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[Pnx]

Apart from Armageddon the only mud I can find with that is Harshlands, never played it though but I'll give it a shot in a while.
Here's the website: http://www.harshlands.net/default.aspx

Enjoy, or don't.

Edit: This is based on a search on mudconnector, there may be others out there.

[Sappho]

Well I finally made it into the witches' guild, but now I have no idea what to do.  Granny told me to "get started" and that's all I can get out of her.  I don't know any spells or how to make any potions or anything.  She didn't even tell me how to communicate with other members of the guild.  So, what, do I just go wandering the streets of Ankh-Morpork now until something interesting happens?

[ILikePie]

I think she gives you guide about witches, check your inventory.

[Sappho]

Nope, no guide.  Looks like I chose a difficult guild for a newbie.  I still can't find my way around anywhere.  And I have a bunch of stuff to sell but no idea where to sell it...  No idea where to get a talker once my newbie status expires, either.  As cool as this game seems to be, it's a little too big and confusing for a new player, even with the tutorial.

[Pnx]

Find maps and guides online for the game, there's websites dedicated to the witches guild that can give you advice on what to do.

[Sappho]

Right now I'm making a living scavenging for junk in the streets and selling it to the one general store I could find.  I did manage to get a talker, though.  I think I'll have a look at those sites and ask the witches in-game for help with my talker.  One of these days I will get my bearings!

By the way, I think it's fantastic that you can plant an item on a corpse, bury it, then recover the corpse later and take the item from it.

[ILikePie]

Try this, it looks pretty spoilerific.

[Rhodan]

What's your in-game name, Sappho? I'm currently online as Rhodan.

[Duke 2.0]

Well I finally made it into the witches' guild, but now I have no idea what to do.  Granny told me to "get started" and that's all I can get out of her.  I don't know any spells or how to make any potions or anything.  She didn't even tell me how to communicate with other members of the guild.  So, what, do I just go wandering the streets of Ankh-Morpork now until something interesting happens?

Welcome to every experience with every MUD I have ever played ever.

[Sappho]

My char is Androgen. I'm not on right now though.  I figure I'll try again when I'm less frustrated. This game looks worth learning, but it's got a much steeper learning curve than I expected.

[Xotes]

All this talk of MUDs and no mention of Shadows of Isildur? For shame! It's a roleplay intensive perma-death MUD set in Middle Earth a few hundred years before the events outlined in the books occur.

I'm no good at giving examples about things, sadly, but I'll give a quick run-down. A lot of the races are restricted until you get the requisite amount of Roleplay Points (RPP), which are handed out by the staff to those they trust to RP well. You need to come up with backgrounds for your characters as well, and have to submit an application to the mods before you can go throughout the world. The downside of this is that the playerbase is pretty small, but they're all pretty good at RPing.

Combat is good, with plenty of locational damage, bleeding and the like. Wound treatment is handled in depth, and wounds that are not taken care of will grow infected, giving the host all sorts of maladies. The players go in-depth on wound treatment, writing out what they do instead of just typing in "Bandage Guy".

Combat isn't what it's all about, of course. Plenty of characters never see any, and their life expectancy is much improved by that, let me tell you. Your guy could just be a bum in Minas Tirith who goes around regaling people with fake war stories for free food and beer, and it's completely acceptable.

I didn't actually do all that much summing up, but seriously, go check it out. It's pretty good. I haven't played in a few years, though, so some of my info's probably off.

[MrWiggles]

Most are like text-based versions of MMOs, just more boring.

To exagerate for effect, that's perhaps like saying Pong is like Wii Tennis.  It's a different vintage, and of course there are differences in presentation.

As for the "more boring", I wouldn't want to argue.  Otherwise it'd probably turn into a "Youth of today with ADD, etc, without the patience to learn things, blah blah blah..." thing.  Or (certainly very possible, given you're obviously capable of dealing witht he DF interface, so can't be totally slave to 3D rendering) you just wwere unlucky enough to find the less interesting (or currently less player-populated) MUDs, rather than just not understanding the difference emphasis in pace (catching or missing something in a text-only room description is different to catching or missing a 'glowing spark' indicator on an isometric worldview).

I'd say MUDs are more like those bat-and-ball brick breaking games and MMOs are more like some tennis game on the NES. Now I like Armageddon and SoI, but the problem with both is that they take up way too much time. Addictive, fun, but time consuming.

90% of MUDs I run into are little more than picking one class out of dozens, a race out of dozens. Go in an area, type "k monster", then go in another area, type "k monster" until you level up. HellMOO starts off intriguing, but after a certain point, you're just killing random things, because that's the only way you could get XP. And what sucks most of all about most MUDs is high-level players. I could get up to like level 5 after a week, and some level 56 griefer walks into a room, ganks me, and takes my stuff.

