Reviews (A-I)

Reviews (A-I)

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Abyss          Slinky          [Levels 60-70]          (reviewed by Diastra)
Synopsis - Attack of the giant bugs, slimy rooms, all in all a total mess. I played this area for years and never really took the time to read the room descriptions. Glad I did the review before eating breakfast.

Important Mobs    - None.

Important Objects - None.

RATINGS:

Mobs         - 3 - Just the right amount of mobs for this small area, halfway decent descriptions on all of them.

Objects      - 1 - All of the objects are nodrop, noremove, anti-evil, anti-neutral, doesn't give you much incentive to play here if you aren't a good aligned character. No long descriptions….a big NO NO.

Rooms        - 3 - The room descriptions are just slightly better then one liners. The author tends to tell you how you are feeling as you move through this area, not my idea of well written rooms.

Map Layout - 4 - very easy to follow, no surprises

Story            - 2 - Kill the bugs, get the keys, and find useless equipment, not a lot of substance here.

OVERALL RATING: 52%, not quite stock but close enough with all of the nodrop, noremove equipment.

Animaland Yaegar [Levels 25-60]
Synopsis - Imaginative area run by fairy tale characters, Animaland is a prime example of why Yaegar is such a good builder. There are some very good descriptions that are very true to the fairy tale storyline.

Important Mobs - Rumblebottom the giant, Sir Hosis

Important Objects - Giant's girth

RATINGS:

Mobs - 5 - Imaginative mix of fairy tale characters.

Objects - 4 - Lots of nice equipment.

Rooms - 4 - Great in-depth room descriptions.

Map Layout - 4 - Well organized layout, lots to explore.

Story - 5 - Fairy tale aspect is very imaginative and followed throughout the area

OVERALL RATING: 88% Well thought out area, quality you'd expect from Yaegar

An Area About Nothing Miracle [Levels 150-160]
Synopsis - This homage to the hilarious Seinfeld sitcom really has no storyline. What it does have, however, is the dozens of lovable characters that drew us to the television set every Thursday night for 9 years. Doing nothing has never been this much fun. Serenity Now!!

Important Mobs - Jerry, Pimp Daddy Kramer

Important Objects - Kramer's cane

RATINGS:

Mobs - 5 - Everyone from Costanza to the Pig man makes an appearance

Objects - 4 - Some pointless objects add to the 'nothing' flavor

Rooms - 4 - Memorable places from the TV show are present

Map Layout - 4 - It's a big circle, much like Manhattan tends to be

Storyline - 5 - The series is captured perfectly, really a lot of nothing

OVERALL RATING: 88%, Good, you'll have to be very, very bad to miss out on this one.

Ants Marching          Miracle          [Levels 5-15]          (reviewed by Diastra)
Synopsis: Well as best as I could tell, this area is about 3 races of ants all fighting each other. Black ants are good, Red ants are evil and Fire ants are...well I didn't quite figure that out. An okay newbie area but definitely lacking in mobs and objects.

Important Mobs: Red Ant Queen, Black Ant Queen

Important Objects: Ant Ring (red and black). A good replacement for pink ice rings.

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 3 - Few and far between, amusing descriptions though.

Objects        - 2 - Definitely lacking.

Rooms         - 3 - Mediocre room descriptions, nothing to write home about.

Map Layout - 3 - An okay layout, a little confusing at first.

Story            - 3 - good vs. evil?

OVERALL RATING: 56% - I was disappointed, I've seen better work from the author.

Arachnos          Mahatma          [Levels 5-20]          (reviewed by Diastra)
Synopsis - Creepy crawly things everywhere and one line room descriptions in most rooms. An overall boring and unimaginative area.

Important Mobs - Donjonkeeper, Ki-Rin (they have the potions, which are pretty good for healing).

Important Objects - blue potions (healing)

RATINGS:

Mobs            - 1 - lots to choose from, stays in theme but lack of original descriptions make it boring.

Objects          - 0 - very few, only found potions.

Rooms           - 1 - short, boring descriptions, one big boring spiderweb.

Map Layout   - 1 - hard to follow, lots of one way exits and a no exit room that does nothing but frustrate you.

Storyline         - 1 - spiders, spiders, and more spiders...couldn't quite find anything more substantial then that.

OVERALL RATING: 16%, Pure stock, nothing more.

The Bazaar Yaegar [All levels] (Reviewed by Kalais)
Synopsis - The bazaar is bustling marketplace, with many merchants around trying to sell their wares. Unfortunately, I feel cheated by the merchants, since most of them are trying to rip me off.

Important Mobs - Princess Fatima (She has a nipple ring, how can you go wrong with that?)

