How many people can ever say “I played on MoM today” and not be sent for psychiatric therapy? Well, anyone who is playing Minions of Mirth can. Minions of Mirth is a massive multiplayer RPG with many twists. The largest twist is that you don’t play a single character, but an entire party, up to 6 characters, at once, all represented by a single avatar. The next twist is that the game can be played online in standard MMO form or offline in solo mode. The strangest twist is that even in solo mode you have a global chat that, when connected to the internet, acts like you are still playing a MMO; giving you the social interactions without people stealing your kills.
Sometimes in our quest for streamlined engines and cutting edge graphics we forget how good we had it some years ago. Sure, MUDs didn’t have graphics, the first generation MMOs had barely any animation, but that is just what made them special. Our imagination filled in the gaps and had us dreaming of what it would be like to battle a fierce dragon. Minions of Mirth, or MoM as she likes to be called, is a throw back to the days of the original EverQuest in terms of graphics. It even has many of those old MUD commands, including text based macros and /social commands (I suggest typing /dance the moment you get into the game). I don’t consider this a good or bad thing; though some of the younger readers may not be able to look past the graphics. It is how the game is presented, but it took me back to “the good old days” and really made me believe they were good.
The nicest thing about Mirth is it is entirely able to be modified with no subscription fees. It is a one time purchase and you have the game for life. You can play on the company server, just like a regular MMO… but Minions has gone one step further. You can create your own maps, zones, enemies, items. You can add your own artwork, spells, skills, classes, races… the entire game is editable. Once you have it all set up you can then host your own version of the Minions of Mirth world, or even submit it back to the company and see if they will put it into the main world. I expect in the course of the next year we will see many modded lands to adventure in; and while they will probably never become as populated as the main server, it will be nice to visit a world with new, crazy (and possibly not very well balanced) content.
The only downside, other than the dated graphics, is that Mirth currently is a little shy on content. Obviously, with the level of modding that can be done this is temporary. The developers are already hard at work adding some new areas, new spells, and more. There is PLENTY to do in Minions of Mirth, even at its current stage- but you will notice that the spells and skills thin out a little at the highest levels in the game. I have been informed that there is work being done to provide more high level skills and spells, so I expect this to be remedied very soon.
Somewhere between the AAA RPGs with their 15+ dollars a month insanity and the free Asian RPGs with a community filled with annoying pre-teens buying avatars with mom’s credit card lies Minions of Mirth. The modest price (currently $25) keeps the community polite and professional, the lack of monthly fees makes it affordable for everyone, and the 16 classes, 100 levels per class (not to mention secondary and tertiary classes) make Minions of Mirth the best MMORPG I have played in the last decade. Knowing that more content, thanks to their modding system, is inevitably coming I can hardly wait to see where this diamond in the rough goes. And hey, keep an eye out for Hohocake around the chat and throughout the world; I may be a Minion of Darkness, but I will be happy to lend a skeletal hand.
I am the PR Manager for a successful game company and enjoy writing reviews for non-competing products. I am married to a lovely wife and we have a lovely daughter named Rowan, who is currently two. I am also a professional juggler and swordfighter, which comes in handy in a variety of situations.
