Nodeka is pure pk mud at its best. Skills/spells are more pk oriented. If ur looking for a mud that has diverse combos of classes and races, skills and spells that turn the tables, tactics and stratedgy of group oriented classes YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS MUD. Though the starting maybe slow. But everyone has to start somewhere. Make friends (the right ones) and i'm sure u'll be on your way to bigger things in the game. The main growth of a character in this game is base on stats. All this talk about donation (paying cash for 'gems'(or called stones in nodeka) and for more plats) is real. If you have the money and don't mind spending it, it'll make it easier for you to grow. Saying that, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DONATE MONEY to grow big. I've been playing this mud for almost 4years and i have not put a single dime in this game and i can say honestly i'm pretty big and decent in the game. People are willing to donate for you if you pay the right amount of platinum (in game gold). Which shouldn't be all that hard. And even if you don't really like pking, there are many ppl in the game who don't and enjoy running quest and bigger group areas. Areas are now growing and AI are increasingly getting smarter. Give it a try, and judge it for yourself

Nodeka is a once great mud, with excellent coding and classes, ruined by greed. When you login to the game and type 'score' the first thing you see is: Looking for power? See help donations. Every time you type 'score' you will see this. Sadly, this line says everything that nodeka is about. You cannot remort without donating, you cannot equal other player's stats without donating, you cannot practice to the same level of other players without donating, you even have to pay to change your password. Craziest of all, you get "roleplaying points" for donations, but you cannot get them for roleplaying. On to game mechanics itself. Class balance is excellent and nodeka used to have a wonderfully balanced PK system. It still is, but donators will always beat non-donators with their higher stats and higher pool max. The overhead map feature is great, but many muds have that 'nethack' style map these days with so much more to offer. Mud wide events are non-existent. Exploration involves 'guess the obscure door name', that is the extent of any complexity in areas. The areas themselves are low quality. The most recent area to go into the game has over 100 rooms with a single room description. Good hack and slash if you can afford it, everything else lacks.

Nodeka is the best MUD I've have ever come across. I honestly can say I tried achea and aardwolf... but it just didnt compare at all to Nodeka the map available in Nodeka is the best, and cheap imitations just look ugly. I've been playing nodeka for over 2 years, and believe me, nothing like it, never will be something like it cause its one-of-a-kind, you -have- to give it a try. The Don of Dons -Don Zol

Nodeka is By far the best mud i have ever played i have played a total of 3-4 years now. I recommend that if you like adventure type games or role playing games this MUD is definitly for YOU!!!

NODEKA is the best mud ever!

I have been playing nodeka for 5 years or more now. Nodeka is a rich player killing mud full of different tactics and styles. You can be a healer and help out in groups with heals or a havoc causing barbarian thrashing about in a mad frenzy. Areas- Nodeka's ares are vast and all differ in what they may be. From Balidon's Cove, a peaceful fishing village surrounded by the sea and rolling hills which are told to be inhabited by lizard men, to the Abyss a randomly generated area in which the rooms are linked in maze like fashion and nothing is ever the same on repopulation of the area. The descriptions of all the important rooms and areas are vivid and exciting. Mobiles- The mobile's throughout nodeka can be small empire ants or large undead necromancer's who are best at sucking out peoples souls and using souls to power themselves(healing). Due to nodeka's player killing enviroment the mobs generally have no descriptions but more than make up for this in their AI, they well use all the available skills and spells that they can and will flawlessly track you if you flee from them after starting combat. Some mobiles aggro(attack for no cause) due to alignment of the players or their morality which is edited by quests. Quests- Nodeka has many quests the require you to simply answer some questions or expect you to complete a task and how you complete the task reflets on your morality, either moral, immoral or impartial. Races- A blood starved pirhana for NPCs or mobiles and unique races for players such as Jadior of Light, Ru wulniothe, and koj'ehr. Every race has something to make it unique and interesting: a fire-breath attack, flight, bonus strength and speed, and even the ability to become completely hidden from locating spells and vision on the overhead map. There is even a race that is said to be able to bend time to its will. Map- This feature will make you wonder why you still play muds with 'Exits: east west up.' The map can auto-update to other players movements, mobiles actions, and item appearances providing a rich environment which doesn't require enormous descriptions to make one aware of the surroundings. Everything is easily distinguishable from one to the other. All colors are customizeable. Class- undetectable footpads, cackling witches armed with brooms, fireballs, and cursed, and a very unique fighter class that can learn any type of offensive spell or skill and has strange connections to lightning. Every class has something interesting to offer from instant death curses useable every three hours via prevents(which allow for complex spells) to an arial assault of kicks known as hurricane kick dealing devistating blows. Each requires its own style of combat and player skill. Prevents- Prevents in short are spells/skills that have a time limit on them before being useable again, which allows for some extremely versatile combat and power skills/spells that can't be abused. Lag- governs... Read More

