Wireplay MUD2 vs. Mud2.com

This is a hard one to write if I wear any sort of level hat - but luckily all on WP know me as a low life conversationalist and sometime loser of points - so do the guys at 2.com except there I am also a wiz coz I dedicated myself.

The subject of this article is two sites and their differences - which is weird because it's two sites playing exactly the same game. How do they differ then? One obvious thing is numbers. Wireplay has more players - and yes whilst 2.com had more wizzes you are catching up. Sorry but I will use you cos I am a 2.com player first - it's where I played most and there it is.

But before we discuss what I was asked to discuss i.e. differences - lets discuss politics. Seems for ages there's been a perceived bad feeling inter-site. 2.com is quiet so it's easy etc, on the other side WP is PK happy and full of losers - neither to me has merits. I took part in a bash set up by Droo and Joey - a sorc bash, 5 on 5, and wow - we had people wanting it to be WP vs. 2.COM. Not coz of hatred - coz it was fun, and hey its a game! PS 2.com won - Dennis ran out of time - love the Internet don't ya :-)

I can only write on a personal level, this is it, I love being a wiz on 2.com - I lost mmmph mages (several plus) and have some of the deaths logged on Tobias' site (www.qtq.org/mud2) but it's not points it's the game that count. I own a games shop - I sell PC games. I can discuss 3D effects, mip mapping and all the clever stuff if you like - but I have played a text game, mud2, since the late 80's (yes I am old, but some are older) and still love it. It's the players that help make the game (P.S. Richard is correct Rocko - Baby Giants are not a cool idea!) and for me interaction is all!

I also love the challenge of playing on Wireplay. To be mortal is something to be appreciated - it IS a challenge, when you make wiz you have beaten the game (I quote) but have you beaten all the players? On WP I am constantly attacked and that's fine - I don't retaliate which probably annoys my protagonists - but then I am not wiz running, I am trying to integrate - and yeth I finawy got a thecond perthona but only for fun - and it'th not weally a Wampire!

And so at last what I was asked to discuss. WP players have, to a large degree, a distinct lack of regard for their personae. They will fod with little thought (I quote Olazabal the Warlock - a shout of, "Why Didn't You Flee?" was answered by him with, "I Don't Like To!") They are skilful in many areas - I learnt to hammer giants with protectors for example at WP - I also doubled (at least) my speed of kitting up in a reset - and I thank you all.

In return - I was appalled the first time (and the second) I tried a mobile bash on WP - you assume it requires numbers and that even numbers are insufficient, I agree with the latter and not the former. I have completed a bash (as a mort I hasten to add - with 2 helpers). Of course that is a major difference - the numbers again!

As a newcomer to Wireplay though, there is a major cultural difference in one important respect, that of payment. At 2.com accounts, other than trial ones, are not free, hence you tend to have players with a maximum of three personae. They cherish them more, with mortal FODS being less common until you reach mage, and you tend to get to know your friend/foe very well over time.

At Wireplay, whether or not it's the done thing, people seem to have several accounts. Some have lots of accounts. Some seem to have hundreds. The strangeness of coming in to this environment and hearing, "Hi Mate!" from an apparent total stranger was a definite culture shock. It also seems to lead to a certain group of mid level personae that lack that urge to go out and do, whether it be exploration or hack and slash. They are cosy in sorcerdom or such protected level personae as they have and never seem to move beyond it. And those that do like hacking can have a seemingly endless supply of mid level characters to role out as required. Oh, and the tearoom is a lot busier at Wireplay!

The major differences, that I have found, are:

• At 2.com you are unlikely to be actively attacked as early as at WP.
• We (sorry we) don't have an ERM house because we don't need one, but I do like the idea.
• We don't have the numbers so some of us (i.e. me) need to learn to kit up faster and I have (I hope).

But in the end - we play mud2, not mud2.com, not wireplaymud, but the mud2 I know from years ago - Richard's Mud, Muse's Mud - style varies, but you either love it or you can leave it.

In the end I realise that I have friends at both 2.com and at Wireplay. And many at both now because there is a crossover. To those that were displeased or said they were when Sepultura made Wiz on WP - sorry but he is a good player and the fact he has the temerity to be a Yank is not a problem other than of time zones - with an open Telnet system that will become more common.

So - in the end I see few differences - WP players probably have a speed edge because the good ones get kit or die early - 2.com players maybe have an advantage in knowledge cos the kit for some puzzles isn't swamped by newbies every reset in the first 5 mins. But we all play the same game - long may it reign (plus I hope a few of the players are remembered <g>).