Achaea vs Aetolia

Assinelitas

Hello!

 

I am really thinking about sinking into one of the Iron Realms game, and currently my favourites are Achaea and Aetolia, and I am trying to figure out what are the main differences between these two. I was trying to find some answers but I got posts that are several years old and they are talking about things such a player base so I am questioning how relevant they still are.

 

Thus far from what I gathered Achaea has the sailing system, which is not present in Aetolia(?), and Aetolia is more RP focused(?). (feel free to correct me)

I get that the classes and races are somewhat different, but besides that? Does one have more skills? More in depth lore/quests/PvP/ PvE/ RP? Better combat system? Is one more P2W? Does one allow you to climb higher in the world hierarchy (like being a lord of a region/city or something like that)?

 

I spend a few hours in both, but the early game content feels really similar, and when I asked in-game, most I was able to get from people is "They are totally different games" and "You have to try to see" but I am not so fond of dumping a few weeks in both games just to choose one afterwards, and I think having a comparison might also be helpful for future potential players.

 

I will be grateful for every answer!

Saonji

No sailing system in Aetolia.

Depends what you mean on the 'more RP focussed' front. In both games it almost entirely falls down onto who you interact with. I'd say there's definitely more of a divine presence in Aetolia.

I wouldn't say either has more skills, or depth to their skills. Aetolia has static curing priority which makes automation in combat much more prevalent (which is saying a lot because there's a ton of it in Achaea). They each have their draws (and drawbacks) in both PvP and PvE, to the point it's kinda difficult to say one is better than the other in either field. P2W? They both are in their own ways, by virtue of how artifacts are. Dailycredits mitigate it a fair bit (and I'd give Aetolia a point here due to how much better their system is setup, especially for new / late night / reclusive players)

Both have political 'ladders' you can climb, so to speak. I'd argue it's easier in Aetolia, but it's still perfectly doable in Achaea. The current Tyrannus, iirc, was completely new to Achaea when she started. As was Ashtan's Ascendant.

If you can be more specific with your questions, I can try to answer in better detail.

Assinelitas

Saonji

First off all, thank you!

The questions I have written were just an example.. Cuz I by myself am not quite sure what to aks about, because as I have said, to me (a newbs point of view) both of them are really simillar overall.. So my question is more the sort of "What are the main differences between the two in your opinion? And which one of them did you choose and for what reasons?"

Saonji

Assinelitas said:

So my question is more the sort of "What are the main differences between the two in your opinion? And which one of them did you choose and for what reasons?"

This is no doubt gonna be long, so I'm just gonna spoiler it.

A big one for me is management. Tiur and Keroc certainly have their problems, as all admin do, but from my experience they're (and Razmael) in general, are a lot more transparent in things they do. Achaea seems to have some archaic (hurrrrr) concepts they refuse to back away from, such as making things needlessly (or more than they need to be, at least) obscure under some strange notion that it's more fun or something. Questing in Aetolia, for instance, is a hell of a lot less headache-inducing while still providing the same similar lore tidbits and what have you.

Divine presence in Aetolia is a lot better all-round. No argument about it. Not sure much explaining here is necessary, honestly. Nothing against Achaea's volunteers/divine, just never clicked with me personally.

Combat, as I've said, is also a pretty prominent difference. You can fight in Achaea just fine with little-to-no automation (barring stuff like serverside curing/defences/etc, obviously). You can't really do that in Aetolia simply because of how combat there works. There's been a tiny handful of people who have, but not recently. The ones who did have all- to my knowledge- quit, for this exact reason. It really turns the game into AI vs AI, whoever codes better (or can buy better code) will win... To me, it's not a colossal turnoff because I enjoy coding, and seeing my scripts work. To others, it's one of the biggest turnoffs though.