I have been playing this mud for a week, and this is my experience: Zones are huge, hundreds of rooms, each room has the SAME description. 3-4 maybe 5 different mobs to each zone - with maximum 2 lines descriptions. I have found items, they dont have description at all. Mobs has no AI, so the fight is really boring. Simple and boring. For the first 50 level it was like: I enter to the zone -for example - full of boars, type kill boar (or just k b), and i go around while spamming it. (the fight itself is 1-2 second long). Because the 0 percent risk, it is easily doable by bot. There is an anti bot question system on the mud, so make a trigger what alarms you, when you need to answer... I have got some skills, and it took like 2-3 hours to train them to maximum. Honestly, this is the most boring MUD i've ever met. The minimum amount of money, what you need to pay for this mud are 2*20 dollars (for remorts), but if you want to use all features they expect 20-400$/every months from you, and you can raise your stats, power with the 'gems' you get for this money. Yes, this is a hidden pay-to-play mud without any real background.

Nodeka is a great mud, it's newbie quests give a boost to new MUD players and gives a good challenge to anyone. It is a easy to understand Mud with a great skills list, race list and other unique qualities hard to find on other muds. I highly recommend it to anyone who like quests, unique classes, and unique races.

I changed to playing this MUD on the say so of my girlfriend, having played another one for around 8 years. I found that initially it was a little dull, as lots of the newbie quests which will help you up to level 40 or so are you learning the game. On reflection it is a really good idea to have this as firstly it helps you get a little tougher, and secondly it helps you get an understanding of the game. If you get stuck there are always people online who will give you a nudge in the right direction. I find the combat system very good, now i've come to understand how it works, with each class having its own unique skills, as well as some mutual skills between other classes. The "remort" system, whereby you can grow above level 100 could be quite offputting, $20 to remort from Mortal to Minor, and $20 again to remort from Minor to Major. As its been said, you can earn platinum and someone else will happily pay this fee for you (20k platinum will take the average level 100 player around 4 days at most to earn) The overhead map is fantastic and REALLY useful as it gives a picture view of where you are in relation to other people/mobs/towns. This is a BIG plus for the MUD! This is by far the best MUD i've played and i am hooked! The only REAL drawback i found was getting initial equipment... however, if you find some nice people they'll happily give you a hand and sort you out.

It's said to be free. An illusion. Remort costs 20 bucks. As for the game itself, it's amazing, different from all the rest, fast, and with a fantastic gameplay. However, the deception of it being advertised as free when it's really a pay-per-play, is shameful.

Nodeka is a Mud where all ages can come to relax and have a good time. If I was to rate this game on a 1-10 scale I would have to give it a 9. I’ve played muds for almost 7 years now and Nodeka is more user friendly for beginners with the real time overhead map and more complex like bounties, spells, and skills for the Veterans of the game. I have been playing Nodeka for about 5 years now with 4 of my friends and we have not found any other mud that can compare. Now with the add on of Role playing in Nodeka, it is turning it into a fantasy world where you can choose what race, class, and major remort class you want to play. Now you can actually play your character how you want to. Nodeka also has a Great client, which him and the players of Nodeka have built. Since Nodeka is growing every day, join now and become a legend within the mud. Also remember, Nodeka is a crossroad to a thousand journeys.

