Depth. That is the word I would use describe Aeonian Dreams (though I'll think of a better word later and kick myself). You will understand once you sign in. Character creation and is just one part of the game that is fun and addictive. You choose your name, race, mastery, and skills and stat allocation at startup. (I'd suggest picking up blacksmithing as that is a great way to learn the crafting system and get you some good exp and quest points to start off) Skills are numerous so creating a unique build for a character is easy and fun. Just a few examples of skills include: Whips, Envenom, Unarmored, Fire Mastery, Tailoring, Mana Conservation, Enchanting, Assailing, Wands, Mounted Combat, Rage, Thunderstrike, Shield Bash, Arrow Barrage, etc. You can buy any skill or advanced skill after char creation with earned practices (limitless). Add to that the fully customizable magic system and characters can creatively differentiate themselves even further. You can create your own spells based on magic skills as well as how they look to others and yourself when they are cast. Here is what one of my spells looks like as an example, 'Kilroy stoops down and releases his fuzzy caterpillar of doom. It inches slowly towards and then releases a flurry of tiny poisoned darts!' *drool* The immortals are always on and actively listen and participate. They also give mudwide boons/gifts and run contests with prizes. The players are all friendly and helpful. An active and helpful player community makes for a great experience. So come on by and give us a shot.

I'm a girl. Yes, I said it. I'm one of those things that wears a skirt and doesn't like spiders, offensive body odor or people that leave the lid up on the toilet. I DO like MUDding though, love it, have done for a number of years now, despite the fact that once word gets out that I'm a 'real female' the hormonal, spotty masses that often make up the majority of players on a MUD descend and try to endear themselves through countless gifts of high level equipment or offers of power leveling with a degree of jealous clinginess that borders on stalking. It was thus with immense relief that I landed in Aeonian Dreams, where I was not immediately assaulted with such attention, rather I was offered advice on how to build a sensible character and directed to zones where I could learn the ropes of what was truly an intriguing MUD. But let's look at the game itself. It has a cleverly balanced economy where you can craft from the various materials to be sourced throughout the land. Ores that are mined for their particular strengths, materials that are gathered for tailoring and foods farmed for the bonuses they add to player stats. Its a living breathing world of interaction, with many players choosing to specialize in either crafting or enchanting; or just being the typical hack and slasher type that consumes the products being supplied by the first two. There are quests that run automatically, graded to the overall level of players connected. Low level players are positively encouraged to join groups and tag along, despite the fact that they are unable to provide much real help. This was one of the aspects which drew me to staying, the maturity of the playerbase that wasn't just always out for their own gains, recognizing that everyone has to start somewhere. Did I say mature? Yes mature. Friendly, helpful, mature players that don't seem to have cause to throw insults, gripes and personal attacks at others over public channels. In fact, I haven't seen any drama, adolescent or otherwise, since starting. Period. Oh, the imms are pretty decent too. There is far too much to even touch upon in a review that doesn't want to border on boring anyone reading it. If this review has in any way sparked interest then I would suggest a quick tour of their wiki (which I understand is still quite new so patchy in places). Find it at http://wiki.aeonian-dreams.net/index.php/Main_Page.

I have recently started playing Aeonian Dreams. I think it is an awesome MUD and I wanted to tell everyone about it. This game is really great and the imms are very nice. They interact with the players and are not just a name on who or the one who freezes you for disobeying the rules. The rules are not too strict either. The MUD is still in development phase but already it has tons and tons of features from player created spells, player owned booths, smithing, tailoring, enchanting, fishing, shrimping, and much much more. You can take jobs from certain mobs for gold, experience, questpoints, and sometimes even souls that you can eat for hitpoints when you are low. Both immortals and players are very nice in general and more than willing to help you get started. There are random items like balloons and colored marbles that load randomly throughout the mud that reward you with questpoints and things, as well as other randomly loading items like excavatable mines and potions lying around. There are even frequent zone quests, in which you have to kill X number of mobs and you get 5 qp per kill until someone has killed the last one. There is a lot more to the game than just killing all the time and since it's still under development, there is definitely more to come. I urge anyone who wants something different from the norm to come and check it out. Feel free to say hi on gossip and if you see me, Bileica in game, feel free to shoot me a tell and say hi. If you like, you can tell Zephen you heard about AD from my review. They would like to expand the playerbase and believe me it's a game worth playing! The only thing they haven't done is tell newbies where to find the newbie school when they first start out. It's 3 or 4 north, east and north from recall, which is where every player starts. I'll talk to them about adding directions to there upon character creation. I look forward to seeing more newbies!

