Moria: Odds and Ends

I haven't had the time to play Moria at all over the last week, but there are a few things that I haven't talked about yet, so I thought I'd knock them out here.

• Time progresses in the game regardless of whether you're making moves or not.  If you just stand in place your Vitality will replenish, and you're character will consume food and water.  He'll also age, and age fast.  My character has aged from 13 to 21 in the time it's taken to map the city, the wilderness and three levels of the Forest.
• This real-time extends to combat as well.  If you don't press any keys, the monsters will just keep on hitting you.  They don't do much damage, but they'll get you eventually.
• The monsters don't seem to get any stronger as you explore deeper levels.  I've mentioned before that all of the monsters appear in the game from the beginning, and there's not much difference between any of them.  I had thought they would get stronger the deeper I delved, but instead they appear in larger groups.  I'm fighting groups of two right now in the 4th level of the Forest, but it doesn't seem to have made combat any more difficult.
• There are Magic Apples scattered around the dungeons.  Eating them can raise your scores or grant a magical effect, but they can also reduce your stats.  I've stopped eating them for the moment.
• Alas, although the dungeon levels vary in size, they don't get progressively smaller the deeper you go.  I had hoped this might be the case, as Forest levels 1 to 3 followed this pattern, but level 4 is a little bigger than 3 was.  I was counting on this to cut the time I have to spend playing this game, but now it looks like I'm in this for a long time.
• The biggest achievement I've made since my last post is that I joined a guild.  I'm now a member of the Brotherhood of Knights, which I was able to do once my Valor reached a score of 20.  I now have a Valor score over 30, which is enough to get me to the next rank, but I also need a million gold pieces.  I have around 250,000, and the treasures get more valuable the deeper you go in the dungeons, so I expect to get there soonish, assuming that I ever find the time to play.

So that's where I currently am in Moria.  I'm not particularly enjoying it, but at this point it's more of a mapping exercise than a game.   Normally I enjoy mapping grid-based mazes, but this one is too big, and the constant pattern of 6x6 blocks is a bit boring.  There's also no tension, as the combats are far too easy.  I'll definitely stick with this one until I find the Reaper's Ring, but it might take a while, so don't be surprised if I tackle some other games in the meantime.