I have played Armageddon MUD and other RPIs for over a decade. I have no complaints about the game itself. There are a lot of good roleplayers and I get a great amount of enjoyment out of playing the game itself. If you are looking for a MUD to participate in a story where every action or inaction can have a consequence and players work toward or against each other or the world around them, then Armageddon is that game.

Staff are very supportive of player efforts provided that the player makes the effort. At times, playing a role where you set out to accomplish something big in the game can feel like work. But it can also be fun if you enjoy that sense of accomplishment.

My main complaint about the game is not actually about the game itself, but the player base. The official forum community is populated by players that are completely toxic toward discourse about the game. A part of game policy is that no in-game information should be shared among players outside of the game, so no one officially knows who is playing whom and it is impossible to discuss details about what is going on in the game lately. This results in some posters resorting to passive-aggressive comments about vaguely-described characters or actions with the apparent hope that the message will get across to the offending players. It also results in arguments about the state of the game where everyone claims their position on something is correct, although it is impossible for anyone to prove due to the No IG Info rule.

There are a few kicked dogs of the community that they will consistently complain about. One entire sphere/section of the game (taking up about 1/3 of the game world and holding about half of the players at any given time) is almost universally despised by the loudest posters, with some calling for its closure. Other hated things include players who play more difficult races 'incorrectly' (in their opinion), sponsored/leadership roles (roles that often feel like work and largely serve the purpose of entertaining the other players and making the world come to life), and 'independents' (characters that don't join clans).

The staff's hands-free approach to moderation seems to suggest a contented attitude toward the forum's current state. It's obvious that they noticed the state of discourse surrounding the game, because they are the forum moderators and are assumed to pay at least some attention to the forum from time to time. They could fix forum discussion by either enforcing or altering the impractically strict rules but have made no move to do so. One excuse that is given by staff is that they expect the players to self-moderate, which they have clearly proven unable to do. A cynic might say that the staff prefer forum discussion to be as messy as it is, because as long as players are having an unmoderated fight with each other, they won't complain about staff.

Not all players are bad in discussion, and even the ones that are bad in some discussions aren't bad in others. Some players are actually very productive and kind toward one another out of game, collaborating on guides for the game as well as outside things, like other games and writing groups. But it is notable that the player base's numbers and voting efforts on TMC are dwindling further as tensions on the forum get higher. I, for one, no longer vote for the game on TMC or similar MUD lists because of the crippling issues with the community.

There are other reviews that say 'Play the game, ignore the forum' or something to that effect. Frankly, I think that is good advice, but incomplete. I would recommend playing and only reading and posting on the following boards on the forum: Staff Announcements, New Player Questions, Player Announcements, and your clan forum. Going anywhere else would be wading into the insanity of the discussion that takes place there.