Aeonian Dreams is a fully configurable playing experience. All players have the option of combining any of the many skills available to have a completely unique character. Players are encouraged to explore the world to take advantage of the many zones for experience and quest. There is also an interactive player training system, that allows more advanced players to train newer players in any skill they have. AD also offers both the crafting and combat style characters and encourages bonuses of both. There are also clans available to players to join to further deepen the interaction and involvment with other players. Along with the uniqueness of the player building system, AD also features a complete system for collecting random items, enchanted items, and a 'free-form' spell system. Many players have taken advantage of all these to become somewhat advanced. Which brings me to my next point. For players that have overcome the obstacles presented to the 'average' player there is a system for advancing into new races via remort. Remorts are considered to be advanced players due to the fact they are an advanced player, and allows the player to unlock new race/template combos previously unavailable. AD also has a quest system which loads random world quest which provide bonuses for all the players that participate. On top of these, there are also occasional Immortal run quest for other items of unique power/prestige. The Immortals tend to be a little more hands-on in AD, as they provide many opportunities for players to advance and participate in global challenges. There has also been a system of days implemented that have unique bonuses in the way of money or experience just to name a few. These systems are not unique to AD, as the Imms tend to implement and come up with new ideas to improve the players experiences. I believe AD to be a very fun, friendly, and intense MUD experience for anyone up to the challenge.

A few days ago, I was asked by a player new to Aeonian Dreams 'what makes you play here?'. I had to stop and think, since there are so many reasons why this particular MUD has become the place of choice for me when online. Was it the ability to create my ideal character? Of course that is a factor, after selecting your race and elemental template, you pick and choose the skills you want. Two elven bowmen will rarely be the same, one might have concentrated on speed and attack, whilst another might coat his arrows with poison and assassinate from the shadows. Orc warhammer wielding defensive build? evil faerie barehanded fireball-casting savage build? No problem. The characters are limited only by your imagination. Maybe its the ability to create my own spells that keeps me coming back. My current character is a Celtic archer, my spells are themed around the Celtic Gods. Need a horde of demons to erupt from the ground and surround you with a fireshield? Simple! Learn fire mastery, name and describe your spell, then research it. Next time you face those pesky monsters or challenge another player to a PK fight in the arena, will they get a surprise! Pick up the skills of brewing your spells into potions, imbue them on wands or scribe them to sell in your shop to other players and have the satisfaction of seeing your work being used by others whilst earning money. Of course, for some it is the more peaceful side of the game that attracts. The ability to prospect, building mines to dig out ore for sale to the smithing community. Many enjoy the camaraderie of this side of the MUD. Mining, smithing, smelting, tailoring... creating the best equipment in the game for enchantment by the enchanters. You can often walk into the forge or tannery and find a group of four or five players crafting away whilst enjoying the social side of chatting with friends. There is so much more besides than already mentioned. For instance food that benefits you depending on type, making fishing, farming, shrimping etc actually worthwhile (and fun!). Random drop items on mobs, mini-games, automated and IMM run quests, the list is endless. Players depend upon each other, there is no backstabbing, bitchiness or drama found on so many other MUDs. The IMM staff are professional, dealing with any problems as they arise and listening (yes LISTENING) to the wants and needs of the players. Creation can be a bit confusing when you first log in, so if unsure just whiz through the menus and log straight on into the game and ask for advice. There are always plenty of people around to offer their help and we're an incredibly friendly bunch, so hop on and give us a try today!

