Generic Questions I Need to Ask

Stuneree

I've been on and off of Achaea for maybe a month or so now, mainly because I've been looking through several other MUDs to finally come to a decision.

The main issue I'm having for deciding which one(s) to choose and stick with is population, and investment... Though Achaea is the only one I've actually put some hours into.

The games I've been looking at are: Achaea, Dragonrealms/Gemstone, BatMUD, and a couple of others like Discworld etc.

What I need to know, with honesty from the Achaea community, is what is worth putting the time into...

I do already know that the Achaea forums are a dark and hostile place at times as I lurk through years of posts, but I also know they can be incredibly helpful.

The issue I have with Achaea is that is seems ridiculously easy to get to levels 80+, though I'm not sure what the levels actually represent in this game. Another issue is that the end-game doesn't seem to have any sort of people who put hours into simply merchanting and such-like, but it all seems to be straight PvP-based or nothing, (dominated only by those with full artifacts)... That bringing me to the huge problem at hand: Credits...

If someone can correct me about the entire end-game being PvP, I'd love that... Because so far, I don't see any wanderers who simply go around selling and gathering rare items, (such as in Gemstone/DR). The other large issue with straight PvP and nothing else is that I could only guess that becomes a, "Who can write the best scripts", and worse, "who has thousands of dollars to spare on artifacts to be even nearly viable".

I want to know how necessary artifacts are (I WOULD be willing to put money into this game of course, but that's if it ends up being worth it...). How many hours of bashing (or whatever the gold-making methods are) would it require to gain around 800 credits, for example? If it required 100 hours of time, I'd obviously just pay money. 

One advantage I noticed to Dragonrealms was the class, "Trader", which I found to be really awesome. Being dedicated to simply going around merchanting and hunting rare stuff is really cool, but I haven't seen any of that here so far.

Another DR advantage is that it has about a 50% higher "online-now" population at almost all times.

The DISADVANTAGES to Dragonrealms vs Achaea is that its community is SHRINKING, the developers do NOT care about the game, and they are still charging up to $50.00 a month for it. The subscription-per-month doesn't bother me, it's the fact that the money doesn't go towards any development. Is Achaea a growing community still, or is it just a bunch of 15 year veterans like the Simultronic games? Also, it seems like the game is being updated and added to regularly, is that true?

POPULATION: I started off in Mhaldor on Achaea, and really enjoyed the people there. The issue I had was the LACK of people there, being maybe three or four total. I went to Cyrene and the people are less RP-based, (How much RP is required doesn't bother me, as long as there's some), and there seems to be maybe around ten people in Cyrene at a time... Though I think I could be wrong about all of these numbers. How populated is this game realistically? I didn't even want to be a part of a city or house really, but I also don't want to be the generic, "I'm a rogue who has no friends and contributes nothing to the game", so I joined a city anyway.

Anyway, if anyone took the time to read this, I greatly appreciate it. Basically the questions are: Is the game entirely PvP? Can I play the role of a wandering trader like I do in others? How REQUIRED are artifacts/how many hours do I require to purchase them with gold-bought credits, (I'd certainly spend money as well)?, how is the population (in terms of will I always have people to speak to and explore around with)?

Thank you guys. I'll see you inside.

EDIT: If you guys can recommend even other games, IronRealms or not, I'd appreciate that as well if you think there's something else along the lines of what I'm looking for. It's just the population is important to me.

Sarapis

Achaea is definitely being worked on actively. We have multiple full-time paid staff as well as a volunteer team. (I'm the founder/head of Iron Realms btw.) I'll let players answer the other questions though.

Triak

The game is not entirely pvp, in fact most of the people that play do not participate in it at all.  It is a choice you can make, like everything else in Achaea.  You sculpt what you want your character to do and be.

There is a merchant role you can play and there is an entire house devoted to that.  (they belong to no player city)

Artifacts are not -required- but can augment your game play depending on what you want to do.  Recently Sarapis/Matt (the creator of all IRE games) vastly increased the amount of bound credits you get for leveling as well as adding a spectacular lesson pack deal.  You could really do everything you wanted with the two lesson packs of 1000 each ($20) and then if you wanted  the $25 monthly Iron Elite (extremely worth it if you like the game).

