The Inquisition: Legacy is a mud that's been developed for quite a long time now, and the results are evident. The premise is as simple as efficient: set in a Dark Ages world, it tells of the constant strife of the Church to fight magic, which, unfortunately for them, is quite real. This doesn't mean the game is monothematic in any way: a myriad of different roles is available to players, each carefully defined and integrated in the ever richer setting and background. In fact, each guild has its unique perks, and picking one in which to play is rather hard. TI simply -works-: it's just too plausible, believable not to. Staff is present and caring, always working to improve the game, both thematically and mechanically, and the players have more than one way to shape the world they play in, be it artistically, socially, politically or by brute force or (more or less) subtle magery. The choices are endless. The playerbase however deserves a praise of its own. There's almost always someone to RP with, and most everyone is truly nice and helpful: the mechanical perks designed to help new players integrate are just the tiniest part of the help a new player can expect to receive upon registering. There would really be too much to say, so don't waste any more time: come and try yourself! We're waiting for you.

I only recently started playing TI:L again after a long time away from the game.

I must say I'm impressed. I have had fun, and that's the important thing.

I've read negative reviews on this site. Frankly, they only encouraged me to check the game out again.

I am glad I did. I will continue to play for months, if not years.

The immortals have not come across as controlling. In fact, the one time I actually asked for advice, I was told it was against the rules to offer any.

Every player has been great OOCly. As far as I know, someone may want my character dead, and he end up dead tomorrow, but that's fine. I'll just make another. The environment is a lot of fun. The theme is rich, and the code is remarkable.

My only real complaint is that I still don't know how to do some of the things I probably should know how to do. I guess one could argue that the code is bloated, but there are worse things in the world than code that is too good.

TL;DR : I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this MUD to anyone. What I can say is that the code is solid, a good amount of the players are generally agreeable - if not outright great - and the idea of the theme of the game is mildly interesting. If you absolutely have to give this MUD a try, my advice is this : stay the holy hell away from the imms and literally anyone who banters with them on the OOC channels or the Discord. Additionally, stay far, far away from any of the game's coded guilds, and the OOC channels within. You will save yourself a LOT of the grief that comes with this MUD.

Theme : The basic theme of TI:L is that of Order versus Mages. The Holy Order of Dav is placed on-grid and generally comprised of players that attempt to justify the decisions of the Holy Order in it's eternal fight against the forces of evil that are comprised of the Ruebus Manus, the Mages on-grid. The secondary theme of the MUD is that the Reeves of Lithmore are locked in a constant struggle against the Brotherhood of Common Goods, basically playing cops and robbers with one another until one takes a momentary victory and sits upon their laurels. All of this sounds really good. And it is - the theme of the MUD is great! There's even hidden and esoteric literature scattered around the game that will give you a deeper, darker understanding of the theme that others dance around and play with, and exploring these hidden tomes is absolutely worth it. The people that set up the theme to TI wrote an incredibly dark and compelling story, and it really does show when you examine it. Of course, you'll never examine it, you'll be berated for examining it, and the theme has largely been killed off by the GM's of the game. And by “largely killed off,” I mean “practically mutilated beyond repair.” Now, I've seen a lot of the past reviews get dismissed for 'trolling' for pointing this out, so let me explain. I listed what I viewed as the core gameplay of the MUD above. Order v Manus, Reeves v Thieves. The problem – right off the bat - is that the Manus has been shut down as a guild. No problem, just have it Order v Mages, right? No, that's mostly discouraged as well. As some of the other reviews have pointed out in detail, player-killing is met with a pretty enormous amount of suspicion, especially when it's done by the Holy Order. In fact, as previous reviews have pointed out, people have been thrown out of the Holy Order for doing this. I can very clearly recall two very recent cases, one that happened realistically not even a few months ago, as of this review. So, certainly, the other core gameplay of the game must be alive and well? Absolutely not. The Reeves have long been regarded as a joke with basically zero numbers, and the Thieves are basically in the same boat. Every now and again, for the last few years, there would be flashes of interesting RP between the two, but it's mostly just dead. I think that in the last two years, the best Reeve numbers I've seen has been four active ones, and the best Thief (Brotherhood) numbers I've seen were three or four. Now that you can't dual-guild (joining two guilds in order to infiltrate one for the other, or have a legitimate cover for being in places), the numbers are laughably low. To the point where I'm very surprised they haven't shut down every guild but the Merchants and the Order to give a modicum of story to stand behind, and just let everything be player-driven cliques. So, what do the players mostly do on TI? Honestly? They sit around in bars and talk about this and that. Sometimes the bar-sitting is broken up by some RP about business deals with the Merchants, sometimes they do training sessions – a few players have taken it upon themselves to actually provide RP to that note, and it's really great. But, realistically, what you'll be mostly doing on TI is just listening to people talk and sitting in bars. Unfortunately, the theme of the game is mostly dead, and it's pretty well-known among the playerbase that pointing this out is a one-way ticket to the social poopy list. I say it's unfortunate with a heavy heart, because I had the opportunity to talk to some older players, who willy-nilly explained the grit of the game to me, and the plot that happened before 2016-ish sounded absolutely incredible and deeply rewarding.

Players : By and large, the playerbase of TI is mid-range to excellent. Mostly what you'll wind up getting is players whom you generally enjoy interacting with, with their personal quirks that you end up getting to know very well, and eventually settle down with and RP with for hundreds of hours in your TI career. A (very) small portion of these players will inevitably leave a very positive out-of-character impression on you, and will go well above and beyond the call of duty for any MUD player to accommodate your RP style and help you out – even OOC'ly – with any problems you may come across. In the defense of TI, I've actually met some of the nicest and friendliest people that I know in real life on this game, and I've made some very real friends out of character. Of course, no good thing is without it's thorns, and TI absolutely has thorns when it comes to the playerbase. The “bad” of TI's playerbase is... I mean, it's bad. It's really bad. Bad to the point where there's a series of characters who single-handedly made a trope about luring young women into the public park, abducting them, and killing them in order to gain in-character power. It's exactly how it sounds. Or, in the case of players who were actually banned by the imms, going around with about zero in-character reasoning and just seeing how much out-of-character griefing you could get away with, such as killing player pets, randomly locking people in public rooms, or basically just going around and murder-hobo'ing people with little to no in-character reasoning. The best part of this situation is when you know it's them that's done it, and yet you have to sit and watch them at the weekly OOC meeting getting treated with a great deal of respect and out-of-character clout because they're promoting “antagonist RP,” and whining about how no one wants to RP with them. Often, these are the types of people who will often walk away from the keyboard and whine to the GM's once they're put into a situation where they're being griefed. What I will say is that on TI, you'll meet some of the best and the worst people that you've ever had the chance to MUD with. You only need to look at the official forums for a day to see clear evidence of that. But, with all good things must come bad things. My personal advice would be to stay the heck out of any and all out-of-character interaction until you're absolutely certain that the person on the other side of the screen isn't some raging narcissist who is attempting to lure you into their cult of personality so they can have more numbers to go around the MUD murdering people.

Upper Management : Other reviews have stated this in-depth, and I don't think that I really want to beat a dead horse horribly. What I will say is that there are four visible imms : Kinaed, Temi, Niamh, and Azarial. The only one I've even remotely gotten along with is Azarial, and they only handle coding. For all the rest, you need only go over the official forums to get a view of what's happening behind the scenes. I try not to interact with them at all, but from everything that I've been told that has been backed up with logs, they're absolutely god-awful. I'll try not to go on about it. So many other reviews have that you should absolutely get the point. In the group that I'm getting help from, however, the favorite quote from staff is this, “Theme is fluid.” A meme that, evidently, is pulled out so often one of them has something to say at the OOC meeting about how a plot/character/whatever makes absolutely no sense in the canon of the game that they've since been beaten down into giving up making any sense of the new lore of the game that the imms are building. I believe my personal “I'm uncomfortable with where this is going,” was the Monarch plot, which was posted about with a great deal of pride from the head admin. All the flavor text had the same bit : “To place the decision in player hands, The Inquisition: Legacy is running a plot event in which characters will take actions to sway the minds of the player and NPC nobility over the next several weeks. “ From everything that I've seen – and you can see, too! They've actually got a great mechanic where in-character event posts are posted to the forums. Every guildleader or important character has wholeheartedly supported the Queen. I've been informed by many people, though, that the Queen is getting absolutely decimated in the polls by NPC nobility which are – you guessed it – run by the staff. Every shred of evidence that I've seen has indicated that this is just a railroaded campaign with more steps, and yet the staff are shilling it, and shilling it hard across TMC, Reddit, etc as one of the best (and only?) staff-run plots they've done in an eternity. I don't know, I honestly don't. I try not to bother anyone with my RP, because, you know, it's mine. From every review I've read, though, and nearly every OOC source I've spoken to, people abhor these admins. Stay away and stick to the game itself, I suppose.