Important Objects - None

RATINGS:

Mobs - 2.5 - The quantity of mobs seems to fit adequately with the ambience of a marketplace. However, the marketplace is not exactly busy. It seems that word of the cheats in the marketplace got out already, and therefore there are few would-be victims, as well as a few past victims. I have still yet to figure out why there are thieves around in a place that is devoid of good merchandise. Interestingly enough, you can kill the merchants for cheating you, and there are no repercussions.

Objects - 1.5 - Very few items to speak of, aside from some shoddy armor from the two whole guards. The items found off of the merchants are a bit sub-par, and way too expensive. The only thing that is saving the items from the dreaded score of 1, is that single nipple ring off of Fatima. Very stock items, at least the guards have con bonuses because of their armor. The -1 intelligence makes lots of sense, since it is rather pointless to guard this bazaar. There are no annoying flags on any of the objects, which is a plus. Though, I am still trying to figure out why Fatima's veil has a +3 intelligence, I mean seriously, how smart can she really be if she is a constant customer to the Bazaar? On a side note, the Sitar and the Flute are just furniture, no abilities or anything.

Rooms - 3 - The descriptions are pretty decent for a rather empty bazaar. However, a few repeated descriptions do detract a bit from the score. And surprisingly no typos that I could see.

Map Layout - 3 - Slightly confusing to get to each and every store. However, there are not hidden places to speak of. After a bit, you can easily find your way throughout this Bazaar. Having the armory and weapon smith in the wall is a good idea, and having the brothel out of the way makes sense to me. Though, it may not hurt if the brothel was in a more central location, maybe get some more business in this place.

Story - 1.5 - Nothing much in the way of a story, just a regular old marketplace. Walk around, get cheated out of your money, and maybe spend some time with the whores. Nothing too noteworthy. Don't forget to wipe the smug face off of the Princess when you slice her to bits. Affront this, Fatima!

OVERALL RATING: 46% - This area is just so-so, there is nothing much of notice that makes it good, there is nothing much of notice that is bad. It is just there and not too interesting.

Camelot Lok [Levels 20-52]
Synopsis - The utter majesty of King Arthur's court is portrayed here in brilliant detail. Although this area has been stock for a while, it's a worthy addition to any mud. This is a much better piece of work than Lok's previous effort, The Faerie Ring.

Important mobs - Pellinore, King Arthur

Important Objects - Pellinore's trailpack, excalibur

RATINGS:

Mobs - 5 - Alot of the Arthurian legend is covered, and quite well.

Objects - 4 - Lots of nice weapons

Rooms - 5 - Extremely well done castle

Map Layout - 4 - Very easy to navigate, and a lot to explore

Storyline - 5 - An old tale done justice

OVERALL RATING: 92% A classic must-see area.

Chessboard Garth Levels 75-95 (Reviewed by Shimmer)
Synopsis - It's a chessboard, laid out in an 8 by 8 grid. One side has the white pieces; the other has the black pieces. Pretty straight forward.

Important Objects - The sceptre, crown, rosary

Important Mobs - Kings, Queens, Bishops

RATINGS:

Mobs - 3 - These tie into the storyline of a chessboard, but there are so few of them! I would have expected a full chessboard packed with all possible pieces all battling with blood and gore and.. well more than this anyway.

Objects - 2 - The crown and sceptre have nice bonuses, but similar bonuses can be found elsewhere

Rooms - 2 - White square, black square. That's about it

Map Layout - 2 - 8 up, 8 across, there's your map

Storyline - 2 - Even within the limitations of a chessboard, so much more could have been done with this area.

OVERALL RATING: 44% It's a yawn-fest from square 1 to square 64.

The Circus Binky [Levels 1-12]
Synopsis: All the boredom of the big top can be experienced in this subhuman classic. Dozens of circus mobs are present, but there's no practicality to the area unless you start here at level 4. To put it lightly, this area is awfully written, tackily put together and mapped out as confusingly as a play written in the sand like a game of touch football.

Important Mobs - Circus Owner

Important Objects - strongman's bracers, scalpel

RATINGS:

Mobs - 2 - Never was a big fan of clowns, they always think they're soooooo funny.

Objects - 1 - Only two that are somewhat important, rest are filler

Rooms - 1 - "You are in the lion's cage. Run!!" Nuff said.

Map Layout - 1 - I think getting to the Batcave was less effort.

Storyline - 1 - Send out the clowns, send out the clowns. Oh Lord, send out the clowns....

Overall Rating - 16% - Stockity stock stock stock. There's better places to go.

