Happy Birthday Achaea!

Vayne

It amazes me that Achaea is 15 years old. I have been playing this game for a loooong time and I know many of you have been playing even longer. What are your favorite memories looking back? What have you learned? What friends have you made? What do you feel nostalgic about? What do you regret?

I started playing Achaea when I was...16 in 2003 after I clicked a link while reading 8-bit Theatre. I made a Hashani/SL character because they sounded cool but quickly lost interest, came back a year later and made Vayne and have been addicted ever since. I remember how exciting the world seemed as my mentor, whose name I cannot remember, told me about running through the streets during a war with bow in hand slaying his enemies. I think that is what really good me hooked. I didn't do much during my college days except spend money I didn't have on credits, but the best thing that happened to me early on was meeting Harmonia. For those who know don't know her, she is awesome and has been an inspiration to me in an out of the game. Besides her, I have met lots of interesting and unforgettable people.

The depth of Achaea still hasn't lost its charm for me and the more I put into it the more I get out. It was awesome ascending to the leadership positions I have now and I enjoy being able to help facilitate a fun and interesting place to play for others. I have learned a lot about people and politics in general from playing a game which always astounds me. Thank you IRE for all the blood, sweat, in tears you have put into this and your other games and thanks to everyone who makes Achaea a fun game to play.

Trilliana

I know nearly exactly when I started playing, I was about 3 weeks to a month before my grandpa passed away and the 6 year mark for his death was earlier this week. So I've been playing for 6 years now. 

Anaidiana

I started the summer between junior and senior year in high school...and I've been here on and off ever since. Here's to 15 more!

Sarapis

I had no idea it'd last this long when I started it. None at all. Incredibly glad it has lasted this long though, and thanks so much to all the staff, volunteers and especially the players who make it what it is!

Jhaeli

I started just before I was about to hit 16 - so almost exactly ten years ago now, as I'm about to turn 26. It's lasted longer than anything else my life, including all of my romantic relationships - which is surprisingly comforting, given that I'm not the type to commit to things excessively. I've joked before about the baby in my belly being part of a new generation of players down the road, but in all seriousness, I really could see myself playing that long and getting her to join in. Every time I've stepped away, whether intending it to be temporary or permanent, I've always found my way back.

So just thought I'd say thanks, Matt. That's really what celebrating this anniversary is all about - saying thank you to you and all the volunteers through the years. You have no idea the impact that Achaea has had on my life and I will forever be grateful for it.

Sohl

I found Achaea about eight years ago, while trolling for games to play during summer break. Been hooked ever since. Some of my earliest impressions of Achaea include Khoraji demanding mutton over ct, and everyone jumping over themselves to bring him some as fast as they could; wandering into the leviathan den and vowing I'd get revenge one day; and the first time I saw someone in dragonform and thought it was an NPC come to devour us all. :P

Fantastic job, and thank you, to all the admin, volunteers, and players who've made Achaea so hard to quit over the years.

Synbios

I forgot how I encountered this game. Probably a banner ad or something. But for some reason, as soon as I started, I found myself unable to get unhooked from the game. Probably that was why I came back from dormancy too. Happy birthday, Achaea!

Hhaos

Happy birthday, Achaea! I have been playing off and on for a good 9(10?) or so years, don't rememer, I remember I was still playing runescape(don't judge me) and looking for a better game and tried it out and was fine playing for a bit as a female Mhaldorian but gave up after about three or so months. Came back when I was 18 or so and played around on a character in the CM for a bit, forgot password after moving and roughly a year ago I came back and have been back since as Hhaos and several alts ever since.

Batang

I got into achaea slightly over a decade ago.  It was for a girl in one of my classes.  Erin was her name, The character was named Moravean. She was a druid and suicied shorly after the Guild/house swap.  I still wonder about her, and keep Batang's Last name as Moravean just in case she ever comes back.

 

It has been quite fun, and I still enjoy it.  I often wish I had all the thousands of dollars I dumped into the game, bt in restrospect.....it is worth every penny.

Antidas

I got into Achaea about 7-8 years ago, when I saw the name somewhere and decided to google it out of curiosity. Have been hooked ever since. Taken a few dormancies when I get bored, but I always find myself coming back eventually. Happy birthday Achaea

Nellaundra

I got in just a couple of months ago :P
The MUD I had been playing shut down/self-destructed due to a combination of admin drama and some of the biggest [REDACTED] bunch of players you'd ever meet.  We made EVE look fairly tame.

Achaea was on my Mudlet address list, since it came with it and a few others.  I had heard interesting things about it, needed a game to play, and had the time.  I'm still here and loving it.

Morro

I can't quite remember when I got into Achaea for real. I was either in my senior year of highschool, or my freshman year of college. Ever since, I've been wishing I had stuck around when I made my very first character, years and years before Morro. At the time, the game was so overwhelming to me, but nothing else had the same charm. That first initial shock is probably what made me come back later to make a character that stuck. To be honest, that's the only thing I ever miss. That starry-eyed, oh-my-goodness feeling. (That, and Tart!)

