Pondering playing. List of questions!

Xaiquo

Hi!  First off, a little about me.  I started Achaea back in highschool (I've earned a B.A. in Philosophy nowadays) and loved it, though I was never anyone important.  After years of fiddling around and bouncing alts, I found Lusternia and fell in love.  Nowadays I spend most of my time sitting around waiting for things to happen because the community is pretty small.  They're amazing, but it's itty bitty.

Combat is my number one favorite thing.  For some reason, understanding the mechanics behind everything makes gives me warm fuzzies.  I logged in to see the changes to the races and... hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng.  That said, RP is still very important to me.  So, questions!

How's the RP scene in Achaea?  Is it strictly enforced by the community, or do people often let little OOC things slide?

Do people actively engage in RP, or is more drudgery that merely gets in the way?  I realize this is a massive generalization, but it's often easy to judge by the way people talk about it.

How balanced is combat nowadays?  Are there any severe outliers on the low end (that is, is anything simply -not- viable)?  I remember enjoy Magi and Occultist when I first played, though it was years ago.

How often do PK situations arise?  Is it mostly a clique of people actively PKing, or is it more welcoming to get into?

Is PK more solo or group oriented?  In Lusty, there's rarely ever a chance to go one-on-one, as the orgs are fairly tight-knit and rush to anyone's assistance on either side.  Often times a simple one-on-one gank will turn into a full 8-v-8 group in a matter of minutes.

How does conflict in Achaea manifest?  Are there conflict-related mechanics that pit the organizations against each other?

How often do raids occur?  What is the general goal of raiding?

I've heard tale that Achaea is more artifact-oriented than skill-oriented.  In Lusty, there are very, very few artifacts which are truly combat-related, and even the ones that are only give very slight buffs.  How much of an investment is needed to treat combat seriously?  I assume it varies per class, of course.

If any of these are answered somewhere, feel free to point me in the right direction.  I've been swimming through forum posts for a couple hours now, but you folk talk more than we do!

Thanks!

Santar

Those are some seriously detailed questions you're asking that are largely subjective. Everyone plays the game differently and everyone has different feelings on the state of the game. 

I'd really suggest just playing for a couple weeks and finding it all out for yourself, rather than waiting for someone to come in here and tell you what you should think about the game. Anything anyone says in regards to most of these questions would just be their opinion, and in Achaea, there's plenty of different opinions out there. 

Your experience in the game may vary significantly from someone else's experience, so really, just give it a try and see what you think. For a lot of the things you talked about, it's more up to the player to decide how they want to play. There's different groups that do different things. You can't just ask "do people RP?" and get an answer. Some people are very RP focused, some people aren't very RP focused. Achaea is really more of a "make your own experience" type of game, where if you try, you can play the game you want to play for the most part. Same with 1v1 combat vs. group combat. You can't have everything exactly your way, but if you wanted to be mostly involved in 1v1, you can accomplish this, and vice-versa.

Good luck!

Xith

PK is varied and intricate. It's as common as you'd like it to be for your character.

The rp conflict is not as common as the initiation of raids/skirmishes. The goal of a raid now is to cause destruction to the enemy city and damage it to require repair.

OOC things don't slide in public, but if you're in a room with a few trusted buddies, it can go unnoticed, though the Garden (admin) may or may not have triggers to catch words like "Jedi" or "Miley Cyrus".

Compared to some games, Achaea might be considered relaxed RP, but it's definitely not all mechanics and staying in-character is still necessary. Storylines are player-driven and if you work hard enough, you'll get a nice event with some hardcoded game world results.

Your love for combat will pay off. The Achaean system is very balanced from class to class, with only a few outliers. Artefacts don't matter as much as having your skills and knowing how to use them, but once you're there, they help you keep up with the upper echelons of fighters.

It's good times.

Nizaris

Xaiquo said:

Hi!  First off, a little about me.  I started Achaea back in highschool (I've earned a B.A. in Philosophy nowadays) and loved it, though I was never anyone important.  After years of fiddling around and bouncing alts, I found Lusternia and fell in love.  Nowadays I spend most of my time sitting around waiting for things to happen because the community is pretty small.  They're amazing, but it's itty bitty.

Welcome back.

