Shadow Siege is an intense roleplay mud that sets the players in a bad situation: the world is on the brink of destruction! Telantha is the last remaining city, and hope, for all civilization, the rest of the world covered in the Darkness. Now the players must decide what to do, whether they will help in the fight against the demons that dwell within the Darkness, or try to complete some personal goal and leave the heroics to some other hapless fool.

The Pros: roleplaying is an important, if not essential, part of this mud. The code automatically rewards players for their roleplay (based on the number of people that are in the same room and the emotes that are produced), so there is no need to wait for rewards, a wait that is common with a nomination or 'roleplay spy' system. The staff also work with the players to move plots forward: working with the staff extensively regarding an idea or scene that you have often has great results. Characters are also customizable, as there are no classes or levels. Hooked on the idea of a warrior and mage combined? It can be done. Interested in making that shady merchant, who deals in a variety of goods and sells potions on the side? That can be done as well. No two characters are the same, and one can never assume to know just what another person is capable of.

The Cons: if killing is your thing and leaving behind mountains of corpses as you chug healing juice turns you on, then Shadow Siege is not for you. There are few things that one can kill without (many) In Character consequences, and if one happens to die while fighting a foe...expect to really feel the pain. A downside to the character development on here is at worst a minor issue: it takes time. If you're looking to have the strongest wizard or the best warrior, expect to spend a long, long time working at your skills. Raising your attributes also take time, but at the very least you don't need to bring up a stat, say, five times in order to get any benefit out of it. Bringing up your strength one point does have an affect, just not an overly large one.

Overall, this is a mud that puts heavy emphasis on character development. There is little, if any, benefit to 'borging' (or the repetitive killing of mobiles for treasure and experience). If you're into heavy staff and player plots, then this is a good place for you to look.