The Inquisition: Legacy is a deeply flawed game that deserves a shot, but it still is necessary to address the problems.

I was invited to this game some years ago by a friend, who does not play anymore due to these reasons.

The good, is that the game tries to at least give a semblance of a well balanced RP structure, and it does pretty well at it. If you want an RP experience without a high focus on combat, and the ability to feel accomplished without having to kneecap your character entirely.

The bad, is more varied. Leadership positions are available in-game, but you better not count on being treated entirely fairly. Most people who play the Grand Inquisitor role face constant policy cases for basic actions, and a vast majority of players attempt to entirely avoid RP with the church and sweep the blame on the easier target, the In- game Guild leadership. (There are even instances of blackballing info against the Leadership roles to force them to do as a single person says, whilst playing the victim.)

It has lead to an uncompetitive field of Player characters dreading any kind of leadership role and those that enjoy it have a tendency to only have a honeymoon reaction to it. And staff choices to affect the leadership, have made it so that aged players are more likely to play roles that are barred from leadership, leaving people with empty roles.

There is also a gigantic problem of people cycling through the same roles, and very thinly veiling their OOC intent to either Player Kill, or simply play the same 'Archmage Voldemort' that goes out of their way to try and convince you that it's great RP to have characters that you know are the Big Bad Warlock, and you know barely any RP will surround their actions.

The player-to-player RP is great, and there are some genuinely good people who make this game their home. But the reviews for this game are getting more negative, with time, and it's genuinely worth discussing why that is.

This review isn't written with sour intentions, but more out of worry for the long-term health of the playerbase.

-The Inquisition Legacy is a strange game to unpack.

-The community can be somewhat strange at times, in both good and bad ways. Though, that somewhat describes the game in its current iteration. Confused, and without focus on its own subject matter, and thesis statement.

-Not to say TI:L is devoid of a good experience. On the contrary, once focus is regained, it's one of the only games that focus RP that follows the MU(x) approach to offer fulfillment in whatever concept you go with.

--CONCEPT

-The central concept is the overwhelming power of the Church, and the evils it condones. Men and women are burned at the stake for their own souls. And in theory? Creating a morality system where a player empathizes with the organization out of a character belief, rather than going a fedora-tipping atheist? It's pretty refreshing, honestly. It attracts a crowd that favors deconstruction, and a high-caliber RP circle that, when kept around, can provide an amazing experience not found elsewhere.

-The issue, as of the writing of this review, is that this is not how it's reflected in game. The church is openly questioned in a setting that would shun you for it . Things deemed as 'sin' are done in broad daylight with no real weight to any punishment. At times, it can feel that actions are not only devoid of weight, but are even things that could be used to vilify you as a player. And with a game with such a focus on an anti-blackballing culture. This behavior is allowed to continue, so much so that it's become an active detriment to enjoyment, or tension. This can also be seen when OOC pressure is applied to force someone to overlook an exceedingly poor In-Character reputation.

--MECHANICS

-From a mechanical standpoint, the baseline for TI:L is very good. Every trade has a use, and you can be things that are non-combatant without being lampooned off of the game. This, is both refreshing, and a sign of good game design. Almost every single archetype is not only supported codedly, but is welcome and needed. This creates an interesting environment, with a constant need for new players, and a constant need to interact.

-However, the biggest flaw in this scenario is how the community handles the weight of skills. There are times when players belittle entire trades and workforces, and staff decisions not only support this mindset, but weaken the game's skill ecosystem as a whole.

--SETTING

-The setting of the game itself is the Capitol city of Lithmore City, in Lithmore. It's a sprawling city with foreign quarters and the like, an underbelly that is ripe for exploring, and areas that are well fleshed out in ways that are rarely seen in these types of games. It has a rich player history all kept in a very clever system based on player submissions and staff approval that keep stories alive, long after the players leave the game.

-The issue, is that the 'scope' made far smaller than what older players are used to, with very few concessions to make the change less noticeable. Due to a lack of real positions for political players, it can be very glaring, when other players are allowed 'breaks' from the scope, keep titles that no-one can dispute, or have a history with titles that can no longer be earned, it can create a sense of favoritism where it may not really exist.

--STAFFING

-The staff of the game are very kind, and approachable, to newer players. You'll often see that many speak with them on a regular basis on the OOC chat function in game, making a very human experience that makes approaching them with ideas, issues, and overall questions a very easy task.

-The issue, is that there is a strict non-interference policy. As such, problems are often not noticed until it's too late, and several players are affected. It takes a great deal of unrest to cause attention, let alone action. Which can cause the feeling that there are OOC biases in favor of some players more than others.

--CONCLUSION

-There is a great deal of pros and cons to the game itself. Most can and will be fixed with time, but there are glaring issues that make this review mixed, rather than positive. However, in time, maybe I'll eat my words, and the revival of the focus of the scope at large, and the cessation of OOC pressures affecting IC actions, will make the game into something greater.

The Inquisition: Legacy is the third iteration of a MUD started in 1999. It takes place in a vaguely medieval western Europe setting called Urth, and in particular the city of Lithmore, capital of the namesake kingdom. Characters can be of one of three social classes (freemen, gentrymen, nobles) and seven races (all humans, although some racist characters may disagree). From then on you can join one of four (plus some secret) guilds. It's not mandatory but it's encouraged to give you goals, purpose and easy rp. And then you have magic. Magery is the utmost sin in the pervasive religious atmosphere in the game. According to ineffable dogma, mages are corrupted to their very soul and they spread such taint to whoever they engage, even if unbeknownst to them. For this reason the only way to 'cleanse' a mage is by fire. This means that if you're a mage and get caught, you are going to be set on fire and perma killed. Such is the price to pay for sin.

THE GOOD -Good code: TI supports a huge variety of roleplay. You have code for emoting in specific parts of rooms, for changing languages mid sentence, for adding colors seamlessly. You have code for sneaking, pickpocketing, eavesdropping, for emoting to other rooms, sending messengers (the game's only way to ICly emulate 'instant' messaging, which actually takes a few minutes), sending mail, getting drunk, casting spells. Each guild has little coded advantages, often secret. There are coded pets, coded retainers, coded livestock, crops. There's even a skill for dancing. For politics, rumors, social power. And let's not forget you can organise special events and run your own plots with mini GM powers. Truly the code is so good that it's the main sell for many TI players. -Good RP: Emoting in TI is a serious affair. Players put up their best to make ellaborate interactions full of inflections, quirks, bodily posture, etc. There are few players who write less than two lines per single emote, and it leads to rich, colorful scenes, even if serious in tone. Guilds work together, clash, conspire. There's inner guild conflict, grand political machinations, magical attacks, even the rare demonic attack. -Good staff: Staff is good. There's no way around it. They are patient, they're very dedicated, and helpful. They are also few, which makes them all the more valuable. They answer questions tiredlessly and are just plain nice. -Extensive crafting: There's hunting, foraging, skinning, butchering, pottery, cooking, woodworking, jewelry, husbandry, smithing, fishing, papercraft. and so on and so on. Then you can customize the text (strings) for all the things you make, sell them, use them, whatever you want. -Theme is upheld: In general everyone is strict about it. That means that piety can make or break your reputation. Social etiquette, natural aversions or preferences, racism, bigotry, class warfare, they all exist and player characters actively promote them.

