Match of the Millennium MUCK

[Fei Dawen]

Hello all! I'm a player on Match of the Millennium MUCK and I’ve been asking around here about what people think of it these days, but it turns out that many people haven’t heard of it. So, here’s an advertisement to fix that and bring in some curious guests.

Match of the Millennium is a martial arts and modern-day supernatural-themed game that brings together the characters and worlds of fighting games like Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Killer Instinct, Darkstalkers, Guilty Gear, and BlazBlue. It’s been around for over a decade and currently has an excellent staff and a pretty lively and engaged playerbase (we got around 60 logins last Sunday evening EST). There’s currently a plot going on with a lot of fighting and a decent amount of political intrigue and it’d be easy to jump in.

Here are what I view as its best points:

• Non-toxic, non-harassing, chill staffers. Years back, MotM had toxic staffers and I know it still has that reputation with some people. But Akari of Jipang fame has been in charge for a while and they are a legit AAA game developer with, in my estimation, no interest in power plays and no time for drama. I think having mature/non-destructive staffers is the rarest and most valuable quality in MUs and this game has them.
• The best combat system of any MU. Really fun, very deep, and a game unto itself. You can test it out as a guest, too, so feel free to log on and try it!
• Easy, streamlined app. You’re welcome to app an original character right off the bat, but if figuring out your abilities and attacks is tough or confusing at the beginning, you can start with a featured character from one of the games (like Chun-Li or Scorpion) and learn about the game’s setting and combat system that way, since all featured characters have their abilities and attacks preset.
• Robust AP (Advancement Point) system and an auto-logger in-game to track when you scene. You get the same amount of AP from a lengthy social scene as you do from an epic fight, so you’re incentivized to RP however you like. Moreover, AP attaches to players rather than characters, so you can play a featured or temp character and then spend those Advancement Points on your original characters (as long as their growth makes sense in-character, obviously). This encourages you to play a wide variety of characters, and it’s really fun to develop an original character from a starting low level to greater heights.
• Temp system! Once you play a single character (original or featured), you can easily temp almost anyone from the list of featured characters without writing an app. No need to beg your friends to app your canonical allies and rivals: they can pick them up, play them, drop them, and pick them up again whenever they (or you) want. And every player gets AP for it!

The game’s (humble) website is here: http://motm.kicks-ass.net/
The apps are here: http://motm.kicks-ass.net/info/application.shtml
And the game’s address is motm.kicks-ass.net:2002.

If you have any questions, log on as a guest and friendly staff and players will assist! Quick tips: Type “avail” to see the available feature characters, “charlist” to see all the characters by series, and enter the OOC lounge and go up to visit the Floating Island if you’d like to test out the combat system OOCly.

[Alzie]

@fei-dawen can you describe the games plot focus? I've seen it, but never been able to imagine how plot moves beyond fight things.

[Fei Dawen]

@alzie Sure! About 2.5 years ago, the game rebooted the storyline and added more supernatural elements by integrating Darkstalkers and Mortal Kombat, which has monsters and demons and so forth. All of the evils from these games represent threats to the world that the heroes combat. For example, in the current King of Fighters 2017 plot, the "Gear" known as Justice (from Guilty Gear) has nuked Japan's Mt. Fuji at the behest of an infiltrated United Nations, thereby causing the ancient serpent god Orochi (from King of Fighters) to stir and revealing all the hidden ninja villages (like Kasumi and Ayane's from Dead or Alive). The thunder god Raiden (from Mortal Kombat) is enraged by these excesses of human technology and wants to send everyone back to the Stone Age. So basically every character on the game has a stake in how the plot turns out, and that's probably why it's gotten so lively.

Because of the integration of multiple fighting games, there isn't one dominant good or evil faction driving the plot or trying to win some sort of end-game. Instead, there are many factions and many more faction-independent characters, and what players typically do is focus on their own character's development while getting involved however they want in the overarching story.

