How long have you been mudding and where did you come from?

Feedback, bugs, and general gameplay related discussion.

How many years have you been here?

under one year
10
5%
one - two years
8
4%
two - three years
11
5%
three - four years
4
2%
four - five years
7
3%
five - six years
9
4%
six - seven years
1
0%
seven - eight years
11
5%
eight - nine years
20
9%
nine - ten years
40
18%
ten - eleven years
71
32%
I've been here since the beginning.
28
13%
 
Total votes: 220
Shar
FORGER ADMIN
Posts: 791
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2001 6:01 am

How long have you been mudding and where did you come from?

Postby Shar » Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:41 pm

Hi! We are looking for your *brief* background on where you came to TorilMUD from. How you found us, what kept you, and even who/what you found to be the most helpful.

We already realize most of the complaints, so try to keep this thread full of the bonsues of the mud. This is for research purposes.

Thanks in advance! This info will help us find our target for advertising and target for whom to advertise to and how. Keep that in mind. :)
Shar - Forger Administrator, TorilMUD

Brandobaris : (51) [ would a forgotten realms zombie be interested in brains? ]

Shevarash tells you 'Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down..... groan'
Cirath
Sojourner
Posts: 517
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2001 5:01 am

Postby Cirath » Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:47 pm

I don't like to think of the dark times before Toril. They were full of smurfs and jimmy hindrix monsters, and other such nonsense... all 6 weeks of them. Besides, I can't remember last week, much less a decade ago.

*wanders off, rambling like an old geezer should*
Bilraex
Sojourner
Posts: 162
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2001 5:01 am
Location: Massachusetts
Contact:

Postby Bilraex » Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:53 pm

I found sojourn back in the BBS days it was one of the door games, I orginally started playing because it had a nice D&D theme, as to whay im still here i dont really know.
Lirathal
Sojourner
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2001 5:01 am
Contact:

Postby Lirathal » Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:54 pm

I have been around for a long time. I started by going through my dialup BBS who got a sweet low end internet relay connection. I logged in from there. I think they had a link on their 'games' page ... so Ursurper then MajorMUD then MUD. I don't remember if it was black knights or copper *shrug* I was 11 at the time... it's been a long time.

Lirathal
Nippewuciyole OOC: 'getting some'
Levvirrnaxxum OOC: 'omg i am sucking bad'
Nippewuciyole OOC: 'i'm a hershey's chocolate, omg i need some'

Teflor OOC: 'civility is also the intolerance of things uncivil.'
Teflor OOC: 'hey, when someone is purposefully trying to antagonize you, the only civil thing to do is to tell them to shove it'

Make it stop, Make it stop *cry*
Selias
Sojourner
Posts: 326
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Wilmington, DE USA
Contact:

Postby Selias » Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:55 pm

I started here after the first pwipe, so it's been aobut 10 years. I remeber Eye Aeternum (sp?) as well as monks, sorcs, berserkers, etc.

THe thing that kept me here was the detail of the world. I started out as a halfelf ranger on leuthilspar. I fell in love with the island and had a few friends to play with. The rest is history.

What i really enjoyed was the addition of mage classes, because I eventually became a mage type player
Botef
Sojourner
Posts: 1056
Joined: Fri May 10, 2002 5:01 am
Location: Eastern Washington
Contact:

Postby Botef » Thu Jan 13, 2005 6:01 pm

I found Sojourn 3 searching the internet for D&D / FR based Muds. At the time, Sojourn 3 was the only mud I was able to find that was based on FR,
which for one reason or other appealed to me. I think it was maybe TMC that I ended up finding the link at, or soj3's old website, I dont remember.

Prior to that, I was a heavy Gemstone III player in the days before simutronics started charging $14 a month to play. As I look back and compare the two muds, its really interesting because Toril is far more appealing to me. Gemstone III has paid staff, many interesting features, god controlled things, etc, etc. However after playing here, I think what appeals most to me is the diversity this mud has in terms of classes and races and the ability to seclude yourself almost entirley from another half of the mud (good race/evil race). On Gemstone, theres only 5 races I believe, your usual mix of good races (humans, dwarfs, elves, halfings, half-elves) and I found things to be generally boring most of the time. The grouping I see here is something that was far more rare for me on GS3.

Ive dabbled in other muds with classless systems, different spell systems, etc, but out of them all, Toril/Soj just fit my playing style best and have stuck here ever since.
Keran
Sojourner
Posts: 286
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2001 5:01 am
Location: Folsom, CA, USA

Postby Keran » Thu Jan 13, 2005 6:06 pm

I found the game back in 1995. I was a sophmore at UCLA and my roommate got me hooked. He was a ranger - go figure!

Toarn
rer
Sojourner
Posts: 552
Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2004 11:19 pm

Postby rer » Thu Jan 13, 2005 6:09 pm

I started here many years ago, when i was about 12 or 13, after a brief stint at LoRD, which Agor's older brother got us into. We saw some chats about MUDs on LoRD and started looking. Found Toril, and the rest is history. I've taken several breaks over the years, but I keep coming back because of the drugs you keep putting in my keyboard Shar! I think that must be what it is that keeps me so addicted!

Anyhow, started off as a half-elf ranger named Forilinal who I'm still planning on recreating...
Jegzed
Sojourner
Posts: 1240
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2001 6:01 am

Postby Jegzed » Thu Jan 13, 2005 6:26 pm

I dont recall exactly when I started.

95??? 94??? Anyway, I was living abroad and liked playing on muds.. Thorgil emailed me about testing this mud called Sojourn.. So i started, and played a bit.. happy getting some levels as a human thief or something... How the hell did I get a name called Eareth approved?