THE NOT SO GOOD -RP is slow: It's a consequence of the complex emoting. People take long turns for scenes. As in, expect to post once every three to five minutes in -small- scenes of three characters. Now try eight. More than once I've been in such a slow scene that I've simply forgotten I was logged in, much to my shame. Luckily some players prefer to go for shorter, more expeditive RP, and they are my favourites. -Not many players: The MUD has lost some of it's former population. It doesn't have quick ways for easy gratification; you must earn what you want, and even more so now after some code changes. Be prepared to have to go out and meet player characters and not wait for them to come to you.

Bottomline? TRY IT. TI:L is like a race car with the pedal pushed to the middle. It needs more players to go full speed and make wonders again.

Though I've only been playing on TI for two and a half months as of the writing of this review, I can say with full sincerity that this is one of the best MUDs I've ever played on.

I've been mudding for about 7 or 8 years now. I've been RPing a lot longer. And the moment I found TI, I realized that this is the exact sort of MUD I've been looking for all this time.

The RP is phenomenal. Though writing styles and abilities have a fairly drastic sort of range, I think in all this time I've been playing so far, I've only come across one IC interaction where I felt so uninspired that I made up some excuse to leave the scene. Here, I feel like I'm actually writing quality stories with people as opposed to pouring my heart and soul into a pose and getting some one line 'say' in return.

The crafting is the most in-depth I've ever seen. I spend far too much time crafting. I sometimes just log in simply to craft while I'm watching a movie IRL because I want something fun to do in the background and I'm like OH HEY. LET'S GO CRAFT SOME MORE SHIT.

The theme is great. The lore is extensive. There's over 1000 helpfiles, though, so I would definitely say there is a learning curve. But most of the older players are help- ful. I say most, but definitely not all. I think within my first week, I just stopped using 'visnet' (the OOC help channel) altogether as I got tired of oldbies chiming in with really scathing replies to my newbie questions. I now use it very rarely as I prefer to just ask those oldbies who I know to be nice and helpful my various questions in private.

The staff is very helpful and responsive as well. I've seen some oldbies complaining about staff fairly regularly... which leads me to believe these oldbies have limited experience with other MUDs and the sorts of staff that can be found there. I've played on MUDs where the staff got their jollies off on just killing people without rhyme or reason or trying to seduce all the female players for mudsex, etc. The eyeroll-inducing shenanigans are endless, but I've yet to see a staff member on TI do anything that would make me consider leaving the game.

They've always been very quick to respond to my problems or concerns. Everything ranging from a, 'Oh shit. I just destroyed my entire keyring full of really important keys. Is there a way to get that back?' to a three page private message (known as a 'pboard' here) that I once sent with some concerns I had for a certain issue within the game. On any other MUD, I would have expected a message like that to have gone unread and unconsidered. But on TI, it was taken into account.

Is TI perfect? No. But, honestly, most of what I would offer up as imperfections have to deal with other players as opposed to anything having to do with TI itself. But if you're looking for a RPI with a setting perfect for writing really deep stories that has a little bit of everything from combat (which I know little about; I play a non-combatant) to crafting to religion to class politics, to medieval plotting and intrigue, to DRUGS AND CODED ADDICTION, then I would definitely consider giving TI a try :)

I have played here for several years. The game is one of my favorites, but every game has flaws. First, I'll start with the good. The code is really advanced, more so than your average ROM MUD. There are many features that most RPE muds don't have, like messages, rumors, personal events, which are kind of like mini prompts to boost your RP, and many other features. Second, the community is warm and welcoming, despite its small size. Third, the world is finely crafted. The room descriptions immerse me, and I can almost picture myself there. As a final plus, staff response time is reasonably quick, and the small group of staffers seem to work in sync with each other as well as the playing community. Like I said before, the game has flaws, and here they are. First, the theme is oppressive. It's hard to play anything but a faithful Davite who blends in without bringing the order down on your head, along with the masses. Free speech is extremely limited, especially if you don't want to be branded as a heretic, which brings with it whippings, brandings, and at the worst levels, burning at the stake. While these things are part of the theme, people don't come to a game to be locked into boxes. In a world of strictly enforced conformity, anyone who doesn't blend in attracts the notice of others, and woe to you if you disobey a noble. They can lash you for disobedience. Second, the player base is small, at least in my opinion. Even in the evening hours, players are scattered across the grid, and it's hard to find RP if you don't want to sit in a tavern or church square waiting for RP. The grid is large, and I believe it should be fully taken advantage of. If you're looking for a dark world with a medieval theme, interesting story arcs, mostly, and a fully featured codebase, with everything from livestock breeding, to farming, to having children of your own, as well as the flavor of several cultures to RP, the inquisition: legacy might be a good fit.

TI continues its slow decline since Takta (my impression was that Takta was Kinaed's counterbalance) was fired. I enjoy playing here. The coded systems are fantastic, and the setting is fleshed out. But TI's staff has always been what sets it apart from other MU*s, and these days, unfortunately, it's only enjoyable in spite of the staff, not because of them. I'm pessimistic about the direction the game is going in and could not recommend it in its current state.

Staff readily admit they have little on-grid presence, and yet, still try to implement new systems and policy without listening to the ones whose experience is affected. A glance at the forums shows how certain staff don't attempt to read or understand player posts anymore before they dismiss them at best, and accuse them of cheating at worst (Kinaed is infamous for this). For example, when someone pointed out a problem with new hood/cloak code and asked if they could reconfigure cloaks for free to compensate, Kinaed accused them of trying to cheat out of paying--even though the problem was caused by an ill-thought code revision and was not anything a person would realistically have to pay for.

Staff assumes problems are solved when players are silenced, or give up out of frustration. Which means there's a sad amount of nastiness behind staffer backs in private tells and other bile that sours the atmosphere. Players generally act content and reassure the staff publicly, because as Kinaed has said, you don't want to be on her bad side. And she has her favorites, meaning, certain players can break rules and harass others without repercussion. The players who think there aren't, are generally the favorites.

I will probably take my leave when the next few major systems go in (an assets automation system that seems to be tailored to privilege oldbies, as one example). While players are constantly reassured that staff will continue to look at and rebalance new additions to the game, we are often ignored in practice. Kinaed encourages players to speak their minds, assures them she has heard them, and then proceeds to move on without taking action.

They branded the last negative review on this site a 'troll review' when it was, in fact, written by a current player. Which goes to show where staff mentality is with regards to improving their game. Staff priorities include 'revitalizing' the grid with repetitive NPCs designed to occupy player roles. Want to take your bard busking in the city's major tavern? Sorry, there's already one there that you'll have to ignore.

Hopefully staff will read this and look at their game with a critical eye, but I am expecting little more than to be lashed out at and branded a 'troll.'

I have played everything from a grand inquisitor, to a knight, to a merchant, to an ex-slave, to a hermit ranger of the wilderness. If you can conceive of it, you can bring it to life in Lithmore. With systems to support the stories you tell, you will find yourself drawn in by an immersive medieval setting the layers of which are nigh limitless. Will you be a mage hiding from the Order and trying to survive? Will you be an orderite desperate to save tainted souls and protect your flock from the evils of magery? Will you be a troubadour bringing song and laughter to a tavern of merchants who have just gotten off work? Your concepts are limited only by what you can dream up for them. I can tell you this, however. Be prepared, for once you enter Lithmore... you will never want to leave.

I've been a longtime TI player, and only recently did I decide to stop. Some reasons were because of the game itself, and others a natural progression of extensive playtime.

TI is initially quite confusing, as most MUDs are, but after the learning curve, which one should get over after a week of playing, the game becomes one of the best things you'll ever experience, given the right circumstances, all of which include an active playerbase, kind players, and a small population of players that make everyone's life difficult. Fortunately for TI, 2/3 isn't that bad.