So yeah, if I'm going to play a MUD, it'd probably have to be a permadeath one without a lot of grinding. Any of those out there? Not so fond of semi-permadeath ones either, because they still bias towards the uber-characters that have been around for 5 RL years.

Have you looked into Mushes? Different environment, free form structure combat.  Most Mushes the higher level players are fairly helpful to lower levels, with no real interest in killing them. This holds true where PvP is common.

For most you do have to send a background for your character, and apps for new equipment or skills, but on the flip side most equipment is unique to the character.

I can recommend my Naruto based on, that been going for three years now. I retired from beings headwizard, and I know the guys that do a Bleached theme one.

Overall they are a different feel in its community and game play. They do tend to be role enforced, or role play encourage.

[Sappho]

I tried a mush for a while many years ago.  It took me a while to understand that it wasn't really a game, it was just a structure for people to roleplay.  There was no combat and there were no challenges.  Want something to exist?  You just create it.  You could make your own house, however you want, containing whatever you want.  You could make your own world if you wanted to.  Once I realized that, I left and never went back.

Maybe not all mushes are like that, but it didn't feel like a game at all to me, just a structure for roleplaying and telling stories.  If that's what you're into, then I guess it's cool, but I was looking for a game.

[Rhodan]

That's why I don't like enforced PvP in MUDs.  PvP can add a lot to the game, but when you are weak and defenseless it just isn't fun to be killed by higher-levelled players over and over.

In Discworld (sorry, only MUD I know really well) PvP is optional.  You can go PK once you feel you are ready, so you have plenty of time to prepare and make allies/enemies.  No going back, though!
Some Guilds require you to be PK in order to advance past certain levels, but nothing stops you from advancing those skills on your own, or learning them from fellow players.  This is true for the entire Assassin's Guild (as their main special skill involves "inhuming" players) and the Last Order of the Wizard's Guild.

What I also like about the Disc is the amount of races and classes.
There is 1 playable race, humans.
There are 6 Guilds with a few subdivisions each.
Each Guild gives you a set of commands unique to that Guild, but anyone can learn the skills from any guild and use many related commands.  For example, anyone can learn to shoplift and steal, but only Thieves can learn to steal your undies while you're still wearing them.
Each guild has a few subdivisions which focus on specific skills, although you can still learn any other skills you like, just not as quickly.
Priests are the only ones where the subdivision really matters, as they each worship a different God with a different alignment and different rituals.
Other guilds besides Wizards and Witches can also worship gods as a follower so they can learn to cast a ritual or two, adding even more variety.

The result is that everyone clearly belongs to a certain group, but can still do almost anything they like.
XP and money can be a grind though, but you get xp for just being online, doing quests or entering areas you haven't been to in a while.  Using any command also nets you XP, so casting toy spells or sneaking about for no good reason nets you xp as well.  If you don't fight at all, but are an active player, you'll still get plenty of xp to advance your skills with.  If you don't fight you won't need that xp for fighting skills anyways.

[Starver]

Note: written prior to Rhodan's entry, but lost connection before posting.  Hence, some unintended repetition.

I'd say MUDs are more like those bat-and-ball brick breaking games and MMOs are more like some tennis game on the NES. [...]

I did say I was exagerating

90% of MUDs I run into are little more than picking one class out of dozens, a race out of dozens. Go in an area, type "k monster", then go in another area, type "k monster" until you level up.

Which is probably why I don't like '90% of MUDs' [<=unqualified guess] but I do the-one-I-won't-name-again-because-it'll-look-like-I'm-obsessed.
Numberchasing happens there to any degree the player wishes, but there are RPers as well (who may or may not have numberchased their character to the level they are at... or just used idleXP and other non-combat, and not even killed an in-game bunny-rabbit).  And unless you apply to become PK (and/or join and sufficiently advance through one of the PK-only guild structures, e.g. assassins and that wizard subset that I forget the name of), you can't be griefed that way.  (And griefing in general (especially anything 'ingenius' that breaks the PK/NPK barrier) is frowned upon and dealt with by player-controlled and, if necessary, admin measures.)

With an initial seven 'lives', but the ability to get more (by in-game means only, no need to expend Roundworld Cash) I suppose it sits in your "semi-permadeath" category, so I've got no comeback on that point.  But as the "five-year-old long-term characters" are generally overwhelming nice, if not full on helpful, and there are actually far older characters who are no less welcoming, you can only consider it a clique if you don't really mesh with those who are there.

(Not to say that there's not arguments among the regulars...  Try asking whether or not female characters should be able to be wizards, or whether the pantheon of gods should be more like the books, or the Warrior's' Guild (or its subsets) should have a player-run administration in charge, etc.