The game has been a blast these last few years. The players and the Divine really make the time spent here worth it. Happy Birthday, Achaea!

Mishgul

pluvia/pluvialis got me into achaea. He was a great guy and a fun IC dad. Do miss him. 

Utianima

I've been playing for over 13 years, on and off - and can never imagine quitting Achaea for good!

Thanks Matt, all employees (past and present), volunteers, players and NPCs, for making this one hell of a game

<:-P    )  :-bd  :x  >-  ^:)^

Tulliana

Happy Birthday Achaea!

I beleive when I was around 15 or so, someone in a chat room told me about Achaea. I made a character I remember nothing about, played for a couple of weeks maybe, and then didn't come back until I was probably 19 or 20. That's when I made Tulliana. I've had a great time with this character, and though I do occasionally go dormant, I always end up coming back.

Thanks for taking the time to make a game so indepth, that most people just look at and say, "you mean you have to READ everything?", for those of us that actually enjoy such things!

Delphinus

I was about fourteen and in middle school. My friends, all of them gone from Achaea now, were trying to get me to play this odd little game made of text. I made a character named after a constellation, having just read some Harry Potter and thought, "Man, that Sirius Black is cool." Upon wandering off into Ashtan, punching a little orphan girl, and dying to said orphan girl, I said, "This is stupid" and left.

A few months later, I tried again with a different character named after a different constellation. Now, a decade hence, I have gnomes toppling statues of foreign dictators in my name.

All in all, I'm floored that Achaea has not only weathered the ravages of the MMO boom, but defined a business model for games that's just now seeing mainstream popularity. Here's to fifteen more years.

Fendo

I started Achaea at the age of 15 around, in 2001 I do believe. I met a cool lady in math class in sophmore year drawing a Diablo II assassin. I spoke with her a bit about that and she told me we should play, At the time I was running with a windows 95 machine, so no way I could do anything with graphics, so she suggested this mud. Not knowing what I was getting into I picked it up. I let a friend pick my character name, seeing as I couldn't think of a non-cliche name that wouldn't have to be changed, and I just ran with it. Hung out with her character (Sieta) for a good while before she drifted to other games. This is the only mud I have ever played and stuck with more than 10 minutes, but out of all the mmos I've played and games in general I can say this has been my favourite due to all that you can do, and what you do can and does affect the world around you. I've had a five year stint I couldn't play outside of dropping by and saying hi, but always gave raves to all of my friends and gamer buddies who have never tried a mud to give this a shot.   

It's been fun being a small part of such a great community. 

Thank you everyone, Admins, Volunteers, and the players for such a great game over the years. I hope for many years to come. 

Happy Birthday Achaea!

Rakon

I read a book called The Blue Nowhere in 2001 and it made mention of MUDs as "Multi-user domain, multi-user diminsion, or Multi-user Dungeon of text communications in which participants play real time games/interactions with each other based on a given role". This appealed to me on multiple levels, including that my POS computer could not handle ANYTHING graphics related. I went searching for MUDs and came across Top Mud Sites. Got into RoD (cause it was ranked 1st) a bit, and someone there introduced me to Achaea when I complained about how 'fucked up this shit is' in RoD. Been playing Achaea since about late 2001, across many characters with Rakon being the most prominent and started around 2005 or so. 

15 years is a long time for any one franchise or single game to run for, but as as been stated above, it's not without a reason. Achaea is a great escape, a very vivid and engaging realm to play. Lets see if Achaea can make it to 25!

Arador

Brilliant damn book, that.

Happy Birthday Achaea. Still the most addictive game on the planet and your staying power is testament to how great you are. Hope to learn my kids to play 15 years from now.

Antonius

Rakon said:

This appealed to me on multiple levels, including that my POS computer could not handle ANYTHING graphics related.

That's one of the reasons I chose Achaea as well. The other main one was to shut my brother up about this amazing game that I had to play. Ironically, I'm the one who carried on playing for years after that.

Tarkanian

I started around 2004 with a character named "Lathspell" (I was very much hooked on LOTR at the time). Disappeared for about 3-4 years while job-hunting/hopping. Came back in 2008-2009, made a few alts here and there to get the feel of the game from different perspectives, and finally settled on Tarkanian when the Blademaster class rolled out.

I've been reprimanded at work and been chewed out by the missus for playing. Just last night, I was talking with her about hobbies that I started but didn't really stick around to actually mastering, and she pointed at "that wall of text" that I always play. I thought about it, and heck, I haven't even begun to understand Achaea on a comfortable level, much less become a master at it.

Achaea is maddening as hell: PVP, PVE, quests, politics, ships, raid offense/defense, ratting, etc. This is one game I'm never letting go, domestic disputes notwithstanding.