Anyway, the mud splitted into Toril and Duris, and I preferred being a young male in love. Then in early 97 I was back in Sweden and bored.. So started playing a dwarf merc at Toril..
Never looked back since.. Played hardcore on/off since then...
/Jegzed - Sorcere Master - Crimson Coalition
sotana
Sojourner
Posts: 229
Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2004 8:11 am

Postby sotana » Thu Jan 13, 2005 6:33 pm

I started mudding a year ago when one of my brothers helped me roll my first character so I could mud with him and my other brothers. My family has a long and glorious tradition of mudding but guess I'm just a late bloomer :-P Course since I started mudding, they pretty much stopped *ponder*
rarlaj
Sojourner
Posts: 67
Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2003 8:01 pm
Location: Bloodtusk
Contact:

Postby rarlaj » Thu Jan 13, 2005 6:48 pm

found toril in while in college early 90's... like 92-93 played a dwarf warrior named myricmas to about 25th lvl or so...

got out of college and lost t-1 connection and moved on....

about 1-1/2 to 2 yrs ago was bored and wondered if you all were still around...

did a yahoo search and found the site... download zmud and away we go...

funny how things change....

Rangers were liked... Dwarfs had names that rhymed with Merry Christmas... and old friends become new friends that become old friends...

oh and the gnolls off bgr were tough back then!

Rarlaj
Rarlaj - Athiyk Cretok - Orbdrin D'oloth
Thilindel
Sojourner
Posts: 3173
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2003 9:09 pm
Location: Indianapolis

Postby Thilindel » Thu Jan 13, 2005 7:13 pm

I was tagging along for my older brother's tour of Purdue and I saw some guys log in at the MSEE labs back in 1995. Ignorant of muds, I was frustrated. I came back in 2000 and Lilithelle's charisma kept me here :)
Sesexe
Sojourner
Posts: 879
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2003 5:13 am

Postby Sesexe » Thu Jan 13, 2005 7:14 pm

Found out about Sojourn1 from a friend initially. Found it again later by doing a search on the net for Forgotten Realms (pre-google).

What kept me?
Quality and depth of a challenging game (originally), and now ultimately.. its just familiarity and being too lazy to start over someplace else.

Who/what I found to be the most helpful?
Kossuth, followed closely by Berronar.
Ruxur
Sojourner
Posts: 749
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2003 5:39 pm
Location: Anniston, Alabama

Postby Ruxur » Thu Jan 13, 2005 7:27 pm

heh, sophmore year of high school i had like 4 computer classes back to back. A buddy of mine who played as Drix (conjie) here introduced me to the mud. The city of bloodstone was so kick ass, and learning Drix's style of play made me wanna stay here. 2 years later Drix left to go to basternae or whatever it was called then, and i decided that a pkill mud just wasnt for me. So i stayed on toril. Its been 11 years on and off.

I also think i am one of the few players on this game who dosen't have a gaming background. I dont play console games unless thier sports games, and loathe other rp games (besides dragon warrior) that are not sojourn/toril. I have never played D&D in my life.

I guess what keeps me here is the combination of the challenge, the pbase, and the fights. I am very competitive, and this mud is just another outlet for competition.

Ruxur/Maxler/Gilphi/Zobex
Cofen group-says 'wtf, why am i missing a cursed khanjari?'
Alendar group-says 'i r rednek i can only afford the monitor i have mud on and the broken monitor under it'
Nonox tells you 'i think someone casted 'power word gay' on pril'
Malacar ASSOC:: 'must... mp...soon...underwear...cringing...at...oncoming...onslaught...'
Teej
Sojourner
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2002 5:01 am

Postby Teej » Thu Jan 13, 2005 7:46 pm

Second or third year university, a guy I liked a lot suggested I try this mud he knew about. I never saw him there, but there were some really nice people around. They laughed at me when I revealed that I didn't know it wasn't just a local environment - but they still welcomed me. It was neat to have friends from 'back home' and then to make friends from other countries.

Things were rough for a time, but the MUD was always there. I knew where I belonged within it, no matter how anything else went. Nowhere else has had that. I learned what my characters could do, I learned how to play them well, and I found some friends over on Evermeet who were there when I needed to talk.
Clan Blindhammer
Sojourner
Posts: 255
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 6:01 am

Postby Clan Blindhammer » Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:03 pm

I guess it was 94ish when I started - back in, hell, Middle school for me. Met some people, drifted in and out. Kept some good friends from way back then - Ruxur, Braggo, Cirath, and that was before I started playing something useful like a Cleric.

I guess thats why everyone gets so pissy when I dont have 50 yet. I'm one of these 'old school' players who frankly, couldn't give a damn what level I got:P
Crumar
Sojourner
Posts: 247
Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2002 5:01 am
Location: Canada

Postby Crumar » Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:34 pm

Bonus:
1) its free to play.
2) amazing newbie zone for new players.
3) huge world to explore.
4) excellent quest system.
5) (a long time ago) a large player base to zone with.
6) a variety of classes to choose from.
7) game doesn't end in a few months it can be played for years.
8) bugs always get fixed.
9) active staff who still code.
10) no pkill (this was the main reason why I stayed)

Now some background on why I have stayed for so long and why I decided to semi-retire.

In high school I had a group of friends that were really into DnD and we used to play tabletop all the time. One day I got on the computer I think back in 94-95 not to sure when exactly, and did a search for DnD and Faerun. This mud popped up so I decided to tell my friends about it and we all got hooked. Over the years they left for whatever reason, real life problems etc. but I stuck around because the world was always growing, new things were always in development including upgraded classes and an ever-increasing quest profile. Now I just see bitter old players complaining on the mud or bbs boards (including myself which doesn't help the mud) and the shrinking pbase along with doing almost everything there is to do is what got me to finally get another job. So now instead of mudding I have two jobs to keep me busy. I figured if you wanted input on why I have stayed for so long I guess you would want to know what made me decide to cut down my playtime as well. To be honest the immortals have done all they could to keep us old players around for as long as they did, but I see why people are starting to leave. It just isn't new as it used to be for most of us. Hope that helps you somewhat. I still try to get new players to log on the mud, yet not one has stayed even though I help them with levels and equipment. Regardless what others may think this mud is hard to learn, its difficult for many reasons and if I did not know what I knew back in 95 on how to play when the mud reopend I would have quit too probably. I remember when I first tried to learn how to mud, it wasn't even on this mud and it was way easier and I found it hard at first to grasp the entire concept. I was glad when I logged on here some immortal showed me the ropes for the first day that helped me decide to stay too. If any god wants to shoot me a tell when I am on sometime to discuss this further please do, good luck.
Click on the links below and vote for this mud!