Crusher's Playpen Yaegar/Sandman [Levels 5-10]
Synopsis: Yaegar, how could you? This was the first thought that came to my mind when I first looked at Crusher's Playpen, a boring repetitious twelve room area that can only be described as terrible. For those of you who recognize the name, Sandman is the creative wizard behind the unspectacular Dwarven Daycare. And yes, that last comment was meant as sarcastically.

Important Mobs - None.

Important Objects - None.

RATINGS:

Mobs - 1 - Of the six total mobs present, there's really nothing groundbreaking here.

Objects - 0 - The objects are about as bad.

Rooms - 0 - The builders used the same description in EVERY room. Get a bucket for this one.

Map Layout - 0 - It's a giant square, I'm not kidding

Storyline - 1 - Yaegar must've been drunk when he collaborated for this one.

OVERALL RATING: 8% - I'd expect this kind of work from Sandman, but shame on you Yaegar.

Digital Nights Miracle [Levels 40-85]
Synopsis - This well thought out combination of classic video games and the Nintendo legacy is divided into 2 parts depending on player's level. The first part is a fun fury of simple hack n' slash that features the quarter eaters of yesteryear. PacMan, Pong, Donkey Kong, they're all out for your blood. The second part is a fun takeoff of the many games of the classic Nintendo era and stars the hated lizard Bowser. This was probably the funnest area to write and it shows in the descriptions and feel of the area.

Important Mobs - Pong!, Bowser, Ganon, Donkey Kong, Link

Important Objects - The Secret Star, Link's rings

RATINGS:

Mobs - 5 - you know them, you love them all

Objects - 5 - If you haven't seen them before, they're not here.

Rooms - 4 - Good descriptions, but the "F-Zero" and "Mortal Combat" floors are repetitive

Map Layout - 4 - Two paths to choose from at beginning, noportal rooms in part 2 are a bit cruel

Storyline - 5 - Saving the princess in text was never this much fun

OVERALL RATING: 92%, an instant classic

Digital Nights 2: Innocuous Persuasion Miracle [Levels 120-150]
Synopsis: This excellent sequel to Digital Nights is divided into three parts based on video games. The first part is a mysterious lost castle featuring lovable critters like Eathworm Jim and Sonic the Hedgehog. The second part is a fierce, no-holds-barred fighting arena featuring fighting game mobs, and the third part is an in-depth portion based on the Legend of Zelda series of games. An excellent assortment of mobs, wide variety of objects, and fantastically laid out map makes this area a quantum leap over the original.

Important Mobs: Ganondorf, MegaMan(X)2, Shao Kahn

Important Objects: Golden Master Sword, Hyrulian Bracers, etc.

RATINGS:

Mobs - 5 - Huge assortment of mobs, each with their own unique quirks.

Objects - 5 - Very detailed assortment of objects

Rooms - 5 - Creative and numerous rooms

Map Layout - 4.75 - Well-laid out and realistic map

Storyline - 4.5 - Forgotten Souls castle a bit confusing, but Zelda part more than makes up for it.

OVERALL RATING: 97%, Awesome area, hack and slash at its best.

Dragon Tower Wench [Levels 5-50]
Synopsis: After I spent about 20 minutes laughing at her name, I reviewed "Dragon Tower", an area you sometimes bump into wandering through "Shadow Grove". It's really nothing special.

Important Mobs - No clue.

Important Objects - None

RATINGS:

Mobs - 2 - A lot of dragons, some have good descriptions.

Objects - 1 - Substandard equipment, nothing good.

Rooms - 1 - Not very long descriptions. Pretty bland.

Map Layout - 2 - Lot easier than the grove. *shudder*

Storyline - 2 - Average run-of-the-mill dragon story.

OVERALL RATING: 32% - There's better places to go.

Dwarven Catacombs Raff [Levels 10-20]
Dwarven Kingdom Anon [Levels 10-25]
Synopsis - I’m reviewing these two together since most think they’re one big area. Well I did anyways. A somewhat enjoyable starter area for lower to midteen players, the kingdom and catacombs are good for leveling quickly so that you can get to a better area. Otherwise, it’s fun while it lasts.

Important Mobs - the wraith, dwarven guards

Important Objects - flask of holy water

RATINGS:

Mobs - 4 - bunch of dwarves, beards a waggin’

Objects - 3 - Just get the holy water.

Rooms - 4 - Good descriptions for kingdom, catacombs are a little better.

Map Layout - 3 - Lots to see, easy to get lost.

Storyline - 4 - Good storyline on both parts.

OVERALL RATING: 80%: Decent duo, but once you hit 15, pack your bags and move
on.

