I've been playing Ancient Anguish off and on for over 10 years. It is far less daunting to the newcomer than many others MUDs out there. There IS, however, a LOT to see and do. Between the 10 classes (Artificer {new class}, Adventurer, Cleric, Fighter, Mage, Necromancer, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue {if they existed}, and Shapeshifter), the 6 Guilds (The Realm of the Black Bear, The Courts of Chaos, The Eldar, The Knights of Drin, The Monks of Antana, and The Scythe), and the 5 races (Dwarf, Elf, Half Elf, Human, and Orc), you have a LOT of choices for your character.

The MUD is immense, I have not even approached seeing all the 'rooms' in the MUD. Even more areas are added regularly by the Wizards. The Wizards were players like you and me who have demonstrated an extreme level of knowledge about the MUD and are given the opportunity to make additions and changes. I've had a few friends and many guildmates make it to Wizard status (Hi Fairydust!). Though they have not told me what they had to go through in their wizard training, I do understand that the rules for additions and changes are VERY strict.

The quests in the game are some of the best kept secrets. You may not discuss them in any sort of detail. Do a web search on 'Ancient Anguish Quests' and you will have a lot of trouble finding ANY spoilers. Quite an accomplishment for a MUD that is over a decade old.

There are many very good maps of AA available out there to aid your wanderings. I mostly use Methos' map, to keep from getting lost! :)