Should I play Achaea?

Aeroi

Good Thursday, all!

I'm familiar with IRE, having played Imperian for about 7 years before taking a break.  I've tried some other games, but nothing has ever struck me as such a font of creativity and enjoyment as an IRE mud.

Having said that, I want to start playing again.  I don't know if I want to start all over in Imperian (even on a pre-existing character, in four years lots of things change), and I don't know if Aetolia is the right theme, while Lusternia is just over my head entirely.

Achaea always seemed like the NYC of the IRE muds, and I was used to being a bumpkin, so I never gave it a shot.

Now that I'm coming back to MUDs, I'm a little bit older, a little wiser, with a tiny amount more disposable income, and I want to make sure I'm making the most of my time.

I understand that I'm being very broad when asking this - but could you give me a cliff's notes version of the reasons you think I should play this game, as someone who kind of knows what he's in for?  I'm looking for information on the "grind to level 100", the "general plotlines and roleplay" of the main organizations, which classes are in the best place mechanically, how badly I need to invest in credits early on - anything that you would think pertinent when pitching the game to someone, only understanding that I kind of get what's going on already....mechanically, anyway.

Thank you so much guys, I'll do my best to be engaging - and hopefully some other folks thinking about it see the information and learn a thing or two!

Cesarina

*Your level isn't really that important, if you are really devoted you can go from 5 to 99 in like a month or less I'm sure.

*Every class is good at things, and bad at things. Some work well against specific classes and are hard against others.

*As far as roleplaying goes, it's really what you make of it, the framework is there, with really deep, rich lore. If you are actively seeking engaging roleplaying and stories and the like you won't have any problem finding.

edit: forgot credit portion. Depending on your class and what you want to do, you can get by without ever buying any. You can make more than enough just from hunting if you are willing to take the time to do so.

I've never played any other MUD in my life, but this game is more than good enough to keep me from even trying to look up others.

(As a side note be careful, once you start it doesn't st-- ACHAEA IS LIFE, ACHAEA IS LOVE, JOIN US.)

Jhaeli

I am not going to go in depth on mechanics or plotlines as I'm currently on hiatus (so to speak), but I will say that what I find most appealing in comparison to other IRE Muds has always been the population. All of the IRE Muds have interesting classes, lore, abilities, etc., but what makes Achaea stand out is the level of interactivity that you can expect in the population.

I won't be the first or last to say this, but you really just need to jump in and experience it for yourself. Instead worrying about which classes are better, you should be asking yourself what kind of character you'd like to roleplay (Good vs. Evil vs. Chaos vs. Nature vs. Neutral), picking a city, then choosing a class from there. If it's a matter of investment or which is easiest to get the Dragon with, then there are several class threads lurking around the forum, but if you want to know what it means to play *Achaea* over the other IRE Muds, pick a side and jump in. It's easy enough to change once you're inside.

Aeroi

For those of you familiar with Imperian combat: How similar is Vodun to the old Vodun of Imperian?  IIRC, skills used to require fashions, but then they put in the Illwill/Goodwill system.

Lyosha

I'm too poor [read: young] to buy credits and not patient enough to grind, so I can't offer you much advice there. However, you wanna know about the roleplay? Let's talk.

I've read forums where Aetolians bash Achaea, claiming it no longer reinforces quality roleplay, if roleplay at all. Don't listen to them. There's plenty of quality roleplay in Achaea — you just have to put effort into finding it. The keywords there being, you know, finding it and effort. Sitting around on your booty and waiting for someone to strike up a conversation is about as likely to work as [insert clever line here].

I suggest that you browse the Scarlattan Theatre for roleplay logs and whatnot; you might find some examples of house/city/class roleplay that can give you an inkling of what path you'd enjoy taking, should you decide to play Achaea.

Citywise, I've only ever played in Ashtan, Mhaldor, and currently, Cyrene. Classwise, I've been an Apostate, Occultist, and [presently] Bard. Housewise, Congregation, Occultists, and Ty Bierdd. Apostate's great for bashing as a novice — I made it to level 20 just slaughtering butterflies and rats. My Apostate character was apart of the Congregation in Mhaldor, 'cause when you're an Apostate and looking for a house to join, it's either the Congregation or nothing. However, citizenship in Mhaldor is mandatory if you want to be apart of the Congregation and that's where it gets tricky, 'cause Mhaldor isn't a city for the faint of heart and probably not for those new to Achaea.

Mhaldor's heavy on the dark, gritty stuff, especially when it comes to roleplay. Sacrifices, rituals, blah blah blah. @Nizaris and @Xer can tell you more, if you're interested.

Moving onto Ashtaaaan .. umm, Lyosha says it's nice for shopping and hunting crows. The people are nice, too, he says. He likes @Verily especially, says she's kind and helpful. @Taraus scared him, though. The Occultist path is, for lack of a better word, interesting. I wasn't committed to it for very long as a player, so I can't say much — however, I can say that should you choose this path and decide to join the Occultists' house in Ashtan, be prepared to keep your mouth shut. Secrecy is a virtue within its walls and if your character turns out to be anything like Lyosha in the fact that he/she's possessive as bananas over what's his/hers, you'll probably do well with that aspect of the lifestyle.