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Lalan
Sojourner
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2001 6:01 am
Location: "Seattlish"

Postby Lalan » Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:51 pm

I actually started here sometime in '94. I think it was about 3 or 4 months before the first pwipe. I played a human thief (I think his name was Avicual) to about 20th level.

I came here from the first version of Shadowdale Mud when I was looking around for other Forgotten Realms based games.

I stay because the game can be really difficult for my loner/solo style of play(I have nearly 60 days of ptime and I'm only 37th level right now:wink:) and so it actually keeps me pretty interested. On Shadowdale you could multiclass humans, I think I was running a Fighter/Cleric/Sorcerer, which really took the challenge out of the game. Artificial difficulty in the form of deathtraps (which I personally hate) had to be added to that game.

Also I find the room/area/world descriptions here, of what I have personally seen, to be exceptionally well done.

And finally, I actually enjoy reading the deep (navel gazing?) analysis of the game that many of the players express on the boards. I find it endlessly fascinating that people invest so much time and effort into thinking about their hobby.
turg
Sojourner
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2001 6:01 am
Location: San Luis Obispo, Ca, U.S.A
Contact:

I couldnt put how long :(

Postby turg » Thu Jan 13, 2005 9:21 pm

I started playing in 93' which was 12 years ago, but not since the beginning. Does that mean I fall into some void? :P I had a good buddy in high school who showed me the game and became hopelessly addicted. He stopped playing, but many of the others who I first started playing with are still here. The first one was a guy we called Sunny. His character name was Raeyn or Raelyn or something. I believe he played Zouve as well, later. I also hung out with Xaril and Jatrel with my barbarian berserker, Kizatz, which coincidentally is close to my last name Katz. That should give you some information about my lack of knowledge of rp games before this. When I went evil, I met one of the coolest guys ever who I remained friends with for many years, his character name was Takan, and his evil was Kruck. Me, Magar (my rl buddy for real see i got friends), and Lowda used to kick ass and take names. We did have to have the occasional help from wraten, belarn, moctar, and the rest of old DA (Darnalak, Noldalie Etc.)

-Turg
Arilin Nydelahar
Sojourner
Posts: 1499
Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2002 5:01 am
Location: Virginia Beach
Contact:

Postby Arilin Nydelahar » Thu Jan 13, 2005 9:30 pm

Wish I knew the year I started, I think it was around 95 or so. Before that I played a mud called Shadowgate(LPC Mud, and the admin would make mystra look like a sissy). A person on that mud brought me over to toril, and then to duris/basternae. I bounced around for awhile and picked the place back up on soj though.

As big of an ass as I am, I have to thank the mud for somethings. I've meet some really good people, and the person I feel in love with too.

It's kinda odd, so as a rareity from me. Thanks mud. You've definately impacted on my life, mostly in a good way too.
Shevarash OOC: 'what can I say, I'm attracted to crazy chicks and really short dudes'
Vahok
Sojourner
Posts: 525
Joined: Fri Apr 05, 2002 6:01 am
Location: guelph,ontario,canada

Postby Vahok » Thu Jan 13, 2005 9:54 pm

Started around 1995 or so. Had a friend suggest it since he knew I enjoyed fanstasy games, movies, etc. Of course, like so many others, my friend is long gone but I remain. Didn't have lots of help in the early years and dropped Toril until early 2000. Did a search, found out Toril was still alive, and picked the habit back up. Kicked around between here and Duris until I settled on Toril as main crack dealer.

Many people have been helpful over the years but Deshana and someone who calls me still to this day "a dirty Canadian" showed me how to play a warrior in a group. And no, not gonna give him the pleasure of mentioning by name (sorry, a Canadian thing!) but I do still thank him anyways! Eventually, got into a guild through Deshana and still have the uniform triggers from it. Moved over to SoT and became an officer, the rest is history.

Why I am still here...dunno. But I have made some real friends here, far too many to mention. This place is great and I thank the admin for all their efforts. I enjoy zoning and chatting, hate questing and leading zones, and love the details, big and small in the whole mud world. This place is fun and when I eventually leave, I'll never forget it.

Cheers!
Meatshield
Arilin Nydelahar
Sojourner
Posts: 1499
Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2002 5:01 am
Location: Virginia Beach
Contact:

Postby Arilin Nydelahar » Thu Jan 13, 2005 10:28 pm

Vahok wrote:Started around 1995 or so. Had a friend suggest it since he knew I enjoyed fanstasy games, movies, etc. Of course, like so many others, my friend is long gone but I remain. Didn't have lots of help in the early years and dropped Toril until early 2000. Did a search, found out Toril was still alive, and picked the habit back up. Kicked around between here and Duris until I settled on Toril as main crack dealer.

Many people have been helpful over the years but Deshana and someone who calls me still to this day "a dirty Canadian" showed me how to play a warrior in a group. And no, not gonna give him the pleasure of mentioning by name (sorry, a Canadian thing!) but I do still thank him anyways! Eventually, got into a guild through Deshana and still have the uniform triggers from it. Moved over to SoT and became an officer, the rest is history.

Why I am still here...dunno. But I have made some real friends here, far too many to mention. This place is great and I thank the admin for all their efforts. I enjoy zoning and chatting, hate questing and leading zones, and love the details, big and small in the whole mud world. This place is fun and when I eventually leave, I'll never forget it.

