Wow! I did not expect so many responses so quickly. Thank you, all, for your time and effort in doing so.

@Silver - I did notice Eldritch was staying away from Mage, though only after a great deal of digging. I found this regrettable, but I can understand the reasons. Mage's power seems to be balanced heavily around Paradox, and I guess that can be difficult to monitor / quantify in a MUSH. I wish White Wolf had more splats that allowed people to be so flexible in their character design though (both in powers and in personality,) but this isn't a game breaker. I plan on starting Mortal, wherever I play, and just seeing where that takes me and, more importantly, what group of people that takes me to. Staff is always important. I do like the 2e focus (feels a lot more balanced to me than 1e, particularly when comparing different supernatural templates) and the encouragement of cross-sphere interaction rather than shunning such roleplay. Seems like that would make the game feel larger and more populated relative to a server that isolates the spheres.

@ThatOneDude - Thank you for the warning. Reno's population does preclude me from really giving it a fair chance, at the moment. As for the plots in Eldritch, however, I admit that I actually prefer staff running / facilitating smaller plots for individuals who want to do things that affect the server rather than staff spending their time on large, cumbersome metaplots which leave very little room for true player engagement. In Neverwinter Nights, DM-run "main plots" (as they were often called) tended to be completely railroaded. No diverging paths, no meaningful player decisions or actions / consequences. Perhaps this is not the case with the "main plots" run in MUSHes, though? Thanks again for your advice.

@Coin - You say you (Eldritch) don't want to be "the next big thing." Does this mean that you do not want a larger player base / new players? It seems you'd prefer a lot of niche servers, rather than one where a lot of people with differing views/personalities can clash. Is this correct? I suppose my aversion to small / shrinking player bases is founded upon what often happens when we humans interact with the same people day after day with nothing to shake things up -- we start talking about the weather. Regardless, I appreciate your desire to see all of these places succeed. I wish more people held such goodwill.

@Sunny - My use of the terms was based simply on the Reach website pointing to one successor, while others were ignored by that same medium. It seems I misused them? I wasn't implying that one server had the right to be open and the others didn't -- I do not think this at all, and have experienced similar fracturings in the past with different games (UO shards, NWN servers, etc.) I get that people have different visions, and I whole-heartedly believe anyone who is willing to put forth the effort to realize them, should be able to.

Ah, I had read that New Prospect had no policing / staff interference, but hadn't read the same of City of Hope. That's unfortunate. Much as that would work in an ideal world, I discovered at an early age (thanks to many days of rescuing LEGO princesses and fighting [losing] LEGO wars with friends) that when presented a game/world without rules or referees, my friends had an incessant need to always "win." That's what makes these systems (DnD, WoD, SR, etc) so appealing to me -- the ability to handle conflict resolution in an unbiased (less biased?) manner when people are unable to compromise. Kingsmouth is the Vampire-only world, right? Would you mind telling me what non-WOD game has seen so many people? Thank you for all your insight Sunny.

@Miss-Demeanor - I've never understood the private hideaways. Always felt like that defeated the purpose of roleplaying on a medium like this. I'm not surprised that's a problem on MUSHs as well, but I'll certainly keep an eye out for it, and hopefully I can find some players who are not so inclined to the safety of their private cliques.

@Ganymede - I enjoy the idea of a multi-sphere world, but only when the spheres aren't isolated from one another. However, I do enjoy Vampire more than most spheres, even if some of the lore feels restrictive (never came to terms with the idea of playing a creature that was, in turn, playing at being human stuck in time, incapable of true change from its original personality.) Can't remember if Blood and Smoke loosened that a bit. I didn't know about that Off-Screen System. Just read up on it and find it quite interesting. Seems it would help lighten the load on staff while still aiding in fleshing out a true Vampire experience. Thanks for the recommendation!

@2mspris - Ahh, I heard about the whole EotW thing. In fact, I think that was going on when I first discovered TR. That's cool you guys set up an alternate reality to explore it. Doesn't sound as much like my cup of tea, though, having never played on TR and likewise, the carried-over characters would certainly be daunting for a new player (or maybe that's just me.) Good luck, though, and thank you for the clarification.

I appreciate all the help. All the opinions and points. All your time. I believe I've collected quite a bit of information, even about some servers I hadn't realized existed. If anyone has further advice, I'll certainly consider it. I think Eldritch and Kingsmouth seem the most intriguing as of now, so I'll have to try out both and see if either of them click. Maybe one more, not sure what one. Maybe I won't get that far -- maybe I won't need to.

Thanks again.

Interested person here. Long-time roleplayer (NWN veteran, old MUDs, newer MMOs.) Untested, novice MUSHer.

I became interested in the World of Darkness setting and books a few months back after a friend began a VtR campaign. Somehow stumbled across The Reach and bookmarked the information for when I'd have more time (Summer / Now.) Discovered, recently, that The Reach is basically dead, with one official replacement coming shortly, and a number of unofficial replacements that seem to have sprouted in its wake.

Now I've been trying to determine the reasons as to why this great divide happened. Whether it's just that people had grown tired of the old setting, old characters -- stagnancy? Or whether there are administrative issues. Or simply players that couldn't separate IC and OOC, whose grudges seeped through and pervaded the atmosphere of the server.

I can't come to a definitive conclusion. I wasn't there. There seems to be a lot of grudges though, regardless, making it difficult to get unbiased information.

So I thought I'd inquire here about the server options available, as now I have the inclination, and, more importantly, the time to get my RP fix. So allow me a few questions, if you will:

1. Where have most of the players gone, or where will they go? The player base makes the roleplay, so this is an important question for me. I noticed City of Hope seems to have taken the reigns as the #1 populated WoD world right now -- is that just coincidence? Is there something there that's been drawing everyone, or is that just temporary while Fallcoast / Eldritch get their bearings? I was under the impression that oWoD wasn't nearly as popular. I'd have to learn the new system, unfortunately, but I'm not averse to it if the server is drawing people because it's good enough to be worth it.

2. Is now a good time to get into WoD MUSHes? Seems like it is, with the great deal of turbulence / transition going on that might allow opportunities for a new player. At the very least, it seems like that would mean less stagnancy.

3. Are there any recommendations or anti-recommendations for any WoD servers? I've heard both good and bad about a few of them that makes deciding on one quite difficult, but I've had to read individual advertisement threads all the way through, and even then only picked up snippets of what makes it one or the other. I'm inclined to give any of them a chance, regardless. Though I wish the decision was more cut and dry, as I've dealt with both extremely dramatic and stagnant servers on Neverwinter Nights in the past, and while fun could be had, it was often bittersweet and tinged with a sense of discontent. I guess what I'm really asking here is -- Which are you playing on or going to play on, and why? It can be any reason or reasons. I'm finding it difficult to quantify the good and bad that I've read about these servers, so a few honest opinions might sway me. Try to avoid the "Because so-and-so isn't or is there" reason though, unless you can link me to a source (here or in a message) that would give me insight into the Why of it.

I know this is a selfish question -- request, even. Maybe this isn't the place or forum to even post it? But I've found myself at quite the crossroads, and could use a little insight from those who've dealt with all these demons and fae before. Thanks.