AD has a fully interactive quest system and a 'free-form' character building system unlike anything you'll find. The ability to do both crafting and combat builds allows characters to have a lot of autonomy in the way they decide to play. Future development is promised to improve upon an already good system, and not slated to change things for the worse (as is the case with some muds). I'm looking forward to see what's coming now. -Oka

AEONIAN DREAMS is incredibly accessible, yet deep enough to keep you going back for more, whether that means Remorting into 'elite' races, using the handy Reincarnate system, or making alternate characters. This MUD is alive with exciting, new changes, yet old enough that you get that comfortable feeling of 'home'. Our players are active, mature and laid-back, and most of all loyal, because the staff is so supportive, and because the freedom of creation you find here is unparalleled. We have players with excellent RP skills, some with random wit, others who squeeze every strength out of their custom builds, and some who quietly observe. I enjoy creating my own spells and descriptions for them; I love how I can just sit and Smith up a set of gear from ore I mined, then enchant it with spell effects to uniquely fit my custom class! I could not go back to other MUDs for so many reasons. The Staff is professional, tested by time, and highly creative. I trust them implicitly after nearly 2 years; I enjoy helping them flesh out new ideas for features, and I don't get bored because the MUD is in a phase of massive additions. It was excellent fun years ago, and I can sincerely say it gets better every day. One of the most fetching aspects of AD is Balance. The staff is meticulous about keeping your experience fair and rewards hard-earned. Some of the unlisted features are well-crafted fun: the fishing system, contracts for build jobs (and rewards for building), high level MOBs with challenging 'AI', and custom RP quests to name a few. If you want a deep, technical MUD with a lot of customization potential, AD is tough to beat. If you want to relax and multi-task while becoming a master-craftsman and chatting around, this is THE place for it. Come on in, and have a look at Aeonian Dreams. You ARE welcome here! -Minster (Master Smith, Savage Dwarf of the Triune Order)

Aeonian Dreams (hereafter referred to as AD) is a mud I started on around a month or so ago. I like to play muds and MMO games and started playing this mud (I found it by searching using the keyword crafting on mudconnect) because I was on the lookout for a game which would let me play semi-casually as well as craft and I had come to the reluctant conclusion that my other game was not it. One deterrent for me was the 10-24 players online rating on the mudconnect listing but somehow I took the plunge. The number of players online at any time is indeed small but that does not somehow detract from the sense of community or from the mud itself. You will find someone on at any time of the day or night since we seem to come from disparate corners of the world and people are so helpful. AD seems to be a truly classless mud. You are the person who decides your destiny through a wise choice of skill combinations (you can buy more skills with pracs) though other players will be more than happy to tell you some common combos which will start you out. AD is not your average hack and slash mud though, the comments of one of the other reviewers not withstanding. It has built-in quests some of which take you across zones so as to encourage adventuring, quests which are run by the mud based on various factors such as the players on, imm-run quests as well as the crafting which first attracted me to this mud. The crafts range from traditional crafts like blacksmithing (which lets you make weapons as well as armor, said armor ranging from light to plate) or tailoring to more esoteric crafts like shrimping or fishing. We do have brewing for potions, enchanting and scribing as well as the gathering skills mining and silkworm farming. Silkworm farming requires careful care and feeding of silkworms and yields silk which is but one of the various materials you tailor with. Magic on AD is different from that elsewhere. While you do have a couple of spells to start you off with, you have to research additional spells to keep going. Research can (at higher levels) enable you to cast spells that have multiple affects like armor spells which also displace or a damage spell with an added curse. This does involve expending gold (not real) but there seems to be even more amity amongst the spellcasters and I, myself, have experienced older/wiser/richer players offer me a spell scroll to transcribe spells from(avoiding said expenditure) or money. You will find that the players here are extremely friendly and will if requested politely (or sometimes even if not) kit you out for free. Any help you need (other than power-levelling) is very easy to get, indeed its a mere gossip away. If you have gold problems, fellow players will either give you some or if you have taken on mining as a skill will subcontract their mine to you. This seems to be a mechanism devised by the creators to encourage community. Having the ability to teach each other skills is another step in this direction. What this mud really needs and IMHO richly deserves is more players. Do join us today and give us a try.