heloo kshjknakn kank kk kskdk

As a player of "little" yet free MUD's I may be a bit biased when approaching pay-for-play MUDs. However, I have recently noticed some allegedly "free" muds starting to crawl toward the top spots, a development (needlessy to say) I heartily welcome. Browsing through Top Mud Sites, I eventually found Nodeka, read its info and perceived the holy grail: FREE. Copypaste the IP-Adress and Port and open my client was done within a second and I embarked upon a journey into the unknown... First of all, I have been greeted by an interface that was unique and - apparently - well thought out. Extended class/race selection? You bet. After toddling around some, the fact that stats are rolled (A) in groups of 5 (B) already gave me some suspicion about the emphasis Nodeka puts on. Hack&Slay, if you did not get the gist :) It did advertise "Roleplay encouraged", so that's fine I guess. The newbie zone I was sent through contained, in a very nice form, masters that sent you through the process in the form of mini-quests, explaining both general commands and mud-specific ones. In the meantime, I - being somewhat used to the standard everyday mud commands, browsed through the skills/spelllists, and - well, in comparision to the really extended race/class selection, there was actually a rather low amount of them, plus not all of them were specially tied to one class only. Well alright, I finally passed the last master and was sent on my way to some obscure Academy. By then, I was still not given any IC- or OOC-information about the background world, history, cities etc. I checked the who-list and found a peculiar mix. Some apparently original names I would not notice in a fantasy setting amongst names like Satana, Mexican, Namlehse and Blitzkrieg. I distinctly remembered a "lame name" warning upon character generation, but apparently this was not meant seriously. Anyways, the academy...what can I say - the same quest-engines again, oftentimes the same questions and tasks as in the "newbie school" - only with about 20 times as much experience given out. 45 minutes, level 20 (out of 100). Don't know, feels somewhat fast to me, and that is when my suspicions were really fully raised, and I had a look at something briefly mentioned somewhere before - remort. Thanks for staying with me that long, dear reader, for indeed, despite claiming it to be free, to remort, you need to donate 20$ USD. Interesting concept of "free". I had a look at the areas then. Apparently, only a friction (not even 1/3) of them were deemed suitable for non-remort characters. About the areas - I did not encounter one single room with a description of over three lines. Extradescirptions, nil. Mobs, well, even less descriptive than the rooms. Whole areas filled with "druids" (for whatever reason) and ants "again, for whatever reason) waited to be clobbered. To sum this unpleasant experience up without venting anymore steam: I fully... Read More

It's a great Mud. It is easy to follow, keeps track of your quests, and has the first graphical clien that I personally have seen. It is a must play.

Well this is too why Nodeka is so low in the ranks. Because most people are so caught up in the game that the forget other life (and websites) exist. The end

I have been playing Nodeka for a few years and i've seen the changes it's been through. The quests that have been added since i've been playing have rocked, there's a Newbie place that teaches you the basics of the game and the there's the newbie channel where all the people are glad to help, with many places to go and many creatures to kill. it's the best mud i've played, and i've played alot. and now, with their new graphic program, it's even better with a real time map, so you can see if there's someone coming after you to PK you. with that said. i give it 5 stars. Keep up the good work Nijlo. Nynyth

Nodeka has a wonderful overview map which I felt was a positive to the game. I found it newbie friendly, and all of the starter quests were geared towards helping newbies. Regardless of these wonderful features, there is one feature I did not like: You have to pay to remort. The administration has set up $20 fee to remort. If a mud advertises it's free, it should be free - not a trial for free, but if you want to play the full game you have to pay. The players of Nodeka have created a system to donate for you. If you give them 20k platinum, they will pay your remort fee. (I was level 32 with 40 platinum, to give you an idea of how hard/easy it is to get platinum). They have stated that you have to pay, either in time played, or money. I'm neither for, or against, paying for a mud. I understand that it costs money to run one, but I did not like that Nodeka advertised it was a free mud, but was not fully free.

