I'm with Danadana and the others who play achaea. Many MUDs don't have huge playerbases, it's true, but I play in a pretty hardcore faction and there is always someone around even in the wee hours, high times of day the city of Ashtan is populaterd the Order and House are busy and there is always something to do, someone to roleplay with. (Or a Shallam to raid, hi boys!)

On top of this there are clients now that really push the interactive broader view  of the world, some amazing player art to support our imaginations and an administration that really offers us the chance to do great things.

http://www.achaea.com/

Go on, give a not so old fashioned MUD a try.

If computer is an issue, and you don't want a shooter. Why not give one of the IRE MUDs a try, I know most folks will laugh at playing a text game in these days of Hi Def and mad graphics, but seriously, don't knock them till you try them!

Achaea is one of the more populated games, and I find a whole lot of fun, challenging in ways you'd not expect. It's also free to play, with most of the perks you can pay for also available via in game methods.

Go on, try it!

http://www.achaea.com/

It's a bit different from what your friend is possibly after, but http://www.achaea.com/ is well woth checking out. It has cooking, tailoring, fishing in lakes and deep sea, jewellery making, forging are all on offer. It is a MUD, meaning no spiffy graphics, but the depth of the text world really makes it worth plugging!

Join us, some of us never leave.

I'm with you on the Achaea love. I now roleplay a Chaotic Priestess.

I personally love the added depth the racial choices bring to the table, I adore playing my Xoran (a lizard like creature from an alien planet) breathing fire, expressiveness with smoke-filled snorts and use of the tail.

There is so much you can do, from city politics, to religion, to family, perhaps a teacher role, or a star combatatn, it's not all about mashing the keyboard, interacting with others is key.

Very nice! I remember attempting combat on old old Nexus (years ago), it might have been my connection/computer but it just couldn't keep up for me.

I'm now happy and scrolling away on Mudlet! A great. free to use, downloaded client. It's currently in development with a hugely active forum ( http://forums.mudlet.org/ ) and scripts being posted across many of the IRE game forums too.

Totally missed out Sartan! For shame.

For those who aren't familiar with the lore in Achaea, Shaitan was the original God of Evil, who decided that His counterpart Apollyon was too weak to rule, consumed Him and became Sartan the Malevolent. Many many old time Mhaldorian (the city of Evil) players lament the loss of Sartan, He had quite a reputation. Eventually Sartan 'sundered' back into Shaitan and Apollyon giving us the two Gods we have now.

For my two cents I love the Orders in Achaea, beyond House or City you can get such a sense of worth for your character taking a hardline view from a test faith and shaping your adventures through that means. I recommend!

Hail Babel!

I'm a very big fan of Achaea, have been playing now for about 5 years across one character or another. I've never been really PVP heavy but I'm pasable, managed to get to dragon in fact on my current character. In total, I've spent about $30 US on Achaea, I've bashed up enough credits to buy 2 curing systems in game, and some small time artefacts. IRE run plenty of promotions in game, so that if you don't have the moolah to dump into the MUD you can earn your high end shinies in other ways.

Sure it takes a bit longer, and I'd love to have the means to support my habit, but don't look at the prices per credit and run screaming.