Favourite Achaean Releases

JurixeJurixe Where you least expect it
edited February 2020 in North of Thera
I ran this discussion in the RP Discord but felt it merited a wider audience.

There's been a lot of negative sentiment recently on the forums and while I can understand why (don't get me wrong, there are some good points being made), I thought it would be nice to inject a little positivity by remembering the things we like in Achaea that have come from admin releases. We're very vocal about what we don't like, but it might also be helpful for the admin to know what we've loved.

This specifically focuses on admin-side stuff, so can include:

- Events 
- Areas
- Combat changes
- Skill/class changes
- Changes in policy
- Promotions (yep, even this!)

And in general anything staffside that you'd like to give a shoutout to.

It doesn't necessarily have to be recent. Can be older stuff too, though I would suggest newer things would be more relevant.

I will of course comment as well, once I'm home!
If you like my stories, you can find them here:
Stories by Jurixe and Stories by Jurixe 2 

Interested in joining a Discord about Achaean RP? Want to comment on RP topics or have RP questions? Check the Achaean RP Resource out here: https://discord.gg/Vbb9Zfs


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Comments

  • Iron elite, that bang/buck is just hard to beat, easily surpasses to Yggdrasil, Meropis, outer islands, Bal'met, the creation of Mhaldor, nur, Black waves, Blademaster. . .

    For srs though, Yggdrasil has been my favourite, even if some stuff sucks, it's still an awesome place to explore, quest and get lost in.
  • I left for six years so I can't really point to a single release being responsible for this, but the combat mechanics have improved by an enormous degree in that time period. Every class seems a lot more doctrine focused than before, which has cut out a lot of chaff and the jank and makes fighting right now a lot more engaging for me than it had been in the past. There's a couple of exceptions of some suspect options available to classes but they're actual exceptions these days rather than the norm they used to be. I'm sure that was a group effort on the part of the administration.
  • KresslackKresslack Florida, United States
    Arena jousting in Delos is probably one of my favourite things that was added to Achaea. Was supposed to eventually become available to all cities as an arena add-on, but never happened. There's a surprising amount of tactic and flavourful experience involved that I just never got with the traditional Achaean joust experience. 


  • Bal'met saga is what first got me seriously invested into Achaea. I made what would become my first major character at like 2am, went to sleep, logged on the next afternoon after school and Ashaxie was dead and I was picking up embers in Minia. The whole event made character development which I had always struggled with a non-issue, I no longer had a choice. In the best way possible. I think seeing that level of potential from the world really sucked me into the world and lore and kept me from going back to repeated throwaway characters.

    Tsol'teth invasion had a lot of fun stuff, a lot of not fun stuff, but it made me flex my RP muscles more than I think I've ever had to, so it was really impactful for me. 34 person raids suuucked but they were kinda cool at the same time.
  • Scrapping.

    Oh, wait, it's dead already. 
  • ArchaeonArchaeon Ur mums house lol
    You don't have to shit up every thread. 
  • UtianimaUtianima Norway and Austria
    Recently got into foraging and mining for the first time! What a nice addition to the game.

    Server side curing is also amazing! Changed the game for the better, and lowered the barrier to entry.

    To me, talismans have been more enjoyable than not, and was a great addition to the game when they first came out.

    Thanks for the amazing game that is Achaea <3 Truely.

  • I do love scrappers, I think adding in a fight mode that is like competitive pokemon (sets the levels and stats to a predetermined level, while mons has IVs EVs, movesets, abilities etc) would be a massively welcome change, especially if you could level scrappers from it too.  
  • We do have scrapper expansions planned. I'll leave the exact nature of them as a surprise!

  • Dead as in no one wants to.

    The fixes and improvements were much appreciated. <3
  • I loved the Blackwave events as events, despite all the complainers.

    I love the Yggdrasil addition and elemental lord quests.

    I love Depthswalker and shikudo monk.

    I like Sublimation's addition and love some of the abilities even though I am not super fond of how it was released or its 1v1.

    I love the addition of crusades and Avatars, and the shrine conflict rework.

    I loved the World Fair. It felt slightly rushed into to me because of how quickly it came after the games, but that didn't seem to negatively impact the content. The showcases were fantastic, I loved the debate tournament, and the god debate at the end was great too.
  • My favorite additions so far are the elemental lords and the Priest revamp (the thematics are so, so cool, even if the events surrounding it were tepid). I also really enjoyed the recent Blackwave events, the inter-factional tension was palpable and had some very long lasting consequences - it was draining at the time and I definitely had my share of complaints, but I really appreciate how well player choices were integrated into it.

