I've played LOTJ on and off for almost twenty years now. Circumstances in life sometimes caused me to stop playing for years at a time, and running an eight year storyline in another MUD distracted me, but this is the one MUD that I consistently return to and I'm surprised by all of the developments that have occurred since I was gone. I literally feel like a new player each time I have to come back. I've met a lifelong friend on this game about fifteen years ago, that I still keep in touch with on a regular basis.

The MUD has a lot of custom code to differentiate it from most other Star Wars MUD's that have existed before and currently. It would be difficult to describe all of this in detail, but some standouts would be: the RPC, a council of elected players who help out with any questions you might have and debate restore requests from frivolous PK's/perms. The force system is pretty much one of a kind, but I'll leave the secrets for you to discover on the rare chance that you get to be one of the glowstick wielders.Espionage/Slicing/Medical/Science are all custom skills that aren't in a stock SWR codebase. There's a introduction/greet/dub system. Building ships and armor part by part as an engineer. Full ship interiors. Just too much to list and always something new being worked on. There's also a ton of players to interact with, as I've been seeing 80-85 players at night and even 40-50 in the wee morning hours. I've never had to go out of my way to get interaction with someone. I think the MUD is probably the definitive Star Wars RP experience on the internet. It's about the closest thing to a sandbox that you can get, in my opinion. Be careful of the addiction that might occur when you start playing.

---ALERT: This review is written by someone who is not a native English speaker.--

Dark Lord of the Sith giving his last breath as the shimmering blue lightsaber cuts through his chest, Jedi Master battling her way through the hoarde of sith troopers, Chancellor with a look of defeat on his face as he stands in the Senate Meeting unable to acquire the majority vote, a young aspiring smuggler picking the lock of a famous bounty hunter’s ship unaware of what is about to happen, an Ace pilot bidding his farewell as he hops aboard his X-wing’s cockpit, Fleet Admiral running left and right trying to keep her fleet intact while battling against a fleet of Mandalorian Dreadnoughts, a young child standing right at the Coruscant’s famous Plaza just as the Mandalorian Dreadnoughts start to bombard the planet, a slicer trying to hack the code of a turbolift in time to escape from the enemy base…

Lotj stands for Legends of the Jedi, but in reality it is the Legends of the Star Wars. Every player will have a chance to create and enjoy epic moments with their characters throughout the storyline of Lotj. I’d know, I’ve played many of those roles.

Those of you reading this might wonder if this mud is worth a try. Bear with me as I tell you my own story:

I was 18 years old back in 2004 when I first joined Lotj. The mud was crowded, there was about 100ish active players at every given day. The Republic hardly managing to stand straight, Kuat Drive Yards hoarding hundreds of Imperial Star Destroyers, Neru Bas dominating both the Sith and the Jedi as they had developed their own mantra and ways, the Republic and the Jedi Order crumbling down against the pressure of Neru Bas…

So being the egoistical guy I am, even at that age, I create my character. Name? Easy… Nadral Skywalker. Hrm no skywalker? Okay fine… Nadral Skylancer. Race? Gee what was Anakin’s race? Now I thought I was a Star Wars fan, at least one with some decent bit of knowledge, turns out I didn’t know jack. I called my best friend, asked him what was Anakin’s race since there were a bunch of human races and I wasn’t sure. He casually tells me Wookiee, and in the blink of an eye I had my first character. Just thinking about it gives me the goosebumps. I remember I was a total newbie back then, that is the one thing I miss the most. After taking my first wage, Senator of Ryloth suggests that I buy a ship. Sure I said, how hard can it be I said…

-Fast tracking 1 hour afterwards- With a defeated demeanor I finally ask to my clan mates, “So how do we launch this ship?” Launch? Really? That simple? -grumbles- Okay cool. So where is this engineering company at? Suffice to say I am one of those annoying know it all types. Back then the help files weren’t really as good as they are now, took me a long while to figure out the helpfile. Now it’s almost impossible not to find the information you are looking for.

I’m not the most popular person in Lotj. I’ve done some bad things in the past, I was helled and banned, to be fair they were all justified. I look at it all as a growing and learning experience. Much like in every community people will form their own opinions, some will be friends with you, some won't. But if you are still reading this, you have got to stop and wonder. 15 years spent at the same mud. How many of us can say that? I’ve been to various muds, they all have their own community. “Cliques” is just a word for friends that likes to play together. Yes it can be abused, some might share information. But such was the case in all the muds I have played at. At least in Lotj there are rules and punishments for those who break it.

Lotj from 15 years ago and Lotj now are quite different. Our community is not toxic. We do not frown upon outsiders or new players, it is quite the opposite. Lotj is one of the most new player friendly games you can come across.

For the Europeans and Asians out there. Hey I live in Turkey, so I’m basically in the middle of you lot. I won’t lie, the activity in EU timezone is not as great as the US timezone. That does not however mean that you will be all on your own, with nobody to interact with. There are plenty of us Europeans and Asians at Lotj.

As a player who has seen the ups and downs I can honestly say that -this- mud is worth playing. Oh and if you are wondering which ship I ended up buying? It was a Firespray, it is still one of my favorite ships. It has its own hotel(logoff) room, locker and a prison cell. So what are you waiting for? Come on over and create your own Legend.

PS: You might not believe me but I owe a lot to Lotj. My grasp of English is one of those. Should've seen the younger version of me trying to speak English when I started playing Lotj. So a huge thanks to the Lotj pbase (@Fishy and @Renegadejedi in particular.)

I have been playing LotJ for close to 14 years now. In that time, the longest I have gone without playing is probably 2 months.

