I played on DS for years back in the 90s and was once even a member of the imm staff. However, due to growing drama (created mostly by the imms) I decided it was time for me to leave. That was in 2000. I felt the game itself was great, if the people who were running it would just chill out.

Then on a whim, I recently decided to check DS out again (that was in early March of this year), and I have to say that Dragon Swords is hardly the place I remember. Sure, the parts of the game that I enjoyed were still there, but there were also a huge amount of changes and improvements. Things like a remort system had been added; as well as tier levels. Even a nifty bonus exp system has been put in place that can either be triggered by the immortals or randomly when a player levels, granting up to 6x normal experience gains.

Best of all, however, was the new atmosphere. Gone were the stuffy, anal, power-hungry admins of old. A new generation of imps and imms had taken their place, injecting much-needed life into the game. While it might have to do with the smaller player base than before (20-30 players on at a time as opposed to over 100 when I played there last), it doesn't really matter to me. The staff is warm, friendly, and engaging. Overall, Dragon Swords has seen vast improvements over the past 10+ years and the imms seem dedicated on keeping the game from becoming stale. The remort system is a blast, as well as being able to gain special tier levels after level 400 that allow players to gain or buy helpful bonuses. Throw in all sorts of goodies, such as study skills, gems that can be embedded into equipment for bonuses, and a new laid back atmosphere, and you have the recipe for a deep and rewarding experience. If you have never tried DS, I encourage you to do so, and if you're an old player, now is definitely the time to come back.

I have been a player on this wonderful mud for over 5 years. The last few years this mud has gone completely down hill. DragonSwords used to be a mud that listened to all the players, that ran good and fun social events and actually gave a crap about the players.

The last few years the social events have been downright boring to recycled events year after year. Events like clan battles have been promised for the last couple years. We are still waiting on them. The latest holiday is the same recycled mob and items. How many times can they do a mob that spells up players?

The immortal staff is horrible except for a few immortals. Most of the immortals are more concerned with leveling their mortal alts or helping their friends or jailing people they dislike. Nothing fun is ever done by the staff. Be careful what you say around these immortals. The ones that want to help the players they drive away or never give the proper power or security access too.

The mud is not newbie friendly. Horizon used to be the best place to help newbies. Now its a joke with no helpers on or helpers who use the clan access to level their alts. Any new ideas or skills clearly favor higher level players. For example they have the ability to do mines. However there is no way a newbie is going to know where these areas are or pay for the right to access these mines. Clearly the staff here has forgot how it is to be a newbie and not have access to tons and tons of gold at a whim.

The mud is very much a huge clique. Its very much like high school. If you are not part of the 'cool kids' then you hardly have a voice on the mud nor does the staff care. If you do not pay the proper respect to the staff or speak up about stuff they dislike then you will be tossed into jail or ignored.

Lastly I would like to state it is going to take a lot more than facebooks/myspaces groups to get this mud fixed. It is going to take a lot of staff members getting their heads out of their butts.

If you are a newbie do not try this mud! You will get tired of it quick!!

Anonymous

I have been a player on this wonderful mud for over 5 years. The last few years this mud has gone completely downhill. DragonSwords used to be a mud that listened to all the players, that ran good and fun social events and actually gave a crap about the players.

The last few years the social events have been downright boring to recycled events year after year. Events like clan battles have been promised for the last couple years. We are still waiting on them. The latest holiday is the same recycled mob and items. How many times can they do a mob that spells up players?

The immortal staff is horrible except for a few immortals. Most of the immortals are more concerned with leveling their mortal alts or helping their friends or jailing people they dislike. Nothing fun is ever done by the staff. Be careful what you say around these immortals. The ones that want to help the players they drive away or never give the proper power or security access too.

The mud is not newbie friendly. Horizon used to be the best place to help newbies. Now its a joke with no helpers on or helpers who use the clan access to level their alts. Any new ideas or skills clearly favor higher level players. For example they have the ability to do mines. However there is no way a newbie is going to know where these areas are or pay for the right to access these mines. Clearly the staff here has forgot how it is to be a newbie and not have access to tons and tons of gold at a whim.

The mud is very much a huge clique. Its very much like high school. If you are not part of the 'cool kids' then you hardly have a voice on the mud nor does the staff care. If you do not pay the proper respect to the staff or speak up about stuff they dislike then you will be tossed into jail or ignored.

Lastly I would like to state it is going to take a lot more than facebook/myspace groups to get this mud fixed. It is going to take a lot of staff members getting their heads straight.

