Can anyone suggest some MUDs that are fairly straight forward, and newbie friendly? Are any of them with graphics, or does the name MUD only connotate text based game?
Bump.
Cantr II http://www.cantr.net - Although it bills itself as a “society simulator”. You can control more than 10 characters at a time if you want. It ticks every 3 hours.
www.medievia.com is the best mud out there. You won’t find anything better for a starter, or experienced, or anything in between player.
I’d give MadROM a shot. It’s got a simple system, the people are friendly, and you get to kill smurfs!
At least, if it’s still running. I haven’t played in roughly a year… But it’s been up for at least five years before that, so it’s probably still kicking.
I’ve been on AVATAR Mud for just over 6 years now, and love every minute of it. I also have 4? areas there now, being a builder for almost a year. I play mostly under the name AlexyAnna. Been up for 9? years, maybe 10. The owner also coordinates Ubercon
recent quote (within the last 10 minutes!):
Nwin chats ‘Lol this is the only mud ive played that has at least 15 people welcome everyone new’
Some links:
home page
Google’s Directory for it
My website (Includes logs of who was playing for the last year, as well as player descriptions)
From Mudconnector, if you are familiar with it:
Location: USA
Primary Language: English
Min. # of Players Online: 74 - 99
Multi-Play: Limited
Player-Kill: Restricted
Extended Race Selection
Extended Class Selection
Multi-classing Allowed
Equipment Saved
Ansi Color
Quests Available
Character Approval Unnecessary
Roleplaying Is Encouraged
Newbie friendly
Skill & Level-Based Training System
Level-Based Equipment System
World is mostly original
Large World (8,000+ rooms)
Mud is fully operational
Shameless plug, I know. But this game has become part of my life, having met several of the people there.
Email me if you need. T’is in my profile.
/S
Legend is the only one I’ve given serious time to. (over 10 years, though I don’t have time for it now that I’ve found SDMB) 
Many helpful players, easy to understand, and challenging as all hell. Try 'em, and good luck
The only MUD I’ve ever really played is Discworld MUD. It is, as you might have guessed, inspired by Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels and some familiarity with the books is helpful but not essential to the game. This MUD is huge (and much expanded since when I began), so it may seem daunting to the beginner, but there are links to detailed maps from the main site. I’ve found the other players to be very friendly, and generally willing to help confused newbies if asked politely. The MUD is also well designed and very well-written, with plenty of humor.