One of the best muds I've encountered, both from the quality of the imms, the staff and the code.

Its only problem at the moment is the low-player base which is springing back up after a 'revival' cased by hardware issues.

There is generally a very friendly but RP orientated crowd here, who always try to help.

Basically the main thing this mud needs is more players!

A good place for anyone thinking of joining a new mud, either new or with experience.

I used to love this MUD. After a few years break, I came back to see it in a frankly dismal state. Low player numbers, rude imms who are condescending, and people using the global tell function as a party chat. Certain imms have obvious cliques, and within these cliques, people receive unfair advantages. One imm, Nyrisia, would talk using sentences with emoticons.

I can not recommend this mud.

Darkmists has multiple class/race combos, that are always evolving. Behind the scenes, the staff is always working to make the Mud better. They take criticism well, and are always open to suggestions from players. The pk system works wonderfully, and seems to be well balanced. DM has a unique limited gear system, that lets you further personalize your builds, and helps you reach full potential. Like with any mud, you will have your awesome players, and a few bad lemons here and there. In all, the players I have met are all enjoyable to rp with, and are fun to pk with. The Immortals tend to make time for RP when they can, and often try to host global events. One such event is the Gladiators Arena, which puts all players into graveyard mode. You can fight in FFA matches, and multiple versions of team matches, without the fear of losing your equipment. The DM forum does a great job at keeping players informed and up to date on the state of the mud. Just in the past few years, there has been many new sub-classes, and sub-races implemented into the game. DM also has a unique questing system, that allows players to gain ranks solo, or in groups. The quests are also a source of finding new equipment, and in some cases. You can quest for special 'perks' to your character. Example being the Lich quest, and coming soon. True Dragon quests. There is also multiple immortals, past and present you can worship, and rp the religion. If you do well, and rp the religion to the T, gaining that Immortals attention. You may go as far as earning a brand. Brands that are rewarded, will give unique abilities with them. In a whole, my time playing DM has been a very enjoyable experience.

Dark Mists had great potential now it is in a sorry state of decay. Sometime ago when I first started playing there were so many avenues you could take a character between religion and household. Nowadays, the houses aren't active, wars are boring and hardly a soul actually participates. People nowadays post logs from 'back in the day' on the log forum because there are hardly any new exciting fights. Getting branded used to be a lot of fun and a lot of work but there was active participation from the Immortals. Today, there are so few active and there is obvious favouritism that takes place.

Back when I first started playing I would gather buddies to give it a go, today I would suggest learning another mud simply because in a short while you'll just become frustrated with the cliches, the mood of their head immortal (who has pushed away all other good immortals/coders)

I saw RIP Dark Mists, the good days are gone it's time to go to sleep.

I really enjoy this MUD, its got a that great mix of PK, RP and creativity which keeps bringing me back.

To really get you immersed into the game there are lots of combinations of classes, races, faiths and houses which serve to complement the large world.

The IMMS keep adding new features, new classes and adjusting the houses so the world is in constant flux which keeps things interesting. They work hard to keep the MUD fun and maintain game balance, which can be challenging with so many options. I also feel that they do a great job listening to the players concerns when balance or rule issues arise.

Something to keep in mind this MUD will take time to master and learn. The world is just very large and complex, luckily the veterans are pretty good in helping out new players, there is an OOC (Out of Character) newbie chat you can use to talk with the more experienced players so I (stringly) recommend making use of that when you start.

The website has some information, and a good starting guide, though I'll suggest rolling up a character and talking to some of the experienced players to help pick the right build (class/race/alignment) which suits your play style and entertainment goal. Some of the class / race combinations can be underpowered which can lead to a frustrating game experience.

I started mudding back in 1999 and during that trial period, I've tested other muds as well. This is my favourite mud so far and I don't think I will get enough of it. Now, in 2013, this is the only mud I play. Things had evolved and the areas grow. The mud has long history of great players in which I love the balance between role play and player killing. The forum and the player base are very helpful (even if you're a beginner) and you'd learn the rules, the areas, how to get eq in no time. My personal favourite in this mud is getting housed and branded because it requires so much role play. If you want a great challenge, this mud is definitely for you.

