MUDs

Does anyone here play MUDs. I'm relatively new to online text-based gaming. I've been playing Achaea, Dream of Divine Lands. As with most MMOs, my problem is that I have a hard time making friends. I guess I'm just not smooth with conversations. Does anyone else play Achaea, or have any experience playing it. I've also played RetroMUD, a couple of DikuMUD games, DartMUD (though I can't register =[), and a few other ones that I don't recall.