Nodeka, The best MUD I seen so far. I played every MUD up to date and yet Nodeka is the best. It has a overview map that is very handy, one of a kind, so you don't have to look for the exit, I mean you can see exits and where you are going ahead of time. This is a great MUD which has awesome clans, great quests and the best part about it is that it now has GRAPHICS. Yes I said GRAPHICS, you can download a new client for this and it is only on beta but it kicks @$$. It may be a little rough for new players but after level 50 its a lot easier. I recommend this MUD to experts, newbs, and even preps. This game is highly addictive and anyone who doesn't play this MUD, (and vote, yes you Dager VOTE) MUD connector has already claimed this the best MUD so why can't you?

Forewarning, this is an in depth treatment of Nodeka in all of its major facets and is not a light review. If you want a tiny review here it is "Nodeka roxors!! u shuld play it plz k thx". Brief list of *unique* features ] 1 mort tier and 2 remort tiers for "300" levels, 100 per mort status ] thousands of race/class combinations. ] event based prevention skills ] event based timed combat for skills ] scalable skills ] absolutely gigantic character arc of improvement ] true line of sight overhead map ] well developed ranged combat system ] and many more... As a veteran mudder who started mudding 10 decades ago on an LPmud and having tried everything from mushes, to diku, to ROMs, to the various LP personalities, I think I can say I've seen the panorama of the player experience with MUDs. So, without further ado, I will make the inflammatory statement that Nodeka is a masterpiece of mudding with regards to what it tries to do. Never has player killing combat been so enthralling to me. It's the genius of John Carmack's quake 3 competitiveness brought to a text game. Nodeka doesn't stop at being a beautiful symphony of interacting skills with regards to the player experience, it is many other things. Its large world and strict devotion to its theme make it an interesting and instantly accessible exploration experience. It has many interesting factors that affect game play which I'll get into. To review Nodeka without mentioning Nijlo, Nodeka's creator and spiritual center, would be an incomplete review. Nijlo is a veteran mudder who played for many years before he created Nodeka. He has brought to the mud, an understanding of game play and a love of muds. As a professional coder with a love for muds, he was set to produce something really good, yet I think he has managed to produce and polish Nodeka into something spectacular. As MUDs are loved for difference reasons and appeal to different people, to say that Nodeka is the best mud ever, is impossible, but I maintain that its the best hack-n-slash mud out there. Every competitive human on human fight I've been in has been different and interesting. There is no one road to winning. Responding to the moment, to various conditions, and to various skills is essential. Nodeka simply excels at being the most tactically challenging mud. Nodeka's remort system has 18 base classes and each class brings to it a unique approach. Each class remorts into a minor, and each minor class can remort again to a major class. For each of the 18 base classes, there are 5 major classes, with each major class having a few unique skills or spells that are their trump cards. This creates a dazzling array of possibilities within the combat mechanisms that are basic to Nodeka. Like chess, Nodeka is easy to learn how to play, but it can take a lifetime to The... Read More

I won't post my name, but I have something to say. I cannot stand how Nodeka players come on to other muds that they are told about *cough*DC*cough* *cough*Cimmerian*cough* and problems they have on Nodeka, they bring to these other muds and bring other people into it. Keep the stupid Nodeka crap on Nodeka. Its bad enough its a worthless mud. Oh, I'm keeping my money for something better than a remorted character. Thats not even right.

Hello once again, it's time for my second review, this time around on a more Norse-based fantasy experience. The first was on the Aabahran: Forsaken Lands, and for those who are curious I'm taking this up as something to do while I'm waiting for downloads, training my character on a MUD, etc. All right, let's begin with the races. There is quite a diverse variety of ones to start with (including three species of dragons!) and they are all fairly well balanced. I started playing as a dragon, of course. This has been one of my inner desires... and for a while I enjoyed it even with the huge experience handicap they recieve. I'm no stranger to patience, and I've sat at a MUD for over an hour rolling stats for a character until I got ones I liked... though I don't believe it was the case on this one. There are hundreds of races, yes, but fully two-thirds of them aren't accessible unless you pay. This alone killed my drive to keep playing. Why? I don't like the fact that players who dish out the cash have an advantage over those who don't... which means that it's less skill and more who has money to spare, assuming one is smart about how one donates. Personally, I have things I'm saving up to buy and I don't want to spend twenty dollars or more (my apologies if the figure isn't accurate) just so my character, which I've devoted hundreds of hours to, is on par with the other characters of the game. To me, that's not fair. I understand it's for a good cause, but I have other things I'd like to spend my money on. Server and hardware upgrades are all well and good, but the eventuality that I have to pay or all my hard work goes to waste is a turn-off... especially when I have awesome MUDs already in my client's address book that are completely free. Moving on to the classes, combat, and those sorts of things. The combat in this is like a fishing line... it gets the player hook, line, and sinker. Once you've started and have no reason to stop, you won't. It's very, very interesting and from what I've seen it gets more complex the higher you go. Clans wage battle, individual players and groups duke it out in an arena, and it is the clockworks of the game. And all of this is explained to the player slowly and surely through various rewarding quests that make it worth paying attention and through equally rewarding experimentation. Sadly, I'm an RP freak and I HATE internet slang/acronyms when it's used inside a game. Ppl, n00bs, 4nd th3 l1k3 bug m3 cuz of w/e. It just gets on my nerves that people can't take the time to completely type out a word when their character is wandering around, though some do and that increased my tolerance of the MUD mildly. RP 'encouraged'... Read More