There is always something to do, or some action to get in on and there is a fully story refresh about every 1.5 to 2 years.

There's 3 Eras per timeline, progressing from Old Republic through what some may recognize as the Original Trilogy (but typically only familiar in that there is an Empire and a Rebellion. Most recently it was an Empire of War Droids with an Emperor taught lightsaber skills by a Force Ghost), to the EU or sometimes the Sequel Trilogy.

But that's the only thing the timelines have in common. Every time the story refreshes, it's some new scenario and a chance to make your mark on the MUD. Become a Senator, be a Sith Lord, run your own engineering corporation and develop new and exciting equipment for the players to use.

Starting up a new character can be difficult and there are parts that can be a grind but the Immortals are always listening to feedback and make significant changes often, to help balance the game. Once the grind is over, your efforts are rewarded with an open world before you with only your imagination as the limit.

I have played LOTJ for awhile now with some breaks between firmly addicted sessions. I do have some criticisms of the place, but the most important thing to note is, in my mind, that I keep coming back.

The Good

Space Travel - The flight system is one of the most enjoyable mechanics on LOTJ for me. I loved it the first time I wandered into a public taxi on my first play-through, swiftly realized that after launching I had no idea whatsoever what to do that I was drifting slowly toward a sun, and found myself panicking while scouring helpfiles for how to contact other characters to rescue me. I ended up finding a way to send a radio message to other ships in my immediate vicinity, and whoever it was that answered after several such desperate hails guided me step by step, little by little, into getting into planetary orbit so I could land again. I'm sure this might SOUND like complaining, but it was actually one of my favorite experiences on a MUD, ever. I went from 'I wonder what this nonsense does' to suddenly finding myself immersed in the moment and setting, having to explain that I didn't take any naval courses at the academy, I don't want to fly into a sun, HELP.

Flight is complex but not so complex that it's unapproachable. Even with a good understanding of how to use the system now, there are layers and levels to it well above what I know. Orbital bombardments, tractor beams that actually work, capital ships that require multiple players to properly use... The list of what ships and 3D gridded space travel can do for every player from a diplomat with a personal shuttle to a smuggler with a beat-up freighter, then all the way up to a major government with several capital ships is pretty endless.

The Timeline System - This was difficult for me to comprehend, coming from games where the timeline is the timeline and it's always moving in a linear fashion, but it's actually pretty darn fantastic once you get a feel for it. The immortals design a three-part (each part is called an Era) storyline that extends across a couple real life years, then release the players into the often fully redesigned world to do their thing. There is usually a trigger point for the Era turnover, such as one major government managing to destroying the other. Throughout the course of the timeline, the three Eras play out. If you're still with me and don't get why this is a good thing (I didn't at first!), you have to think about it within the context of how Star Wars stories typically end - dramatically, and with massive destruction. Having a timeline means that that timeline will eventually end, which means that the players can (and probably will) destroy the ENTIRE GALAXY without it needing to be prevented by Staff so the game isn't ruined. With a finite story in mind, the players really can do anything. Being able to play within a plethora of different overarching stories and time periods is an added bonus.

The Neutral

Staff - The immortal team are about on par for what you would have expected from a MUD staff 15 years ago. They aren't awful by any means, but expect some unprofessional decorum. There are game-wide echoes with threats to the playerbase, flexing the ole immortal fist over this or that issue. A recent one was an immortal not liking that people were reporting building errors in their clan bases. While a simple, 'Guys, please report issues to your clan leaders so they can contact me with a list instead of spamming channels' would have sufficed, instead it threatened to Hell ('punishment'/jail room) the next person who reported a problem, and ended with 'You have been warned.' I get it, to an extent. I'm sure it was annoying to deal with. But there's professionalism and then there's that. I tended to feel the culture around MUD immortals having that attitude faded out long ago, but it's alive and kicking on LOTJ.

The flip side of the immortals being unprofessional, however, is that they're fun. You can joke around with them on Discord or the OOC channel, their news posts to the players with updates are often funny (DILLY DILLY!). Despite not always knowing what will push the wrong button and admittedly being a little wary as a result, I have no real complaints about the immortal staff. If the worst thing I can say about the imms is 'I don't understand why the tone of an occasional gecho has to be hostile' then we're in good shape. They're active, they're invested, they don't cheat or spy on players. That's all you really need.

Roleplay - When I'm recruiting friends or acquaintances to try out LOTJ I tend to tell them it's 'SMS RP.' The vast majority of roleplay I've seen during my time on the MUD has been over comms, which are spoken-word messages sent out over your comlink to specific frequencies, clan frequency, or the public frequency. Should you roleplay in person, you'll be using socials and the 'say' command. It IS roleplay in the sense that you are speaking for your character, but it isn't roleplay in the sense that most players of RP MUDs (RPIs, in particular) will expect. There is some variation, of course, where you'll find somebody who uses emote to do some of their own writing, but for the most part roleplay is socials, 'say,' and comms.

Coming from a background of heavy RP MUDs I was pretty disappointed at first, and I definitely struggled for immersion without the benefit of imagery or context. Over time, however, I have come to respect what people can accomplish using the aforementioned tools. It isn't my preferred roleplaying style, but there are many (most?) players on LOTJ who wield it to great effect. There are some who wield it so well that they invoke incredible amounts of personality without ever writing an emote. It's different and it's probably not what you would expect of an RP MUD, but that doesn't make it bad. Unique isn't bad.

The Bad

I hesitate to dub anything strictly 'bad' about LOTJ, but I think it's reasonable to list what I would change if I could.