The game has a unique emote based combat system, although this is often phoned in for cheap and poorly constructed one-line attacks in an effort to save one's character from death. But the intention is very much appreciated. The crafting system is perhaps the best of any MUD out there right now, RP based or not. Threaded, not too cumbersome, satisfying, and very rewarding, no matter what is crafted. The game lends itself to a wonderful technical focus when it comes to impactful events, and not player based RP, which makes things seem linear and fixed.

The reason I stopped playing was due to the influx of newer players. I play TI only for the enjoyment of sponging RPXP (a unique variant of XP-you gain it through roleplaying with other players!), with the few characters I've managed to maintain longterm in-character relations. I hate the idea of going out to public taverns and RPing with commoners and new players, since they are so less refined than my noble clique and the selective few gentry and freemen I permit, provided they be alts to a preexisting member of my circle, and even then, they must only provide me trade goods.

The best RP is that done with maybe a few people who have high status both IC and OOCly. They have the most power, and the most influence over the game. I was an Aide once, a system that the game had a few years ago that gave normal players the power to snoop and access the RP and passwords of other players, although this was vehemently denied by staff. The Aide system was demolished after a rogue player exposed the exploitative nature that it had.

The staff are efficient, if not a bit cold. There was a new player who had only loads of questions about the game, and to their credit, staff did answer him when he didn't use the Visnet channel, a line of communication for questions, but soon staff grew agitated with him, and blatantly began ignoring his questions. They ignored his pleas to explain why no one would answer him, or even RP with him. Staff led a very personal vendetta against him, for reasons unknown. I assume maybe he said something that upset them.

The game is run by a woman named Kinaed who is perhaps the most autocratic staffer I've ever known. She recently banned a long time player and staff member from the game due to a misunderstanding about multiplaying, which she expressly stated she allows. Avoid upsetting her, and you should be fine.

The playerbase is all right.

As my second anniversary playing TI is coming up, it's time to revisit and write another review.

Much of the 'sparkly new' has faded for me, as it does. As such my view has of course gotten more critical over time. There are a couple things about TI that really stick in my craw, but as a whole it remains the single best place to go for rewarding, well-written roleplay, a stellar Staff and amiable userbase. I remain heavily invested in TI; beyond shadow of a doubt, this is the game I'm very happy to call home.

The Rules/Staff/Admin:

There will never be a game without aspects which irritate or upset portions of it's userbase, and TI is no different there. Where it is different is that its policies, decisions, and rules are made with reasons that are typically understandable to the majority. You might not agree with the reason, but they very, very rarely seem out of left field or based on Staff preference over user preference. I can count the number of times I've seriously worried over Staff motives on two fingers, and one of the two was pretty swiftly rectified. In two years, that's an amazing track record. Most Staff members are highly approachable and maintain some aspect of interaction over OOC channels with players. Partially because of this Staff are humanized, which is a big leg up over just about any other MUD I've played.

Some of the rules are very unique to TI, such as the multiplay policies; if you're looking to join, read them up, down, backwards and forwards, and even then be sure to ask Staff if you have a whiff of an idea that it could be viewed as multiplay. If you've played a dozen RPI MUDs you're still unlikely to understand the depth of the rules at first or second glance. They're livable, but they're also a confusingly unique concept at first. Check and double check; Staff won't fuss at you at all for asking for a clarification. Alternatively, it's not unrecommended to just play one character.

All in all the rules and their implementation range from livable to excellent. I can't really complain about either.

Roleplay/Game World:

After two years I still uncover new portions of game history and lore through the course of investigation and RP. It's a rabbit hole you'll probably never get all the way to the bottom of, and it's fantastic. Always expanding as well, as everything contributed by the current players will one day be the lore of the next generation of players.

The theme really is one of the best I've ever had the pleasure of playing in. It has a little bit of everything folks tend to like in a medieval world, takes significantly from real life history (the Reeves are even a guild!), but also has a huge quantity of completely custom theme material. The real and the fictional blend together into something wonderful and engaging.

TI's guild system creates an IC sense of community that's really irreplaceable. I've played other games with guilds; they're different on TI. It's amazing to me that much of their theme and legendary characters/events happened in real time with past players. Excellent, excellent system.

The Moaning:

Can't have a review without SOME moaning.

The IC activity requirements are perhaps the least pleasurable mechanic for me. You are measured for your activity, which is a pretty common game mechanic, but you're also measured for your 'IC activity', which is a somewhat nebulous concept mostly intended to ensure people in high profile or powerful roles are actively filling said role. This would be fantastic if it accomplished that, but it often doesn't. There is no tracker for how much time is spent in private, personal RP versus RP relevant to the role. A very (codedly) active guildleader could be sealed inside their home with a friend for several hours a week and be considered successful via automated approval ratings, whereas a not codedly active guildleader who spends their time orchestrating guild events, writing guides, handling the masses of mail accrued as a GL, managing the guild and its members' rankings/progressions (no small task), preparing recruitment articles, etc., would be automatically kicked out of their role over time due to a lack of coded IC activity. You can solve this by fitting an hour of forced RP in somewhere random, spending your Influence Points to raise your approval back up or asking others to do it for you, but the need can drain the fun out of it, especially if you're already giving it your all. Guildleadering and staying IC active, rather than just active period, can occasionally make TI feel more like a job than a pleasure.

Worth noting: In the above example(s), a guildleader who does nothing but private roleplay CAN be removed by players via the gambit system if they're unsatisfied, but it's a check that's pretty simple to thwart, especially when one considers that most long-term guildleaders have developed cults of personality and allies in important places. I approve wholeheartedly of GLs with personality cults and highly ranked allies. I would just prefer that IC activity was removed and activity measured by your actual game activity, instead of how much RP that may or may not be relevant to your role has been banked up.

One other detriment to activity vs. IC activity that niggles at me a bit: You can't use money transfers in the banking system, which makes it so that crafters who have spent their game time crafting are unable to get paid for their commissions without making awkward OOC arrangements.

Userbase:

Myriad personality types, play styles and writing styles. No matter what you're looking for in a playerbase you're probably going to find it in one pocket or another. I have seen everything from rapid pace one-liners to beautiful, paragraph emotes, and everything in-between. I much prefer the paragraph emotes and have had no difficulty finding like-minded players, nor have I noticed any lack of alternative styles.

There is a definite sense of community on TI. It goes through its ups and downs, but that's pretty much par for the course in any group.

TI has a very comfortable population size. Not too large and not too small. I think they've hit the population sweet spot that just works.

tldr: Excellent game. Complaints are minor. Highly recommended to all.

The Inquisition: Legacy is an RP-enforced MUD centered around the political and social structure of Lithmore and the ongoing conflict of mage persecution. TI does not grant experience points for combat or skilling; rather, experience is gained solely through RP. This mechanic creates an extremely social, RP-focused MUD that not only encourages but actually requires strong participation in order to advance your character. Wandering the streets of Lithmore did sometimes feel a lonely experience, as TI's playerbase is not large. However, everyone I encountered was friendly, helpful, and best of all, perfectly willing to RP with a newbie. It was a fun and welcoming environment. My favorite aspect of this MUD is the lore and politics: even though I haven't been playing for very long, I can already feel that the game's machinations are complex and exciting. The only truly negative thing I have to say about TI: Legacy is that, because experience isn't granted from, say, killing monsters, it can be easy to feel like you have no direction. Overall, this is an excellent MUD that I look forward to exploring further.

