Many reviews constantly bash on Andrew, the lead designer. I can't judge them. I have played a lot of muds and I am aware staff can be like that. /Because they are human/. They are not perfect. So let's review everything we have seen spoken negatively about the game.

Andrew Is Doing Illegal Sh**

All issues about Andrew being a normal human cough*who made and makes mistakes*cough are irrelevant. Thus lets focus on the real juicy matter at hand. His donation system. So think about this: do you truly believe NWA has not been reported for all these -illegal- stuff Andrew seemingly does? Because the implication is he uses donations and as a thank you gift progressively reward you until a max point. And that pretty much everything he has done is illegal at the /Federal/ level, including his website which 'stole' copyright images. Ouch. But what's this? The man is still there with not a single issue about him breaking the law. That pretty much discards the so called 'immoral system' he uses. Because just the stolen copyright things that are still on the website, should have been taken down. Nope. Still there. This leads to the only one known /FACT/: Andrew has never broken a law concerning his mud.

Donation System

This is the system Andrew has to make money for himself. Gasp! What a crime! He asks for donations to make money to pay house mortgage or rent. Utilities. Food. Gas. Phone bill. Server bills. Staff. Etc. So he offers a choice to the gamers: Money vs Time. So if you are in a rush? Sure! Throw $1000 and there you go! Instant powerful character! Hey just like in WoW or Guild Wars 2 with there cash item that gives you +XX levels ahead of the competition. But you seem to forget that no matter how much money you spend that other guy can and will kick your ass even in a same skills fight. Yes the player with no perks has to play more carefully but these people have time under their belt. So don't whine about dropping $1000 and not being a special snowflake. Either way there are lot of Triple AAA titles that does this same exact thing.

It Has Low Quality RP

I would facepalm here by now. So I'll use another popular text game Cyberphere Sindome, a great game, go play. Anyway in this text rpg, just like New Worlds, their emotes rely heavily on socials and says most of the time with more wordy emotes and poses when required. And guess what? They are one of the top text games out there. Bonus points for offering a very sweet perk for just $200!

Staff Play Powerful Characters

Seriously? We are actually going to whine, complain or rant about that one? It is not a secret that in many text rpg's Staff are the most powerful PC's. Uh... kiddo they better be. Staff has the right to slap you if you are messing with their work. These text rpg games mean a lot to the staff. And is no surprise they will use the full range of their powers to pimp slap you. I'm not even quite sure why this is an issue. Makers of their games, no matter the medium, will always do this. It's like staff 101 and shouldn't be a surprised by now. As even in Destiny 2 this has been done.

The MUD Is Stagnant

Well okay man. Aside from triple AAA juggernauts in MMO like WoW, Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy 14... can you mention text rpg's that do that? The closest thing would be MuSH based Arx. But guess what? Those changes are off screen. Yes they do happen and affect the lore. But the main playing area is just the city of Arx and a few rooms. Anything else is made by a player DM. Many games that are triple AAA don't have this if they are even remotely online because they are not single player games. So if real juggernauts can't do this all the time? Why would this text game be different?

It Is Extremely Grindy

You really want to go there... Okay buddy. Feel free to mention any game based on RPG mechanics that -does not- have a grind in them. I'll wait. In the meantime know that as long as people have fun, they'll gladly do it. See Donation System if you want to shave the grind off. But the game is set to at least, minimum, two years or more for a character. Barring small instances where permadeath happens. So again I compare it to Sindome, Legends of the Jedi or Arx where people are able to not instantly be permed in a fight. And were it saved for the last story of a plot arc or if the person is a troll or such well... those always get killed quick in any game that protects it from such players.

Ateraan Is Not Perfect

There is not a single game that is perfect. They are all flawed in some way. But people do play his game. And despite all the criticism, it's still alive. Even when I divide 121 players by 2.5 for an estimate, I still get 40-50 players. Bonus if you knew that Arx allows two players at the same time.

Idling So That Time Passed By

I agree a bit on this one. And I'm certainly trying to see if a who active can be used to find role-play. I also advised that idlers don't be in the public area. But moreover that idlers can be identified so one knows what ro send to their mind. It also lets people see the psychic channels, channels that are IC and work much like Sindome. And yes I played a lot of Sindome as you may have noticed. Anyhow there is nothing wrong with idling and leaving the game up. I do believe the experience caps you get per Borg should be somehow based to character level. But either if there were zero changes I can deal with it because its a minimum two year plan (IF you survive that long :P). And so has a lot of long time non donating players.

Conclusion

In the end there is always two sides to a coin. You don't need to believe me. Don't be a robot or a puppet, find out about things your self. If the game ain't for you, delete character and nope it.