If you are a newbie do not try this mud! You will get tired of it quick!!

Anonymous

Dragon Swords: 30 Minute Review *They say that a MUD has less then 5 minutes to capture a new player. I offer a MUD 30 minutes to capture me within it's game world. In a mere 30 minutes, no player will have the ability to experience all that a MUD is, and all that a MUD can be. Take this review as it is, merely the top of an iceberg.*

At Character Creation, Dragon Swords excelled. The greeting screen wasn't mind blowing, but for a game with the unique name of 'Dragon Swords', it fit. The proceeding menus utilized color the way it should be, providing players with an easier way of sorting information. The race menu itself was filled with information, arguably too much. All the -1, +1, -3, etc... are little too much for a new player to take and seem to complicate things. That being said Dragon Swords provided a solid handful of races which seemed to be well constructed. As opposed to some MUDs that offer up 4000 races which are all alike.

The class selection screen was neat as I had come to expect. It offered up information on each class, and allowed for an easy and informed choice. At this point, I was a Human Warrior. Following my choice the MUD offered me some extra info on my class, which again was delivered in a neat, easily readable presentation. Moving on...

Unfortunately, once I logged into the game, my experience went downhill. The color use, was AWFUL. Bright reds and yellows filled my screen flashing EXP COUNTDOWN! EXP 4XXXX! I almost had a seizure. Through the constant updates on EXP countdowns, and chat messages coming through I was able to find my room description and learn about what I was supposed to do.

Dragon Swords offers up a thorough MUD school, arguably one of the best ones I've seen. However, it does have it's shortcomings. Early on, I noticed several spelling errors in room descriptions, which kind of taint the experience. Also, a lack of proper information makes some parts a little confusing. From the training room (I had 350 practice sessions, but I didn't know that each training upgrade cost 100 practice points), to the Newbie Questmaster who wasn't very helpful, and was a little glitchy. The biggest problem with the MUD school is the constant barrages of EXP COUNTDOWN!!! and all the other messages filling my screen while I'm trying to figure out what to do. Having to constantly scroll up my zMUD screen to find the room description is a hassle most new players wouldn't undertake.

The combat system in Dragon Swords is pretty much stock MUD combat. Type Kill, go get a cola, come back and loot the corpse. That being said, stock systems works, so why fix it. I killed of the last few minutes of time in Dragon Swords wandering around the Combat School delivering a beat down to some 'Dumb Mages', and weak warriors.

Final Word: I pointed out a lot of 'problems' of Dragon Swords in my 30 minute play time. However, if you can get past the flood of color, and have a friend or two already playing in the game who can show you around, you'll most likely find yourself enjoying a solid MUD. There were nearly 50 people online when I logged in, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The NPC's in the MUD school all seemed to partake in the game world, some chatting with me, others casting spells upon me. And when I gained up to level 2, I'll admit I did get that feeling of wanting to keep going and get level 3. I can't say I'd recommend Dragon Swords to anyone new to MUDding, however if you are a seasoned vet looking for a new MUD, I'd recommend giving it 30 minutes of your time. You might find that 30 minutes turn into 30 hours or more.

Vatiken's 30 Minute Review... Sept.27/08

I entered this mud while searching for a replacement to my old mud which was down for a period of time. Dragonswords (DS) has so much to offer, it more than met what I need to enjoy mudding. DS has everything that I liked about my old mud and more: color, quests, remort system, more races/classes than I know what to do with, and limited pk.

I was further impressed with the friendliness and helpfulness of players and imms. NEVER have I enjoyed the social atmosphere as much was in DS. People are always willing to help out a newbie.

Often I start a mud and get frustrated because I dont know where to start and no one will help me. If anything I had too much help in my first couple of days. I'm so very impressed with the imm staff who clearly enjoy their roles in this game and regularly interact with players to create a more enjoyable mud experience. My old mud is back up and running, yet DS has hooked a new player.

I'm here to stay.

Dragon Swords seems like a good mud, as far as coding and gameplay are concerned. Plenty of classes and skills, and a nice dual/triple class option later on. However, dealing with some of the people on the MUD can be quite frustrating sometimes. One clan there bullys people around way too much, veterans and new players alike, and are generally unpleasant to deal with. I don't know why they're allowed to get away with it. IMM staff is generally nice, although there can be times where they are difficult to deal with as well. We all have bad days though.

If you can get past the bad eggs on this MUD, then it's a decent place to be. If not, find somewhere else. There are many less frustrating places around.