I have been playing this mud for a little over a month now. It is an extremely well-rounded game so regardless of what sort of role play you prefer, I am sure you'll be able to find it here. the staff, are extremely accommodating and understanding. There is an out of character meeting that takes place every week, where the players and staff get together and just have a discussion on how the players are feeling,what can be improved, any concerns or issues you've been having with the game. The crafting system, is beyond superb. You are able to customize pretty much everything. The way something looks, tastes (if you're cooking something) just everything. I've not come across a better crafting system. The role play is pretty intense, but the players are extremely nice and understanding. Especially since when you first join the game, everyone is aware you are new and so try an help you along role play wise if you're having trouble with the emoting syntax or anything in general. What I really like is that the rp xp you gain, you can use on skills but those skills actually do not improve unless you use them. So in that aspect it is very much like real life. Over all, I absolutely love this game. I have spent countless hours, (probably more than I really should) enjoying this game. Oh also, if you are one that really likes to get involved in the game, create your own plots and storylines, that is absolutely possible and encouraged in this game. The staff will help you along, so you can really shine. I honestly cannot, say enough about this game and the staff that are involved in making it what it is. Please, come check it out. I guarantee you, you'll enjoy it. It took a good friend of mine four months to convince me to actually play. Now, I'm regretting I let so much time go by before I started playing.

I don’t know why I tried TI:L. It seemed unappealing on the surface. It had a laundry list of things that I think flat out ruin most other games. PvP, Permanent Death, and a heavy emphasis on religious RP. But I've been having the time of my life with this game! And these don't describe the game very well. It's accurate, but less intimidating than it sounds. And really, I’ve never seen a game handle said issues with such maturity. Let me give you an overview before diving into my likes and dislikes.

The game’s backdrop is an Inquisition not unlike the real life one. However, Magic does exist in this game -- you can choose to play as a mage. But Magery is considered the ultimate sin. And the only cure is incineration. There are lots of ways to play the game. I approach it like a fictional MUD. You don’t need to play as an Inquisitor, Mage, or devout. It's just the theme. You can take on any role you want. I've seen butchers, merchants, and lawmen. I'm a dancer in all this chaos! You can be what you want to be.

The community is one of the greatest I’ve ever seen, and I've seen many. There's pvp, but there is no roaming kill-squads of players out to kill you. There’s rules in place that limit PvP, so you just don't killed for whatever. Most deaths are from executions (Being a Mage or a repeat criminal offender). This is a game that encourages people to be proactive. You need to go for it. But the reward is worth it. As long as it's thematic, it's probably approved. Sorry, but you can't play as a dude with a mini-gun or giant mech.

Let’s get into the specifics. I’ll start with what I love about the game.

Positive #1 A focus on roleplaying

This is an RP MUD. You get experience through RP with other characters. You do not wander around genociding the local wildlife to level up. You pool XP by playing with other characters. It's an idea I love. This system forcest RP. You then convert that XP into skills through use. Want to be a better cook? Get cooking. Want to stab really hard? Start stabbing people (preferably with safe weapons in the training arena). There’s guilds that you can join to get more RP. And each has its own flavor. There’s lots of commands to make it easier to find others to play with. One command shows you which rooms in the game have players who RPing. And with another zips you over without needing an online map. This of course is optional. You can be as covert as you wish.

Positive #2 The Skill System

If you’ve ever played Ultima Online, this game will be familiar to you. There are no levels in the game. There’s skills, stats, and equipment. It’s a free system that lets you develop your character however you want. But, there’s rules in place that ensure you can’t be the best at everything. If you want to be a weaponsmith who also uses stealth to break into your competition’s homes and try to put them out of business. You can do it.

Positive #3 The Community

This is by far the best part of the game. The players make the game. Everyone is willing to help you out with questions. I haven’t come across many players who ‘play to win,’ and I swear everyone here is a master at roleplaying. The characters are played maturely. And even characters who are jerks don’t go out of their way to prove that they’re stronger than you. I think you’ll be hard-pressed to find a friendlier group of people.

But the good comes with the bad. Here’s a list of what I dislike about TI:L.

Negative #1 Not All Skills Are Created Equal

There are skills that are just flat out better than others. Combat skills are incredible. You do more damage. You miss less. These are objective benefits that you get for investing XP into weapon skills. The same goes for defensive skills like dodging. You get hit less. With permanent death, I feel their value only goes up even more. Crafting is similar. You can create items. Your skill does something.

There’s skills in the game where you are more at the mercy of other players. My character is a perfect example of this. Keep in mind I've spent a lot of XP. His specialties are stealth, dancing, and acting. Stealth is useful. It lets me eavesdrop on conversations and renders me invisible. Dancing and Acting, however, don’t ‘do’ much.

I don’t expect dancing of all things to be equal in value to how well you fight. And I’m not even necessarily complaining. I love my character. I want you, the reader, to understand that some skills in this game you take because you love them. Not because they will make your character better. When you do specialize in such skills, you're at the mercy of other players. Thankfully the other players are really cool. So I can keep being a dancer.

Negative #2 Alternate Characters

I feel this game is geared to have multiple characters than to focus on one. Simply put, it’s discouraging to make connections with other characters only to have them disappear because they are an alt. I’ve met multiple players who proudly admit to having alts as ‘Xp sponges.’ And if you can have multiple characters on at once, that's really unfair.

There’s lots of benefits to people playing alts, however. It ensures that every aspect of the game sees play. And it makes it easier for newer characters to find a group of players. I would rather have one character wholly devoted to a single playstyle. It’s a battle of focus vs. variety. If you value focus more, you may be upset

Really, I just wish people were more upfront about it. I don’t want to know who someone’s alt is. I just want transparency. Just say, “I’m an alt. Don’t count on me for RP or contributing a lot to the guild.” I would be so much happier. It’s especially bad if you lead guilds. Most guilds deal with a lot of secret information. Knowing this info can spoil the fun at best and cause problems at worst.

Final Conclusions

Overall, the good far outweighs the bad. And the flaws aren’t easily remedied. They are more of an unwanted byproduct of what makes the game great. I encourage you to come try the game for yourself. Just come have fun. It my sound bad on the outside, but it could surprise you. There’s plenty of opportunity for new players if you go for it. I started as a newbie and now I lead a guild. I’ll see you in game!

I started playing this MUD a few months ago off and on. Lately, I've been  playing it non-stop. 

Before I go into much more detail here, let me say I am still very much a newbie to this game. My review is from a new player perspective and not that of an experienced veteran. However, I have been playing, developing and managing MUD's since the late 90's. So, I've been around the block in the community and back a few times. 

When I first started playing the game, the community and staff welcomed me into open arms. Everyone was extremely friendly, there was a diverse set of RP characters and the game felt robust. As I type this, there is  about 50 players on with 5 staff visible. It's very healthy and active. 

I played primarily a criminal character that robs other players. Generic for some, but they support it. Both nobles and criminals are supported  and the game encourages all types of RP. I really enjoyed that about the game and got hooked because of the possibilities I could do. 

Unfortunately, the new feel kind of wore off when I sort of rubbed a  staff member the wrong way. I feel this happened because I was a bit to needy from the staff when trying to learn the game. In summary, I was always poking them and talking with them about the game because generally, I was pretty excited about playing and learning as much as I could. 

To make a long story short, I had a player complain about a PvP scene I was in. They said I left to early before giving them enough time to react. The staff investigated this issue, saw the logs and told me that I should be fine. But, it would not be official until the IMP reviews the logs and makes the call. 

During that investigation, I found the staff member to be very rude.  She obviously held some type of grudge with me and was not helpful at all. She told me I was being investigated, yet was getting spammed by other players to fully talk to me about the situation. This made her very short with me and made me feel like she really just didn't care. 

The conversation ended with me getting super frustrated with the staff member where I vented a little more than I should. I feel this only happened because of how short the staff member was to start even though I tried to supply her with all the information she needed to fulfill her request. 

At the end of the day, I really do like the game. But issues like this make it so much harder to play the game too. 

I have been on and off with TI for some time now, usually in spurts of 6-8 months on with then couple months off to plot new characters, ideas and schemes. And every time I come back the game has evolved even further, not only in terms of code and features but also in terms of player base, and while 2 years ago I could not recommend it to someone playing in GMT timezone as he would have very slim picking of RP partners, now you can have an array of players to pick from at any time of day and night.

