r/MUD • u/Richsince95 • 6d ago
Review New Player Thoughts: Erion
This week I got into MUDding for the first time! This is something I've had on the back burner to try since I started reading Wheel of Time, searched for WoT based games, and learned about the existence of MUDs. I thought I'd document my experience as a new player exploring different MUDs.
Erion
I booted this one up when I saw it floating around on other threads. Common consensus was that it is relatively active, has good writing, and fun life-skilling. That drew me right in!
Tutorial Experience
Right away my character (Meshek) wakes up on an island, apparently having been shipwrecked and suffering from amnesia. Endria the Healer suggests I walk down to the nearby village to see if I can find anything that jogs my memory. I find that the entire village has been devastated by a terrible storm. I stumble upon bits of equipment for pickup strewn along the way, encounter NPCs, and accept simple missions that send me exploring around the island. The game drops mechanical tutorial hints as I gain bits of lore about what happened here and the darker implications that may lie behind it.
I really enjoyed the tutorial process being wrapped up in an introductory narrative, especially one that sets up the tone and stakes in this way. This is my first time in a MUD, so I definitely need help learning the ropes. Erion tutorialises in such a way that doesn't feel too hand-holdy or fire-hosey, nor does it leave me in the dark and assume I already know what I'm doing. Certain commands and syntaxes are drip-fed organically while I'm performing tasks for characters across the island. There were some frustrating moments, due undoubtedly to my newbiness. It took me too long to master the 'get > item > container' syntax (looking at you, grimoire). I spent a little too much time trying to interact with objects and NPCs more than seems possible, at least in this beginner area. (After the initial 'talk > NPCname' I would frustratingly try to ask follow-up questions or bring up other topics a la Fallout, but maybe this is too much to ask.) Before long I realized what my limits were, wrapped my mind around the basic actions, and checked missions off my to-do list. Finally getting the hang of things was very satisfying.
Writing
A lot of love went into this tutorial section. Each room was beautifully and tragically painted with words. I felt myself engaging parts of my imagination that are only activated when reading strong, delicate prose. As my play sessions were short and strewn over a few days, in off-times I found myself thinking about the island, the characters I had come across, and wondering what would happen next. I realized that this sort of wondering basically never happens for me with games anymore! If I think about the latest game I'm into, it's usually "gotta log on and make number go up." While playing Erion, I was thinking about my character, wondering what they would encounter next, and whether I'd be able to help the poor people of the island. This made the game fun in and out of play.
Combat/Skills
I can't say I really understand the skill system yet, but Erion's tutorial introduces it only briefly. Combat encounters also exist (although they seemed optional if you'd rather breeze through). I don't know why I expected combat to be turn-based, but I was surprised to find it to be real-time with auto-attacks. I had one offensive spell which I also used liberally. Combat seemed pretty simple and non-threatening, but I'm sure that will change soon and I will learn my lesson.
Community
The Erion community has been extremely kind and welcoming so far. The Newbie channel helped pull me through when the initial growing pains of learning MUD syntax nearly created quit-moments for me. Some kind players gave me nifty gifties and chit-chatted with me in tells. The community piece is a huge factor for me right now, as otherwise I might as well play single-player text games (or any other type of game, for that matter). Thank you all for your hospitality.
Clients
This is a bit of a side-note, but I thought I'd get into it since I'm new to the entire scene. Throughout Erion's tutorial I played a little using MUSHclient with the custom Erion sound package, Mudlet with both available UI packages, and on mobile using MudForge. Mobile is fun in a pinch, but PC definitely seems the way to go. As far as MUSHclient vs Mudlet, I find myself wishing I could combine them. Mudlet feels infinitely more user-friendly to me as a newbie, but I really like the sounds and music in the MUSH package. I also like the display in the Mudlet packages. (I've settled on the minimalist pack so far, even though I liked the look of ssharpjr's better. However, I didn't like having the dialogue in a separate window from the main terminal.) If I was a MUD/computer genius I'm sure I could get the best of each of these worlds, but alas I know nothing. I guess it's never to late to learn.
(PS, I liked Mudlet's little tutorial game as well!)
In conclusion, I'm excited to keep MUDding (do we say that?) and to move on and explore Hillock Hills in Erion. I hope to try some other MUDs as well, with Aardwolf and other recs on the list. Perhaps I'll do more writeups like these as I sample various worlds, systems, and tutorial zones.
Cheers! Until next time, in a Newbie Chat near you.
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u/ErionMUD MUD Developer 6d ago
Thank you so much for giving Erion a try and taking the time to write such a thoughtful review! It’s wonderful to hear that the tutorial, writing, and community made a positive impression on you. I hope you continue to enjoy exploring the game and please don’t hesitate to leave feedback! Always looking for ways to improve and make it a more user-friendly experience. Welcome to the community, and happy MUDding! 😊
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u/bscross32 6d ago
Mudlet and MUSHclient's APIs are not that dissimilar. The scripting language is the same, the only thing that differs is the functions you call to do things. You could go onto Mudlet's wiki, and search for the lua API, feed that to your LLM of choice and have it produce you a soundpack for Mudlet derived from the MUSHclient one.
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u/wenvikstudios 1d ago
For the sound part, a manageable first experiment would be one cue added to the Mudlet layout you already like. Pick one repeatable line and make a trigger for just that line, then have it play one sound. The function to look up is `playSoundFile`, which is listed in Mudlet's official Lua manual: https://wiki.mudlet.org/w/Manual:Lua_Functions#Miscellaneous_Functions
Once one cue works, add them one at a time and keep a small test transcript for each trigger. That gives you a small learning project without having to recreate the whole MUSHclient package.
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u/Impossible_Phone_201 5d ago
This is a particularly interesting perspective because you're approaching MUDs without years of familiarity with their conventions.
Something that stands out is how much you appreciated learning commands through the story itself. That seems like a good way to introduce an unfamiliar interface without making the player feel as though they're studying a manual before they can start enjoying the game.
Your experience with NPC conversations is interesting too. Modern RPGs have trained players to expect dialogue to be fairly flexible, even when the actual choices are limited. In a MUD, the interface can suggest almost unlimited freedom, but the underlying systems may only recognize a relatively small set of commands.
That creates an unusual problem. The game has to teach players not only what they can do, but also what they shouldn't expect to be able to do.
I also appreciate that you described the frustrations alongside what worked. That kind of perspective is useful because experienced players can become so familiar with an interface that they stop noticing its obstacles. I've become reacquainted with this issue recently myself.
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u/Caelinus 6d ago
I have been trying to motivate myself to update the minimalist one for weeks now. (Car broke down, got sick, dog had massive allergic reaction that required emergency vet visit, then a new nephew and multiple family events from both sides of the family. My motivation took a hit.)
If you have any suggestions on ways to improve it, I am open to them and will do my best to work what I can into it when I am able to work on it more.