Skill Grinds - Holymoly the grinding. First you'll be rolling through quests to get your 'levels' complete, which for most character archetypes won't be too awfully bad. Skill levels are just time-consuming enough that you'll be getting tired of it when you finish, and you'll come away with a feeling of accomplishment. For most archetypes, besides practicing with a few of your more finicky skills over time, you're good to go. For engineers, scientists, or slicers, you have a good two, maybe even three real life weeks ahead of you of either botting or entering the same two commands over, over, over and over again to get slivers of skill percentages at a time. The science grind takes about a week of solid 24-hour botting. The slicing grind, which involves entering 'slice (thing)', waiting a couple minutes, then entering 'secure (thing)' over and over, can take multiple real life weeks to finish, and cannot legally be botted.

While I can't argue against the idea that making these things so incredibly long-winded also makes them infinitely more valuable to have, I do tend to question a game mechanic that requires the player not to play the game, especially over an extended period.

Helpfiles - LOTJ needs some variety of helpfile searching system. 'Help search (keyword)' or something would raise the bar on my experience tenfold. It can be difficult to find helpfiles and many are outdated or insufficient. You can often get the information you need by phrasing it as IC-ish as you can and asking other players over comms, but it's best to have solid helpfiles. It would prevent a lot of the frustration of learning something new as a player that your character should already know, and it would stave off some of the more awkward IC questions that can be immersion breaking for roleplay.

Summary LOTJ is a charming game with a horde of satisfying systems and a unique roleplay style. Don't expect perfection, do expect fun.

First and foremost the claimed online count is, to say the least, misleading. As this game consists of at least 90-95% AFK botting (as this is what you will do most in this game, and there are no rewards to do it by hand because it's annoying and repetitive stuff) when you see 30 players online, only a few of those are actively playing. And it becomes blandly obvious when you try to find some RP outside of US peak hours, where you will barely ever see any player around, despite online count staying around 30.

But why do the bother to bot like that is beyond my grasp. The game is boring, pointless and one of those pretend-rp games, where the entirety of RP consists of withholding-name-game, where you refuse to 'greet' someone, despite introducing yourself, so that they won't remember you and the occasional scene where some rp may happen. But most of this game 'RP' is incredibly forced and works only as a thin veil to cover strictly OOC questions, like 'what is your score on galactic aptitude test' to share numerical stats in RP-way.

Unless you enjoy endless botting and once a week player interaction avoid this mud.

Legends of the Jedi is by far one of the best SWR based starwars muds out there: Solid code. High player count when storylines are hot. An evolving mud wide story line that resets every few years. Quality roleplay opportunities. However that said while there are certainly positive aspects of the mud there are also some glaring issues as well. LOTJ has a clique problem that is widely acknowledged by both staff and players and these cliques run rampant in all aspects of the MUD. Be it setting up exclusionary pvp groups to settle IC or OOC scores via the use of alternate characters, attempts to guide the muds storylines via out of game methods (also called aimcliques,) using cliqued force users to 'sense' or 'awaken' friends or stacking the Role Play Council to ensure voting goes their way the cliques have been a big problem and continue to be.

Just be warned that if you decide to play LOTJ there are two levels of gameplay at work: The IC scene and the secondary (or primary for some) OOC scene which tries to control the IC scene.

Legends of the Jedi is one of the few real Star Wars MUDs with any real staying power. They have a unique codebase which has been carefully groomed and guarded over the years, and they have an even more unique way of running the MUD. With a system of Timelines and Eras, the game remains fresh and objectively fair over the years by progressing time in the story over a 3 era spanning timeline. Once that timeline completes, they pwipe and start a new timeline at era 1. They make sure to mix up the importance of locations and bring fresh places as well as old favorites in and out of the story as it requires. The playerbase is strong and quite a bit more helpful than trolly which is something that has really kept me around. I'm on the outside of most major RP events because I don't dedicate the time to it that I used to when I was younger, but I still enjoy my time on LOTJ both IC and OOC and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys role-playing, science fiction or star wars.

LOTJ is the definitive Star Wars Reality experience, and should be your only destination if you crave a roleplay enforced environment with storytelling professionals.

The systems are spot on, the intrigue is abundant, and the gritty realism/danger of a perm death universe is exciting.

Stop on by, we'll get you going!

I've played Legends of the Jedi off and on since 1999. I played regularly in 1999, 2003-2004 and now since 2010. Each time, I've been what I like to call myself a 're-newbie' because I have to relearn the game every time I come back. This isn't a bad thing, it's because the MUD is in active, constant development. The game is always changing, sometimes worse sometimes better. New features are being added all the time, just this last year there was a major revamp to the slicer class that made it even more competitive than before.

Full disclosure: I am currently the leader of one of the game's dominant clans. My character, Zarkonian, has over 3700 hours of active gameplay on him. I have been engrossed in roleplay from the moment I made him, with people I don't like OOCly and with people that I do. This is a lot, as the game features a permdeath system. When you get involved in conflict, there is a chance you, your clan or your friends can be permanently wiped off of the map. I spend a considerable amount of time making sure that newbies and veterans alike get a position in my clan so that they can learn the game.

LOTJ is an RP PK game. This means that war is a very important aspect of the game's roleplay. As happened recently, occasionally a clan can be given months to prepare for an inevitable war and still not be ready when it actually happens. A clan being defeated almost always leads to the storyline moving forward, however, which is the beauty of LOTJ's rolling timeline. We have three eras -- the Old Republic, the Empire, and the New Republic. In each of these, war is the focal point and creates a lot of internal and external conflict between players. Emotions can run high and people may misattribute a loss to immortal intervention, but this is almost never the case from my personal experience.