Cheers!


cough, damn dirty canadian.
Shevarash OOC: 'what can I say, I'm attracted to crazy chicks and really short dudes'
Ambar
Sojourner
Posts: 2872
Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2002 5:01 am
Location: Our House in Va.
Contact:

Postby Ambar » Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:30 pm

Started playing TeleArena and majormud in 94 on a local BBS .. Cupids Playpen and/or Orion BBS .. played a human hunter then remoted to Beastmaster ..(I was the first buahaha) and cant remember race .. but it was an Arch Druid and later an Archmage of same race..

Knew this guy we called Appleseed , kick ass player .. could take any class and make it his own .. well he started teeling me about this *game* called Sojourn, after a year or so of his haranguing me .. I logged in .. played for about a week and got lvl 6 ... grey elf ranger named Shalithasen (a good friend Tellaerin used to tell me I should have had a second name .. clericsbane for my ranger ..) .. Tried to log in the next day (after my initial week) and found myself sitebanned ...

got back in thru telnet .... and that was in Oct '96 ... since then I have met sooo many people that I still call friends ... hard to name them all , easy to THANK them all for a wonderful experience ...

Met this grey elf ranger. He musta been 17 or so, added him to ICQ .. knew him off and on for YEARS ... met up off and on .. then two years ago this May started talking to him a LOT .. we finally met in person this July.. in Novemeber he came to stay with me for 2 weeks ... and in February he will be moving in with me ... you guys know him as Arilin/Thalidyrr ...

the guy we can all blame for me being an addicted mudder is Mamoru, Tanji/Runecopple, etc .. so I should possibly thank him for my meeting Arilin ..

- Shalia, Ambar, Karikhan, Telina, Narra, Aerisia, Tasira, Alieshi, Jenlea, Ariene, and lots of lowbies
Last edited by Ambar on Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Bilraex
Sojourner
Posts: 162
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2001 5:01 am
Location: Massachusetts
Contact:

Postby Bilraex » Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:40 pm

Ambar wrote:Started playing TeleArena and majormud in 94 on a local BBS .. Cupids Playpen and/or Orion BBS ..


Wow small world , I started playing TA on Cupids BBS down there in Va and thats where i first started playing Sojourn through.
Ambar
Sojourner
Posts: 2872
Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2002 5:01 am
Location: Our House in Va.
Contact:

Postby Ambar » Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:48 pm

Bilraex wrote:
Ambar wrote:Started playing TeleArena and majormud in 94 on a local BBS .. Cupids Playpen and/or Orion BBS ..


Wow small world , I started playing TA on Cupids BBS down there in Va and thats where i first started playing Sojourn through.


rofl I was Little Angel

rofl rofl
"When a child is born, so is a grandmother."

-Italian Proverb
Nekelet
Sojourner
Posts: 413
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2003 8:54 pm

Postby Nekelet » Fri Jan 14, 2005 1:35 am

Must have been '94. perhaps late '93.
My first 2 muds had gone down, so did some searching and stumbled upon toril. Was hooked by the realism, detail, and playerbase. (Not to mention the vehement reactions of one Cyric.)
Never got far in the good old days - quite a few classes to low 20's. highest was like 28th.
Then the toril/duris split - tried both, played both off and on until I finally stopped f/ RL in ~97.

Then a few years ago, I find that sojourn is back. Curse the day I stumbled on that link... :D

Reasons then are the reasons now. The simulation, the attention to detail, the uniqueness. Playerbase, while small, is full of friendly folks.
kiryan
Sojourner
Posts: 7275
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2001 5:01 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA and Flagstaff, AZ
Contact:

Postby kiryan » Fri Jan 14, 2005 2:26 am

Followed sok and taelin who followed tagad and opfor here from an exploit mud in 1995 or 1996 (one where bug abuse was allowed and the bug abusers were the coders) with a pbase of under 20 and a mystra style admin.

fell in love with it because there was casting time and memorizing on spells (instead of insta cast + mana) and combat was slow enough that you could actually participate and the world was 10x bigger.

Proc weapons were a big part of the turn on.
and tonights winner in the Toril EQ lottery is demi belt and skull earring!
Ragorn
Sojourner
Posts: 4732
Joined: Mon Jan 29, 2001 6:01 am

Postby Ragorn » Fri Jan 14, 2005 4:30 am

I started on a small AberMUD called Purgatory... the immorts got real scarse over time, said they were all playing some mud called "sojourn." After Purgatory went down, I looked it up, and voila.
Gurns
Sojourner
Posts: 554
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2001 5:01 am

Postby Gurns » Fri Jan 14, 2005 5:14 am

Regularly since six months after Soj1 opened beta, so not quite the beginning.

I had tried it a few months earlier, didn't like it. Too big, too confusing, not simple and comfortable like all the DIKU clones I was playing. But then the simple, comfortable DIKU clones became boring, and I found Sojourn again.

Once I started playing it regularly, I liked it for a lot of reasons, but they all add up to quality. In no particular order: (1) A solid theme, with a good and consistent fantasy world base. Stuff that didn't fit the theme could and did get yanked. (2) Big, lots of zones, always more to see. Confusing at first, but exciting once you got into it. (3) Good zones, and the ones that weren't good enough or weren't original enough could and did get yanked. (4) It was a difficult mud but not impossible. Gave you a lot of choice and variety but, once you tackled it, not so much that it seemed impossible to master. (5) The players were skilled mudders. (6) Among the players, the proportion of greedy, selfish assholes was lower than on many muds. (7) The immortal attitude was that they were going to build the best mud out there. Not the most popular, or the most diverse, or the biggest, but the best. There were negatives that came with this attitude, but it really drove the mud's development. Stuff could and did get yanked if it wasn't good enough. I'm not saying the players always liked it. :) (And I'm not saying that stuff wasn't yanked or changed or added for other reasons, but I'm commenting on the positives, not old and now irrelevant negatives.)