I know some people really like heavily faction-driven games because there's a kind of conclusion everyone in the faction is striving for, but if you're not used to a more individualistic game, I encourage you to try it. I personally enjoy the freedom and flexibility of RP a lot more. Even if it can be harder to leave an enduring impact on the gameworld (because everyone's invested in different outcomes and so there's less of a collective consciousness about what's going on), the fun of developing close-knit relationships, forming your character's own network of allies and rivals, and having them come into play from plot to plot more than makes up for it.

Is that a satisfying answer to your question?

[Alzie]

@fei-dawen That was a lot more detailed then I expected. It was more than satisfying. It's also a lot more open-world morality than I expected from a fighting game muck. I could will get behind this.

[Fei Dawen]

@alzie Awesome! Thank you!

One more note for those interested: Because it is a fighting game MU, we do tend to, uh, resolve most problems by fighting, just out of habit (most people love the combat system a lot). But that's not how conflicts have to be resolved. One original character has been shaping the plot effectively just through social scenes. If that's what you want, it definitely can be done! (And I'd be happy to see more of it.)

[Lithium]

@alzie There's a few other things you may wish to take into mind but you will likely see it for yourself if you do check it out.

I advise everyone to go to their wiki, and read what their application process requires.

It's pretty extensive especially when they use a custom system (or at least one I am not familiar with) for their stats, attacks, coded combat, etc.

Still would advise people to take a look, it seems interesting overall.

[Tempest]

@lithium I'm guessing it's an app via email kind of place? Probably uncommon to a lot of people around here, but not the end of the world.

SRT Mush and others still seem to operate like that too.

[Alzie]

It is app via email, but I'm not averse to that so...

[Fei Dawen]

@lithium That's a fair point. Because of the complexity of the combat system, you do have to put some thought into the "fighting style" part of the app. If anyone's on the fence about the game because of that, I recommend apping a feature character, since all their abilities and moves have already been designed, and playing a bit to see if you want to put in the effort to app an original character.

And, yeah, the app is by e-mail. Some things haven't changed in the decade+ it's been around, haha.

[Fei Dawen]

Oh, right, one other great feature on MotM that just sprung to mind: the minion system!

Any player can spawn a premade bit from a long list with predefined power levels and attacks/abilities and control them in combat. So you can make allies for yourself if you want to roleplay fighting someone of a higher power level, or you can effectively GM scenes for others by just controlling minions and not involving your actual characters. That can be really fun. People can roleplay as and run minions for you to fight against for lower-stakes combat scenes, or you can do that for others if you enjoy that sort of thing. Don't be shy about requesting that!

[hamstersonPcP]

[Fei Dawen]

Thanks to the new players who've apped and joined! Just a quick update: our current plot has gathered steam and so far 60 characters are signed up for the next round of scenes, with November 1st being the sign-up deadline. Apps are being approved same-day and it's easy to get involved, so if you're curious, come check us out.

Also, if you're interested but you don't have much experience with fighting games, you could consider emphasizing the modern-day supernatural angle of the game's theme. The integration of the Darkstalkers series means that werewolf, ghoul, vampire, or otherwise monstrous characters are appable. If you get a character idea along those lines (just in time for Halloween) poke around and staff can surely help.

[Chet]

You can also apply for characters that aren't on the game yet (in some instances). I'm particularly fond of applying for Final Fight characters as FCs with this process, and custom tailoring them.

[ShelBeast]

So I just app'ed Guy from Final Fight/Street Fighter. I need friends! And enemies! And Frienemies!

I'm looking for:

• Cody
• Haggar
• Dean
• Lucia
• Rolento
• Katana
• Hugo
• Poison (yessssss Poison.... >_>)
• Damnd
• ...the entire Mad Gear Gang

Some of the Mad Gear Gang would be cool to have going legit. Like Hugo and Poison did with their wrestling bit for awhile. It'd be cool to see what others might be up to, and see if Katana can draw them back in to Mad Gear, since I believe that's something that's being done in with Abigail atm.

Anyway! Come play with me!

