Explanation:
Materia Magica is an online game that I have been playing for since 1999. Due to the size of the game, the creator, Ryan Addams, prefers to call Materia Magica an IEN rather than a MUD. There are well over 100 players online at most times.

Near the bottom of the page is information on how to play the game. It is free and you probably won't have to download anything.

The game is set in a fantasy world during medieval times. The world is called Alyria, and it has two moons, Marabah and Trigael, circling it. There are various mythical races that inhabit this world, but players can only pick from twelve different races. A player can chose to be a Human, Half-Elf, Elf, Drow, Gnome, Dwarf, Halfling, Sidhe, Fey, Dracon, Minotaur, or an Ogre. Each race has different stats. After picking a race, a player can choose his or her 'class'.

Classes:
There are 14 different classes a player can chose from. Barbarian, Paladin, Valkyrie, and Cavalier are fighter classes. Monk, Wizard, Ranger, and Psionic are mage classes. Rogue and Bard are thief classes. Priest, Shaman, Witch, and Druid are cleric classes. Every 60 levels, a player can add a 'class' to his character, but a character can only have four classes. A player can only pick one fighter class, one mage class, one cleric class, and one thief class. When a player adds a class to his or her character, it is called 'multi-classing'. When a character multi-classes, he or she retains all of his or her skills and spells from his or her previous class and will eventually learn skills and spells from their new class.

The World:
Alyria has four different major continents, and on these continents, there are various cities, inns, dungeons, and so fourth. Sepharia is on the northwest side of the world, and is the most populated continent on Alyria. Avros is on the northeast side of Alyria. Beltane is on the southern side of the world, and on the southwest side of the world is Auryn. Between these four continents is Irda Isle, and deep in the sea of Alyria, adventures can find Atlantis. The areas a player can explore are not limited to being in the world of Alyria. There are other realms adventures can travel to through the use of magic, such as the Faerie Plane, the Void, and the Great Alyrian Underground. The Faerie Plane is the home of the Sidhe and Fey, and the Void is the world of the dead. The Great Alyrian Underground is a vast network of tunnels that connect to each other. Down here, the sunken city of Decara rests, as does Vir, the home of the Dracons. Various other areas exist in the tunnels besides these two towns.

Click this to view information about the world on Materia Magica's site.


Features and Roleplay:
Alyria has its own economy, religions, transportation system, government, and so fourth. The economy changes regularly, and is influenced greatly by player to player interaction. Unfortunately, the Alyrian economy is currently suffering from inflation. Due to this, the Materia Magica's staff has implemented various mini-games that players can spend their gold on. Ganuk, an NPC in the town of Rune, owns one of the most successful transport agencies in Alyria. There have been some player owned transport companies that have done well, like the Twin Moons boating agency. The religions of Alyria were implemented for Role Playing purposes. The town of Xaventry is a gathering point for various religions.

Additional Information:
When a player dies, he or she goes to the void. (Unless he or she is a Fey or Sidhe, then they will go to the Faerie Plane.) After some time (Usually 6 minutes, unless you have a bad 'reputation'), the character will come back to life. A player usually does not lose anything unless he or she dies in a 'Chaotic Player Killing' area. If a player dies in a Chaotic Player Killing area, he or she will lose some of his or her equipment and items, but with certain magical items a player can protect most of his or her belongings if he or she is careful.

There are over fifty player ran clans in Alyria, and if a player wishes, he or she can purchase a clan of his or her own if he/she is a high enough level and has enough gold.

Pictures of the Game:
The wilds. - This is a picture of what the world looks like outside of town.

Combat.- This is a brief example of what a fight looks like.

In Lord Vashir's Palace. - This is an example of what a player will see when he or she is inside of a town.


To Play Materia Magica:
A player can connect to Materia Magica by using a client like Telnet. The host is Materiamagica.com, and a player can use port 23, 4000, 6666, 8000, or 9000. Clients other than Telnet can be found at http://www.materiamagica.com/support/clients/index.php. Different clients have different features which can make gameplay easier.

Links:
Goto MateriaMagica's Home Page - http://MateriaMagica.com