That's what kept me for a year. I took a break for a time, and when I came back, Sojourn had closed and Toril was open, and it was now this "RP encouraged" mud and what the heck did that mean? Since monks were gone, I tried a couple of classes and ended up as Gurns the Bard, and then I ran into a bard named Halladan who acted like he really was a bard. What a concept! It helped make the text only, somewhat clunky fantasy world come more alive, and be more fun. And there was a BBS and we were encouraged to write stories about our characters and the world, and that made it even better.

That's the what. But there's also the "who", way too many "who" to even remember, much less mention. A lot of nice, willing to be friendly, not selfish, and often quite helpful (not "here's some gear, now get lost" helpful but "c'mon, we'll take you to this really cool zone" helpful) players. And a lot of folks who encouraged and supported my writing efforts, Mystra and my fellow Honest Lyre guildies especially.

Yeah, us old geezers talk a lot. Cirath, you young whippersnapper, that's my rocking chair.
Yarash
Sojourner
Posts: 432
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2002 5:01 am
Location: Monterey, CA

Postby Yarash » Fri Jan 14, 2005 7:47 am

1995, discussion of Sojourn comes up on the gossip channel where I play. Apparently there is a mud run by really anal people and you need permission just to make a character's name. People were amusing themselves by trying to make names with swear words in them, etc. I logged in to see what the fuss was about. Later, when our mud went down for awhile, I remembered and came to play here briefly, and then again two or three years later. I was impressed with the magic system, and how quickly new features were implemented. About 2.5 years ago I came here to play full time.

- Mike
Jenera
Sojourner
Posts: 533
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Warsaw, Indiana
Contact:

Postby Jenera » Fri Jan 14, 2005 8:01 am

I think it was early '94 maybe, possibly '95. I'm not completely sure. I think I was either 13 or 14. Went over to a friend's house and saw him typing away on Telnet while all these words scrolled by. My father had just replaced my green screen apple 2 with a PC, I really forgot what kind. I just know my uncle built it cheaply from different parts from various companies.

At that time, I had already been playing D&D for several years and obsessed with fantasy books. Didn't think much of what my friend was doing at the time.

Several months later, I noticed my little brother typing away on the same game, but his was in color. I'm not sure if my memory is correct, but I think ZMUD has been around that long. Between that guy (who is no longer my friend) and my little brother, I'm still a muddict 10 years later.
Memorable Quotes from TorilMUD Gathering 2006

Sotana sez, 'I'll take it dirty.'
Teflor sez, 'Bobo, show me on the doll where the barbarian touched you.'
Duna sez, 'Is there anything else that needs to go in my backend?'
Pril sez, 'I'm too pretty to go to jail.'
Boboloppe sez, 'The only reason I joined Imphras was because of Sotana's ass.'
Demuladon
Sojourner
Posts: 211
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2004 9:48 pm

Postby Demuladon » Fri Jan 14, 2005 12:07 pm

Played S1 as a monk and I remember Modu nuking something nasty under WD. Went to a differnent place when monks were d'graded and things became anal.

Came back to S3 because of !rent !pwipe !eqLevels !pkill. Plus I love the group aspect of this place.
Dlur
Sojourner
Posts: 379
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Minnesota
Contact:

Postby Dlur » Fri Jan 14, 2005 2:21 pm

I started in '94 or '95 and found the mud by searching for Forgotten Realms material on the internet. I logged in, got frustrated initially, quit for a week, came back and tried again. A very helpful monk named Waza noticed I was having a rough time of things and got me on the right track. Soon after that I started hanging out with Sangdraxus, Hadjan, Astansus, Tastone, and the rest of the soon-to-be Bloodstone Gang. After a while I got bored of human life and switched to a troll. There I met numerous wonderfull people and skilled players such as Anga, Urz, Grimulk, Jukahn, Wug, Mumba, Drakkoth, Serrala, Gogan, etc and joined the Dark Alliance. Years later as the Dark Alliance started to fall appart I migrated back to the goodie side after bankrolling my move with dragonbone bracelets and gear from the Ghore palace. I started hanging out with folks like Elscint, Marforp, Dohrum, Tagad, and many other great people that I still consider to be good friends to this day, even if I don't talk to them nearly enough. All of this lead to me meeting some EA people such as Draaz, Modu, and Jaeb(who I had already known from my troll days), and then during one fatefull Chaos Xmas when Draaz and I took on most of Crimson Sigil and beat them I gained the respect of quite a few CS people and got asked to group with them quite a bit. With the CS crew I met more amazing friends such as Adriorn, Toddrick, Kurz, Lloric, Daeron, Jerthal, Berc, Tavon, Dayn, Sjesko, Menoch and the rest of the crew. I stuck with the CS people for quite a while, right up until we tried forming the Riders of Twilight, and after that fell apart I moved on to greener pastures.

I skipped out on all of Soj2 due to having my own thing going, but when a couple of key friends from Toril and Soj1 showed up on Soj3 I came back to play with them for a while, until they got bored again and went back to RL, which I did in kind.

The challenge of the game, the insane CRs, the races against other factions to succeed, and most importantly the friends that I met while playing the game are the reasons I stuck with Soj/Toril in one incarnation or another for so long. For me to come back again, however, I would need to have many of my old friends back again, particularly Adriorn as he makes me laugh non-stop for hours like nobody else.
Ghimok|Dlur|Emeslan|Ili|Zinse|Teniv
*~~~~~~~~~~*
"Censorship is telling a man he can't eat a steak just because a baby can't chew it." - Mark Twain
Ashiwi
Sojourner
Posts: 4161
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2001 5:01 am

Postby Ashiwi » Fri Jan 14, 2005 3:36 pm

I started on DragonRealms many years ago, back when it and Gemstone III were still in testing phase on AOL, somewhere around '96. Shortly after that, I moved to a very small game where there were these really cool people playing who apparently were only there because the game they usually played was down long-term. When Soj/Toril opened back up (wipe before last), Gantoris talked me into coming over and giving it a try.