In other reviews, I've noticed that some players complain our average player count has dropped from 76-65 to 50-35. This is true. Their reasons are mostly incorrect, however. LOTJ's player decline has coincided with every MUD's population decline since the popularity of MMOs increased. LOTJ is still very similar from an administration perspective as it was a decade ago, the only difference now is that the amount of non-text based online entertainment has increased.

Walldo is one of the better game owners I have dealt with on any MUD. I will admit I am difficult to deal with at times and even on LOTJ I have been banned and silenced for months at a time because I hurl abuse at players and staff. The difference here is that Walldo is willing to hear you out when you are angry. He's also willing to hear you out if you have a plan that he thinks will benefit the MUD's storyline.

I encourage everyone to give LOTJ a fair chance. Worry less about 'losing' the game. Play to win, but don't get mad when you lose.

First things first. When you start playing LOTJ it does appear brilliant. The MUD is as expertly-coded and polished as a SWR codebase MUD can be, except for the odd happening where a coder accidentally breaks the exp to next level thing when you type 'level' and it displays random number strings for months. After you've been around for a couple of timelines, if you're paying any sort of attention, you'll start noticing that certain characters act suspiciously like ones you've seen in past eras or timelines. And the clans run by those familiar characters seem to get an awful lot of breaks that other people don't, both from the immortals and by being conveniently left alone or outright assisted by, say, a clan of pirates run by yet another character that you feel like you've seen half a dozen times. To be fair, you can't entirely blame the MUD for this, as it's inevitable with a game that's lasted as long as LOTJ. People will naturally gravitate to each other over time, and you end up with a dozen or so powergamers that have been playing together for years and collaborate on everything. Should you develop a negative opinion about the mud that you make the mistake of expressing publically, prepare for open ridicule. They won't actually bother to attempt to counter anything you've said, ad hominem attacks are much, much easier. Olivia's review is a perfect example - within hours of it being noticed by the immortal staff, there were imms and players questioning whether or not the player was really a girl, speculating that the person was a bad roleplayer or had ragequit because they belonged to a defunct clan or one that was currently on the wrong side of a war, etcetera. Soon enough, you'll either have joined the player exodus (it wasn't that long ago there were 60-70 on constantly, now it's more like 30-40) or joined the 50% of the remaining playerbase that hides in their houses/clanbases/capital ships using the game's public comms network to insult other players from comfortable safety. Maybe, if you stick it out long enough, you'll get to join the clique.

Then you can win the internet.

Having hit nearly my seven year mark here at LotJ, I have to say I leave it with mixed feelings. Upon beginning to play, it was still a metropolis of well RPed characters, fun player driven timelines and a superb code; probably the most extensive and molded I've seen of the remaining Star Wars MUDs. I have spent a good portion of my adult life fine tuning and RPing characters here. In '07 I think I saw the player count hit 85 or more on a rare occation.

Unfortunately, fast forward to 2012, and we see a largely deminished player base. 45 to 50 people on at a time. Most of those good RPers I mentioned before have been driven off and are replaced by constantly hiding in your clan base because the IMMs cowtow to a clique of players who actively alienate and wage war on any who oppose them, make them feel threatened or have done either of these things in past timelines to them.

They control half of the galaxy, two of the major playing clans of this era and a ton of Capitol ships. Pretty much if you're someone like myself, there is no redemption, only PKs or straight up hiding in your future.

Not only do the IMMs constantly overlook their poorly RPed in character decisions, player kills and metagaming, but a handful actively use their IMMship to further their own IC agendas all while helping the clique out constantly with free IC swag and zero penalties for rule violations.

The extreme bias I've seen as this mud has switched owners is disheartening, and ultimately the reason I am departing after playing for the majority of a decade. At one point this MUD was player driven, RP based and fun. As it is now, if you're not on one of the IMMs good sides, appart of the super clique who always gets what they want with half the effort, or possibly Jesus, you probably will not have fun on this mud in the long haul. Might be fun for a short stint, though. Just try not to get to know the terrible people.

Let me start off by saying this mud has problems. All old muds do. However, this is one of the few muds I've found over the years where the pros FAR outweigh the cons.

This mud is quite literally the last real Star Wars MUD. Every single other competitor has either simply faded away or become so stagnant and unchanging that it might as well be considered dead.

LOTJ does a fantastic job of keeping things updated, adding new things and keeping the flow of the game moving so that the curse of stagnation does not force it to meet a similiar fate as the others. There is always conflict, as it should be, and it always keeps things interesting.

Again, there are a few obvious problems. Some of the players are less than spiffy, but I overlook that as the majority of the playerbase here is excellent and do what they can to make the game enjoyable.

To sum it up, if you haven't tried this mud and you, like me, have skipped through every Star Wars mud you can find looking for a solid home....well come in and be happily surprised. You've found it.

Legends Of The Jedi is a Star Wars based MUD that entertains era based time lines. Players will move from old republic, to Empire, to New republic, and that kind of thing over a span of about one era per year. When the final era is over, the time line restarts. This establishes legacies, and often has 'End Era Events', which consist of grand battles or nifty plots. I've had a fairly enjoyable time on the MUD, finding the RP both casual and intense at times. But the real thing that kept me around as long as I stayed was the fast paced PK and combat systems, which would pump adrenaline through my body time and time again.

PROS: The staff are constantly updating things, and are mostly friendly, helpful, and open to input. People are generally nice to newbies here, and it's even forbidden in most cases to kill someone who's under a certain level. The gameplay is pretty smooth, easy to learn, and aids roleplay/PK equally. There are coded commands in the emote system that allow you to target things, people, items, even ships. It makes it so much easier to become in depth in the game.