Dark Mists used to be a great MUD, but sadly it's no longer fun to play. The main problem is the three current reigning imms. They have an arrogant attitude and a serious disregard for fair play. If you call them on any rules that they break as an imm, they tend to reply 'Well, in real life things could be much worse, so don't complain.' Lol, wut?

Other times, you get to listen how one imm is 'so depressed'. It's crazy, and unprofessional.

I completely recommend staying away from this mud. Under better staffed imms, I believe Dark Mists could be much better; sadly, I don't think the imms are going anywhere.

When I first started playing Dark Mists it had an extremely active player base and active Staff Members who were reasonable. Today, the player base is roughly 5-10 players at any given time with more houses than they have a need for. Sadly, it also seem all the reasonable Staff Members have left for green pastures or been forced out by the remaining staff.

There are some really great players and a few good staff members left, sadly it isn't enough... It looks like this mud is in a freefall which has been brought on by rash decisions by Staff members who forced out the last few good Staff.

I would STRONGLY say go learn another mud as you'll find yourself bored due to the low player and general inactivity of the game. Which is sad, the game has potential.

THUMBS DOWN on this mud.

I have been playing Dark Mists since I was a geeky teenaged high school boy. Now that I am a geeky full grown adult (and Staff Member as of 2010, woo!) with children of my own, I feel I've got enough experience to look back fondly over the past decade plus at the evolution of DM as a whole and smile fondly over many great memories.

The community of players is involved in both forum discussions about game improvements, and social conversations about all kinds of things. There's not a day that goes by where playing doesn't give me some kind of smile or laugh.

While MUD in general has a steep learning curve, there is a dedicated NEWBIE channel and a 'New Soul' recognition title given to those who need extra help from the staff and players. A fully revamped newbie school is also added, which teaches the ABCs of mudding.

The game has a number of active staffers, including me, and is constantly changing, with new code updates, areas, quests, races and classes so there is always an opportunity to try something 'new'. What keeps me coming back, even after all of these years, is the community. More than any other MUD I have played, Dark Mists has a loyal following and fan base of gamers with whom I enjoy roleplaying and slaughtering mercilessly.

Come check us out!

This MUD has it all. Since I've been playing, for ten years now, every time I log in it brings a new, exciting, and challenging gameplay experience that you can not find anywhere else.

The playerbase continues on our goal to be as helpful as possible to anyone trying to join our community to help you get a good start in your travels. We hope to see you in our Mists!

-Remember- If you have any questions use the newbie channel with 'newbie what you want to say' or just send a tell 99% of people who are not currently engaged in something will be very responsive! Good luck!

This MUD is one of a kind. Lots of different games out there can claim that they have 60 classes, 50 races, etc etc, but how many of them are developed and playable? This MUD has balanced, tweaked, and created a world that is playable as any class.

Roleplaying is enforced, but you have plenty of room to create your own personal style.

It's House and Clan system is second to none. In my opinion, there is no better MUD out there.

The playerbase is currently low, as we're not one of the well known MUDs, but once people start to see what there is to offer in this game they'll flood in.

I played Darkmists on and off for 10 years. It was my first mud and the game taught me a lot. I learned what I liked about rpgs and what I didn't. What always felt strange to me was that I could play a bunch of MMORPGs and the works, but I always came back to DM.

For better or worse this is the only game to give me an adrenaline rush, a sense of accomplishment, and to ever hold my attention for any period of time. The roleplay is there and solid if you want it to be. I've heard people complain about it but in a cut throat world like dark mists, roleplay is not always done as tree huggers.

The PK system is fast pace and very dynamic. If you strive to get better there are plenty of people that will work with you. If you are stubborn in your ways, there are a lot of people who will happily kill you, regularly.

