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The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The games
Fair citizens of Massivelyville, believe me, I've heard your voices. After two weeks of giving an overview of MUDs and MU*s, not to mention talking to Dr. Bartle about the genre, I think I've held off talking about specific games long enough. No need for heads to explode on my watch! One of the reasons I stalled for time is that I was gathering as much information on the most popular and beloved MUDs of the past few decades. From the perspective of someone who is but a mewling infant when it comes to these games, it's a considerable task akin to asking someone to sum up all of the World War II movies out there. The selection field is big -- that's all I'm saying. So after polling a number of friends and hearing what you've had to say in the comments section, I've culled the list to six games that seem to pop up over and over again. Not only are each of these MUDs a wealth of history, but they're all going strong even in the futuristic year of 2011. If you've never played a game in this genre, then consider these a good place to start, and if you have, hopefully this will be an exciting stroll down memory lane. Watch out for the boojums and grues!
First Impressions: Requiem: Bloodymare
We've been talking about this game for months now, and Requiem: Bloodymare is finally available to play. Hailed as the first horror MMO, there are definitely aspects of R:B that are pretty gruesome. Whether or not they freak you out is between you and the game. I will say that, having played the beta, Gravity Interactive has made leaps and bounds in turning this title into something that I could spend a great deal of time playing.What you behold is our First Impressions for Requiem: Bloodymare, a feature meant to give you some idea of what gameplay will be like once you've signed up for an account. Keep in mind: this is not a guide, there is no insider knowledge here. This post merely details the experiences playing this title for the first few hours; your mileage may vary. Up, up, and away!%Gallery-26440%
Animations to die for
I was chatting with a friend the other day (shut up! I do too have friends!) and we were playing reference poker -- you know, someone makes a comment referring to some aspect of pop culture, and the other person replies in kind. She said ' ... you are eaten by a grue.' I made the obligatory Zork return reference and we moved on, but the bit about being eaten stayed with me for some reason. That night, I was running around in WoW and realized that nobody in Azeroth is eaten by anything.Why can't we have encounter-specific death animations? I, for one, would love a chance to be messily devoured by a Sludge Beast! I can imagine the horrific wounds as it slid over me, eating away at my flesh until only bones remained. A much more affecting experience than merely swooning and dropping dead, as though nothing more mortal than narcolepsy had occurred. Or how about a set of pre-built death animations, available at the touch of a key? Everything from 'clutching at your heart: myocardial infarction', to 'going white as a sheet and dropping dead from fright', to 'Scanners cranial explosion'. In fact, wouldn't this make pulling off the ol' 'Feign Death' trick a lot more fun? I'm telling you, it's the little things in life that make existence bearable. Let's see more creativity with our dying moments, developers! Believe me, you stand to ... make a killing. Hahaha! Oh, I slay me.