There is an account system that garnishes you points as your characters inevitably die. You can use these points to purchase levels, restricted races, or even force for your future characters.

CONS: Code that's broken in some places, or virtually useless in others because of how the player base has developed. A good example would be the weapons branch. Repeaters, and swords have become the only good weapons to use. Force pikes, pistols, and everything else has become obsolete because of lesser damage, and null supply of crafting materials. The staff have made it pretty clear that they don't intend on changing this.

War, which I feel is the main component of Star WARS, becomes a taxing chore when you have to mold your character ideas around what the code allows, unless you don't mind getting destroyed in PVP. Taking over planets is annoying, requiring hovering above them with a ship, and waiting for 3 hours as the popular support lowers.

The vast majority of the player base, I suspect, are thirteen year olds. The roleplay here is shallow unless you can establish yourself among a group of known friends, but that's frowned upon. The boards, and OOC channels can often be filled with trolling, arguing, and people just being stupid (And not in a fun way, which I always appreciate and have been known to partake in).

When you're not grinding levels here, or affiliated with some clan that's putting you to work, it can be very boring.

In SUMMARY: LOTJ is probably the best STAR WARS MUD that you'll find on the internet right now. Boring at times, it's infinitely worth it when the fast paced action begins (On land, AND in space.), and if you can find the right people.. the roleplay is really enjoyable as well. When the OOC does get out of hand, you can just turn the channel off. And most threads on the forums can just be ignored altogether.

I recommend LOTJ for any casual to moderate RPers, and virtually all PKers that can stomach roleplay.

As far as MUDs go, the desire in them is often for content, constant review, and updating. LOTJ delivers those things in droves. A given time line is supported by three playable eras during which anything from race costs to planet layout to whatever else can change. In the time I've been playing, at least three planets have already been updated to be more functional, look better, and provide a greater overall Star Wars experience.

The events hosted by the Imm staff are also a great way to be involved. Combat Games are hosted from time to time which pit players against each other outside of normal play. End of Era events bring all sorts of people out of the woodwork to play and see what happens.

The MUD is RP-enforced, giving each player a limited amount of OOC usage at any time. This allows players more of an opportunity to truly immerse themselves in the SW universe.

The MUD is non-cannon, so while it is the SW universe, the Imms and players drive their own conceptualizations of what is/should be going on at any time. There is even a council set up, which is elected by the players every so often, that reviews PK (player kill) cases to ensure that the MUD rules and IC protocol are followed. All around, I can't think of a better MUD to play on.

My experiences with LOTJ as a whole, over my time playing and staffing there, have been pleasant. This is despite the ever-present problems that every MUD has of the players who are only there to cause everyone headaches and frustration.

I played Legends of the Jedi for a period of several years, moving my way up from hopeless newbie, to a Roleplay Council member, to an Immortal in that blip of time. I got to see a lot of how the MUD works from every angle, and while the positions I found myself in caused me minor headaches at times the general playerbase always remained constant: Fun, devoted, and able to adapt to almost any change. It was the one thing I missed when I resigned my positions on the MUD to follow through with my education and career.

When I came back two years later, I was surprised to see that the old spirit hadn't changed. The Roleplay that a lot of our players put forth is without peer at times, and while we do have a few cat-girl skeletons in our MUD-closet, most characters rolled by our members are well developed and always up to something.

I would be lying if I said that bias', exploitations in code and staff, and power-gaming weren't present here like they are in every MUD at one point or another. The difference I've found is that once there is a problem, nobody stands for it. The issue gets resolved, in the end, no matter how many times someone tries to get away it. We all strive to make LOTJ better than ever, with everything that happens, and that what I feel has made the player base still appeal to me in the long run. It's why I came back, and why I'm still playing now.

-- Modem

I've played Lotj for 5 years now. I grew tired of the hack and slash of most muds and instantly fell in love with a rich environment where i could become one of the most influential and powerful players without ever needing to kill a single mob. A universe where everything is possible (my first character, a Jawa, fell in love with a human =D)

I've seen the fall and rise of mighty empires, horrific murders, terrible plagues, treachery, and justice. I've seen planets burn and mutants unleashed. I've fought in wars, been arrested for terrorism, abducted by Sith, harassed by drug addicts insisting my name is Edgar The Brain, and much more.

Whilst PK is permitted in this mud it generally only happens to those who deserve it, in my 5 years i've been PKed perhaps twice, once because i attacked another ship and another whilst a soldier of the republic, who spat in the face of a Mandalorian during a war.

The Pbase are fun loving and dedicated RPers. Why don't you come join us and see what has kept me here for so long.

-Rottki The Pirate. P.S I <3 Walldo

This mud rocks my socks. I mean seriously. I had to go buy a new pair yesterday. It's just that crazy. One day I was like 'lulz omg, this is awesome.'

The code is immaculate and always being worked on. And there are cool players there... like... uh... well, there's a couple of them. I think. Well like me for instance. I'm pretty awesome.

The immortals are ok. Sometimes they think they know what they are doing, but I set them straight, so it's all ok. They all know their places.

It's very well RP enforced, unfortunately shoot em and ask questions later can be fit into the IC flow... it happens. But regardless, this is the greatest SW mud I've ever played, and yes I've played them all, including the ones that are yet to come. Seriously.

Like I said, this place rocks my socks. So bring an extra pair.

This is one of the best muds ever it has a very large community of solid roleplayers, a well thought out character development system and a very light atmosphere. If you're new to roleplaying muds it's perfect for you, trust me, I was when i started.

The permanent death system is very well made and is one of my favorite parts of the mud, as it adds a sense of danger to the game. After you die, if your character is old enough you get points added to your account with which you can buy other races which adds a bit of replay ability to the game.