And there is a lot of RP to take place, from being a humble trader, through a terrifying mage to a feared grand inquisitor whose will can send people to the dreaded pyre. If you can imagine it and it fits the theme of medieval witch-hunt (more or less) then you can bring your creation to live and see how it will find itself in this fascinating world. And if you want to do something that code doesn't support but makes sense, staff will be happy to help you bring that dream to life, which is just fantastic.

I have been playing on The Inquisition: Legacy for a year now and it has been a very rewarding experience on a number of levels. The role playing on the game is fun, inviting and very encouraging. The code is updated and advanced regularly and the staff of the game are some of the best I've ever seen on a game.

The theme of the game is one that can be a challenge for some people as it does lend tis self to conflict. That doesn't mean the game is a PVP fest by any stretch of the imagination, but it -is- a dangerous world where the wrong choices/actions can lead to consequences or even death for your character. The game features a strong main religion with a number of minor heresies that are being hunted down, allowing for some intriguing rp surrounding that. It further has a class system where one can play as a freeman, gentry or noble, each with their own individual benefits and drawbacks.

These basic options combined with a skill based character advancement system allows for such much customization that you can have most anything you want for a character and the character can be changed and influenced by ic events in meaningful ways. I've seen characters start off as combat characters who have slowly shifted out into other focuses. By not having character classes (as opposed to social classes) it allows the freedom for characters to change jobs, and adjust to in character circumstances.

Those same changes can extend to cahgnes in your social class and religion as well. There is one well known character who started as a freeman pretending to be gentry, then became gentry in his own right. Later through heavy RP the character rose to nobility. While it isn't a common occurance changing social classes icly, it is possible with rp and I think that is a glorious addition. There is a varied guild system where the joining of guilds encourages rp and is a great way for new players to get involved in meeting other players. You seek a guild and it sends a flag that members in that guild can see. You approach them and you find sponsors to enter the guild and as a result you meet those fellow guild members, getting right into the player base. The code support of the game is wonderful. Like any mud, there are always issues, changes of crashes and the like. However, the staff are very quick to address such issues and they are constantly innovating, expanding the code system with new features. In recent times they have included two major additions to combat in terms of ranged combat, support systems for combat, new spells, overhauls of medicine as well as the introduction of a system known as places, where players can set up 'places' to speak within a room that talks to those at the place, allowing for private conversations amidst a larger group. This of course comes with eavesdropping, allowing for further intrigue in this roleplay focused game.

The staff are, I think, the crowning jewel of a game. In most of the games I've played on it has been staff conflict with players that has led to many of the problems I've seen. The staff here however seem to be cut from a different cloth. Staff rules prevent staff characters from being the top leader of any guild, preventing them from having ultimate ic and ooc power. Furthermore there are strict rules about not interfering with your own character or even watching rp at all unless an active plot event is being run.

The staff have been very fair and they tend to not make hasty decisions. Regular weekly meetings to discuss recent events and the work of the staff allows players to stay involved in the game and if they have an issue, speak about it and shape the course of the game. Sometimes the staff sticks to a decision that they see as best for the game, but they aren't afraid of changing their mind if the players want something or it is better. The staff and players work together to make the game here and there isn't the same level of conflict as I've seen other places.

Overall the game has just a whole lot going for it, so many things are refined here and it makes the game very enjoyable. It's definetly worth giving it a try because what I've shared is only the tip of an iceberg of lore/code support/quality rp.

I have been playing TI: Legacy for a while now, so I have a pretty good feel for things on this mud. The single most important thing to me in a game like this is that it's relatively fair, and I can say that this game is. I know that I can trust the staff to at least make attempt to be fair and keep things that way, and even if I don't like some of the things that they do, and even if I don't always agree with them, I know at the end of the day that they tried. That I can trust that for the most part is so hugely important for me.

That being said, here's my views of the whole thing:

The good: + There is a lot of opportunity to be whoever you want to be in this game. I've been everything from an ex-slave to a noble and back again, and all the roles were interesting, and there is a lot of things that you can tailor to your own likes and dislikes. + The chargen system in this game is the best that I've ever seen, and I've been mudding for nearly fifteen years. Very straightforward and thorough. + It doesn't usually take that long to get involved and get into a guild for the most part. + If you like to play evil characters that wreak havoc, the staff and player base tend to be quite accommodating. + The staff isn't on you all the time for every little thing you do as long as you play well in the sandbox with the other kids, so to speak. + When spats erupt OOCly, which is very rare, people are very nice and very receptive to apologies, and usually make peace pretty quickly. + For the most part, the staff is very responsive to player feedback. The staff is generally very responsive...period. + The player base is, in general, very easy to get involved with. I will say that sometimes it can take a few days to find your niche, but I have never had what I would call a hard time, and if people know that you're a legit newbie or think you are, they tend to go out of their way to help you and include you. + Staff actively plays the game. That's negative for some people, but for me, it tends to be positive because you know that when there's a major issue with RP, they truly understand how frustrating it is and can empathize when they're giving you help with this or that or the other.

The ugly: + If you're gone for any reasonable length of time like I sometimes am, say four or five months, you can log back into the game to find that a great deal has changed. For some people this is great, but I am not a fan of so much change. I'm never lost, but I'm just not the type that likes constant change and incessant building this and that and the other. + There is a very easily recognizable core bunch of people that tend to be the center of the game and basically run everything. I am friendly with a good many of them, and I can say that it's not really done deliberately, only that they tend to be the ones that are most apt to move plots along most actively. It's not something that I really like admitting to as a fairly long time player, but it is a pattern that I recognize. + The player base itself tends to have certain people's characters that can get away with almost anything or get rather light punishments when compared to others. This isn't as often or as severe as I've seen it on other muds before, so there is that bit of good news. + I trust the staff to be fair, but once they have decided on something, no amount of player input will change their minds most of the time. I have seen concerns from numerous players that pointed out what I considered to be very big and logical flaws with this or that brushed aside. On the other hand, this was done mostly at the OOC meeting where staff gets player feedback.

I will freely admit that the thing that keeps me coming back again and again is the OOC chatting and relationships. I actively like the vast majority of the people there, and the player base and staff are top notch, bar none. Most of my major negatives have mitigating factors, and that helps a great deal.

The Neutral

Staff are hands off until they don't want to be. This can be good or bad. I don't like invisible forces involved in my RP. Some people do.

The plot system generates a lot of RP. That RP is usually focused around a small group of two or three guildleaders who keep the content under wraps. Your average Joe can still RP the effects.

There is a huge amount of turn-over in certain guildleader roles. You might be able to snag one for yourself. You also might have a hell of a time getting anything done if you need one of them. For the opportunistic this is great. For anyone else it's challenging.

You will need a certain amount of coded votes to get into a guild. It keeps guilds exclusive and thematic. It also provides a sometimes impossible hurdle to getting guilded at no fault of the guildleaders. A guildleader cannot codedly admit you into the guild without your having acquired X amount of votes from other members. This ensures guildleaders aren't just guilding their friends on a whim, but it also makes appealing to the guildleader useless when you can't find members who will RP with you.

The theme is good but rigid. Your RP will not be affecting the world and may be discounted if it leads in that direction. Administration seems almost afraid of allowing far-reaching effects. Denying players the opportunity to change the world keeps TI as TI, but it can at times be frustrating.

The Good

You will find RP to suit any style. Some people have Armageddon style one-liners. Some people write beautifully detailed prose. Most fall somewhere in the middle. People are accommodating of other styles and usually keep to a loosely turn based format. You don't come across very many people who incessantly chatter over osay and a polite request that they cease is accepted without drama.

I have encountered very little ooc drama on TI. Even the bad eggs are treated fairly by other players until bad egg behavior resurfaces.

Lots and lots of coded goodies. Crafting is the tip of the iceberg. If you decide to make a character you'll be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of activities you can participate in with or without other people. TI does a good job of keeping the game interesting without depending solely upon active RP. You have a reason to sign in and stay signed in even while the game is empty.

Kinaed is a reasonable administrator. You won't find many of those. So long as you can express yourself in a non-combative manner she's highly likely to take your concerns into consideration.