My first time here, I rolled up my character, walked out of Leuth's inn at night, couldn't see anybody, ended up trying to communicate with red shapes, then logged out and didn't come back for a couple of weeks. The second time I tried, I was here to stay.

What kept me? The people, the game mechanics, and above all, the enforced RP in the Forgotten Realms setting. Anybody noticing a trend here?
Gormal tells you 'im a dwarven onion'
Gormal tells you 'always another beer-soaked layer'

Inama ASSOC:: 'though it may suit your fantasies to think so, i don't need oil for anything.'

Haley: Filthy lucre? I wash that lucre every day until it SHINES!
teflor the ranger
Sojourner
Posts: 3923
Joined: Fri Jul 26, 2002 5:01 am
Location: Waterdeep

Postby teflor the ranger » Fri Jan 14, 2005 3:43 pm

Logged on my first character here in '94. Peer pressure.

An old troll and an anti-paladin rolled me a ranger... their character names long forgotten, player names to be remembered for a long time.

Started into this all the old fashioned way.
Corth
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Posts: 6002
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Location: NY, USA

Postby Corth » Fri Jan 14, 2005 4:18 pm

I started around 1994 or 1995. Previously, I played some tele-arena. Then I moved on to heroi.. I mean Sojourn. My rl friend Ari, also known as Dolaf, Dolafible, and Nelor, was the one who turned me on to the mud. He used to hang out with the CS crew, but he was too embarrased about what a noob I was so he rarely took me anywhere on the mud. :) I played a monk, Rathipon, and had gotten some pretty decent EQ, when a particularly bad zone run lthat I tried to lead caused me to drop all my EQ at 1W and quit for 6 months. When I came back, I rolled a Sorc, fell in with Trogar and his crew, and thats when I really got into the mud. I took a hiatus all throughout Sojourn 2, cause I hated enchanters and there wasn't any other class that could really hold my interest. When Soj 3 came up, I had to try out the new illusionist class.. and it was so great that I stayed for a while. The illusionist class almost makes me forgive Shev for getting rid of sorcerors. :)

Corth
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth

Goddamned slippery mage.
rylan
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Posts: 2903
Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Hudson, MA

Postby rylan » Fri Jan 14, 2005 5:46 pm

Hmm I started back in late 94/early 95. One of my friends was on his computer and through our email account for school there were some links to differant things, and we found a listing of games, which oddly enough had DikuMUDs on there and Sojourn was on that list. Not sure how we ended up choosing Sojourn, but I think it was because the name sounded cooler compared to all the other ones. I didn't play much at all during Soj2, but was here for everything else.
Lilen
Sojourner
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2004 6:05 pm

Postby Lilen » Fri Jan 14, 2005 5:51 pm

I started mudding when i was 12-13 years old i was in 7th grade. My friend and his brother were always playing. i had him show me a couple things where to get xp and such and i was off. since then my thoughts are that the mud is more addicting the ciggaret.
Duna
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Contact:

Postby Duna » Fri Jan 14, 2005 6:09 pm

I started back in '98.. I remember the year only because my youngest was about 10 months old at the time.. she's now 7 :) The reason I started.. hrmm.. well my husband at the time played. I watched him play for close to 6 months before I finally got him to give in and help me roll a character. He had been playing here for quite sometime before that. :) I wasn't really into the whole D&D thing.. I'd played a rpg called Vampire several years before, and Nokar had finally convinced me to read the Ice wind dale trilogy. After finding out that text thingy he played was based off of the same world, I had to know more ;) I read everything I could on the website before deciding to try a character. That's when Yarthra was born :) I still thank Rho and Nok for coming up with her name, I couldn't think of anything ;) Got her to lvl 25 and Toril shut down. I was back on as soon as I could be for soj2.. I'd made several friends on Toril, that I still see playing these days ;) Got Yarthra to high 30's on soj2 and rolled a bard to try something new.. had tons of fun with her.. she was actually the first of my characters to get to a zone, thanks to Varia and a few others :) What's kept me here is 1) the friends I've made. 2) there's so much I still have to learn, and want to learn on here. 3) I have yet to get a character to lvl 50, Duna's my highest ever :) I still consider myself a n00b for the most part.. most of my zoning has been this wipe with Duna. I took a 2 1/2 yr. break due to rl, but when I came back, my old friends were still here and welcomed me back with open arms ;)

I even actully tried playing D&D thanks to the mud ;)

Duna/Yarthra/Myzennthia/and several other under 21 lowbies ;)

edited for grammer mistakes and a missed sentence :)
Last edited by Duna on Sat Jan 15, 2005 7:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
Eilorn
Sojourner
Posts: 229
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Salt Lake City,UT,USA 84116
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Postby Eilorn » Fri Jan 14, 2005 11:55 pm

I started here just after the first pwipe, January of '95, perhaps? By this time I'd been full time employed for 10 years, so I didn't have a lot of time to play, at any one time (still don't :-). I had been playing Gandalf mud, and it went down, I think I searched through the rec.games.mud newsgroup for more muds, and after trying a bunch of different muds, stumbled across Sojourn. My first char was Eilorn, an elf ranger. Because it was just after the pwipe, there were a lot of low level people on as elves, and I got a lot of invites for groups. That was probably what sucked me into the game, the grouping with other ill equipped lowbies trying to kill anything that got in our way :-). I think it took me 6 months to get to level 20 and off the island. Only to be immediately killed :-) I wish I could remember who it was, but, some kind elven sorcerer helped me get 20 back before my corpse rotted!