  • Firstly, thank you @Jurixe for making this thread.  I was going to write some comments along these lines in the IRE Elite thread but this is a much better place for them.

    Favourite event of all time -- Yggdrasil.  An explorational wonderland.  And now Nur is there as well!  With mysterious locked gates!  I still go back to Nur from time to time, staring at everything to see if I can find something I missed, or if something has been quietly added.  It's a fun experience, since you have to figure things out almost entirely from observation.

    Other favourite events -- the Black Waves.  The plot was quite intricate, with twists and turns, and a huge amount of lore behind it.  And still only scratching the surface.  Opportunities to interact with the Tsol'teth, visiting the fortress (from an allied perspective).  And so many more things to find out. 

    Some favourite places -- Istarion, the surrounding areas, all with historical links between them.  It's awesome, and deep.  Same with the Underrealm.  If I have a wish, it's that Aalen could get an upgrade, because by comparison (playing a tsol'aa), I feel like a village bumpkin whenever I go back there.  :'(  The game has really come such a long way.

    Favourite upgrade -- the great exploring recode, every room counts!  Stockrooms don't count anymore!  We actually have Worldwalkers now, which wasn't even remotely possible before.

    Things I'm looking forward to -- the Underworld revamp.  Would love to see more, know more about how that place works.  Maybe we'll see (more of) the Magisterion?  The city honours quests.  The org culture focus, continuing into this year.  Especially for organizations without patrons, the news is extremely welcome. 
  • It's hard to pin down a favorite with how many things I love about Achaea.

    I think Death's Heart would be my favorite "release", although it was more of an event. Very much nostalgia based love - the event was so full of lag because so many people were on that most of the fighting was just watching the Occultist ents kill everyone because the ents weren't affected by lag.

    I really loved the Underrealm and everything Tsol'teth related. It was super cool as a player, and for my character it raised a lot of internal conflict because of how strong they were.



  • Ahhhh how did I forget to mention the world's faire on the original discussion?!?! that was fantastic! more please!

    Clan housing is cool, Tide mechanics are cool (cause everyone can participate equally) and other blackwave things where neat too. (but I have to agree with Issam that it was a lot, I didn't have any organizational responsibility , however it kinda felt like a personal baptism by fire into RP. That being said, the consequences lead to incredible developments.) Adventures is a step in the right direction, wish I would remember to go do them though.
  • SkyeSkye The Duchess Bellatere
    I think I've mentioned Bal'met saga before as the event that renewed my interest in Achaea after quite a long period of pretty much dormancy.

    The plague event in 2014 is also one of my favourites, there was a lot of bashing, but it was very localised. Plus a revival in sea monster hunting interest.

    The world's faire was definitely one of the highlights of 2019. Like nearly two weeks of interrupted sleep but totally worth. I'm not sure if it would be too soon to hold another, butI think if we had another one in the future the cities would be even better prepared.


  • Yen said:
    Firstly, thank you @Jurixe for making this thread.  I was going to write some comments along these lines in the IRE Elite thread but this is a much better place for them.

    Favourite event of all time -- Yggdrasil.  An explorational wonderland.  And now Nur is there as well!  With mysterious locked gates!  I still go back to Nur from time to time, staring at everything to see if I can find something I missed, or if something has been quietly added.  It's a fun experience, since you have to figure things out almost entirely from observation.

    Other favourite events -- the Black Waves.  The plot was quite intricate, with twists and turns, and a huge amount of lore behind it.  And still only scratching the surface.  Opportunities to interact with the Tsol'teth, visiting the fortress (from an allied perspective).  And so many more things to find out. 

    Some favourite places -- Istarion, the surrounding areas, all with historical links between them.  It's awesome, and deep.  Same with the Underrealm.  If I have a wish, it's that Aalen could get an upgrade, because by comparison (playing a tsol'aa), I feel like a village bumpkin whenever I go back there.  :'(  The game has really come such a long way.

    Favourite upgrade -- the great exploring recode, every room counts!  Stockrooms don't count anymore!  We actually have Worldwalkers now, which wasn't even remotely possible before.