Combat is my number one favorite thing.  For some reason, understanding the mechanics behind everything makes gives me warm fuzzies.  I logged in to see the changes to the races and... hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng.  That said, RP is still very important to me.  So, questions!

How's the RP scene in Achaea?  Is it strictly enforced by the community, or do people often let little OOC things slide?

As has been said by others, IC in public, private is OK to be OOC. There are several OOC channels, too. I know Mhaldor has an OOC channel that we blow off steam in quite a bit.

Do people actively engage in RP, or is more drudgery that merely gets in the way?  I realize this is a massive generalization, but it's often easy to judge by the way people talk about it.

I try very hard to actively engage in RP, and include others in it. At its best, RP is done off the cuff. At its worst, it can be prepared drudgery. Though, not all prepared RP is bad. Achaea has really had a rebirth in RP of late, and nearly all cities have strong RP communities. It is, however, largely to do with whom you choose to surround yourself with.

How balanced is combat nowadays?  Are there any severe outliers on the low end (that is, is anything simply -not- viable)?  I remember enjoy Magi and Occultist when I first played, though it was years ago.

Combat is becoming more balanced lately with the classleads, but in a sense of everyone can kill you in twenty seconds or less, rather than everything being defensible. Achaea is now moving in a direction of "the best defense is a damned good offense", and that's probably a change for the better. Affliction classes have certainly seen some positive buffs to help somewhat negate the defensive advantages imposed by curing systems, and this was done in largely creative ways.

How often do PK situations arise?  Is it mostly a clique of people actively PKing, or is it more welcoming to get into?

Pretty regularly. I have a hard time finding a day go by without an opportunity to participate in PK. Then again, I'm Mhaldorian.

Is PK more solo or group oriented?  In Lusty, there's rarely ever a chance to go one-on-one, as the orgs are fairly tight-knit and rush to anyone's assistance on either side.  Often times a simple one-on-one gank will turn into a full 8-v-8 group in a matter of minutes.

PK is definitely more group-oriented right now. This is a double-edged sword. It is important for orgs to develop a sense of unity and group cohesion, but I fear that one-on-one combat is slowly becoming irrelevant. That said, if you are looking for regular solo combat, then I -might- suggest the Ivory or Quisalis Marks as a suitable outlet for you once you are established.

How does conflict in Achaea manifest?  Are there conflict-related mechanics that pit the organizations against each other?

Conflict in Achaea ultimately boils down to property wars. This might be fights over shrines, icons, city rooms that are being destroyed, forests, etc. This is so that combat can be "opt-in" only -- attackers opt-in to conflict by initiating attack against property, and defender opt-in to conflict by choosing to defend their property and attack the aggressors.

How often do raids occur?  What is the general goal of raiding?

Raids occur frequently, though that is a difficult question to answer with any sort of precision. As for goals, well, that depends upon the style of raid being embarked upon. To explain just one, the present raid system is called "city destruction". In city destruction, the attacking city must cultivate five tanks over a period of not less than three RL days. Then, using these tanks, they attack a city, and destroy the room. Destroyed rooms yield considerable experience for the attackers, gold deposits for the city that some cities distribute to raiders; for the victim, destroyed rooms have their "special functions" such as banking, news room, shoppes, etc disabled. They also impart a slowness to move through. Destroyed rooms may then be repaired, a process which takes at least fifteen minutes to complete.

I've heard tale that Achaea is more artifact-oriented than skill-oriented.  In Lusty, there are very, very few artifacts which are truly combat-related, and even the ones that are only give very slight buffs.  How much of an investment is needed to treat combat seriously?  I assume it varies per class, of course.

As for artefacts required, that really depends upon the class. Damage classes tend to benefit more from artefacts, at least, in a manner that that does not require "skill". (Before you flame me, Achaea, I'm over-simplifying on purpose) Still, some level of skill is required to fight as any class.

As for learning abilities and investment, that again depends. Transcendant survival is now required for all classes to learn focus. Some classes, like Magi, can get along just fine with only two class skills trans'ed. Others, like apostate, require all three class skills + survival + weaponry to envenom.

If any of these are answered somewhere, feel free to point me in the right direction.  I've been swimming through forum posts for a couple hours now, but you folk talk more than we do!

Thanks!

Anytime, have fun!

Answers in bold. Cheers.