Population wise, the game mostly revolves around the US timezones with 250 players on during peak.  I'd venture it goes to 150 or so during Euro/Asia hours.

Jacen

If you're only seeing 10 people at a time in Cyrene, you must be playing at a really dead time... Only Ashtan can compete with Cyrene number-wise, so it might be worth checking out. Achaea has a good population size, it sounds like you're just going to have a timezone problem with actually meeting a big chunk of them.

We also have some very successful merchants, and even a whole House dedicated to the merchant skillset. There are also some people who are big on collecting rare items through trade/purchase (IG), but I think you'll find some of the biggest rare item collectors are thieves, since House-specific items only get to the open market through theft.

Our admin are on a big drive to bring newbies into Achaea, through the development of the HTML5 client, serverside curing, and advertisements, so we see lots of new people all the time. The trick is getting them to stick around, and this task has a lot of the admin's focus at the moment, so we're definitely a growing community still.

Might be worth it to post the GMT times you normally play, and the guys here can give feedback on what cities are most active during those times.

Stuneree

Sarapis said:

Achaea is definitely being worked on actively. We have multiple full-time paid staff as well as a volunteer team. (I'm the founder/head of Iron Realms btw.) I'll let players answer the other questions though.

Oh, I've been looking through your posts for a while for some information about the game, now it makes a lot of sense that you're the head. I really appreciate that you took the time to respond, it makes you guys look really good too.

Triak said:

The game is not entirely pvp, in fact most of the people that play do not participate in it at all.  It is a choice you can make, like everything else in Achaea.  You sculpt what you want your character to do and be.

There is a merchant role you can play and there is an entire house devoted to that.  (they belong to no player city)

Artifacts are not -required- but can augment your game play depending on what you want to do.  Recently Sarapis/Matt (the creator of all IRE games) vastly increased the amount of bound credits you get for leveling as well as adding a spectacular lesson pack deal.  You could really do everything you wanted with the two lesson packs of 1000 each ($20) and then if you wanted  the $25 monthly Iron Elite (extremely worth it if you like the game).

Population wise, the game mostly revolves around the US timezones with 250 players on during peak.  I'd venture it goes to 150 or so during Euro/Asia hours.

Thank you for the response. Because MUDs are a small community, I find it difficult to search these things up... I was entirely unaware that there was a trader house.

I saw a post about the increased bound credits for leveling which is awesome and an obviously reflection of the fact that the developers don't have dollar signs in their eyes like every other developer I sink money into. I'm guessing if you have maybe 200 or so credits by the time you're 100 you are probably around half-way to an artifact?

I was planning on purchasing the 2000 lessons right away because it's great that there is a starter pack, however I'm not entirely sure how much of a benefit lessons are... I haven't locked down a class to play yet, (left Apostate and Priest, currently on Serpent and still questioning it)... So I'm not really sure what kind of benefit the lessons would provide.

Jacen said:

If you're only seeing 10 people at a time in Cyrene, you must be playing at a really dead time... Only Ashtan can compete with Cyrene number-wise, so it might be worth checking out. Achaea has a good population size, it sounds like you're just going to have a timezone problem with actually meeting a big chunk of them.

We also have some very successful merchants, and even a whole House dedicated to the merchant skillset. There are also some people who are big on collecting rare items through trade/purchase (IG), but I think you'll find some of the biggest rare item collectors are thieves, since House-specific items only get to the open market through theft.

Our admin are on a big drive to bring newbies into Achaea, through the development of the HTML5 client, serverside curing, and advertisements, so we see lots of new people all the time. The trick is getting them to stick around, and this task has a lot of the admin's focus at the moment, so we're definitely a growing community still.

Might be worth it to post the GMT times you normally play, and the guys here can give feedback on what cities are most active during those times.

I should actually have mentioned that I play around Midnight EST or later sometimes, so that's actually probably what my problem was. I'll be back in Uni come September so that'll go back to normal, (I'm in Mountain Time).