The multiclassing system is phenomenal forgoing the whole single class then remort style for a max level in each of the 12 classes. For instance you could end up being a level 150 engineer and a level 150 scientist and have 40 levels of piloting etc. This allows for dynamic characters and a lot of fun because you could go from making ships to smuggling to being a diplomat all in a day.

The clan system is also very well thought out. They can completely dictate how you play the game if you want them to, whether you're and engineer or a Combatant there's something for you join the imperials, the republic maybe? Or one of the many companies available most have job placement for everyone.

This is just a quick jotting of some things I like about it. Oh did I mention droids, datapads, player made space ships weapons and armor, the huge star wars setting, or player housing and shops? Nah... you'll see when you get there.

Take my word the best mud this side of Coruscant!

Legends of the Jedi is one of the best Star Wars based MUDs around. It is constantly evolving and changing, as the code base gets updated, new areas get built, new skills get coded in... all sorts of good changes and updates.

There are currently around 62 different species that you can play. Note though, that some of these are restricted based on the current time line, require an application to be able to select, or require you to spend some of your 'account' points to buy. This helps keep everyone from playing a Mandalorian for instance, which wouldn't make the galaxy very realistic.

About the points, you earn points based on the amount of time you have played a character, how well you have roleplayed, for participating in special events, and for cinematic death scenes. Its really a reward for good playing, and allows you to buy various races or even some levels to start out with. A very nice feature for the players.

The mud also has a great space flight system. Planets and objects are positioned based on an x y z coordinate system, and planets have an extra X, Y component. With the various ships you can get, space exploration and space combat can be really entertaining. Or maybe you just like to run cargo to earn lots of Credits. Its really up to you how you go about it.

And what about the ever popular force? I love how force is a random (although kind of low) chance for any character to have. You can't really be 'sensed' until you hit level 100, which prevents people from just suiciding until they get a forcer. You can also send in applications to play a forcer, or use a lot of points to start off with the force. Again, this prevents everyone from being a Jedi, and makes it a bit realistic with the random percentage.

LotJ also has a Roleplaying Council, a group of pseudo-immortals / staff people that are selected from the players (the run for office and are voted on). The RPC handles most of the roleplaying issues that might arise. Say some random Rodian murdered you for no apparent reason. You can take it up with the RPC, and if they didn't have a good RP reason for killing you, you would get a restore. I think this is another really good feature of the MUD, allowing those that invest time and effort in their characters to not just loose them to some PK happy power-gamer. Now, if there was good reason to kill you (maybe you stole his ship a few too many times, or he just happens to be a bounty hunter that a rival clan hired to take you out)... well then you stay dead.

The immortal 'staff' of the mud are pretty cool too, helping when bugs pop up or other weird glitches effect the mud. They even reward people who find the bugs and report them, or report any gross spelling errors or other issues that can hinder the players in the RP.

All in all, I have to say I love this MUD! ~ Viskin

LOTJ is a phenomenal player driven roleplay environment that hooks players by the sheer depth of the game. Before I played LOTJ I barely knew anything about Star Wars and I had never participated in any form of table top roleplaying, such as D&D. I didn't play LOTJ because it had anything to do with Star Wars. It was quite the contrary in fact. LOTJ actually turned me into a Star Wars fan and showed me how rewarding a roleplay environment could be.

It has a wide variety of professions to choose from that may be familiar to those who have played the SWR codebase, however there have been several changes over the years that have expanded the game to a great degree. There are several things to do whether you want to make millions creating the best equipment in the galaxy as an engineer, pickpocket and swindle your millions as a smuggler, make your millions claiming bounties as a bounty hunter, or endure a life on the run as a known criminal. The possibilities are endless.

The game has something to offer to both people who enjoy roleplay and those who enjoy a player killing environment. However, PKers beware because death is final and there are no second chances. I have lost several characters in the past who have been involved in the shadier side of things and to stay ahead of the pack you have to be quick thinking and tactful. Though, the feeling of outsmarting your opposition is exhilarating.

I have tried every class and every single class has its perks, but regardless of class your character will always have a diverse skill set depending on the race you pick. The game is very well regulated and the staff takes their positions very seriously. You don't have to worry about a corrupt staff here and there is a Role Play Council (RPC) that is elected by the player body to help assist in PK disputes and general roleplay technique.

I invite anyone to come try this mud out. I know if you take the time to appreciate all it has to offer you will be around perhaps as long as I. Our players are helpful and we always welcome new players, because with a larger pbase the events of the game can get even more exciting and crazy than they already are!

With LOTJ I played sometime last year, got extremely disinterested and left. Then a friend who continued to play, asked me to come back and give it another shot, so I did. I am still quite disappointed with the MUD. The game does have some decent features, plenty of races, your good ole Star Wars type classes with some good, thought out and sometimes downright impressive skills. The game is also quite newbie friendly, as long as you understand that some things cannot be answered on the newbie channel if the answer consists of In-Character information.

It has a couple of quests beyond the 'give this box to (name)', but not too many (that I have found.) So with all of these grand skills and decent coding, what is the problem? The players, the RP and the character limitations that can be encountered. The staff, I have found to be helpful for the most part, every instance of where I legitimately used a request for assistance, I was properly assisted.

My number one and primary issue is character development. When I create a character, I expect to be able to play my character the way he is meant to be played. If I make an engineer, I expect him to be able to make and repair stuff. I expect a medic to be able to learn first aid and cybernetic installations. All of the above works perfectly well, but for their system for bounty hunters this does not work so well.