Well I can't do much comparison on the different MUDs available to Nodeka. But what i can say once you start with nodeka theres no way you can play any other MUDS. Why? Because of the user-friendliness of the nodeka system. From the time you create a character to the time you start pking other players, you're spoon-fed on how to go about it this vast world, that spreads out to 4 continents and a pocket of islands. And you'd be thinking what 4 continents? How'd i know what area i can run at? Well as i said everything is spoon-fed there's even a command where you can see if the area is fit for your lvl and size. Well although whatever you need to know bout nodeka is spoon-fed, the complexity is still there. And that would be the PK. With tons of different classes with unique abilities makes this game more than a "type stab " MUD. In conclusion, the theme of nodeka fits fabulously : Crossroads to a thousand journey. Ah yes and to those who have read the past reviews bout players being assholes. Well its just reallife, nodeka has a pbase with different personalities, you have the mentors who will help newbies at will, guards who will make sure ppl don't break the rules, the XP-runners and the bloodlust players down to the whiners and sarcastic "i know you are but what am i" morons. So don't just take my word, try out nodeka. And remember ppl playing on nodeka aren't bots so expect what reallife has to offer too.

I haven't played this MUD for long, but in all the other text adventures I've played, this has got to be by far one of the most impressive. Here's why: - Presentation of information is clean and simple. It's quick and easy to skim text for what you're looking for, especially in battle. - Commands are easy to enter and remember, similar to most other MUDs. - The help system is thorough and clear, ready to solve all your problems. - Easy to get started! Beginning has tutorials to help you start your own set of adventures. - Battle, skill, and spell system in-depth, calling for strategy, not gung-ho hack and slash. - Hundreds of quests to keep you busy. No more killing every MOB in sight just to "level up." Go forth with a purpose! - Map system is ONE OF A KIND. Maps show you not just a room, but NPCs, others players, everything! - Then there's the player base; all else is for naught if the people who play are jerks. Here, you'll find a clan system, a chat channel for every whim, and group questing, all with friendly people who play for the love of the game. So what are you waiting for? Connect to Nodeka now lest you forever live in shadows.

I have very little to say about this MUD. When I asked questions as a newbie, I got smarta$$ answers and someone even took the time to send private messages calling me curse names.

Just my take.. Ellis is full of bull. I've been play nodeka for almost a year and haven't seen the first thing he was talking about. When I first started playing other people helped me learn the game, gain XP for leveling, and some also helped me with my EQ. I never once was told to leave for asking questions. When I did ask I almost always got an answer. As far as the racist remarks go, I can say that a few people may say something racist, but they are quickly silenced. We do not put up with that sort of thing. Ellis's comments are so far from the truth I think he never did play the game, and may be from another mud and is just mad that nodeka is so much better then his. :) Soar