Dwarven Day Care Sandman [Levels 1-5]
Synopsis: True to the name of the author of this ho-hum effort, this waste of time may put you to sleep. The theme of this area is a daycare center for dwarven youths, but is also occupied by a psychotic nanny and some stuffed animals. The ridiculous aspect and a preschool layout give this low level area the boot.

Important Mobs - They're all pretty unspectacular

Important Objects - The quickly replaced pink ice ring (+1 str, +1 dam)

RATINGS:

Mobs - 2 - Boring and predictable mobs

Objects - 1 - Nothing to write home about

Rooms - 3 - A pretty mediocre setting

Map Layout - 2 - I think all the rooms are connected

Storyline - 1 - This one must've looked good on paper, but it doesn't look good on the screen.

OVERALL RATING: 36% - Horrific experience, real sleeper.

Eternal Christmas Druscilla/Roxy [Level 150+] [Reviewed by Corraiv]
Synopsis: Upon ascending the mountain you peer over the last hitch and what lies before you is an enchanted, surreal landscape. You think you see a fat man in a red suit through the window of a colorful house. Lets kill him.

Important Mobs - Santa, the reindeers, The Grinch

Important Objects - Big Red Nose, Santa's naughty and nice list, Bubbling Christmas Spirit

RATINGS:

Mobs - 2.5 - Colorful mobs, yet they lack dimension and character. I neither felt guilty or any hint of sadism in killing any of these guys. Feels like im killing cardboard.

Objects - 1.5 - Cute, but useless objects. Brownie points for including the Elven Beer.

Rooms - 2.5 - It could be so, so, better. Instead it's just so-so. All it's got going for it are the room names which are almost all that lend to the Christmas atmosphere.

Map Layout - 2 - The overall layout isn't all that cohesive. It merely jumps from the main workshop to the Who village with a tiny hill to connect the two. As far as my aesthetic goes, there isn't enough snow, eggnog, and presents. It could jsut be me but where's the gosh darn Christmas tree?

Storyline - 1 - Not much of a story. Get in, kill the reindeers, get out.

OVERALL RATING - 65%. See "Storyline". Not one of Dru's best, but if anyone was willing it could be better.

Faerie Ring Lok [Levels 10-15]
Synopsis - The followup to his classic Camelot, the Faerie Ring was based on an old book series of the same name. What's present in this port is the same Lok quality and imagination that we saw in Camelot. Although a small scale leaves more to be desired, what you do get is quality work.

Important Mobs - Puck

Important Objects - Dirty britches, twinkling ball of light

RATINGS:

Mobs - 4 - Extremely good descriptions on the faeries.

Objects - 4 - The mobs are appropriately equiped, and a few of the items are valuable newbie equipment.

Rooms - 4 - Great descriptions of an underground faerie hideout. Good imagination

Map Layout - 5 - Well organized.

Storyline - 4 - The faerie theme is followed well and is nicely done.

OVERALL RATING: 84% - Well worth a look.

Galaxy Doctor [Levels 20-45]
Synopsis : Greek mythology comes alive in this classic tribute to the Gods of yesteryear. This well-written and entertaining area is a satisfying end to the utter stupidity of wandering through the Shadow Grove of High Tower.

Important Mobs : Hercules, Capricorn

Important Objects : armplates of Hercules

RATINGS:

Mobs - 5 - Lots of greek gods and goddesses.

Objects - 3 - Some good equipment here and there

Rooms - 3 - Well written rooms, some repetition however.

Map Layout - 3- Hard to find Hercules, but you’ll slap yourself when you do figure out the way.

Storyline - 5 - The mythology theme is excellent.

OVERALL RATING: 76% - Nice area.

Gnome Village Vougon [ Levels 5-15]
Synopsis - An average story about the plight of a gnome village is the focus of this alright area. This mainly a leveling area after a newbie leaves the school, and is quite useful until level 10 or so.

Important Mobs - None

Important Objects - None

RATINGS:

Mobs - 3 - Lots of mobs to kill, but all just newbie fodder.

Objects - 2 - Nothing vital, good decoration for mobs though.

Rooms - 4 - Descriptive village and caves

Map Layout - 3 - Average layout, little confusing.

Storyline - 4 - Firebat story is good.

OVERALL RATING: 64%, Not bad, but not the best either. Good newbie area.

Haunted Forest Minx [Levels 5-10]
Synopsis: Minx should be shot in the face for writing this bore of an area. There is not even a shred of originality in this bland and boring forest full of kobolds *yankyank*, water sprites *yawn*, and witches *squirtsquirt*. The mobs are dull, the objects are awful, and the map layout is a disgrace to Envy.