I appreciate the responses guys... Thank you

Achimrst

Definitely not just PvP based, no matter how much some people want it to be :P 

You can do many things such as pick up tailoring, jewelcrafting, or cooking and make things. Trade skills are being split from the classes soon such as Enchanting, Concoctions/Transmutation (Making potions and curing things for PvP), so in my view it's growing or at least still being developed to be a fun place. There also is a house in Achaea dedicated to trading, it's called the Merchants!

I personally buy artefacts to help me with the things in Achaea that bother me, such as decaying vials and being hit hard by artied monks. Credits go on sale and you can get them usually around 6500 if your lucky :P yet houses and cities sell them too for cheaper but only a limited amount at a time. The best way to get credits is just to buy them or get the Iron Elite and you can get up to 150 per month after a while. It scales up, plus the promotions that go on every month is a good way to sell things for credits :P 

Not sure why Cyrene is dropping the RP ball, although it's not too surprising to me. Most people will RP with you just about anywhere as long as your not killing something that belongs to them. You can always try Eleusis, in my opinion it is one of the better cities in the game. Of course I am bias as I am Eleusian.

Makarios

To try to answer some of your questions:

We've been putting quite a bit of effort into removing the reliance on extensive scripting as a necessity. As in any text-based game, they will offer an advantage, but I would say its less now than it has been in a good long while. You don't need a skynet level monstrocity to be highly affective in anything you undertake here. I can't speak for any of the other games you mentioned in that regard, as I've never played any of them.

Artefacts: this depends on a lot of factors. Mostly based on your preference (PvE or PvP), your class, and how important it is to you to be optimal in stuff that you do. In a lot of cases artefacts will make your margin for error much larger (of course, they do offer straight up advantages as well). At the end of the day, artefacted people are going to tell you they don't matter, and unartefacted people will generally say the opposite. I would probably say the investment to compeat at a high level in the PvP side of things is very small in terms of artefact investment, which is backed up by the success of a few currently active lightly artefacted combatants that will remain nameless.

Gold generation is a tricky topic. Fishing for instance can net you an exceedingly large hourly income, but it has the downside that it does not generate you experience or talisman pieces (HELP TALISMANS in game for the rundown there).

Talismans also give you a pretty valuable commodity to trade at endgame, and that's something that's only going to become more relevant over time. It is still a fairly new system, so you can be pretty confident in seeing further expansion there down the line.

We are also pretty actively trying to improve our PvE diversity (as people participating in the current world wide event can attest!).

As for development, we're pretty much constantly releasing new stuff here (and if stuff isn't being released, you can be sure something is being worked on).

Hope you stick around!

Sarapis

Stuneree said:

I was planning on purchasing the 2000 lessons right away because it's great that there is a starter pack, however I'm not entirely sure how much of a benefit lessons are... I haven't locked down a class to play yet, (left Apostate and Priest, currently on Serpent and still questioning it)... So I'm not really sure what kind of benefit the lessons would provide.

The vast majority of your combat power in-game comes from your class skills, so those lessons are what you need. Artefacts are not worth buying until after you have trans'd (maxed out) at least two, and usually three, of your class skills.

Stuneree

Thank you @Achimrst‌ @Makarios‌

As for the artifacts, how many credits do they generally cost? (If that varies too much, I guess a better question is what are the minimums and the maximums?)

As for RP, I don't find the RP in Cyrene a problem at all. As long as people don't reference the real world and type properly, I really don't mind it... Though, Mhaldor did spoil me with the RP element. ;D

The last issue I really have is which class I want... I picked Serpent basically just because it seems like a safe class with the stealth. I enjoy the ability to get around without being noticed. I do NOT on the other hand enjoy anything else about serpent. Little bit too gimmicky. Might switch that up still. I struggled with the Priest RP so I figured I'd leave that to the better "good guys", for lack of a better term.

A perfect class for wandering and trading basically would be awesome. But even so, that's still preference, so I'll keep going through them before I embrace.

Sarapis said:

Stuneree said:

I was planning on purchasing the 2000 lessons right away because it's great that there is a starter pack, however I'm not entirely sure how much of a benefit lessons are... I haven't locked down a class to play yet, (left Apostate and Priest, currently on Serpent and still questioning it)... So I'm not really sure what kind of benefit the lessons would provide.