The Bad

Cliques. Don't get me wrong, people will be plenty friendly, but don't try and get involved in their roleplay past a certain point. Most of the older players should be wearing shirts reading 'I have enough friends.' Even if you manage to develop an organic relationship with an older player, their friends will ensure you're cut out and construed as insignificant in the end. Cliques aren't a problem until they become exclusive of others. Cliques on TI can be extremely exclusive of others.

The smallest of the unhealthy style of clique you'll run into are noble characters. To that end alone, the impression I'm often left with are a preferred few dominating roleplay through exclusive, IC noble rights. Having noble characters around is refreshing, but the selection process isn't great. I would humbly suggest that staff alts not be permitted to have exclusive, ultimate IC powers over the game without giving up their staff role, especially not when that kind of IC power is limited BY staff to a scarce few. Staff members holding very limited nobility slots leaves a foul taste when the nobility have a huge IC advantage over others.

For a worn-out administrator of many years ElseMU*, TI: Legacy has been a breath of fresh air in every possible capacity. I spent probably six weeks searching in a last ditch effort for someplace to relax and be a player again, needing an environment judged worthy from an all too critical 'Well it's not MY game, so it can't be as comfortable as home would be' perspective. TI: Legacy has become so quickly a home that I've found myself scheduling in administrative duties ElseMU* around it, just to make sure I get the chance to regularly play.

Like any game it has positive and negative points, though I should note the positive so greatly outweigh the negative it's hardly even worth mentioning points from both sides. I'll try to do so for the sake of neutrality!

Biggest Praises:

- Community/RP: The great majority of players are fantastic roleplayers (we can toss the mask of 'roleplay' out and just label them writers). The creativity In Character, in crafting, in scenes, has never failed to compel me to keep logging in. From the very first scene I stumbled into by accident with a peg-legged butcher to my eighty-seventh (I do keep track; no idea why) with the Poet Laudate of the Troubadours last night, every encounter has been an absolute treat.

- Staff: Though at times they come across as slightly overworked (at no fault of their own; they're simply invested in the game and it's visible) I'm literally envious of the Staff on TI. I couldn't find a fault with a group of such infinitely polite, neutral, hands-off, discreet and productive people if I tried.

- Theme: Excellent. Flawlessly designed and just as flawlessly demonstrated. Every culture (of which there are many) seems alive, every continent in the Kingdom seems real. The capital's conflicts are your own personal conflicts--no matter who you are, you will be affected in some way, often, by the flux and flow of the world around you. That Order vs. Mages isn't a black and white demonstration of good vs. evil (perspective is of vital importance) is another nod to TI: Legacy's theme. Providing guidelines without making them so rigid you can't breathe is quite a feat. TI accomplishes it.

- Grid: Gorgeous room descriptions in all public or semi-public areas.

- Combat, music, acting, singing and all else is done in the moment and written as you would a pose/emote. Really amazing for immersion and personalization.

- Newbie friendly. I can't stress that enough.

Biggest Gripes:

- The movement system kinda drives me nuts. Walking from one room to another takes a few seconds, which doesn't sound like much until you're doing it. You can choose to move quicker but have to eat or drink a great deal to do it for long. A stroll down a couple blocks even at a full-out run probably shouldn't require a couple loaves of bread to be gobbled down in order to crawl a little further. You'd end up with a population of immensely chubby people! Comes down to function vs. realism, of course, and I think in this instance there's a focus on function. You can mend the problem somewhat by purchasing a horse and mounting/dismounting (two-tick command strings per mount or dismount), but they tend to be very expensive and not viable for many without making it a long-term investment.

- Daily (sometimes more frequent, sometimes less) crashes. Usually the game pops right back up again and nothing is lost, so no big deal. Crashes tend to be one of the natural side-effects of a game in constant development. Sometimes it can be a little sucky, though - For example I lost a few hundred silver (not a small amount!) retooling, which is basically customizing, furniture items for my main character's home, organized everything just so ver the course of hours, logged out for the night and when I came back the next day there had been a crash and roll-back. My pfile was saved so the money was still gone, but all the things I'd used it on had vanished. I can't stress enough how minor an issue the crashes are 9.999/10 times. I'm really just stretching to find criticism in hopes of coming off as neutral as I can.

Summary:

Give TI a shot if you haven't before. You're almost guaranteed to find your niche.

I've only been playing The Inquisition Legacy for two weeks, but I've found it has been all I've been looking for when it comes to a roleplay focused MUD. They are a dying breed, and often succumb to either the seduction of pay-to-win, or a lack of dedicated players. Instead, TI-Legacy seems to have a small but committed player base, that is run by excellent volunteer staff. It has the freeform roleplay of the emote system, but with a large codebase to add depth and conflict to the game. The important conflict of the game is the idea of religion versus magery. Magery is despised, and actively hunted, in a style almost reminiscent of WOTMUD. However, there also mounds of secondary conflicts in the game that add spice to the central theme. You can choose to be a priest by day, and a thief by night. You can choose to be a physician who dabbles in the arts of earth magic. You can be evil, you can be good, you can be ordinary. But no matter who you are, you will always have excellent RP with the experienced and welcoming community.

When I first started The Inquisition: Legacy, I had to be wrangled into it by a group of close friends. They all insisted I would love it if I gave it a try, but to tell you the truth, I had my doubts. I had dabbled in MUDs before and I liked the idea of a text-based game, but I had never managed to become attached to one. I tried a few, of course, but the excitement usually faded within a few weeks and I lost interest.

That all changed for me as I started playing this game. I've been playing The Inquisition: Legacy now for over two years. Here are a few of the reasons why, and why you should too:

The game has one of the most complex, well-developed themes I’ve seen on any MUD. It is centered in a medieval realm not too unlike our own, called ‘Urth’, where, hundreds of years after a mad King’s loss of his family to magic, the Inquisition seeks to eradicate all signs of magery and heresy throughout the kingdom. There are eight unique regions, each with their own cultures and features, and a history spanning hundreds of years with books and lore to match. Though it may seem like a lot at first, there are also thousands of helpfiles to give insight into the game.

TI: Legacy has staff members who are miraculously sane, courteous, intelligent and unbiased people. They’re happy to assist with improving RP in the game, they make certain to solve issues in a nonpartisan manner, and they’ll promptly reply to any inquiries, requests or bug reports. Not only that, but they seem to genuinely care about the opinions of the players. There is even a weekly ‘OOC Meeting’, in which players and staff gather together to discuss what improvements are going on, how RP is, and possible future changes for the game.

The game is centered around roleplaying, not grinding, with players who are creative, kind and diverse. There are infinite possibilities in creating your characters. Here are a few I've seen or played:

-a lanky Tubori seaman turned to a thief in hard times -a beautiful but treacherous Vandagan bard, also a spymaster -a loyal Knight, crippled and returning from the Edessan wars to the capital -a greedy Vavardi merchant with an eye for power -a former guttersnipe from Southside, running a Tavern with two friends -a mage pretending to live a normal life while possessing hidden gifts -a Farin magistrate trying to balance the scales and put criminals to justice -a young, naive priestess, unwittingly put in a position of terrible power -a former noble in disguise, struggling to live a common life

And these are just a few of of the many possibilities out there on TI. I encourage anyone who loves a good story, interesting RP, and diverse characters to come check the game out. If you do, feel free to send me a tell and say hi.

After 15 years of playing other MUD games, I had pretty much given up.

I was tired of the old hack-and-slash routine. Tired of working endlessly on characters whose personal stories were subsumed by be-all end-all combat mechanics. Tired of rude, know-it-all players, griefers, twinks, and trolls. Tired of player and staff cliques. Tired of the GRIND.

And then, about a year and a half ago, I found TI: Legacy.

I can't tell you how glad I am to have given this game a chance. If you enjoy storytelling, intrigue, and an emphasis on character development, you need to give TI: Legacy a try. In this game, you earn experience not by killing the same monsters over and over but simply by roleplaying.