AD is a fully involved MUD for adults. By that I mean, most of the RP and quest are suited to people that like to be autonamous. There are several mini-games inside of the mud (Chess, gambling, etc.) that can be played by any player. There is a constant 'quest' system that allows for players to receive new skills to advance the 'build' of their character. Players are encouraged to use both combat and non-combat proficiencies to advance their characters development as the game progresses. Most of the current players are good to encourage and help lower level players as well. Players of AD are a friendly group, that enjoy many long discussions as well as many fun hours playing. The game itself though is not exclusive to 'old' players, and is 'warm' to new players that start as well. Come join us and you'll see.

Well, this is the first mud I've actively played. Everyone online is exceptionally friendly and everyone is there to have fun. Of all the muds my buddy has tried to get me to play, this has definitely been the most enjoyable. With just a day and half of online time, I'm already reasonably powerful and more than able to strike out on my own. The mud tends to focus mostly on killing things, but quests are run fairly often and they are just as enjoyable. One of the immortals sometimes runs an ongoing story quest, and we've had great fun with this. The other night we someone ended up with a drinking contest in an effort to gain information. If you're after a game that's just for fun, come join us.

Aeonian Dreams is in essence, flexible. Mages research their own spells, setting damage dice and spell affects so there’s no reason to muddle through the worthless starter magic to get to the good stuff. Mobs drop enough random items that opening your inventory is often a pleasant surprise. Quests are run frequently for random items, practices, and gold, which are open to all players alike. Crafters are generously rewarded, with experience and gold rewards for items that keep them on par with everyone except the hardest of the level grinders. There is an extensive player market where one can easily find thousands of useful potions, spells, and pieces of armor. Builders are compensated generously for their time with in game benefits (although never to the point of imbalance). Also, although there are levels, the mud is functionally without them, based on an exquisite experience scheme that would allow a level 1 to slaughter a level 100. Finally, the players are among the friendliest I’ve ever seen. When I’d logged on for the first time I received a greeting and an offer of help from most of the active players, and within minutes I had enough equipment and directions to interesting areas to last me for weeks.

What a game! By and far one of the most unique character generation systems I ever seen, and a great core group of players :] I've been playing this mud now for almost six weeks, and although its a little tricky getting the hang of the magic system, the rewards are immense. Almost completely customizable in every way, this mud allows the freedom to create the character you want, rather than a cookie cutter thief, fighter, or mage(which I've seen on WAY too many muds already:P). All in all, this is a five star mud in every way, and worth a quick visit. Tired of playing the same game over and over? Check out Aeonian Dreams, itll be well worth your while :]

I first found Aeon through a review like this, a review much different than the one I write today. This review was amateurish, sloppily written, absolutely horrendously spelled and filled with all manner of grammatical errors. However, there was one thing that intrigued me enough to give the MUD a shot. Passion. The review was just sweltering with it, and after playing the MUD for just a few short minutes I could see why. This place is intense. It's unique, it's unlike any other MUD I've ever seen before, and I've been the virtual town bicycle type mudder. You can research your own spells from scratch, and even use them to brew into potions or enchant into gear that you crafted yourself, or someone else crafted for you. You can own a player shop, and put your items up for sale. There's random drops that pop on certain mobs, and there's all sorts of interesting mini-game. Fishing that's actually fun. Food that actually benefits you (it improves regeneration)! Worldwide quests that encourage grouping among players, and even a casual gamer system. Everytime the MUDs uptime hits a multiple of 3 hours, you gain half a bonus voucher. Collect two and you can gain double experience for a while. There's so much awesome stuff about this MUD, it's almost impossible to fit it all here, all I can really say is pop on and have a look. It can be a bit confusing at first, but the MUD features a very nice and helpful community and the immortals actually listen. If you have any questions, my player name is Ras and if I'm about I'd be glad to help you. So what are you waiting for? Hop on and give it a try today! (P.S. Creation is mildly confusing, but most of the skill combos make sense in the end. They're apparently working on it. If you need help, just rush through with your character and ask around, someone will be sure to help you make your ideal character.)

