Genocide is a very unique and amazing MUD. The concept, the game play and the even playing field cannot be beat. Each war you can choose a new class, with a large list to pick from. If you enjoy player vs player combat.. this is the MUD for you. If you're currently 'player killing' on another MUD, this is a great way to sharpen your skills and speed up your combat abilities. Come check it out.
Running since 1992, still the best mud on the net. It is admittedly a bit slow during the day but usually there's someone on who will war with you, and during peaktimes larger wars are played regularly. If you're into pk/strategy and like playing opponents that are real people rather than killing the same stupid monsters over and over again then you might be ready to start playing a real mud: Genocide.
I have just re-started playing Genocide, and I think they should have a big sign on the log-in that says "Geniuses only". To be at all successful you have to have memorized 10-15 different areas of 150-250 rooms in each, as well as be able to find someone wandering around in them. The strategy and tactics are unparalleled in the gaming community. The scroll in a war requires exceptional speed-reading skills to pick out pertinent data, you have to be able to type in the 80+ wpm range, as generally you are hitting 'enter' 300-400 times a minute. Just like training for a marathon is an exercise for the body, playing/learning genocide is an exercise for the mind! If you love to make maps and try out hundreds of race/class combinations then you might do 'okay'.
I've played on Genocide since 1992. Back then it was a fun, fast-paced and had wars with dozens of players involved. Now Genocide is a boring old MUD with hardly few wars going on and most of the immortals are idle placemats. In the past few months I've not see one war played there and my impression is this is not a chat MUD for the bored. I wish I had something positive to say about the 'new' Genocide, but the Genocide I know died about 8 years ago. Wake up Blackthorn, your new concept just ain't working!
LEAGUE NIGHT ON SUNDAY. BS NIGHT ON WEDNESDAY. (read for details) Genocide used to be hugely popular then the entire mudlib was changed. The combat system was rewritten. There are now dozens of races and classes. At first it seemed too complex. And it is, for most people. You'll find a different breed of mudder on Genocide....there is a pretty steep learning curve. Most of the players have a pretty tough skin if you are a female, best join as a male character. As the mudlib was rewritten, many devs that used to know how to code became frustrated and quit. Many returned. Mostly the players are the ones who quit. There are often over 100 people logged in, but most are developers and are not actually playing the game, but chatting, as if on some sort of fancy IRC client. Non-public chat channels have split the mud up into interest groups and cliques. This is hardly seen by the player, who has to get 5000 credits and a developer before he starts to get a clue about what is going on. This takes some time, as even a good player will average The mud is making a comeback however, with the addition of LEAGUE warfare on SUNDAY NIGHTS. This has provided some badly needed oxygen for this prev2iously stagnant mud. The code base is second to none, and the game is very worth playing if you can only find someone to play against. Wars don't get very big except in the evenings or on weekends. The exception is SUNDAY when people tend to warm up and then there is the euphoric homicidal madness during the actual league play. WEDNESDAY nights are good too, as this is BS night, and there are lots of pumped stats and free equipment provided by the gods of the mud. Tune in to the 'newbie' channel when you log in.
I've started playing Genocide some days ago and I think I've finally found what I've been looking for: fast-paced pk which is entirely based on player skill and knowledge. Now, Genocide isn't quite the MUD you'd call new (it opened 1992), and that's one of the biggest advantages: it's all original, offers countless classes, races, skills, spells, areas and items which were obviously crafted using a keen sense for maintaining balance and fun. So many outstanding ideas are incorporated into this game, it amazes me day after day. Well, admittedly, the learning curve is quite steep (the interface is easy and clean, but getting to know at least some of the areas takes time), but I've found the helpfile system to be very well organized, and most players to be rough yet helpful. Just check out www.geno.org and browse the helpfiles there. The playerbase seems to be quite large, but many people log on to chat or idle their time away. Wars are run during most of the day, most of the time they are one on one (just the right thing to learn more about the game), but bigger wars with 8+ players take place on peek times. My overall impression is that Genocide will be even more fun once I learn to play it better...and for all you people out there who like to playerkill in an amazingly rich environment with mature players, where you kill someone to be on a team with him/her (well, most players are male, it seems) during the next war, just to be kicked around by him the following wars...give it a honest try. You might be as amazed as I've been when I stumbled onto this jewel of a game, offering all the fun and excitement other pk environments are lacking.