The vast majority of your combat power in-game comes from your class skills, so those lessons are what you need. Artefacts are not worth buying until after you have trans'd (maxed out) at least two, and usually three, of your class skills.

Oh, something I actually wanted to know while playing: Are my abilities, (such as serpent's "Hide"), more effective when I've got more lessons put into that skill, (subterfuge in that case)?

It would make sense that way, but even when Hiding, denizens can still spot me anyway.

Sarapis

@Stuneree Artefacts are anywhere from 25 to 2000 credits, so the range is huge. I really wouldn't focus on them at this point though - your class skills are way more important.

Achimrst

Stuneree said:

Thank you @Achimrst‌ @Makarios‌

As for the artifacts, how many credits do they generally cost? (If that varies too much, I guess a better question is what are the minimums and the maximums?)

As for RP, I don't find the RP in Cyrene a problem at all. As long as people don't reference the real world and type properly, I really don't mind it... Though, Mhaldor did spoil me with the RP element. ;D

The last issue I really have is which class I want... I picked Serpent basically just because it seems like a safe class with the stealth. I enjoy the ability to get around without being noticed. I do NOT on the other hand enjoy anything else about serpent. Little bit too gimmicky. Might switch that up still. I struggled with the Priest RP so I figured I'd leave that to the better "good guys", for lack of a better term.

A perfect class for wandering and trading basically would be awesome. But even so, that's still preference, so I'll keep going through them before I embrace.

Sarapis said:

Stuneree said:

I was planning on purchasing the 2000 lessons right away because it's great that there is a starter pack, however I'm not entirely sure how much of a benefit lessons are... I haven't locked down a class to play yet, (left Apostate and Priest, currently on Serpent and still questioning it)... So I'm not really sure what kind of benefit the lessons would provide.

The vast majority of your combat power in-game comes from your class skills, so those lessons are what you need. Artefacts are not worth buying until after you have trans'd (maxed out) at least two, and usually three, of your class skills.

Oh, something I actually wanted to know while playing: Are my abilities, (such as serpent's "Hide"), more effective when I've got more lessons put into that skill, (subterfuge in that case)?

It would make sense that way, but even when Hiding, denizens can still spot me anyway.

Lowest artie is like 25 credits most expensive ones are 2000. HELP ARTEFACTS is the most useful thing you will find, I made a list of things that I might want and things that are just a no I don't need it. I get them periodically based on how important they are to me at the time. Saving them is important so you get something that is the most useful to you.

Stuneree

Achimrst said:

Stuneree said:

Thank you @Achimrst‌ @Makarios‌

As for the artifacts, how many credits do they generally cost? (If that varies too much, I guess a better question is what are the minimums and the maximums?)

As for RP, I don't find the RP in Cyrene a problem at all. As long as people don't reference the real world and type properly, I really don't mind it... Though, Mhaldor did spoil me with the RP element. ;D

The last issue I really have is which class I want... I picked Serpent basically just because it seems like a safe class with the stealth. I enjoy the ability to get around without being noticed. I do NOT on the other hand enjoy anything else about serpent. Little bit too gimmicky. Might switch that up still. I struggled with the Priest RP so I figured I'd leave that to the better "good guys", for lack of a better term.

A perfect class for wandering and trading basically would be awesome. But even so, that's still preference, so I'll keep going through them before I embrace.

Sarapis said:

Stuneree said:

I was planning on purchasing the 2000 lessons right away because it's great that there is a starter pack, however I'm not entirely sure how much of a benefit lessons are... I haven't locked down a class to play yet, (left Apostate and Priest, currently on Serpent and still questioning it)... So I'm not really sure what kind of benefit the lessons would provide.

The vast majority of your combat power in-game comes from your class skills, so those lessons are what you need. Artefacts are not worth buying until after you have trans'd (maxed out) at least two, and usually three, of your class skills.

Oh, something I actually wanted to know while playing: Are my abilities, (such as serpent's "Hide"), more effective when I've got more lessons put into that skill, (subterfuge in that case)?