I think I shall express my sole complaint about this MUD first. And that is the lack of players. I will also swear to you that I am a player, not some immortal or game creator just trying to fool you. I am just your everyday MUDder that got tired of the same old. When I started here I was on a mission for a new home. I was tired of the normal run around and kill stuff. I was bored with the everyday request quest from questmaster, fetch item and return to questmaster. So I decided I wanted a place where I didn't have to do this. I searched long and hard. I think I went and checked out at least 30+ MUDs during my search for a new home. Finally I came to Aeonian Dreams. The race selection isn't all that extensive, they have your normal humans, dwarfs and whatnot, as well as a few of their own. All with their own special abilities and modifiers of course. There are also races you cannot choose during first creation, but must remort into. It is a classless system, but there are levels. Yet you do not need to level to get better, unless you're a fighter, though levelling is one of the easiest ways to get practices for new skills. Right now I am a miner, a blacksmith, a tailor and a shop owner. I have plenty of gold and have spent probably about 22 million experience. I have killed all of five or six creatures in my entire stay. Here you actually get experience for CREATING things. You don't have to go and kill stuff to get the experience needed to learn how to tailor a better shirt. You don't have to be a high level to smith the best armor. If you wanted you could never advance past level 1, and with practice, smith better armors and weapons than a level 40. You want to use magic? By all means do so, but don't expect to be weighed down by a predetermined list of spells. You create your own. Like another magic-users spell? Ask them to make you a scroll so you can learn it. Big bad warrior break his armor? Pay a smithy to make you better, then if you want pay a spellcaster to enchant it, if they have learned how to do it. No guarantees they will know how. Hmm, what if you spend 22million experience like me and find out that you don't want to be a blacksmith after all? Then reincarnate. You will lose 1/4 of all your experience. It will cost you 1% of your experience in gold, but its better than having to make a new character and start all over again. I honestly do not know what else to say other than I am proud to call Aeonian Dreams my new home. Everyone is so friendly and it is everything I have been looking for. The only problem as I stated before, is it needs players. So I am asking you to come and make the game better. Give us a try, I don't think you will regret doing so. Thank you for your time.

Aeonian Dreams is by far one of the more interesting MUDs I have played. From the moment I logged in everything was different. When I created a character I had absolute control over what I wanted to do. There wasn't anything limiting me but my imagination. I can created a paladin, an assassin, a warrior, a mage, a thief, a necromancer, an evil paladin, an enchanter, the list could go on for pages more. The races and templates to choose from were informative and well balanced. There was no one perfect race, it all depended on what idea you had in your head of how you wanted to turn out. When you start playing you are placed in Midgaard (which will soon be gone) with a weapon and a map. There's no MUD School to bore you that has been done 100x or more. You immediately jump into action, either killing or running quests that are built into each and every area. There is a wide variety of areas to explore, some stock, some not. Even though an area might be stock though, don't assume you know everything about it. Each area has been tweaked in subtle ways. Gaining skills is probably where this MUD excels the most. As prev2iously said, you choose skills at creation time, but you can also earn practices to learn more skills. As you gain experience through questing, fighting, or actual usage of the skils, you return that experience into training. You find which character has the skill that you want practiced and you spend your hard earned experience on it. I find this more realistic then every level gaining a set amount of practices that will give you a set amount of skills. At Aeonian Dreams you have complete control over how you want your character to develop. Marquoz

When i start a new mud i am usually bored in a few hours. The routine of killing mobs for xp, gaining new skills per level drives me insane. So when i joined this mud and found out that there are may ways to progress on the mud other than killing mobs i was intrigued. I chose to be a Blacksmith and got a job making weapons. From there i spent my experience gained from making weapons and improved my prospecting to set up a mine to get the metals. I smelt them rather then paying for them, all the while gaining xp without killing a single mob. There are may professions and if you want to be a warrior you can and gain xp by killing mobs. You can spend your xp and level up to 101 and then remort or you could stay at level one and build your skills up; it's up to you to choose. Even though i'm not a spellcaster i like the system they have. Spells are not automatic, you have to research them so spellcasters are truly powerful because they devote time to get the spells. I dont expect you to take my word on this but please come and take a look and i'm sure you won't be disappointed.