The bounty hunter system works great on paper, but then seems to die once put into action. You have hunter master, whom new hunters need to learn their skills from. But first you have to find them, then you have to hope they teach outside of their OOC groups. I've not experienced the refusal to teach, I have heard of it, and based on my experiences, I believe it; I have, however, experienced the inability to find a teacher.

I play my character as a hunter, I expect him to be able to get the skills of a hunter, not to have to spend over 4 IRL weeks roaming around hoping to magically find some teacher and then pretend that he has no experience whatsoever and needs a master to guide him in things he has already been doing, but just doesn't have the hard coded skills to back up.

Most of the RP I see, are arguments. At least once a day the IC channels seem to flare up with insults, arguments and IC anger. (Mind you this is in character, not players insulting players). The rest of the RP seems to happen within clans and organizations behind closed and locked doors.

There are however, once in a while, major RP events. Like the most recent was this explosive mold infestation. While I admit, this is a genius way of stirring things up, the problem was solved within approximately 72 hours. Players that have been there a while were instantly solving the problem, while some of us were still trying to figure out what is going on and how to interact with the whole situation. I still don't quite understand what RP went on to solve the problem. Most of it seems to have been done in a personal ship owned by one corporation, or in the base of another.

The RP on this game is not the type that sucks you in and carries you away like most real good RP would do. It seems more like the kind you have to find, force your way into and try not to get shot back out of it, or killed. Dead is an easy thing to get here, although people do seem to be a little less perm happy than the last time I was here. My first character lasted less than 3 hours from creation, all of my current chars have been alive at least a week.

At the time of this review, I am still playing, still trying to get somewhere with my characters. However, between the sitting around wondering where everyone is, and the running my head against the wall hoping to break through with progress on my character, I wouldn't be surprised to be finding myself leaving again, this time without coming back.

In all honesty, it has been a rather negative experience for me, but I have stuck it out because I do see the potential of this game. I see that there are staff that want to see it succeed and want the players to enjoy their time in the game, and deep down I am hoping for changes of my situation so I can discover the fun and have a place to stay and enjoy.

All in all, with the pros and cons of the game boiled down, I would say at least give LOTJ a try. Obviously not everyone has the same views as I do, otherwise there would not be a Pbase to speak of. There are staff that truly want to see you enjoying the game and that listen most of the time if you have something worthwhile to say. There is still a lot of room for improvement, and realistically I see them at least trying. Which is more than can be said for most MUDs.

I began to play Lotj about a month ago, after I decided to give it a go when another Star Wars mud I have been playing decided to die out and just idle. It's a good mud, the code is great and offers a variety of things to do, classes to choose, equipment to wear. The players are generally a newbie friendly lot, but you get the occasional person who's a jerk.

The downside to Lotj.

They claim to support RP. Lotj's idea of RP is use code all the way, get an occasional say in, but code code code. 'RP' on Lotj is get shot. And the game has a rule established where if you disagree with your current situation, you cannot complain or try to go against it until the entire RP is over. This means possibly being left unable to do anything for up to 1-2 hours. If you complain about it to the immortals, they tell you to read the rules.

If you enjoy good code, and shooting people Lotj is for you.

If you dislike people shooting you first without emotes and reason, then run away.

LotJ is a great MUD in my opinion. Although the name is slightly misleading, and may make you think that it's easy to become a jedi or forcer, it's actually not easy. Few are ever forcers, but there are tons of other fun things to do, and get involved in. I enjoy it very much, and someday will be able to RP as a forcer.

All classes are unique and interesting to play, and all have an impact on the gameplay. Not only are the classes unique, but the races are as well. Though I would like to see special, unique abilities per race, who knows if it'd happen. Never even submitted the idea! I should though. In any case, two thumbs up for LotJ.

This mud is very well coded and thought out, with strict RP/PK Policy as well. It also takes a long time to develop your character. About 6 months later, and I still had yet to max all my sciences. New features have been added over time, a gathering system invented and makedroid feature adds a nice touch, and gameplay can be hours of fun if you find the right people to roleplay with.

However, from a player standpoint I have yet to say that LOTJ has matured into the utopia of star wars muds that it could be. There is still corruption among immortal staff, some of whom tend to have vendettas (I've been the target of several).

A personal account should explain it best. Here is my experience:

I returned from a break of about two months and created a jawa just for fun. I'd been playing for about three hours, joking around like I usually do, with the people who AREN'T busy botting. When I noticed one of the 'friendly' imm staff had decided to set my jawa as a human for 'poor' roleplay. Mind you it had been awhile and I may have said a few nonsense things on IC channels, but nothing drastically over the boundaries of that race's RP. Now, their rules state that you'll be given a warning and a week to adhere to the roleplay rules if your're inconsistent with the RP for that race until that type of measure would be taken. For me it was different. I inquired about why I had been immediately stripped and was met with a rather rude response and even called an 'idiot'.

This is the type of treatment you can expect from the staff if they don't like you. There is no diplomacy, nor is there negotiation. If you are vilified, then it will be clear they do not want you there and any good characters you roll, you can be sure to lose it somehow until you get the message that you are clearly not welcome there.

Other than that, if you haven't made any enemies with the staff and get along fine with everyone, you have nothing to worry about. There is however, an occasional spammer here and there who sends rather obscene messages to the mud and causes it to crash totally at random. This could possibly be another disgruntled mudder who has taken matters into their own hands in an non-constructive way.

I've been a long time running fan and player of Legends of the Jedi (LotJ). Sadly, I've in the military so the actual amount of time I've spent on LotJ is not since 98 or 99, but rather maybe a totally of five years at the most.