Since then, I've never mudded for more than, say, 6 hours on a saturday, mostly an hour or two here and there. I've played pretty much every combination of race/class up to mid 20's (because you don't have wait around for a group to play a newbie, and I can't afford to spend half my playtime looking for a group :-), except never done a yuan-ti, and never played an illusionist. This version of Sojourn, because of it's longevity, I've managed to get a lvl-39 anti, a lvl-44 ele, and a lvl-43 enchanter (currently my main). Within that last year or so, I've zoned for the first time. And despite other people's problems with exp, I love exping in a group, to paraphrase a quote from Galaxy Quest: "I'm just jazzed about being part of the group, man!"


Things I don't like about Sojourn:

    Quests - good luck finding out about popular quests, let alone doing them... And, sometimes, when you do find and complete the quest, you go "Huh? I spent all this time for THIS?" (kv shield!?!)

    Trying to find a group in under an hour.

    Newbie killers: Try going from Griffon's Nest to Waterdeep, without dying, many times, losing your corpse(s) as a newbie. Or, if you're an unlucky halfling, from Beluir to WD. Wander into the displacer beast. Try to go from Ashrumite Village to Baldur's Gate. Try to leave Ghore. Stumble into a tar pit. Let your dwarven thief/bard go a little too evil, and check out how things are at home. Ditto elves. Try killing stuff in taverns off Trade Way. Wandering into Trollbark. Elves wandering into Bloodstone's ruins. Backstabbing thieves in Havenport. Gwark. Guards assisting aggro mobs.

    20 stinking levels on Evermeet. Lonely, stinking levels. Naked, lonely, stinking levels. Boring, naked, lonely, stinking levels.

    Dying, as a barbarian, in Scornubel, or any other place at the other end of the world.

    Dying, as a halfling from Luiren, in Ice Crag, or some other place at the other end of the world.

    Dying, as a small troll.

Things I like about Sojourn:
    Friendly players - while there have been some jerks, along the way, for the most part people have been friendly and helpful and just nice to be around and shoot the breeze.

    Room/Item/Mob descriptions - They are very visual, making it easy to immerse yourself in the game.

    Tastefully done ANSI

    Class abilities/spells/songs

    Quests - I've only done 3 spell quests (oh, and totem quest), but, they were a lot of fun with the people I had helping me. I've done a smattering of other quests, mostly bgr and elder forest,

    Gods (on this version) - They're much more personable and friendly than when I first got here :-)

    Gameplay - I love the way good groups work together, utilizing all their skills/spells/songs to get the job done, whether it be 2-3 man groups, or huge 15 man groups.



Anyway, I've been here a long time, just not long at a time :-) and have enjoyed my stay here, thanks for everything!

Eilorn(Hilien/Aliyan/Tibor/host of others)
Now, we can do this the hard way, or... well, actually there's just the hard way.
-- Buffy, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
rockers
Sojourner
Posts: 54
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:23 am
Location: Penang,Malaysia
Contact:

Postby rockers » Sat Jan 15, 2005 5:08 am

I'm on this mud since from sojourn3 in year 2000 till now Toril..so now is 2005..My friend make make addict to mudding..i was in other mud before it was deleted..so now this is the only mud i play..i'm kinda loyal mudder..only play 1 mud at a time because i hate to do exp...muekekekekekek...my primary is troll warrior (Grun-Troll warrior) level 50 and still active..btw lotsa old ppl help me with to get my 30+..Thanks to ppl like Turxx,Turra,Ellana,Grp,Krenalazmagg,Zorx,Elet the koterlu, and few more ppl..thanks to all...and i did leave this mud almost a year because my office installed firewall..i'm i do miss this mud a lot..but i'll be back..and that is a promise.
Last edited by rockers on Sun Jan 08, 2006 4:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Yours Ugly,
Froggie The Soul Slayer
ImageUnited We are Strong....
Dezzex
Sojourner
Posts: 263
Joined: Fri May 11, 2001 5:01 am
Location: Va.BC

Postby Dezzex » Sat Jan 15, 2005 7:50 am

I found Sojourn through people I knew while playing at a MUD called AnotherWorld. Dorga and Jilael were ex-AnotherWorlders. It took me many restarts and breaks, on each incarnation, til I finally started playing to a high level (Sojourn3). I had a troll warrior to level 35: I died to lizardmen in Skelenak whereupon the game crashed and stayed down and the corpse rotted. Then I had a barbarian warrior to 40 who was in Pride briefly, but he died to the Scornubel otyughs, and his corpse rotted. No CR help yet again :(

But the reason I liked Toril was that it was 'hardcore'. It had a lot of mystique and atmosphere, partly because of that. I played on a monochrome monitor in the beginning and all the eq was bold, underline, and reverse video -- I thought that was cool. :) It was great that I had no idea what was better: a blacksmith's hammer or a magic longsword. It was great that I could die by walking past a goat and 2 rooms into a cave. The corpse losses made me quit of course, but paradoxically that's what I liked about it. It made me want to achieve something even more.

I think this is a pretty standard sentiment to the old-timers left; only problem is, it takes a certain kind of person to get lured into a game through that process. It develops longtime loyal players, just not very many of them.

So yeah, if you ask me the game is too easy and newbie friendly. :P But I agree that the alternative sure as hell won't net a larger playerbase either.
Nilan
Sojourner
Posts: 689
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2001 6:01 am

Postby Nilan » Sat Jan 15, 2005 8:16 am

I been here since 1992-1993. My very first character was a ranger named Morianthis. Then in like 1994 I made Nilan. He has been my favorite ever since. I play cause I like to develope my character and get away from some not so nice stuff in rl.

I play to have fun. Group and hang with friends is very important to me. Nilan is very fun to play.

I started and found this game when a friend helped me get set up to try for play here. He was ok, but since I had trouble with reading and visualizing things I think he got frustrated playing with me. He told me I should not play a text based game. He stopped playing with me.

But I wanted to play and I was determined to try it. I learned alot and like to write stories. I met lot of nice people, some of whom are very close. Deshana, and my guildies are the bestest friends here for me. They have given me so much help and encouragement over the years. Both on and off this game.

