Cowboy Bebop: Space Cowboy is one of the most innovative muds I've seen of late. Using the base SWR code, the Imm coders have really made it their own, adding in a new -active- fighting system, a great space combat program, RP player interaction, and a variety of different skill classes, letting the player become whatever their heart desires.

The new fight-system requires fights to be much more strategy- oriented, and even simple skills like 'track' and 'snipe' can be put to good use. Also, weapons work differently on different mobs and players, forcing mudders to strategize when going in for a PK. Parts of the fighting system include: - adrenaline ('Your blood is pounding too hard to quit!') - single-round combat ('attack'/'circle'/'punch'/'kick' every round versus 'kill') - specific lagtimes for each weapon (for instance, pistols have a shorter lag time than rifles, and knives even shorter than that)

The space combat is also superb, a major fix on SWR's space combat. It also has specific lag-times, and Imms are working on implementing an adrenaline formula for the players firing the weapon.

The best part of the mud is, truly, the player interaction. The mud has a steady playerbase of 18 - 25 returning players, plus a constant influx of new people. True, while CB:SC's playerbase isn't extraordinarily large, it benefits from this, as newer players don't come feeling completely overwhelmed at the player-size. The elder players go out of their way to help the new players and insert them into the big happy 'Space Cowboy' group, where they're happily welcomed.

Even if IC, two syndicate leaders profess utter hatred for one another, they're likely to be great friends OOC. As such, IC problems rarely if ever become OOC problems, and if they do, an Imm is on hand to patch the whole situation up (with giant killer attack corgis named Ein, if the need's great enough).

Something I rarely see in muds, and was glad to see in this one, is the frequency of the Imms on CB:SC. They're usually on for most if not all of an EST day (7am - 12am), giving them plenty of time to constantly tweak the mud and be there to settle disputes, start up quests, RPs, etc... If a player spots a bug, it'll likely be fixed within 5 minutes of telling an Imm. Also, the immortals love feedback and ideas, and quite a few player ideas end up becoming the mud's next big thing.

To wrap up my rambling, I'll talk about the wonderfully diverse and different classes of CB:SC. Sticking true to the nature of the Cowboy Bebop show, all the classes are CB based. Feel an itch for crime? Go join one of the two syndicates, RDS or WTS (this mud's version of a clan), or become a thief, perfecting your stealing and hijacking skill to the max and making everyone mad at you. Tired of getting stolen from? Join ISSP, and post a bounty on that stinking little thief's head. Have your combat skills to the max, but are severely lacking cash? Join RBH, and get lots of money for killing thieves ISSP's posted bounties on! Have a hankering for making armor, weapons, drugs, and containers and selling them at higher prices to get money? Join GLM, get discounts on engineering things, and rob everyone of their hard-earned money--the legal way!

The best part about these different classes? They all intermingle, so for a month, you can decide to be a merchant, then jump over to the life of crime and become the leader of RDS, then have a change of heart and become ISSP. The classes are varied enough so if a player becomes bored of one, they can easily choose a different track to hold their interest.

All in all, Cowboy Bebop: Space Cowboy was, and continues to be a great experience for me. Come join today, and endure the madness and the fun!