People say Occultist sucks at bashing and I guess that's true to an extent; I noticed a significant difference [read: lack] in efficiency when hunting, especially in comparison to hunting as an Apostate. Granted, I never really invested enough in the skillset to explore all of the possibilities, so maybe it's different for other people, you'll have to do more research.

Finally, Bard. I've only been a Bard for what, not even two days? I changed class from Occultist last night and made it through the orientation; joined Cyrene before hitting the hay and got my rapier blessed this morning. So far, I adore the players in Cyrene and the Ty Beirdd house @Madelyne, @Paik, @Llyweith.<br>
I'm a writer, you know, so you can bet your Cheerios that I'm lovin' the roleplay so far. The bashing's slow, but I'm pretty sure it'll pick up as Lyosha learns more. Only time will tell. If you're a writer, poet, etc., you'll wanna check out the Bard class.

.. yeah, that's all I got. Hope I helped some. Good luck!

Bluef

Aeroi said:

For those of you familiar with Imperian combat: How similar is Vodun to the old Vodun of Imperian?  IIRC, skills used to require fashions, but then they put in the Illwill/Goodwill system.

I've played all the IRE games and I can definitely say that Imperian and Achaea share the most in common. You'll likely transition here more easily than any other RPG that IRE produces.

There are big differences between most of the skillsets in these two games, but shaman is most like anything that may be familiar to you if you played Wytch prior. The skills don't all match up from the old version in Imperian, but that's because shaman was given some awesome changes in Achaea that make it a much more fun class to play these days. If you're looking for something mystical and amazing, shaman will do it for you.

Aeroi

Bluef said:

Aeroi said:

For those of you familiar with Imperian combat: How similar is Vodun to the old Vodun of Imperian?  IIRC, skills used to require fashions, but then they put in the Illwill/Goodwill system.

edit: something didn't translate with the mobile quote function.

Don't laugh, but I was thinking jester.

Jovolo

You need to invest credits pretty early on unless you're willing to grind several hours a day for several months with little to no interaction during that time to get access to your class skills. It's about the only significant downside of Achaea, the investment it requires is huge. Quite similar to other IRE's in that aspect, but with Achaea your competition for hunting spots and quests is much larger.

Jester is a great class, though. Achaea is very fun provided the investment doesn't phase you. With a comparitvely large IRE playerbase, you can practically always get somr interaction, and you'll always have something to so.

/end stupid-investment rant.

Eld

Jovolo said:

You need to invest credits pretty early on unless you're willing to grind several hours a day for several months with little to no interaction during that time to get access to your class skills. It's about the only significant downside of Achaea, the investment it requires is huge. Quite similar to other IRE's in that aspect, but with Achaea your competition for hunting spots and quests is much larger. Jester is a great class, though. Achaea is very fun provided the investment doesn't phase you. With a comparitvely large IRE playerbase, you can practically always get somr interaction, and you'll always have something to so. /end stupid-investment rant.

I'd say this really depends on what you want to do early on. With the recent boost to bound credits for leveling, it's not too bad to get a trans skill off bashing/questing, and if you're not looking to get too far into combat right away, that's enough to get you off and doing interesting things. I think it took me a month or two to trans Two Arts on Eld when I started. It got a bit frustrating after a while, but it gave me time to learn the basics of combat and enough about curing to put together a basic system before needing to worry about putting everything all together.

Utianima

ACHAEA IS LIFE, ACHAEA IS LOVE, JOIN US

Bluef

Aeroi said:

Aeroi said:

For those of you familiar with Imperian combat: How similar is Vodun to the old Vodun of Imperian?  IIRC, skills used to require fashions, but then they put in the Illwill/Goodwill system.

edit: something didn't translate with the mobile quote function. Don't laugh, but I was thinking jester.

Puppetry is identical to Vodun in Achaea; however, as a Jester your other two class abilities are where you'll get your kills. Vodun is just part of the vehicle that takes you there. There are a couple of other threads on this forum about Jester combat and what to do and expect if you're thinking of going Jester that you might take a peek at.

Naisar

You should play Achaea, but you shouldn't use the forums.

Shadrac

I probably don't have a ton to add but I was in a similar position to yourself about two months ago.

I played Lusternia pretty hardcore around 7-8 years back - got very involved in the Ebonguard, became Champion for my guild, bought one of the first aetherships yada yada yada.  I quit that MUD to go to another that became the greatest gaming experience of my life and then as I got older I had less and less time to devote to MUDs.

I've jumped on Lusty and other IRE MUDs for a day or so every year or so since then but a couple months back I decided I really wanted to dive in and yea - after almost two months I'm stuck.

As for investment?  I'm sure it can depend - I'm older, impulsive, no kids, and with a decent job so I went ahead and kind of jumped head in.  A little too far if you ask me but what's done is done.

I chose Blademaster, I dig the class, dig my House, and dig my City.  That being said - for some reason the idea of the Occultists sounds awesome to me and from what I've heard their RP is stellar.

Try it out - you don't have much to lose and at worst you get addicted and go broke for awhile.

Aktillum

@Aeroi Jester is a great class for a beginner, because you'll get a self-healing ability fairly early in your skills, and the main bashing attack (Bop) is fairly strong.

Xith

Caoimhaen

Achaea is a great game. Great rp! I am so addicted.

JOIN US!! JOIN ACHAEA!!*chants*