Playerbase is a touchy subject. Both games can have an incredibly toxic atmosphere, yet simultaneously they can both be great. All comes down to who you interact with, and how you interact with them. There's a lot of shitflinging that goes on either way, though, regardless of what game you choose. It's the internet, and if there's one thing people on the internet love to do, it's bitch and moan. Especially if things don't go their way.

PvE, honestly both have their ups and downs. Aetolia has stuff like Giovelli's Safari which is essentially a "survive as long as you possibly can against waves of monsters" - Great for making gold, also fun if you find others who enjoy it. Not incredibly artifact-dependent. It also has a thing called 'Beneath' which is basically what would be considered a 'dungeon' in any MMO. With actual bosses, who have real strategies. Forays do this to an extent, but forays leave a lot to be desired. I love Beneath.

Artifacts, another touchy subject. I wouldn't say either game is more "artifact-heavy" than the other. I'd say Aetolia's is generally better, though, since you basically get Level 1s for free in the form of amulets. They help significantly in easing you into the game. As I noted above, Aetolia's version of daily credits is also much more thorough and just generally better, especially for newer players. It doesn't require any sort of cheesing or carrying to get your cap. Achaea really needs to fix a lot with theirs. I'm sure I'll cop shit from some people for pointing this out, as oft happens.

As for what one I chose? I play both. When I get tired of one, I generally play the other. Often times I play both, just depends on what one I feel like playing at that specific point in time. There's one good thing they both share, and that's: "At least it's not Starmourn or Imperian."

Armali

I played for Aetolia for twice as long as I played Achaea, and my thoughts are this:

The most offputting thing for me personally about Aetolia was how aggressive the playerbase was around alting and OOC "faction allegiance". That happens in Achaea to some extent as well, but it's overpowering in Aetolia if you dip your toes into the out-of-game social stuff.

This point of Daeir's? It's the number one reason I don't play it as much these days. It overshadows all the good stuff about Aetolia. It can be incredibly stressful, and one of the main reasons I play Achaea a lot more now. The other stuff he says is true, so I'm going to address some things I noted:

- Convenience and QoL, Aetolia has a lot of features Achaea doesn't. Did you know they have a built in automapper/walker, so you can just walk to any arbitrary room number? I barely use the mudlet mapper! It's like having infinite landmarks!

- Achaea's world is wider, and I daresay deeper. I've enjoyed uncovering little secrets and solving continent-sweeping quests that simply do not really exist in Aetolia. There are a tremendous number of things to KILL for fame in Achaea, there are cool little mechanics and puzzles in super mobs like with Yudhishthira. The are the elemental guardians, there are forays, there is Yggdrasil and Ratatosk, and the Underworld and all the Ur'Vampires. So if you're someone that enjoys exploration and murder, I don't feel Aetolia has it to the same level as Achaea does. Plus, Achaea tells me how many quests I've finished in an area, which satisfies the completionist in me.

- Overall, there feels like less stuff to do in Aetolia, which ties into the above. There aren't as many super mobs to hunt, not as many dungeons/forays to run, no idea if you're missing a quest in an area so you can searching for it. You fight the same people day in and day out, and if one side has an advantage you just get to lose for months on end without much chance for variation. The world is smaller, so there's less to explore. There's no ships or sea monster hunting or diving or pirating.

Saonji

Daeir said:

It's super good, easily the best one I've ever seen on a MUD to date.

Toss up for me between Aetolia and Lusternia's. Lusternia's automatically uses any special exits/travel your character has access to. Wings, wormholes, gallop any sort of artifact traveling etc. It's pretty amazing. Always moves max possible rooms you're able to, as well (which can get fairly high in Lusternia... ).

Rackham

See that travel thing would be really nice. I don't use mudlet, so I refuse to use wings til something like that is implemented so it'll auto path with wings/gare/whatever. I mean just wings/gare would be nice, but wormholes would be cool too. Dunno mechanically how big of a project that is though.

Assinelitas

Ok! Thank you everyone for your input! I think I will try Aetolia for starters and see where that goes..