    Things I'm looking forward to -- the Underworld revamp.  Would love to see more, know more about how that place works.  Maybe we'll see (more of) the Magisterion?  The city honours quests.  The org culture focus, continuing into this year.  Especially for organizations without patrons, the news is extremely welcome. 
    The explorers change is what made me go back to wanting to rise the rankings, I don't think Worldwalker is out of reach, rank 1 almost definitely is but still going to try! Been having fun with my pen pal of the east doing this stuff, even if I'm as thick as bricks :(.
  • My favorite event was Balmet due to how it changed a lot of the God dynamic of you didnt know who was going to live and who was going to die. That and playing a demigod was awesome. (Even though I lagged out before I could get it :'( )

    Long term conflicts I loved like the Shala-Khulia war were a lot of fun.

    Also the change to where you could reach Meropis by land, it made exploring so much more fun especially if you didn't have the time to sail all the way down there.

    Though I may be in minority I did like the trade skills change so that you were not dependent on a class to get certain items. This also goes hand in hand with the release of the Alchemist class. Great times.

  • ShirszaeShirszae Santo Domingo
    edited February 2020
    Events off the top of my head: The plague, the elemental war and the discovery of the Planar Highway (the release of Pazuzu is ensconced in my head as probably the most cinematic Achaean moment for me, the Worlds' Fair. I was unfortunately more dormant than not during Bal'met.

    Areas: Nur definitely, I think, though Yggdrasil in general also applies. The Tsol'teth fortresses are very close in there too. 

    Combat changes: The release of Weaponmastery is what finally allowed me to gain some proficiency in combat. I remember I had always wanted to use a bastard sword as a Runie, and I fell in love with it the moment I first heard the whispers of the idea.

    Class-wise: The release of Depthswalker. I didnt particularly love the split between Tradeskills, as it made forging pointless and unprofitable.




    And you won't understand the cause of your grief...


    ...But you'll always follow the voices beneath.

  • Bal'met Saga, for sure.

    I was in Mhaldor at the time, and honestly had the most fun I've ever had in this game. I miss Mhaldor sometimes.

    We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.


  • My favorite events were by far Lord Adryn's tournament and the World's Faire. Can we bring back Moirah riding, pretty please? 

    The Yggdrasil is truly an amazing work of art and I adore it on so many levels. The amount of work that went into it must have been astounding. From the reflection in the Ausafoss to the unique skies in every single tier and location, it has been absolutely wonderful to explore.
     


  • Mechanically, I think serverside curing is the best thing to ever happen to Achaea. A lot of flavor changes/tweaks to the original classes are also awesome. Knights, forestals, elementalists, et cetera are mostly unique now. Knights slightly less so but to me that makes sense.

    It's not very specific because there are a lot of examples but I adore any time an admin provides a payoff to player-initiated roleplay, especially when the player(s) didn't expect one. Even if it's a really small thing, unexpected admin attention can sometimes make someone's day/week/month/year.

    To be clear, I don't mean to imply that admins need to get more involved. I just wanted to express how nice it is to see someone's passion/initiative get rewarded.
  • The Elemental event for obvious personal reasons.

    The World Fair was something huge and very enjoyable even from a spectator standpoint.
  • The expanded “walk to” system. It might not seem much to some, but anything that adds convenience goes a long way with me. I also liked the optional curing feature.
    Give us -real- shop logs! Not another misinterpretation of features we ask for, turned into something that either doesn't help at all, or doesn't remotely resemble what we wanted to begin with.

    Thanks!

    Current position of some of the playerbase, instead of expressing a desire to fix problems:

    Vhaynna: "Honest question - if you don't like Achaea or the current admin, why do you even bother playing?"


  • Multiclass made me come back from dormancy. Class swapped a dozen times before that. I purchased and traded in Thoths fang alone 4 times due to class switches before multiclass.
  • Server-side curing. A lot of people take free curing for granted now, but I was a broke teen with no credit card back before there were widely used free systems, and my people's combat instruction sessions with me tended to go like this:

    1.OK, do you have SVO? 
    2. You should get it. It's cheap. 
    3. Well, I guess get back to me when you get it and can cure. Seriously, it's cheap. 
    ________________________
    The soul of Ashmond says, "Always with the sniping."

    (Clan): Ictinus says, "Stop it Jiraishin, you're making me like you."
  • The Black Wave hit right as I came back. I wasn't planning on staying long, but it sucked me right back into the game, and I pulled some weird hours to try to see all of it. It was just incredibly fun and immersive, with big win/loss conditions and lasting repercussions. I crush on Gattan'bahar.