Jacen

I found Achaea after reading a book about a player getting absorbed into a MUD. Googled MUD, Achaea was the first one to come up. That was about 11 years ago or so. Made a char, Jacen, joined the Kharon, got to level 50-ish and like a 3rd Order Disciple before my mom flipped out about me chatting with other people online . Made a second Jacen a few years ago, just didn't have the time to invest in him. 

I remember being scared to death to leave Hashan, for fear of getting lost and never finding my way back Got lost in the Savannah, thought I was never gonna get out of there. I remember feeling like yelling WOOT when I found a room name with (road) on the end of it lol. And I thought Hashan was the only city with players in it, because there was no way that there was enough players to fill 6 cities.

Sena

I've been trying to remember how I found Achaea, but I have no clue now. I started playing when I was 13, and I'm 23 now, so it's been about 10 years. I'm not sure what it is about Achaea that keeps me around, I get bored with most games after a couple months at most, but I've never taken more than short breaks from Achaea.

I think I'll probably still be playing after another 10 years, even if I'm not actually doing much and play the forums more than the game.

Jules

I kept hearing all of my co-workers talk about "WoW" and one weekend, during a typhoon I think, I was googling WoW and somehow stumbled on a link about MUDs... and a link for Achaea   And that was that.  I never did try WoW... Meh. 

 

EDIT:  that was probably 2003?  2004?  It got me through several years where I just couldn't do a lot of the activities I like most, and it also became one of those activities   I'll definitely be around this winter!

Peak

Happy birthday Achaea! I got you a present, but I left it at the store

Azor

I joined in June of '01. I was twelve years old, nearly 13, at the time, and felt isolated in rural Kansas. Achaea was a blessing and my friends here have gotten me through some tough times. It's hard for me to believe that it's been over 11 years of playing Azor. Most of my original friends have drifted away from the game, and when they do come back around it's a pleasure to see them. The new friends I keep making are likewise great. I think this change to channels and tells will go a long way to bringing back the feel Achaea had in auld lang syne. 

Krypton

Tranquility introduced me in mid-2001 (middle school). He told me to be a priest because priests were "easy" for newbies and monks were "hard." Immediately got absorbed by it. I still remember that I (on a previous character) was learning Spirituality from Marhisa in the school computer lab when the principal came over the PA system and announced that there had been a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

And I totally did not realize today's date until I was writing this!

Cinya

Technically, I first played Achaea in 2003. I made a character with my then-boyfriend, and we played for a grand total of 1 hour. We were Mhaldorians and I don't remember much except that the person giving us our orientation was scary, and my boyfriend's character was really annoying. 

I came back in 2005 for a glorious but brief few months as a Cyrenian. I decided to play again on a whim and this was when I first got addicted. I stopped because I was a senior in high school at the time and my parents got pissed at how much time I spent playing it. 

I created Cinya in February 2008, again on a whim. I've taken one or two few-month-long breaks due to school/work/life, but I've been playing (and in love with the game) pretty consistently ever since. 

Thanks for your vision, Matt, and for bringing it to life in such a fantastic way! 

Xenomorph

RIP to those that fell on the way.

*pours 40oz malt liquor for Dalamar*

Darlah

I started playing when I was about 8 or 9 years ago when I 16. I was at a sleepover and a friend had been playing and she was trying to explain it, and we made my first character, Kydra, a serpie in the Dawnstriders. I like to read, and it reminded me of this and sci-fi fantasy. I'm hopeless at video games, and still can't play anything else for the life of me.

 At some point I got bored and created another character, Darlah, again in the dawnies. My first character I suicided in a rage, and since then Darlah has been pretty much my main one, with a few alts here and there, mainly to try out classes when I've been considering changing. 

I don't really regret anything, it's been a lot of fun over the years. I've met some amazing people along the way, some of whom I consider close friends. I'm particularly amazed at the people who I've known since when I first started playing and it gives me warm fuzzies to see them about still, in particular Tyndaryn, Senoske and Ellodin.

Thanks to everyone at IRE and all the effort over the years to make this my favourite 'hobby'. Happy 15th birthday!

Jurixe

I wasn't a stranger to MUDs when I first started Achaea, but my limited experience with them didn't really prepare me for how amazingly in-depth the world and lore of Achaea was. Systems were just coming out when I started, and I did learn how to fight manually - memorising all those cures and afflictions and trying to make a hundred aliases for everything was a real challenge, haha. 

Most of the people my original character grew up with have since left, but then I made Jurixe and got to discover a whole new side of the game and meet completely different people, which I will forever be grateful for. It has changed my Achaean experience considerably. I have met some really amazing people in Achaea, and I know, internet people and all that but some of them have turned out to be genuinely great friends that I love talking to, and that's why I come back.

Real life catches up and I am a little burnt out, as I tend to become, so it's possible I'll be around a little less. That being said, Achaea has ruined pretty much all other games for me and I honestly can't imagine myself not playing Achaea, so I expect I'll still be here years and years later.

Happy birthday, Achaea.