It would make sense that way, but even when Hiding, denizens can still spot me anyway.

Lowest artie is like 25 credits most expensive ones are 2000. HELP ARTEFACTS is the most useful thing you will find, I made a list of things that I might want and things that are just a no I don't need it. I get them periodically based on how important they are to me at the time. Saving them is important so you get something that is the most useful to you.

Perfect, thank you. Looking through these now.

Jurixe

If you're looking for a merchant-type class, generally a 'producer' sort of class (like Alchemist and Druid/Sylvan/Sentinels if they can harvest, I forget) is great for that, since everyone needs curatives. Otherwise, there are miniskills like Gathering and Inkmilling where you can gather reagents to make inks (needed for tattoos and runes) and then actually make those inks. Otherwise, Magi can make enchantments, any of the Chivalry classes (Infernal, Paladin, Runewarden) can make weapons and armour (but this will cost quite a bit) and then of course you can purchase tailoring/cooking/jewellery licenses where you can make your own clothes/food/jewellery and sell them.

It's worth noting also that the tradeskills in future will be separated from the various classes, so you won't have to be an Alchemist to produce cures, for instance. But that might be a while off still.

In terms of population, Mhaldor is more or less the smallest city in Sapience, though we've been growing recently. A lot of Mhaldorians run on Asia time, but we have a pretty even distribution overall - you might have just hit a bad time. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself during the short time you were here, however - if you do return, perhaps you'll be luckier this time!

Sena

Stuneree said:

Oh, something I actually wanted to know while playing: Are my abilities, (such as serpent's "Hide"), more effective when I've got more lessons put into that skill, (subterfuge in that case)?

For the most part, no. Hide will work exactly the same whether you've mastered subterfuge or just started learning it. What you will get are additional abilities that supplement hiding, such as cloak and ghost, each ability masking different things. Most of the time, that's how it will work; each ability will stay the same, but you'll learn more abilities that synergise well together, or new abilities will sometimes entirely replace older ones. There are some abilities that do actually change as you learn more in the skill, but almost all of them are just improved damage, accuracy, or speed (meaning they're all offensive PvE or PvP abilities).

On the subject of hide not hiding you from denizens, that's something you'll run into a lot in Achaea. Very few of your abilities can be used against denizens. No afflictions or status effects apply to denizens, the only thing you can do to them is damage them (with a few exceptions). Achaea's PvP is extremely complex, but the PvE is, for the most part, very simplistic. From the most recent announce post though, it looks like there might be some improvements coming in that area, since a new full-time staff member was hired today who will start by working on improving PvE combat.

Nim

The thing with artefacts is that they're essentially more expensive skills. A lot of them provide unique features that you can't find in skills (and vice versa, many skills have no artefact equivalent, although a few do), but at the end of the day, both provide either some numerical bonus or some new ability - or both. Skills just do so for less credits (under 300 credits to trans a full skill at its most expensive - though the first few will be even cheaper - less for mini skills), while simultaneously granting far more benefits.

Shibumi

I have been playing for something more than 3 RL years, and I have seen so many improvements to the game I would not even know where to start. This game is extremely active, and everyone (staff and players) cares about it very much. 

The no-brainer package should help you greatly in become transcendent in two class skills.

I tired other MUDs like Batmud, Aardwolf, Wheel of Time, Alter Aeon, but quite honestly, I prefer Achaea. Maybe it is just my taste, but I am not an IRE fanboy, trust me.

Additionally, you can use the web client, which is constantly improving, or Mudlet which has IG clan and super helpful people, or a more simplistic client (like I do sometimes, because I live on nostalgia).

I have some artifacts bought buy accumulating credits from the monthly membership, they did not change my life. To be good at PvP, you must be good at PvP (and I am not good at PvP…yet!).

This is my super honest answer: you should give Achaea a try.

See you IG, eventually.

Wessux

I'll say this on the combat side. I take pride in killing people who have literally spent thousands of dollars on artefacts. There are a few semi essential artefacts you need for top-top-tier combat, but even then some classes can manage without them. There are probably like 5 players you couldn't learn to kill with skills alone, and that's because on top of being God-tier skilled players they have all the arties. But damn if you can't give them a run for there money!