I've played several muds over the years, but never have I encountered one such as Aeonian Dreams. You can be anything you can imagine. For example, I'm a blacksmith and a miner who dabbles in magic to enhance his work and prev2iously I've been a dual wielding sword master. The world is constantly changing and being enhanced by its developer. Each week new skills are added that increase an already wide variety of purpose. The best part, is that the gods really do care and everyone's input is welcome and many times accomodated. Major changes are vetted through the players for their reaction and support. I love this mud.

Recently invited by a long time friend of mine from another mud, I decided to visit Aeonian Dreams. I was shocked at the time and effort put into the codebase to make it something that is completely unique and different than any other mud that I have seen. As a circle coder and player of 10 years, this one is impressive to say the very least. Two features that I love are the player run shops (no imm intervention needed once set up) and custom spells of all sorts. The skills and proficiency system is topnotch just the same - this goes back to their coder, who since I have been there has come out with new skills, tweaked all kinds of things to make gameplay more enjoyable, and has responded promptly to things that may have had a small glitch in them. If you are looking for a friendly atmosphere, good playerbase and want something unique and different, Aeonian Dreams is the place to give a try. If you are disappointed upon logging in and toying with the many skills and spells that exist, your standards are set way too high. Cheers, Xanthros

How did I come to Aeonian Dreams? One month ago, I entered a search for 'smithing' into this site, and it happened to come up. Why smithing, you might ask? Because combat can get boring after a while. Don't let that fool you, Aeonian Dreams has plenty of great combat, it just happens to have more as well. What, you also might ask? Well, let me get there. Don't rush me. One of the first things I noticed and enjoyed about Aeonian Dreams was the spell creation system (reminiscent to that of Morrowind, for those who have played it). Rather than gaining spells as you level, you actually research them by combining spell effects. For example, you could create an 8d10 fire damage spell that damages the whole room, or just a spell to invisibility/haste yourself for five hours. Combine this with a scribing system that allows you to teach others your spells using scrolls, encouraging the magical types to form a community. The game contains many different masteries (Fire Mastery, Refreshment, Nether Mastery, etc), each of which gives you (with enough skill in the given art) knowledge of certain effects to add to your spells. For example, any amount of Fire Mastery will allow you to create strength-enhancing spells and fire damage spells, but advanced levels of mastery bestow knowlede of the fire shield effect. The next thing that immediately stands out in my mind is the experience system and character creation. When making a character, you're given 40 practices with which to buy your starting skills. The list includes everything from dodge and parry to smithing, tailoring, and combat styles (including some very nice ones, such as 'savage' and 'assailing'). This allows you to create any character you like, without any sort of infernal 'class' restrictions. Experience gained (through combat, smithing, tailoring, quests, research, and a number of other methods) can be spent either to level up or to increase skills (which are increased this way, rather than through use [aside from those that give experience, such as smithing] to prev2ent macro/trigger mastering). As you level, your health/mana/stamina increase. More importantly, though, you gain practices. Practices are used to buy new skills to further develop your character, and there are many powerful skills that can't be chosen at character creation. Thus, you must purchase them during the game from special trainers. One of the last things I'd like to touch on in order to encourage you to play Aeonian Dreams (and I heartily believe more people should!) is the trade skill system. There are numerous materials from which weapons, armor, and clothing may be made (lead, iron, steel, diamond, bone, dragonscale, etc). Each influences the item's weight and durability, combined with the item's quality. Lighter weapons are faster, and allow for more attacks than slower weapons. Also, heavier armor slows you down more, causing light armor and barehanded combat to *GASP!* actually be feasible! Anyway, while I have a habit of rambling on, my point is simple. Aeonian Dreams is a great MUD. You don't have to play it, that doesn't really matter to me. More fun for me. Hopefully, you'll come to your senses and I'll see you there.