade. It's clean, organized, easy to understand and get involved, not spam info. everywhere. Critisim in Darkover is taken with thought. We love to know what we are lacking, maybe you have an idea on how to improve Darkover or if we have a bug. Report it to the Gods and it is talked about with the other immortals maybe added or fixed. I think Darkover should be seen now a lot has change in the years. Oh, and a good name goes a long way! We don't mind being critised, but we don't mind telling you you're a NUT to choose a name so lame =) We have clans, but when you get to know Darkover it is friends, family, life and after a while everyone on Darkover IS the clan.

I was looking around for a new mudd site today because the server is down on my favorite, Darkover! I have MUCH respect for this game and the people who play it. I noticed this TOP MUD SITES haven't taken the time to look at it. Your last review was 11/24/03 sad I think. I know there are tons of mudd games, but as a groupie of Darkover the word "Greatness" come to mind. I can't pick what part of it i am addicted to the most, the people or the care put into Darkover. Just when I thought it couldn't get better, the Gods have planned to take it to the next step. They wont tell us how they are improving the game. After 5 years I still haven't masterd this game and have many alts that I love to play. If Darkover is given the chance I know no other mudd would look the same. You notice the lack of ansi or care put into other mudds, like the were thrown together in a week and left to fade. Critisim in Darkover is taken with thought. We love to know what we are lacking or if we have a bug. Reporting it to the Gods and it is talked about with the other immortals or fixed. I think Darkover should be seen now a lot has change in the years. Oh, and along with the last review a good name goes a long way!

I've played on over five muds during my time, and have found Darkover to be best. The ANSI color is tastefully done and one EQ can be quite a matter of personal style. The best feature however, is the sheer size of this mud--it was a pleasure to map it out in spite of difficult to map areas. A good balance between solo and group play has been set up. Note that alot of custom work has gone into this mud so it has unique areas. Built in quests combined with occasional imm run quests are nice too. Remorts? Sure. Big race and class selections? Sure. If you're looking for a new mud home, give Darkover a shot. Review more game features here at mudconnector and log yourself in.

Well I help run this mud right now, but I've also played it a lot, and I didn't always run it, so I'd like to toss up a review! What has always set Darkover apart for me is the high quality of the areas, and especially the artistic care in colorizing eq, mobs, and other things, so they just plain look cool. I also like playing my cleric, I have remorted clerics... oh, I think 5 times now! I really enjoy healing with my cleric, because it is very fast-paced, and keeping track of everything going on in my head, and making decisions quickly, actually makes a difference. If you do play Darkover, make sure to ask for help on the nsay channel, especially ask for directions to a good newbie zone for your hometown, and ask to double check that your race/class combo is a good match, that your class is a good choice for a newbie, and stuff like that. The game does have help files and all the standard stuff, but you don't want to sink a lot of time into trying out a character without getting a bit of expert advice first. Oh, and I know this from a lot of experience... if you don't pick a fantasy-style name for your char, the regular players tend to just make fun of you... like just the other day someone named herself Prophet and when she asks for help on channels, people are kind of rude. :-/ So coming up with a fantasy-style name is important.