This is the best freaking game I've ever played, and I'm not saying that because of money spent or anything so trivial. It's amazing because of how many choices you freaking have, and how much you can do! As long as you look for something to do you'll never be bored.

Play this game, get your friends to play, have your friend's friends play. It's da best! 

Stuneree

I really appreciate the community a lot so far, thanks for the responses as well guys...

Something that confused me though was that the trainer I am using in Cyrene only teaches up to a certain level... However if it is supposed to be an intricate quest or something like that to find other trainers, obviously don't tell me how, but should I be looking for a different trainer to continue my skilling? (I need to know this so I can actually use my future lesson-purchase effectively).

As for the Mhaldor population, it isn't just that. I had a great mentor and met some great people like Harmonia and others, but it just didn't feel right for a new player... A little bit rough.

Again everyone, I appreciate the responses, thank you.

Nim

Stuneree said:

Something that confused me though was that the trainer I am using in Cyrene only teaches up to a certain level... However if it is supposed to be an intricate quest or something like that to find other trainers, obviously don't tell me how, but should I be looking for a different trainer to continue my skilling? (I need to know this so I can actually use my future lesson-purchase effectively).

I believe only other adventurers and house trainers can teach up to trans, with two exceptions being Kavaya (who can only teach BM skills) and I think city alchemists can teach Alchemist skills up to trans as well.

Stuneree

Nim said:

Stuneree said:

Something that confused me though was that the trainer I am using in Cyrene only teaches up to a certain level... However if it is supposed to be an intricate quest or something like that to find other trainers, obviously don't tell me how, but should I be looking for a different trainer to continue my skilling? (I need to know this so I can actually use my future lesson-purchase effectively).

I believe only other adventurers and house trainers can teach up to trans, with two exceptions being Kavaya (who can only teach BM skills) and I think city alchemists can teach Alchemist skills up to trans as well.

Oh okay that makes sense then. Well I wasn't really looking to find a house yet because I really take interest in the whole "Merchant House" idea, but are there people willing to mentor without being in the same house? How does that all work??

Nim

Stuneree said:

Oh okay that makes sense then. Well I wasn't really looking to find a house yet because I really take interest in the whole "Merchant House" idea, but are there people willing to mentor without being in the same house? How does that all work??

Anyone can become your mentor. Although some houses require you to get house mentors - so if you plan on joining one soon, you might want to wait until you do that before finding a mentor - they generally understand that you might already have a mentor or other such things.

Furthermore, anyone can teach anyone else any skill so long as they both have the skill and the teacher knows more than the student, so if by mentor you actually mean "someone to teach you skills," then that's a separate concept, and finding someone to do that is really just a matter of finding someone willing to.

Some tools include the market channel, if you're in a city then asking around there might be helpful, and just networking in general. You could even ask random people on CLASSWHO for help.

Stuneree

Nim said:

Stuneree said:

Oh okay that makes sense then. Well I wasn't really looking to find a house yet because I really take interest in the whole "Merchant House" idea, but are there people willing to mentor without being in the same house? How does that all work??

Anyone can become your mentor. Although some houses require you to get house mentors - so if you plan on joining one soon, you might want to wait until you do that before finding a mentor - they generally understand that you might already have a mentor or other such things.

Furthermore, anyone can teach anyone else any skill so long as they both have the skill and the teacher knows more than the student, so if by mentor you actually mean "someone to teach you skills," then that's a separate concept, and finding someone to do that is really just a matter of finding someone willing to.

Some tools include the market channel, if you're in a city then asking around there might be helpful, and just networking in general. You could even ask random people on CLASSWHO for help.

Well in that case, I don't want to open up another thread and flood the forums with my ignorance, so I'll ask here...

Understandably enough, a few classes have restrictions for cities and such...

However, if I played Infernal or Apostate, would I be REQUIRED to serve in a Mhaldorian house? As I said above, I would love to be a travelling sort of merchant type, which I feel I could make work with a necro class... (If absolutely not, I could just read all of the rules regarding multiple characters and just do that).