The dynamic map is water to the thirsty, eyesight to the blind. No more of that blind fumbling through rooms, racing to type "scan" and find your nemesis before they find you. It lends an unparalleled level of depth to a MUD. Before you know it, you'll be unable to live without it. It is as much eyecandy as a tactical assistant. Through it, you can track the movement of monsters, players, and most importantly, yourself. Moreover, you can extend the map, among other benefits, by donating to Nodeka's running costs. In layman's terms, it is much akin to switching from a CRT, 15-inch monitor to a LCD, 22-inch top end monitor. Perhaps, you may scoff, these features are bandwidth intensive. The lag itself must be horrendous, slowing to a crawl at peak hours! Not at all: there is /no lag whatsoever/. Nijlo has optimized the code to the point where the MUD can support over a hundred players without any slowdown. Moreover, the MUD itself runs on a backbone connection that provides a megabyte a /second/ to the MUD. That is a great deal of bandwidth. And it is only one of the wonderful things the Nodekan world has to offer. The features that Nijlo and his dedicated team of builders have added throughout the years is immense; to list them would bore you. I will simply arouse your curiosity. Clan leaders are able to build their own clan halls, morphing it to their desire. There is a complex quest system, with new quests added daily. Not only does it assist new players, but also has quests for the veteran ones. One type of quest is a system of "morality" quests, in which you are given choices to select from. There are no wrong answers- only what your heart desires. And most of all: we have a dedicated and friendly player base, many of whom are ready and willing to help you discover the many other features of this home we call "Nodeka". Come and join us- we're happy to have you.

Nodeka: Perhaps the greatest MUD ever created. I have been playing MUDs for a LONG time. I used to play fantasy-genres but stopped after one I had played went down. Since then I moved on to more hack-n-slash styles (eg-SWR, GodWars) and got hooked on those. Lately, a lot of no-substance MUDs are out and I just about gave up playing. I went to mudconnect and checked out the Top Ten MUDs at the time and Nodeka just happened to be number 1. The reviews seemed good enough so I checked it out. I was blown away with how many different options you can choose from. Right off the bat I realized that this wasn't your typical MUD. After char-gen was finished, I logged on and was once again blown away by how many people were logged. I asked a couple questions and everybody was HAPPY to answer - there were no sarcastic players to give me a bad first experience. If you like building up your character, this is definitely a place to do it. Not only are there 300 max levels, but everybody has an equal chance of becoming powerful because you can eventually train up your stats. You have complete control over how you build up and gain strength. This MUD is coded from scratch by Nijlo and this guy is -cool-. I have had many opportunities to speak to him and he is so friendly and cares about his players. He is continuously meeting the needs of his pbase and makes sure that things (even the tiniest typo) are smooth. I have been playing for about two weeks now, and I still barely know 2% of the MUD. This isn't because it's impossible to learn; it's because the details are so incredible that you just want to go slowly just to catch everything. I have definitely been hooked back into MUDs because of Nodeka, which I truly believe is the best MUD I have ever seen. Come and try it - it won't hurt just to check it out; be warned, however, that most people that I have seen try it have stayed.

Nodeka, what more can one say? What was once merely an adjective in my vocabulary used merely to describe what was keeping me from the internet evolved into something more. Being bored and charitably cautious, one night I decided to give this “font” game a shot, after months of harassing my little brother about playing. What was once different colored font flying across my brothers screen has become an engulfing obsession of my own. Converted almost instantly, I can honestly say any non-believer with an open mind will be a true convert after only a few hours of playing. Nodeka, the epitome of what every good PK mud should strive to be. With 18 unique classes and 22 separate races available at the start, the possibilities are endless. Want to hurl fireballs at your enemies and summon mighty beasts to ravage nearby towns? Want to maintain world peace and maintain it’s harmony throughout its many continents? One word Nodeka, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Never be lost again with Nodekas birds’ eye view like mapping system. See your enemies coming and set them up for an ambush, explore an area without tediously having to read every description just to keep from going in circles for hours. Not big on PKs? With plenty of areas to explore, spanning over 5 continents, and over 150 different quests to complete (though mainly aimed at the newer player to help them better understand the game play functions). “Hack n’ slash” doesn’t describe all of Nodeka. It isn’t a PK mud or an RP mud it’s an all of the above mud. One can’t even begin to describe battle, as it cannot simply be summed up by “kill ”, as a character progresses you’ll find that the battle system will only get more engulfing. Nodeka, it’s not just an adjective anymore. Give it a try, and you’ll suddenly be finding yourself waking up a bit earlier in the morning just for a quick fix, before the daily grind. Syn