    The Worlds' Fair was one of a kind, so much better than a Bazaar. I miss the intercity interaction.

    New areas are beautiful. Nur and Yggdrasil feel otherworldly.

    New adventures are fantastic. They have me doing forays, which remind me of old-school instances in ADOM.

    Membership credits buying different rewards is nice, especially room credits.

    Clan housing! Artistry! Art galleries!!

    Every recent Mhaldor release, from the Ziggurat to new rooms to our denizens advancing and taking on new roles in the story.

    Garrote buff! More whip tricks for serpents!


    Reaching down with a massive hand, Sartan lifts your head and draws a taloned finger across your throat, the wound closing as He does so.

  • JurixeJurixe Where you least expect it
    I believe I said I'd respond to this.

    - The no-prism addition for Househalls. Househalls are still used less than I'd like, but I always thought it was ridiculous that you were less safe in your Househall than standing on the streets. Security protocols etc yes but there was always a sense of paranoia and you could never really just linger there for potential RP.

    - Similarly, the no prism addition for houses too. And the most recent security upgrade!

    - The disc that makes frozen images. I love it so much! And actually all the items that tell some kind of history.

    - The jungle area of Meropis with the river and fruits etc. It reminds me of home and I love how intricate everything is.

    - Clan housing. Very pleased!

    - The new tradeskills. I love the variety added and the potential for so much more customisation.

    - The summaries at the end of Events posts. I initially found them a bit jarring but am forced to agree that Sarapis was right and it makes for much easier reading, especially when you're trying to record stuff.

    - Serverside curing, walk to, and the Nexus client. I really cannot say how much of a help all these are for helping me get back into the game after absences. If I had to update my triggers etc every single time I left I think I would have stayed gone.

    - Config clothesline. I love it so much. I'm no longer trying to read everything in one huge block of text.

    - The Ziggurat, because outside of the Restoration that is my single biggest contribution to area building in the world and I'm so proud to have been a part of it.

    - Bal'met. It changed the world in ways we only dream about now.

    - The newbie tasks being changed to be much, much more newbie friendly and take the work of integrating them into the world off players, letting the latter involve themselves as much as they want or don't want without making themselves feel like they are solely responsible for their interest in the game. This is so valuable to prevent burnout and I really, really appreciate the effort on this front. Players just...well, want to play.

    - All the admin help I've gotten for all of my events, whether it be in Mhaldor or without. I am very lucky that you guys are willing to contribute your time to support my ideas.

    - Shrine changes and general relaxing of importance about them meaning we don't have to worry about them so much. I think I'm just generally in favour of things that are not busy work or that you have to be guilted over every day.

    - All the thought and care put into building some genuinely beautiful areas. I just have too many to list.

    - Theft removal. I know, it's hypocritical since I was originally against it. But over time as my playing style has changed I've also been much more appreciative of being able to just stand somewhere and roleplay or do quests instead of worrying about stuff going missing. I'm not too sure about the fence system, but the pickpocket stuff is fine.

    I'm sure there's a ton I'm missing, but for now that's it!

    If you like my stories, you can find them here:
    Stories by Jurixe and Stories by Jurixe 2 

    Interested in joining a Discord about Achaean RP? Want to comment on RP topics or have RP questions? Check the Achaean RP Resource out here: https://discord.gg/Vbb9Zfs


  • Conclave Reckoning, the first major event (and probably only) that I've been wholly present for. 

    It encouraged grouping (due to an EXP bug?),
    It had lower level areas (even with a miniboss!) for newbies,
    It had high level areas for dragons,
    Good gold drops (pre gold-cap),
    It had even-ish world-teams,
    It had open pk-areas which people had a reason to occupy (in groups) at all hours.
    It had hard-hitting bosses with some mechanics,
    The majority of talismans connected to it didn't add new commands or powers - it just added another way to reduce the prices of current ones (though, this did spawn the lv2 robes which were promised to be unique and the ensuing debacle when it was listed on the website to buy and promptly removed.)
  • edited February 2020
    This is not overly impactful roleplay-wise, but I was recently thinking about how we didn't always have parties/PT. All channels and activities were so, so much messier as a result. A tiny change that makes such big improvements. Whew!
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