The BIG question is "Can I enter another city as an Apostate or Infernal?"... I got into some trouble before as Apostate venturing into the wrong cities.

So would I be able to play something like Infernal and still just join the Merchant house? I know that joining the wrong city as an Apostate or Knight if managed will lose some abilities and all, but what about Houses? I was temporarily in Congregation and that's where I was learning about those limitations.

Thanks!

Sena

You don't have to be in Mhaldor or a Mhaldorian house to be an apostate or infernal. You also won't lose access to any of your abilities unless you actively work against Mhaldor/Sartan/Evil (even then, it's not guaranteed you'll get any punishment).

However, most cities don't welcome necromancers. Targossas and Eleusis forbid them entirely from joining, I think Cyrene does as well but I'm not 100% certain (at the very least, even if they do permit necromancers it will require approval first). I don't think Ashtan specifically disallows necromancy (I could be wrong), but they're frequently in conflict with Mhaldor so there will at least be some friction. Hashan is really the only city other than Mhaldor where you'll find a significant number of necromancers.

The merchant house currently only permits magi, runewarden, sylvan, and sentinel, so you can't join as any other class. With the house renaissance in progress, that will eventually change, but it could take a while.

Nellaundra

Cyrene disbars Necromancers, Forestals, and Occultists currently.

Lehmann

As far as I know, you CAN be an Infernal in Ashtan or Hashan, not sure about apostates though.

Jukilian

There isn't really a "significant" number of necromancers in Hashan. I know of two Orff the top of my head, an Apostate and an Infernal. We had more infernals but they changed to Runewarden due to primarily RP (I.e. making the hard choice as a result of being Hashani and to about being anathemised, or actually getting anathemised).

Personally I'd prefer no necromancers on Hashan, but that's my opinion. We've done a lot of work to separate ourselves from Mhaldor.

Stuneree

In that case, if I enter non-Mhaldor cities, will I simply be killed on sight? (As a necromancer or occultist, or something like that)

Nellaundra

Depends on the city. If you're a newbie, you're probably going to be escorted out, explained that you'll be killed on sight on your next visit, and be sent on your way. The older you are, the more likely it is that they're going to gut you there. Ashtan doesn't really give a shit though, and I don't think Hashan enemies Mhaldorians automatically either, but don't quote me on that.

Stuneree

Nellaundra said:

Depends on the city. If you're a newbie, you're probably going to be escorted out, explained that you'll be killed on sight on your next visit, and be sent on your way. The older you are, the more likely it is that they're going to gut you there. Ashtan doesn't really give a shit though, and I don't think Hashan enemies Mhaldorians automatically either, but don't quote me on that.

Well, as a young apostate I accidentally ended up learning how much Targossas hates Mhaldor... And was asked to leave by Verrucht in Cyrene, which was a lot more pleasant than the former encounter. ;D

Alright well thank you then. In that case I will probably avoid necromancer classes, despite how much I'd prefer them. The limitations are just a little bit too much for me, (And Mhaldor isn't for wimps ;D).

Jurixe

As someone relatively new to Achaea, it would probably be best to stick with a 'safer' class - you can theoretically be an Ashtani or Hashani necromancer, but you'd likely always be looked on with suspicion by both your citymates (both cities which have history of going against Mhaldor) and by Mhaldorians, who will take every opportunity to either antagonise or try to convert you to the 'right' city where you 'belong'. And if you ever do anything that might be construed as offensive against a Mhaldorian, you can very well be excommunicated, which would mean you would never be able to regenerate essence and render half your skills unusable.

Jukilian

Nellaundra said:

... I don't think Hashan enemies Mhaldorians automatically either, but don't quote me on that.

Unfortunately, that depends on which aide you happen to get the attention of.

I give everyone the benefit of the doubt unless they are repeat offenders, and if they leave peacefully I will not enemy them. I see no point in enemying newbies who just don't know (seen that happen too often).

Even older players that are more active and don't necessarily know Mhaldorians are unwelcome will get a chance from me (@Kresslack is one person that comes to mind).

Regarding Necromancers and Occultists in general, Hashan has zero problem with them except for Mhaldorians.