My first exposure to Deathwish was back in the late 90s when I was a little kid; at that time it was called Aaezure Odyssey. I didn't have a PC of my own, so with play-time limited to friends' houses and the library I wasn't able to get all that far. And after a few years I gravitated toward other games.

Fast-forward to now, re-visiting this mud in 2017. I was pleasantly surprised that it a) still existed, b) was actively maintained and c) had a real, still- active player-base. I found it very easy to just dive right in and be re- acquainted with all my old memories. I've been enjoying re-visiting areas that used to be off-limits for me as I'm approaching the level cap of 50.

This MUD is an incredibly chill experience. No mandated roleplay, no surprise player-killing, no one hounding you about what you do or don't do. Always, there is at least one person to help you, answer questions, or just to chat and hang out. Fun and silly conversations on there, usually Friday/Saturday evenings when it's a bit busier. The zones are reflective of this too. They don't conform to a dedicated medieval theme or anything. This leaves room for lots of anachronisms and different themes.

The world of Deathwish is massive. Even with the number of hours I've spent on this game, I've seen 10% of it at the most. The levels are immersive and vast, and thoughtfully designed. In a today's era where 'vast in-game universe' means 'loads of repetitive, procedurally-generated dungeons', it is so darn refreshing to find a game where under every rock, every corner is something interesting. This aspect of game exploration I so rarely find in modern RPGs. This has served to remind me why I want to play MUDs in the first place and what I love so much about them.

Deathwish has been an incredible experience so far, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing more of what it has to offer. I recommend it to literally everyone I know who is looking to play a MUD.