This MUD...this... experience has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. It has made me a much smarter and creative person though rich RP interactions. It has fed my competitive drive with active, strategic PVP. My leadership abilities benefited from my leadership roles in the game. No game out can be as rewarding as this one. A+++++++

After several years away from Darkmists, I decided to give it a try again. When I played before there were some cheating issues with some of the immortals, as well as some immortals taking their out of character feelings and messing with people's characters for them. Sadly, after 5 years away it seems little has changed, and what little has changed was for the worse.

When I first returned to Darkmists, I was astounded at the changes to the mud. Many sub-classes were now available, as well as new houses and races. I eagerly looked forward to getting back into Darkmists. Sadly, my anticipation was the best part of the experience.

In the three hours I played, I was bombarded with OOC tells, frequent and flagrant OOC things being spoken out loud, and a seemingly never ending stream of childishness from the playerbase. For a 'roleplaying enviornment' I saw very little roleplaying, and quite a bit of immaturity.

One area of the mud, called the Gymnasium, is designed for lower level players to gain experience and hone their skills in. Inside of this area, are hallways full of rooms on either side. The class I was playing, a monk, basically cannot use much in the way of equipment and at lower levels killing mobs and training skills can be difficult. One player in this area was repeatedly running into the room where I was fighting a mob (in some cases for several minutes) and finishing them off after quite a bit of work on my part, and stealing my experience.

The first several times this happened I attempted to roleplay with them, only to be ignored. It continued to happen time after time. Time and again any attempt to interact with this player was simply ignored. After a few more times, I noticed a pattern in the way the character was moving through the area, which seemed to indicate the player was using a bot, which is supposed to be against the rules.

I sent a tell to an immortal who was visible, and was ignored. Finally this character did it again, and I sent him an OOC tell (Darkmists has an OOC tell as opposed to IC tells) asking him to stop being a jerk. No big surprise, I was ignored.

The big surprise however came when I was transferred to the realm of the dead, and berated by an immortal for MY conduct. I had had a description from level 1 on, had been consistently roleplaying with others, and was not botting. It seems however that the immortal staff would rather have people who are botting, not having descriptions, and who are refusing to roleplay at all.

Darkmists would likely be a wonderful game full of fun and challenge, but the staff seems to still be intent on running it into the ground and encouraging nothing but the worst kind of powergaming and non-roleplaying nonsense, while paying lip service to the concept of roleplaying. The code and variety in race/class abilities is unfortunately too far overshadowed by the immaturity of the playerbase and the bad attitude of the staff.

If you're looking for a good time, I'd give this one a miss.

Always changing, always challenging, and a hugely active/supportive immortal staff. The Dark Mists offers a challenge to both new and old players alike with an evolving world and playerbase that always offers up new challenges and excitement just around the corner.

Mortal run (immortal guided) houses and mortal run clans offer a huge variety of RP and PK scenarios, limited only by one's imagination. For a real challenge, try DM (or, as they say, Carpe DM)!

Darkmists is an evolving mud with huge areas. Even after years mudding, I still find that there's something new to learn. There are a lot of options, race and occupation wise. Even though some areas/skills/spells might remain the same, I can bet that Darkmists a year from now would be different.

The immortals are nice and they interact a lot with mortals quite often. As a player, I know that I'm being watched because they know what's been going on and recognize my character for it.

This is a good mud and I though I am much more of a roleplayer instead of a player killer, I have fun in it.

I have been playing Darkmists (DM) for about 5 years and have tried other MUDs in that time. I find DM to be a great place to RP how I want (within reason of course) and do some PKing to get the stress out.

DM mixes a variety of spells and skills into different classes, many with very unique skill sets. A very involved staff makes for new and exciting areas that even people like me can still find enjoying. Also, there are many quests and mini-quests that keep the days interesting. Then there is the house wars. This is what keeps bringing me back and I never bore of these.