Important Mobs: None

Important Objects: None

RATINGS:

Mobs - 0 - All 7 mobs are equally dull

Objects - 0 - Minx should take the whip and whip herself smart.

Rooms - 0 - Really really awful.

Map Layout - 1 - Bring bread crumbs.

Storyline - 0 - Crack kills.

OVERALL RATING: 4% - Take this area out back and put it down.

The HighLands Karl [Levels 15-25]
Synopsis - If Karl put half of the trouble he put into thinking up his NAME, this area still would've turned out worthless. With the same mastery of the English language as a Turkish barber, Karl drawls this 200 room train wreck into a completely unplayable area. After suffering through 70 screens of "You are walking through a thick bog", I was convinced that no effort was put into this crime against humanity.

Important Mobs - Ya got me.

Important Objects - The knife you'll need to cut your throat with.

RATINGS:

Mobs - 0 - I saw alot of sheep, but noone really worth a damn.

Objects - 0 - Everything's filler.

Rooms - 0 - I honestly don't think he finished.

Map Layout - 0 - It's easier to drive through midtown.

Storyline - 0.5 - He spelled his name right.

OVERALL RATING: 2%, This is the worst area I have ever seen. Thank you Karl, I've lost my faith in Envy builders thanks to you.

High Tower of Sorcery Anon [Levels 10-30]
Synopsis : This area defines complete confusion and poor planning on the part of the writer. Never before has a more befuddling and IDIOTIC maze been placed into a mud. The only worthwhileness to this area is that the crap maze leads to Galaxy, a somewhat decent area. The tower itself, if and when you find it, is a pretty disappointing reward to the arduous task of getting there, if and when you do.

Important mobs : black robed apprentice, Enchanter, calico cat

Important items : spiked collar, scroll written on blue paper

RATINGS:

Mobs - 2 - Not many important ones. Average fodder

Objects - 3 - The enchant scroll and the spiked collar are decent. The rest isn’t

Rooms - 1 - Same old, same old...

Map Layout - 0.01 - At least they’re connected...

Storyline - 2 - Twitch your nose cause you won’t be bewitched by this one.

OVERALL RATING: 32%, Bad voodoo.... the sheep are running scared..

Horror Heights High School Druscilla [Levels 15-40] [Reviewed by Corraiv]
Synopsis: Bleagh, it's Midnight, and I've got to get to school. I hear Mr. Grinfang is letting us use a REAL sheep sacrifice this time, so I guess it shouldn't be that slow of a night. Yawwwwwn.

Important Mobs - The blob, the Career Counselor.

Important Objects - Writhing Dragon Tattoo, Gold-Rimmed Glasses.

RATINGS:

Mobs - 3 - Lots of names, lots of mobs. Some are occasionally interesting, but for the most part they're just fodder for my alts to kill.

Objects - 3.5 - Good objects here, I'm thinking especially of that tattoo which lasts most people 2 remorts until they can upgrade it. The items lend a carefree feeling to the high school. When I first explored this I figured it would have a really serious tone.

Rooms - 3.5 - There's nothing too special about them in general, but I do remember rooms like "Death and Dying...It could happen to you." They added a nice comic undertone to the matter.

Map Layout - 3 - Not too hard to learn to get around, but I still believe another floor would have been a nice transition to the harder guys, instead of a closed door.

Storyline - 3 - I can't really deny it, it does feel like I'm passing through a regular day at high school in some other dimension. That's both a good and a bad thing.

OVERALL RATING - 82%. Never a tiring place to level to and from your first remort since the same words and names don't repeat in your mind too often due to the uniqueness of the room names and mobs. But you won't miss it when you move on.

In the Eyes of Angels Miracle [Levels 90-110]
Synopsis - A genetic experiment gone horribly wrong takes a disastrous turn in this area loosely based on a story the author wrote in high school. Dozens of genetic mutants and a mysterious Captain help mold the area into an intriguing storyline. Unfortunately, the writer tended to be a little sloppy when designing the ship's layout, but once that confusion is sorted out, it's fine. On the plus side, it does have ANSI color.

Important Mobs - Alpern, Dondonabur

Important Objects - Blade of Alpern, Shield of the Wyvern

RATINGS:

Mobs - 5 - Wide variety of genetic freaks, flying beasts and barbarians

Objects - 4 - Some good ones, some aren't good. Most have color.

Rooms - 4 - Well written and some have color.

Map Layout - 2 - Confusing map layout makes the area suffer a little

Storyline - 4 - Good storyline, but the vortex dragon is really misplaced

OVERALL RATING: 76% Good, but a confusing map may turn off some players

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