How would you describe Achaea to a friend?

Silas

I wouldn't. Achaea is my dirty secret, and it'll remain that way. If anybody walked in on me playing I'd alt-tab to horse porn or something.

Hasar

Sometimes when I try to explain, they ask me "How do you read all that moving text?"

I vary my response from "I don't, I only read parts." to "I read 124132432423 words per second."

Borran

Probably "I know some people see life as a game, but I tend to take my life more seriously than that."

Then I would send them a tell stressing the importance of starting in-character, with references to the appropriate HELP files.

Orzaansyn

Borran said:

Probably "I know some people see life as a game, but I tend to take my life more seriously than that." Then I would send them a tell stressing the importance of starting in-character, with references to the appropriate HELP files.

I would like there were HELP files IRL aswell. It would help me much.

Averi

Orzaansyn said:

Borran said:

Probably "I know some people see life as a game, but I tend to take my life more seriously than that." Then I would send them a tell stressing the importance of starting in-character, with references to the appropriate HELP files.

I would like there were HELP files IRL aswell. It would help me much.

Especially a HELP WHATNOW and HELP WTFAMIDOINGWITHMYLIFE.

Arador

Apparently the RL HELP PK is not nearly as lenient as the one in Achaea.

Hegua

HELP NAMES and HELP TITLES for RL would be a biiiiitch.

Eld

Hegua said:

HELP NAMES and HELP TITLES for RL would be a biiiiitch.

Especially if "no names from well-known books" included religious texts.

Mishgul

my mother calls it that black game because the background is black and also it's a heathen game that iwll send me to hell.

Ghia

Most of my friends don't even know what an MMORPG is... so conversations usually go like this:

"What the hell is that?"

"It's... hard to explain."

Orklanishkal

Silas said:

I wouldn't. Achaea is my dirty secret, and it'll remain that way. If anybody walked in on me playing I'd alt-tab to horse porn or something.

It's amazing how long I've hidden this secret from my friends and family. I feel like Dexter.

Nim

Arador said:

Apparently the RL HELP PK is not nearly as lenient as the one in Achaea.

What're you talking about? You only die once, no matter how much PK you get involved with!

Jozlyn

My family and friends are quite familiar with the game. When my husband (that dirty traitor) let it slip that I'd started playing again, everyone gave me concerned looks and said things like ' oh no'. I fully expect to come home from work some afternoon to find them all standing in my living room with hand written letters. 

Synbios

Jozlyn said:

My family and friends are quite familiar with the game. When my husband (that dirty traitor) let it slip that I'd started playing again, everyone gave me concerned looks and said things like ' oh no'. I fully expect to come home from work some afternoon to find them all standing in my living room with hand written letters. 

-tense Spanish violin music plays as parents and husband confront Jozlyn in the living room-

Maternal Progenitor: @Jozlyn, dear, we need to talk...

@Jozlyn: Oh no you didn't! -peer husband-

Male Marital Partner: I'm sorry, but this is already too much for me. Don't you know that your fascination for endless lines of text is killing our relationship?

@Jozlyn: FOR THE LAST TIME, THIS IS JUST A TEXT-BASED MMORPG!

Paternal Progenitor: That is no way to talk to your significant other, young lady!

@Jozlyn: CON-FRIGGING-DAMMIT, IT'S ALWAYS 'WHY ARE YOU PLAYING THIS GRAPHICS-LESS GAME' OR 'YOUR TALK ABOUT TRIGGERS AND ALIASES AND MACROS SCARES THE BAJABBERS OUT OF ME' OR 'ARE YOU CHEATING ON ME WITH THAT DAMN ELDRITCH ABOMINATION'. WHAT THE HELL DO YOU GUYS WANT FROM ME?!

Paternal Progenitor: We want you to be a responsible young professional like normal people...

Maternal Progenitor: ...who fits in with society like normal people...

Male Marital Partner: ...and play Call of Duty or World of Warcraft, like normal people.

-camera quick-zooms in on each character's angry face in repeated sequence, cycling from Jozlyn, to her mother, to her father, to her husband, and back to Jozlyn, pausing for a few seconds before the preview for the next episode shows-

Narrator: Faced with pressure from her parents and her husband, what will @Jozlyn do? Stay tuned for the next episode of the Internet's hottest and newest soap drama, "Jozlyna Mercedes - Amor, Pasión, y Vivisección en Ashtan"!

EDIT: Fixed title. A soap drama title is just incomplete without the titular protagonist's name.

Jozlyn

@Synbios you are superb.

Synbios

@Jozlyn: I should probably call you 'Jozlyna Mercedes' or something.

Jozlyn

@Synbios I read this outloud to my husband, acted out all the parts, he was laughing so hard he nearly cried.

Synbios

Including 'CON-FRIGGING-DAMMIT'?

Jozlyn

Of course

Lum

Yes, I know it's all text, but will you try it if hold pictures up next to the screen? 
Send you gifs while you play?

No?

Seftin

"Do you remember that really nice car I had that I had to sell...?"

Saeva

This past weekend there were nearly a dozen of us Achaeans hanging out in Nashville and this is what my sister took away with the Achaea talk, more or less...

"So you're telling me you're gonna have a holocaust on someone's broken limbs and kill their ass with kai things?!? Okay!"

Daslin

I wouldn't. I have no friends.

But if I did, I'd just tell them to try it.

Hayte

I usually start with impaling with a chocolate sword...

Jeslyn

Daslin said:

I wouldn't. I have no friends.

Xith

Back when I was on Nexus and had to check MAP to see where I was, my dad looked over my shoulder and said "Is that battle formations?"
I said "No, go away."

My point is that it's not a game worth explaining to anyone who can't type more than 40 wpm.

Shibumi

It depends on his/her age. I will try to lure him/her in, no matter what. I would exploit his/her weak spots.

I would describe Achaea as a very immersive and ultra deep RP environment in a sandbox game, which requires literacy, logic, and a great deal of free time.

Kresslack

About the only way I could adequately describe Achaea is as a neverending story. You play a main role. You make the story as you go along. Everything is always evolving and it's amazing.

Ainly

Crack.  

Synest

My conversations when explaining Achaea to a friend generally goes like this:

Me: It's a texted based game.
Friend: A what?
Me: A game without pictures.
Friend: How do you play that?
Me: By typing things out, and making my own 'controller' so to speak.
Friend: What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you play a game like that?
Me: Because I like to read and have no more books to read!
Friend: Oh, that's right. You read to much.
Me: Shut up.