I’m curious what game you guys have sunk the most hours into. Mine has to be RuneScape, I don’t know the total hours because I’ve had so many accounts over the years I don’t even remember half my passwords, but it’s definitely in the thousands of hours now. I’ve played on/off RS2, OSRS, and RS3 since 2004.
I’ve also probably sunk anywhere from hundreds to 1000+ hours into Skyrim and Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura, though I don’t know the counts there either since neither were through Steam. Embarrassingly enough I’ve never completed either of those two games - I get sidetracked making so many alt characters.
What about you guys? & What got you hooked on said game?
I’m a little sad I never got into any MUDs. Would you still recommend that one or others to new players? Or are they full of overpowered old characters now?
While they’re often full of older and or OP players, most of them allow for secondary accounts / characters. So you have folks playing on new characters as well.
Islands of Myth has a feature that lets you split your character into multiple “bodies” which you can switch between (with a cool down). I can earn 100 million experience points, spend them on levels and spells, becoming a strong healer. I may decide I want a change of pace and split that 100 million exp 80% 20%. Now I have a less strong healer with 80 million exp to spend on levels and spells, as well as a bard with 20 million exp to spend. You can always combine them back into one body later.
This is not an entirely unique setup, so I think you’d find most places with a nice mix of player “sizes”.
Would I recommend IoM for a new MUDder? Yes. It was the first MUD for a lot of folks, so something is being done right. That said, I’m sure there are MUDs with smoother new player experiences. For example IoM requires players choose, install, and configure a MUD client, while others offer a web based client or custom app.