[hamstersonPcP]

So the image bump was broken and did little for a temporary endorsement, so I fixed it now that I have time to delve deeper. Useful. Moving on...

MotM has had a long and storied history, some incredibly strong periods and some interminable lulls. The game at present is perhaps the healthiest it's ever been, on several levels, not the least of which are the creative quality of the RP and RPers there and openness to various ideas and preference.

Digging further, the bad:

Some staff are fairly behind the scenes or absent, and there's some Venn overlap here with old players who can be difficult to engage.

The pace of RP here can move much slower than some of the biggest games, with mechanics in place to allow saving and continuing fights largely accommodating those with less time at one spell.

The csys learning curve can seem overwhelming at first. It's a system simplish to learn and forever to master, so don't be too intimidated, but it's good to accept there'll likely be a period of being often asskicked.

Some systems are archaic at this point in the hobby. Email apps, a path system instead of meet, events driven by sign up machine and bb instead of calendar. In defense of this I note simply that in most cases MotMs features predate these quality of life bits, despite being due an update imo.

The theme seems to be such that many mu*ers spurn it as shallow or one note. Which kind of amuses me in a world where tights and gothic eyeshadow are the big things. This one is silly, get over yourself. Nerd.

The Good:

Plenty of staff are active and engaged and non-hostile (an important caveat in the modern scene it seems...). Apps and requests are generally not a horrible wait, and as mentioned, the exceptional head coder is nominally in charge and still tweaking the system for balance and expanding it.

The playerbase is high quality with many deep character driven storytellers; far more than the simplistic source material tends to suggest. My writing has improved here several times through the years, so will yours. The advancement system rewards creative plot, character arcs, and moving on when the tale is told for a char.

CSYS being a system that rewards skill while still involving lots of luck yields dynamic and unpredictable combat seldom matched, in my experience, by consent based conflict or any other combat rules. The setup makes learning new tricks and trying daring gambits inherently necessary and satisfying.

There are umpteen craptons* of pre-statted FCs to learn the game and tweak to your heart's content, many with ample blank space to personalize your characterization color. Players and staff are also patient and helpful in developing a sheet for newbies' OCs when that's the preference... But take note, FCs are the easier tutorial phase!
*(scientifically measured)

Ample systems to run NPCs and adjust a character's effective power level on the fly mean compelling scene hooks can be crafted amongst just about anyone with a bit of thought. Minions, power down, slowdown, spar to your heart's content.

I've played a lot of games over toooo many years but MotM holds a special, favorite place in my heart. I always wind up back here and probably will as long as the lights are on. You should too.

[Fei Dawen]

Update: The epic King of Fighters 2017 plot culminates this month. Meanwhile, the full roster of BlazBlue and Guilty Gear characters has been completely integrated, and the machinations of the Novus Orbis Librarium promise to pave the way to the next plot. Half of the 32-strong BlazBlue cast has already been swiftly snapped up, but there are still plenty to app and OCs are always an option if you'd like to join this new thriving faction!

Check out our website at http://motm.kicks-ass.net or log on at motm.kicks-ass.net:2002 to see the current roster and available characters, and if you'd like help developing an OC concept or CSYS build, just ask on +guest!

[Ghost]

Gotta say, this game and its code looks slick as Hell

[ShelBeast]

It really is cool and the system is a LOT of fun.

[EUBanana]

Is the combat still utterly zero-surprises predictable with a super strict hierarchy of who beats whom? Where your decisions, as a player, are merely a bit of cosmetic window dressing but are ultimately entirely irrelevant?

Or will Ryu beat Guile 10 times out of 10, while Guile beats Cody 10 times out of 10, while Cody beats Hakan 10 times out of 10?

I recall it played out like a game of Top Trumps. And when the novelty wore off it was very, very dull.

[Chet]

I've noticed that with every system I've ever played with that has a traditional statistics-derived combat system. I think it's the notion of 'game balance' that does it, where staffers are trying to avoid combat system imbalances being used to dominate the system, so they create symmetry.