Biased? Yep. I've been a part of Nodeka for years. That 1-a.m.-hunched-over-the-keyboard just-one-more-kill feeling? Done it. Meeting new people, making friends, sometimes forming bonds that transcend the electronic and seep into the alternate world of "rl"? Believe it, I've made a lot of very good friends in my time there. Anyway, that's all basic fluff, a lot of the same stuff that most dedicated mudders would say about whatever MUD they're attached to. So, sparing you the styrofoam peanuts and getting to the bubble-gum center - what makes Nodeka different? Evolution. First and foremost, Nodeka's strength lies in its potential. Nodeka today is almost unrecognizable from its early incarnations six or seven years ago, and development has never stopped to this day. From a fun little hack-and-slash egg, we've grown one hell of a strategical chicken, boasting some crazy depth in the area of pfighting tactics. Heitons barring passages with dense foliage, Sorcerers sending forth roaring columns of ice and fire to immolate entire crowds, Mjols summoning forth powerful beings to do their dirty work, Footpads inflicting grievous wounds and then fading back into the shadows, Ateoli breaking the rules of time and order to their temporal advantage, Nojohr studying their enemies' skills and spells to turn their tools against them - oh yeah. It's here. If there's one disadvantage to the current system, it's that a LOT of character development is needed before a player is powerful enough to fully realize the strategic depth of the pk system; but deep it is. Involvement. Until recently, Nodeka has catered strongly to people looking for a strong pk system with a huge potential for character development. However, nothing is forever certain on Nodeka. A huge amount of development time has been put into a questing system recently, opening up a completely new area of character involvement. The initial quests have (wisely, in my opinion) been geared strongly towards newcomers to the game, teaching them its fundamental aspects and getting them involved and equipped to deal with the scary world beyond. These changes (along with some new features such as the mentoring system) have gone a long way towards making the complex world of Nodeka more newbie-friendly, and will allow for a new avenue of depth as more quests become available. Options. Nodeka isn't a mud where you'll log on for the first time to a "(W)arrior (M)age (R)ogue (C)leric (T)hief?" prompt. With 18 initially playable classes branching out into a total of 90 final incarnations (128 classes in all), and 22 initial races out of 71 possibilities, Nodeka offers a boatload of options from the start. These aren't flimsy "elves get +1 dex/agi -1 str/con" race and class selections that blend into each other, either; different races and classes provide sharply contrasting benefits and challenges. Almost any review of Nodeka is cursed from the start to be either incomplete or horribly disjointed; there's just far too much to share in a writing of this nature. Nodeka is built scratch... Read More

Nodeka is a mud without parallel, and it's difficult to compare Nodeka to any other type of mud. It is unique in its play style and its culture, and offers an immersing experience superior to most standard mud types. It is indeed where you begin and experience a thousand journeys. The first and most obvious aspect of Nodeka that makes it interesting is its coding. Nodeka features a real-time radar-style map that shows a player's field of vision and surroundings. After playing with this moving map, it's difficult to return to muds where your imagination is taxed heavily to build a picture of your world using exit names. Is the coliseum big? It's so big one can hardly see from one end to the other. Watchtowers can actually be used to stand sentry and watch for approaching characters. As a result of this bird's-eye view mapping feature, the areas on Nodeka are necessarily much larger and more creatively designed than I've seen anywhere else. Nodeka's object manipulation code is also superior to that of any other mud I've played on (I've been mudding for eight years on several different codebases). With the simple addition of a comma requirement, object manipulation is much more precise, allowing the use of multiple keywords when shifting items between rooms, inventory, containers, and the character's body. The buy/sell code also requires a comma, which allows precise buying. (Ever been to muds where wandering shopkeepers would interfere with your ability to interact with a shopkeeper for hours at a time?) The players on Nodeka are numerous and varied. Nodeka is home to some of the most hardcore mudders, and there is never a lack of people to mud with. While Nodeka is not what you would consider a role-playing mud, some players nonetheless develop distinctive personas, which adds flavor and a sense of community to the Nodeka experience. A team of player "mentors", along with a set of newbie guide mobs that teach new players about the basic commands of Nodeka, are available to help new players learn about Nodeka. Extensive helpfiles are available on almost all topics pertinent to Nodeka. The classes on Nodeka are divided strictly; with very limited exceptions, each class is restricted to their ability set. While the standard ROM 2.4 allows players to add on many skills and spells by simply increasing their creation point total, Nodeka forces the separation of classes, so that each class has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. This class separation provides for unlimited strategy considerations. No one character, or even pair of characters, is a tower of unbeatable strength - and so gameplay on Nodeka is infinitely more interesting than standard mud fare. There are, as with all muds, a few areas that could use improvement. The first is the near constant upheaval of the game itself - the mud is rebooted fairly regularly for the addition of new features or skills/spells, which in itself is fun and excited. What can be is... Read More