If you've never played a roleplay-focused MUD, this means that you earn experience basically by telling your character's story: describing their actions, speech, and thoughts through emotes and poses with other characters in the world. The first character on your account gets bonus experience, every character gets a customizable first set of clothes, and every character gets a 1-room home that can be described however you choose.

The theme, which pits the righteousness of the Church against the abomination of witchcraft, allows plenty of variety and creativity while still providing structure. Witches hide amongst the populace, and it's the job of the Order and the Knights to save the witches' souls by burning them on the pyre. Knowingly helping a witch can get you branded as a heretic or outright killed, so you must choose your allegiances wisely!

Although PKing is allowed, it's taken very seriously in TI, as PK deaths are permanent. This provides the game with a sense of danger, as actions have potentially life-altering and life-threatening consequences. At the same time, however, the player-base is overall very friendly, patient, and helpful, especially toward newbies (as previous reviewers have mentioned). The game also has an easy-to-learn yet nuanced combat system that uses emotes rather than predefined 'attack' messages, which allows combat to be part of a story, not just an automated sequence and a means to an end.

Climbing the social ladder doesn't require combat prowess for many professions, however. The economy in TI is player driven, and PCs can design, craft, and sell their own wares, including furniture, weapons, and medicines. You can play a pick-pocketing street urchin or, if you take part in the regular Regency Quest, potentially even the King or Queen Regent herself.

So what are you waiting for? Give TI: Legacy a try!

When you get in game, be sure to type HELP THINGS TO DO.

Here's a list of some of the things I have personally done, to give you a taste of what's possible: - Punched an insufferable Daravi emissary in the face. - Saved a room full of people from a terrible demon. - Rose from a lowly page to the Earl Marshall of the Knights. - Saved the city from a grandmaster Earth mage. - Wrestled a giant crocodile in the sewers. - Kidnapped a gentrywoman as bait for a Knight. - Branded a Knight using magic fire. - Raised a zombie from a corpse and sent it into the cathedral. - Used magic to trap people in the cathedral during Magebane holiday. - Used magic to trick a Knight into thinking his bride was a witch. - Seduced a married woman with a magic love potion. - Assassinated... well, a few people, but they had it coming. - Spontaneously took part in a Troubadour's play. - Built a successful tavern with two business partners. - Beat an insubordinate guildmate into compliance. - Earned several gold coins through poker games (see HELP CARDS). - Enforced sumptuary by demanding a gentrywoman change clothes. - Saved a hostage from a desperate Tenebrae. - Created damascus weapons at the Crucible Forge.

Hope to see you in game!

Well I started playing The Inquisition: Legacy back in either October or November of 2012. Since then I have come to frankly enjoy this MUD. For me the best part is not so much the coding and functions in the game, even if they are great, is the community. I worried that when I joined that I would be seen as a noob and kind of not welcomed into the game especially since this was my first MUD ever.

But this was not the case, instead I was welcomed with open arms and everyone was more than willing to help me get settled into the game. Since then I have come see the community as more like an extended family or close friends.

In regards to the game itself it is an immensely thought out game. With a myriad of skills and different character types you can play along with such a detailed story it creates a rich game. In my roughly year and a half of playing I have played 18 characters and 13 of them have been mages and despite losing so many characters it was well worth it and created tons of rp for my fellow players.

In regards to Staff. It is unique how staff have taken more of a backseat position on the game. They try not to get directly involved unless needed and are open to player suggestions and what not. The fact that you can joke with staff and they are not at all threatening to approach is just an added bonus.

So in summary this is a great game for first time MUDers, such as myself, and veteran MUDers alike.

I've played on quite a few other RP MUDs before and have had my share of PK-only and Hack 'n Slash games. After playing for almost 2 months on TI now, I have yet to complain. Here are some of the things that have been striking to me:

-Autoreward system which is hard to abuse and requires very little to no staff intervention. -RPA (RP Assistance) which allows players to bring about events of small to large scales, some affecting the entire grid. -Numerous events that brings a large portion of the player base together and creates an exciting story. -The player base is a gem. Conflict between players is tightly controlled, sorted peacefully and swiftly. -Staff always respond. Maybe not right away, but they will do their best to get back to you. I have yet to find MUD staff more helpful than those on TI. -Frequent updates and bug fixes. When they are found, they are quickly squashed and staff do what they can to accommodate players if it proves to be a problem. -The theme and lore is expansive and strong. Think the Holy Crusades from the early 1100's. -The game offers a newbie channel (visnet) in which someone will almost always respond. -The player base size is decent and there is always fresh RP to go around with numerous intertwined plots.

-Some players play to win, unfortunately, but that is merely a minority. It frequently causes a little tension, which is quickly sorted. -Movement takes getting used to as one has to wait for their character to cross an area before getting to the next room. -There is a bit of a learning curve. Fresh players have a lot to read up on, but in most cases people learn as they go.

I like 'The Inquisition' more than I do any other RP MUD and would highly advise anyone curious to stop by.

The Inquisition: Legacy has been a wonderful outlet in life for creativity! I have met many people who I otherwise would have not had a chance, and made many friends as a result of playing this game. Everyone is helpful and new players should feel very welcomed! This game lets you as a player have a great deal of influence with the world- more than just clothing but your surroundings as well. Players are encouraged to submit ideas for review, and possible implementing to the game for all to enjoy. A variety of skills provide you with many opportunities for work as an individual and then there is always the option of being a mage and creating chaos! Come play with us!

The Inquisition is a mud based on medieval times where magic is real. Players have the choice at character generation to be a mage or not. Also in character generation, a player may choose from one of several different ethnic backgrounds. With over 50 different skills to choose from, a player can make just about anything they want. The game also has several different guilds to join in game, though a player does not need to if they do not want to. Staff are almost always around to be able to help in matters, ranging from a question, to actually help setting up an event. The game has a storyteller system that allows a player to set up their own little event in much the same way a DM would set up a game in table top gaming. Everyone in the game is helpful, staff and players alike, if you ever need a question answered, just ask, and someone will have an answer for you. The game itself has been around for over a decade, I actually played it back then. I returned in the beginning of 2013, and though the game changed slightly, and had different staff, it was still as much fun as I remembered it being. Every saturday, the staff host an OOC meeting where players and staff can sit and talk about things they would like to see, or things that they don't seem to like I think anyone that likes medieval MUDs will find The Inquisition a good game to play.

The Inquisition: Legacy is the first MUD I've ever played that has a rich in-game history, a friendly and extremely knowledgeable Staff and Player-base, and a role-play system fluid enough so as to be easily mastered and also very complex. What really appeals so me, though, is The Inquisition's 'realistic' take on mages and magic. There are MUDs that focus on magic until it becomes so commonplace that it becomes mundane, and there are MUDs that make magic a tiny part of the game, with little depth or content involving real magic. The Inquisition does neither. Magic is made secretive and extremely dangerous to learn, but is certainly doable, and many have accomplished it. Magic is also deeply interwoven in the main plot (the Order finding and consequently burning convicted mages), and is very deep, well-balanced, and complex. Spells are being discovered and created everyday, and the imminent threat of death only serves as an incentive to delve deeper (: Dare to enter The Inquisition: Legacy?

When I first started playing I was quite lost in the game. But because of the kind staff and player-base I was able to get to know the game quite easily and progressed in it. Not only are new features and rooms added constantly, they are added efficiently. A few times you may encounter a bug, but should you report it then it will be fixed quickly. The theme of the game is also very amazing. It adds a sense of mystery and that you are never safe no matter who you are or where you are. Should you decide to play an evil character, it is very well accepted by the populace. To them it adds role-play. You can literally do whatever you want as long as it fits within the parameters of the very reasonable policy. Though there are a few things wrong with the directions the covert guilds (guilds that if you join and people find out you did will get you killed/punished), they are being fixed. There are enough guilds to keep any player happy. Just about one of the only things I would like to see in this game is a larger player-base(which is currently around 10-20 people last I checked). In conclusion, The Inquisition is a very well run MU that I have ever played. I should hope to see more players in my time on here but either way, I don't regret joining.