This MUD has had its ups and downs. Way back in the day when Ghost and Raven ran things, the MUD was just blossoming. Very few of the current playerbase remember that far back, but we veterans are still here nonetheless. Over time Orion came to the MUD and things really started to kick. The MUD more or less took off and became (I feel) the number one Star Wars MUDs out there.

Of course the trip is not without it's rocky roads, but dedicated players and an outstanding Staff have kept LotJ despite all the detours we've taken. For those of you that tried LotJ long ago, we have entirely new code, new planets, new features and new systems. This is truly a MUD that has taken the idea of Star Wars and presented it wonderfully on LotJ.

LotJ normally goes through three stages, or eras as we call it. First being the Old Republic / Mandalorian / Sith era. This is generally when LotJ 'starts over' and the MUD has had a pwipe. The plot is player driven and eventually turns into the Galactic Empire / Rebellion era. Of course, we then move into the New Republic / Remnants era which is generally our 'last era' until we decide to start entirely over with the first era. As stated in a previous review, each era lasts a long time. Months, sometimes a year. Sometimes it could be short, who knows. As I said, it's player driven.

Anyone out there looking for a RP heavy MUD, LotJ is for you. You want to be a badass and be a 'twink' of PK, you can do that here though, but expect it to still come with its fair share of RP. Star Wars fans and fanatics rejoice, LotJ was made for you.

LOTJ. The bastion of Star Wars Mudding Paradise. A strong game of ample RP and more players than you could count on both hands. Creatively formed clans and true Star Wars drama permeated the place so heavily that OOC channels were practically phased out.

So...What Happened? As the 'Era Changes' became more and more frequent, the game started to take on a rather odd quality. It remained good, but odd nonetheless. The constant PWipes and Clan changes took some serious getting used to, but it was something you could easily tolerate in order to enjoy the quality of this game...until now.

The Era changed a few days ago, and such clans sprang up as 'A Neutral Government', yes, that's it's official title. 'Well...that's not TOO bad...' you say? It now has PETA. Yes, PETA. The very same PETA we have here on earth. At first I suspected it was merely a joke, simply a quip of good humor to welcome back it's players after the most recent PWipe, but when I inquired about it, people were offended. As if I'd just insulted the greatest idea they've ever had.

I honestly believe that one of the greatest Star Wars muds ever has degenerated into a mockery of itself. Perhaps the constant era changes requiring complete revamps of planets and clans has exhausted the staff's creativity? Perhaps it's drawn every drop of imagination they've had out and wrung them dry, leaving us with Space PETA. I don't know the answer, I just know it's wrong...disappointing...and disheartening to see.

Goodbye LOTJ. I knew ye well.

Legends of the Jedi, has certainly evolved over the years. From a poorly run, PK happy environment, to a better run PK justified world. Though I'm happy to announce that recently a more MUSH oriented part of the Galaxy has been built and opened for those who wish to RP rather than P v P, the Hapes Cluster.

Hapes is off by itself, much like canon, and isolated from the rest of the Galaxy. Its built more towards heavy, adult oriented RP rather than the 'classic war' of the Empire vs the Rebs that is about to happen in the 'main galaxy.'

The staff is the best its been in the 6 or 7 years I've played the game. They are courteous and helpful and willing to work with you on ideas you wish to introduce into the mud. The coding is fresh and vibrant, and the building is unique and well thought out. With over 30 people logged on during the 'slow' periods, there is still plenty to do for loners and those that require people alike.

Come give it a shot, its voted one of the top 50 muds on TMC, and well worth it!

Bliz.

I came into the mud at the suggestion of a friend of mine from school (Jason a.k.a. Pyke). He told me about the mud, what kinds of things to expect, the different classes and races available.

To be honest, I half expected it to be similar to other muds I have played. I have never been more happy to be proven wrong.

The playerbase in general is very newbie friendly. The RP is very rich. Most players will go out of their way to RP with someone even if it is someone they don't know ICly.

The main thing that really stands out in my opinion, however, is that there are so many paths you can take with your character. From being a lowly engineer on a meager salary, to a bounty hunter, to a smuggler with your hands in someone's pockets, to even a slicer with your hands in someone's bank accounts...the possibilities for character arc advancement are only limited to your imagination.

If you have been bored with Star Wars muds before, I urge you to at least give LoTJ a shot. The immortals are friendly and always willing to help. Our Roleplay Council (RPC) are available for pointers on RP...as are the regular pbase.

And in the words of the immortal race known as the Jawa....UTINNI!!! Viva la Jawa!!!

I do not know where to start, except that really this is a great mud. Yes, there are those few renegades who will twink, be jerks, and other stuff, but every mud has those few people. What I really like about LOTJ is how the Staff and the Playerbase usually responds to it. The players do not bring it up ICly, and the Staff does what it can to punish/fix bugs/code in new features to make playing more enjoyable while keeping those select few limited on abusements.

LOTJ, in my near year playing, has been constantly changing for the better with new code, planets, rp oppurtunities and Pbase growth. The staff is always willing to respond to problems, and have even implemented a feature that allows one to display their problem to the imms until one gets around to helping you.

Newbie-friendliness has been greatly improved and only gets better as more and more players help out Newbies with problems and getting through confusing parts of the game. Truly, this is a great mud and one of the best SWR muds, and most certainly my favorite mud above all.

Poor roleplaying overall. The typical thing on this mud is to shoot first and simply don't ask questions. Players tend to group up then search for reasons to kill others. Sadly it seems as the SWR world gets smaller the crummy players crawl out of the woodwork. If you're desperate for a mud with many players it's a good choice...but you wouldn't know since they don't let you see the who list.....hmmmm