I cannot stop talking about how much I enjoy this Mush's set-up. The term Newbie Friendly is brought up to a new standard. Commands I learned here transferred well to sites that never made the information available. Such as how to read mail, look at bullet in boards and shorthand poses and quotes. I had the freedom to be lesser used fantasy types like a Mermaid, a Shoulder Angel, and A Grotesque. I did not have to label myself by orientation. At the same time, I could manuever the grid with ease, joining places within locations and forging my own business to meet Player needs. My one stern comment is advice for newcomers. I applied to meet the male characters. I came across less than I expected but more than I had met at one time in my past MUDs. I support any newcomer so long as they invest in the CharGen stage. The investment towards one's own character beforehand helps make roleplaying easier for me.
NaughtyMuffin has three things that every good social MU* needs: it's relaxed, diverse, and fun. Now, you'll note that I'm staff there, so perhaps I'm biased; but I was a player for over a year before I became staff. It's relaxed; the staff there's tolerant of everything except being a jerk, and the playerbase, as a result, has few jerks. There's an actual policy about how you should relax and have fun playing - entitled News Pretendy Fun Time Games. It's diverse; there's players and characters of every possible race, gender, and sexual orientation. I've heard the common complaint - that heterosexual males are ignored - but my male character hasn't experienced it, getting plenty of attention from females. It's fun; in addition to News Pretendy, it has a theme (involving Half Life 2-style conquest by Puchuus and Raving Rabbids) that you can ignore at will, but which provides a platform for happy silliness.
I understand fully that this review will possibly only to serve to bring more people into NaughtyMuffin simply to see what the buzz is about, as I'm sure many would be curious about a MU* of this nature, just like I was. I don't libel this game because there's some good stuff here, there's some not-so-good. NM's design is very good, and it's obvious the creators/maintainers of this game have a great deal of creativity and work hard to make the MU*. Any staff member that I spoke to was very polite, and very helpful, also they were in no way arrogant. If a staffmember didn't know the answer to a question, they made sure to find it for you. Also, the level of selection for different things in NM was very diverse. In short, the exterior of NM is where it shines, and it's admin staff is very efficient. However, from therein, NM is like a noose: the more it closes in, the worse it becomes. My major complaint would be a large number of the players themselves. The majority of the female characters are played by men, and while this is no crime, they are *exceedingly* rude to male, hetero players. Unfortunately, many female characters who are played by females are just as bad, if not worse. These female players, can actually be categorized as 'man haters', they are simply that rude and some of their opinions of men are evident even through the characters they play. For the male player, NM CAN be (though not always) unfriendly and even hostile. For a largely 'anything goes' environment where people aren't to judge each other, hetero men are quickly singled out for even the smallest 'infraction' that other players will easily look the other way with for a female player. Point blank, this game is geared towards lesbians, and while I did enjoy myself for awhile, the angst and general dislike towards men quickly turned me off. I honestly believe the staff would like to change this situation, but the players have no qualms with the situation so a change is unlikely. This is my opinion and review, each is entitled to their own. To the hetero male player, however...it's not what you think.
I enjoy using this mush to roleplay my characters in. The staff are nice, and they are there every single day. There are more and more players coming in every day just from word of type. The mush has been going about a year or so and its now, and it was, still an enjoyable place to enjoy roleplaying. It is easier to be at a place where there is no plotline, where everything is random, that's what I like about it. But all in all, its just a great place to meet people and play at if you enjoy text based roleplaying like me.