Long story short, I'm incredibly impressed with both the staff and the players I've had the privilege of meeting. Even though their app inbox had been swamped, I still received an initial response AND got approved quickly. To top that off, the staff themselves were exceedingly amiable despite being overworked. They were happy to answer questions, offer suggestions, and just being friendly in general. On the player side of things, I have yet to meet anyone even remotely unfriendly. Helpful and friendly as the staff, and WOW is there a serious reservoir of creativity there. As far as the game at large, it's an original take on the X-Men theme, and (though some will admonish me) I praise them for not sticking to the comic/movie/cartoon canon, instead creating their own version. Yeah, yeah, you're shocked. Guess what? Where's the fun of a game like that where you already know everything, including how things will end? Bottom line, check it out. 5 of 5 Spandex Briefs. Love it.

X-Men: Retribution is a Year One X-Men MUSH centered around New York, Xavier's School, and all the goings-on there. The Brotherhood of Mutants is present, as is an Independent faction for those who prefer to walk alone. This place is simply amazing. Having only just re-opened, the pbase is a bit small, but these players are brilliant. You have a decent balance between FCs (Feature Characters, such as Jean Grey or Marrow) and OCs (like myself), so there's always a nice choice of RP. The grid is designed to be almost a sort of subway system. You can take trains to places, or walk, or even use some handy 'Myplaces' code to return to previously visited areas. It's a nice touch. The staff is pretty amazing. My entire application process took maybe two or three days, tops. A building project I asked for was finished in less than 24 hours. They really know their stuff here, and they try hard to cater to one's needs. The only - and I mean only - bad thing about this place? We need players! Come on, everyone loves the X-Men, and if you can't play your favorite character from the series, you can create your own! So come on down. We could use some humans, some muties, and overall mroe people to have fun with!

X-Men: Retribution MUSH. It's one of few MU*s that I have liked right off the bat. It's X-Men-themed, obviously; the current year is 2009; and tension is in the air as the proponents of the Mutant Registration Act push and shove to bring the legislation into effect. To begin with, the news and +helpfiles are articulate and indeed helpful. There are even-handed policies in place. And the playerbase is small but friendly; avid newcomers to the MUSH are quickly inducted into the swing of things. More often than not, someone's available for RP. That's all been my experience since joining. The grid offers many areas in New York for RP - from Central Park, to assorted covert locations, to the Brotherhood Headquarters, to Xavier's elite school for young mutants. Commands such as +transit and +meet allow you to jump between different locations with relative ease; +phones are available for mutants without handy long- ranged telepathy, enabling IC communication between two different locations; and the bulletin boards help players to keep abreast of events they might be missing when offline or elsewhere on the grid. All this, however, is just a small sampling of what's available on Retribution. Thus far in, there are more mutants than non-mutants, but players have countless options for a concept - anything from an anti-mutant activist, to a politician gunning for the MRA, to a young mutant runaway, to a New York cop dedicated to maintaining the peace, to a mutant vigilante. It's even possible to make an older, younger, or 'what if?' version of your favorite canon character. That is, although the core traits of canon are maintained, players have the option of taking Marvel X-Men characters in other directions entirely. Currently, there are both FCs and OCs on the grid, some acting as teenaged mutants handpicked by one of two major factions (Xavier's School and the Brotherhood), others acting as a mutant mentor or teacher, and others acting as independents. Most concepts have yet to be taken, so the going is good for anyone who has ever gone else- X-Men or superhero MU* only to discover that their desired superhuman ability is on a list of overkill concepts. Oh, and before I forget, while else-MU*, factions may lead to cliques, the staff discourages this sort of behavior. The result: a roleplaying environment where players are not made to feel alienated by faction favoritism. The application process is straightforward and easy to follow. If you're submitting a non-mutant concept, you may discuss the concept with a staff member and go straight to chargen, but if not, you apply through the website first. Staff was efficient in approving my concept, giving me appropriate and well thought-out pre-chargen suggestions. And chargen is, for the most part, a matter of copying and pasting what was written in your website application - adding any necessary changes the staff wishes you to make. Not at all complicated. As for events and/or story arcs? Both staff-run plots and player-run plots can be found at Retribution. This means: if you're the kind of player who likes to lead a TP every now and then, it's all a matter of following the guidelines and submitting an app. If you don't like to take the reins, you can take part in an event masterminded by the staff or just enjoy casual, spontaneous RP. The existing players, I've come to realize, are experienced enough with RP that regular, day-to-day scenes are easy enough to generate. All things considered, I encourage players interested in Marvel's X- Men to have a glance at this noteworthy fan-made MUSH.