I enjoy it. This game helps me in more ways than most know. Those who do know. Thank You :):)

Nilan
Tasan
Sojourner
Posts: 1710
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Fridley, Mn USA
Contact:

Postby Tasan » Sun Jan 16, 2005 5:21 am

Ferdelon lived down the street from Glorishan and I, and he got an ISP w/ an info packet of some sort, w/ an ad for Sojourn in it. He tried it out, showed it to me, and I got Glor hooked on it. While he had picked a good class and got in good w/ Tro, i was stuck on EM being a ranger and all... Kia made me change my name when I went to get a last name... then I made a barb war who was eventually sitebanned for whatever reason and had a corpse rot. I moved on to Luminous Horizons and spent MANY a fun night doing stuff there and having a great time w/ a small tight-knit pbase. That's where I met Mamoru, and later returned to Sojourn after we got LH shutdown...oops.

I've stayed here for the people, nothing else.
Danahg tells you 'yeah, luckily i kept most of it in my mouth and nasal membranes, ugh'

Dlur group-says 'I have a dead horse that I'm dragging down the shaft with my 4 corpses. Anyone want to help me beat it?'

Calladuran: There are other games to play if you want to play with yourself.
Deshana
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Posts: 228
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Postby Deshana » Sun Jan 16, 2005 7:29 am

Elarin got me to try it after mentioning Glori and xping on evermeet.. Something about forgetting he could word *duck*
I finally gave it a try, Elarin quit, but by then I'd met Gythi, and Lythix and Lili and Kogor and Kiros. So I stayed. I still play because i have a very close friend in Nilan, and I enjoy other good friends within my guild, and outside in the prolonged friendships with Lili Touk Gormal Lythix.. well Gormal came in later but the poor lad got the same greeting Glori did.
OH so you're gormal the one that....
Areandon
Sojourner
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2003 1:34 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Postby Areandon » Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:26 am

Originally I found sojourn when I was still in Univeristy in '93 or so. I played a paladin named Sareandon and a conjurer named Areandon. Hence the bbs name. I went on to do other things after the mud went down due to some incident with Mystra. I then lost track for a long time, and finally ran across sojourn3 2 years ago or so. I decided to check it out and stayed.
The most important reason I stayed were the people playing here. I had been playing some MMORPGs for a while, and the maturity level of this game was a welcome change. Apart from that the size, detail and atmosphere of the mud have been definite plusses, the amount of time needed to play the most important downside.

Naled
Ellana
Sojourner
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat May 10, 2003 1:47 am
Location: Vancouver, BC

Postby Ellana » Mon Jan 17, 2005 7:09 am

I've only experienced Soj3 and that was because I asked the question along the lines of, "You love Mud more than me?" 2 mins later ended up with a troll warrior instead of an answer. All the pretty ansii were very appealing and my first proccing sword cinched it.

First few people I remember for their invaluable patience are Mezzellixxissizz, Zazyg/Kunrikan, Baikalisan and Noliez. It's probably why I ended up playing a cleric predominantly. And then tagging along and trying to catch up with the 3 stoogenchanters Izid, Verz, Ssiv... fun times indeed. Ultimately it's the people that made the game. Although pretty things like faerie dresses and gossamer wings to strive for helps.
Ssissu group-says 'I have mad skills'
Ssissiv group-says 'its known as the 'combo of the ssissy's'
Birile
Sojourner
Posts: 1413
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2002 6:01 am
Location: Albany, NY

Postby Birile » Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:42 pm

I lost my job three years ago and had a lot of free time. My best friend who lives in Florida introduced me to the MUD and that was our form of hanging out long-distance. He got disinterested after a couple of weeks but I stayed 'cause I loved the bard class and Thanuk insisted on having a bard to duo-exp with.

Before RL intervened, I stayed 'cause I was really getting into the quest and zone-leading aspects of the game, and 'cause Sotana insists on stroking my ego.
Treladian
Sojourner
Posts: 1163
Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2001 6:01 am

Postby Treladian » Mon Jan 17, 2005 10:02 pm

Started sometime during the 8th grade, which would be 94-95 I guess. My stepbrother (Isamu and some others) had been playing since beta with his friends and I'd seen him focused on it numerous times when I needed something from the basement. Eventually, he tried to introduce me to the MUD, but it didn't really click since it was more like him having me read help files and try out basic commands while he went out to the store for something.

It wasn't until I wound up meeting a classmate (Vjaerrek most recently) that also played and happened to be talking about it that I really got a good explanation, including the important part about how to connect . . . it tapped into my interest in fantasy, my interest in D&D came later as a result of the MUD.
Kossuth responds to your petition with 'You are no match for elemental pants!'
Cordan
Sojourner
Posts: 173
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2003 3:36 pm

Postby Cordan » Mon Jan 17, 2005 10:05 pm

9-10 years.
I first logged on in August of September of 1995. Met a guy in calculus class at Clemson U who read the forgotten realms series same as me, and he started telling me about Sojourn. My first character was a dwarf cleric named Cordan. A short while later rolled a Half-elf Ranger named Galkar.

You really want to know what hooked me? The Village of Minsk. It was my first "zone" run. 8) We got a group together of like 7 guys, all levels 1-6, and made a run at the blacksmith to get his hammer, then proceeded to slaughter the rest of the village. Oh yeah. I was hooked.

I remember getting groups together to do Split Shield for exp at low levels.
I remember walking in on the displacer beast and dying, and nearly everyone able would come around to help.
I remember when I finally got my hands on the coveted emerald longsword! *whoot* haste rocks! I could level a ranger to 20 on EM in an hour with that thing!
I remember when getting someone to enchant your weapon was the coolest damn thing. Heck yeah! +2+2 baby!

I just write what I remember from long ago, because that's what stuck. It's what I loved.

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