Wow, where to start. I've been playing muds now for about 13 years now and there is nothing out there that can touch Nodeka. The amount of work that's been put into this mud by the implementor is amazing. The user map along with the huge world alone make this one of the best muds I've played. Not to mention the 71 playable races, 126 classes (These include three remort tiers) and almost 150 quests, of which this number is rapidly growing. 225 spells, 220 skills. There is also a morality point system currently being implemented where you are assigned points to categories (compassionate, sadistic, courageous, nefarious to name but a few) that determines how you interact with the world. Along with a fully custom code base that's out of this world makes this number one in my books. I vote for this mud as often as I can because it is just that, number one. I know that a previous review posted by an anonymous person, the simple fact that it was anonymous tells me that it's just a smeer tactic, mentioned that it was not a newbie friendly mud which is a COMPLETE lie. There are several guides, quests and designated players designed to do just that, help people with the world of Nodeka. While there is a donation system setup for Nodeka it it not required that you do pay. Although, I do it gladly to support Nodeka because this mud has given me more enjoyment over the years than any other game out there I've played.

Nodeka gets two thumbs down from me. It is NOT very newbie friendly and the code stinks. I could not understand it and asked the Implementer Nijlo several times for help. He did not reply or help me out. Nodeka's ego resides on the constant voting the players do each day. If you play, you are required to vote. Another reason I dislike Nodeka is the fact that you have to pay to advance in a class. MUDs should be free. I do NOT reccomend this MUD to anyone.

Okay, so Nodeka was my first Mud, and from what I've seen, it's damn well going to be my last. No mud out there (and over the course of the years I've played nodeka, I've tried quite a few), comes close to comparing to the fast pace, intricate detail, and pure action. Not to mention it has the best map out of any Mud out there, which makes for pursuits across the land in a style that I'm pretty sure is unique to Nodeka. On top of that you have a widely diverse playerbase, ranging from the usual benevolent wierdo's, to the evil little gremlins who simply kill everything that annoys them. There are enough rules to protect newbies so that they can play the game with relatively little fear of falling victim to it's more vindicative members, but at the same time these rules do not restrict or confine any players from doing just what they very well please. In short, Nodeka strikes a balance that is hard to find. It's addiction is hard to resist, and honestly, it requires nothing other than sheer dedication and willpower to create a character that can be reckoned with.

Where to start - this is an excellent mud, full of great ideas, and just a ton of fun. Very very well thought out. My only problem with the mud is a lot of the crowd, and the terrible names people are allowed to get away with. Like "Nokia Flip Phone" - as a name, or "Huffy Pedal Bike". I wish they'd enforce just the very minimum of rules concerning characters. I even seen some very very terrible names going around - reported it, did no good. Not for anyone under 18...(Which has it's benefits anyways)

I've been mudding since 1990, and I've tried many muds, Nodeka stands out in creativity, player base, and administration. The code is custom and Nijlo, the primary implementor and sole coder has done an amazing job of creating a consistant world, and making it extremely fun for the players. The world is original, vast, and always growing. I can't really say enough about all the special features. I feel like the mud is geared for experienced players, like myself, but newbie friendly. It's easy to start, and get's more challenging as you progress. You've got to check it out.