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Comparing the IRE Games

AistraiAistrai Member Posts: 6
Hello everyone. After a very long hiatus from Achaea(Think around 8 years) , I've returned there. Now a bit older and wiser, I've wondered about the other games belonging to IRE. Once upon a time I tried Imperian...for all of an hour or two. Aetolia as well. 

MUDs as a hobby or passion are incredibly unique and from my experience there are a lot of factors that can lead a person to stay and play or leave early.

So I guess what I'm asking and wanting to start a discussion about is what the differences are between IRE MUDs, what features one has that the other does not and what draws you, if anything, to play the ones that are less populated; knowing that something which unfortunately drives choice is the online player count!

**For me, my memories of trying Aetolia many years ago were rife with feelings that I could never really get anything realistically done. There were 2 city mates and I had to make appointments to ask questions, be inducted into various groups or clans, etc. 

And yet what draws me to look at other titles is often the vast difference they provide. Achaea is clearly the eldest child that it is but can I be an Amazon there? I think not! 

So, do you love your choice of game and how awesome is it to play here, there or anywhere for that matter? Let me know ;)

Comments

  • LartusLartus Member Posts: 487 ✭✭✭
    I can ride a llama into battle
  • AistraiAistrai Member Posts: 6
    Wonderful
  • JulesJules Member Posts: 1,080 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2016
    I've at least dabbled in all of the other games, and like so many people, I started out in, and spent a long time in Achaea.  Imperian is hands down my favorite, and I've dabbled in all of the games now.  

    1)  Players.  I mostly know about anti-magick circle, because that is where almost all of my experience has been.  For whatever reason, MUDs attract aspiring bureaucrats in droves.  People who seem to revel in creating lots of rules, paperwork, and "requirements", and who heavily emphasize IC rank and position.  Worse, they often insist that they don't do any of those things, or, more precisely, "but ours totally isn't like THAT.  OURS is fun and engaging RP that everyone enjoys".  In Antioch of the past couple of years, all of those shitty players I want to stab in the eyes aren't running things for once...  As well, we have combatants who are actually willing to work with what they've got, and try to train you up.  And frankly, they are more patient and far less judgy than what I have seen in other games.  Most people who are good at coding and good at IRE's strange, complicated mechanics are emphatically NOT the sort of people who have the desire or inclination to explain those things to people who aren't pretty damned quick to pick it up themselves.  The whole thing is like a goddamned Christmas Miracle as far as I am concerned, and the only downside is that I get paranoid that I will wake up one day and some guy will be reminding me that I still need to write an essay on the Guild Ethos, and that he heard I didn't justisalute one of the guild secretaries at the Shuk the other day...  and our lone "good" combatant will wave his hand dismissively and say something like "coding is easy, I made my first system when I was 14.  Why are you so dumb?" (which to be fair, a lot of guys actually did).  If it does happen, it's been a good ride :(

    2) Admin has embraced the idea that "perceived risk is almost always more fun than -actual- risk".  So, for example, there is no XP loss upon death, which is hugely important to me, because I really, really don't like to bash for long periods, and I am pretty terrible at pvp, even though I enjoy it.  The reason I say they've truly embraced the idea is because of things like the following - they also got rid of faith and belief loss upon death - and I'm really glad they did, because I was about to quit sects.  The problem was, I die a lot in pvp, which was costing my sect "belief", and I felt my choices were to either quit pvp, bash back all of the belief, or quit sects.  I definitely didn't want to give up pvp, now that I felt I could take part in it for the first time EVER (thanks to no XP loss), and bashing for belief I "lost" was sort of putting me in a similar situation, except in some ways it was almost worse, because if I lose my own XP that really sucks.  If I lose my sect's belief and don't bash it back, I feel like an actual ****.  Mind you, just about any sect is going to tell you "don't worry about it", and they do mean it, but believe me, many, many people are still going to feel extremely uncomfortable running a belief deficit.  And the longer the situation goes on, the more uncomfortable they're going to feel.  So getting rid of the costs to sects for player deaths meant I felt I could take fun risks again (and not quit sects).  

    3)  I feel admin here is more willing to listen to players and have a dialogue with them that is much more like an actual customer relationship.  Gamers can be difficult to deal with, so I can understand the appeal of encouraging players to treat any and all admin like actual deities at all times, in and out of game, and of heavily downplaying the "customer" aspect of the player relationship to admin, but that's also not a very appealing situation to grown ups with lots of expendable income.   And look, admin realistically still holds nearly all of the actual power in the relationship here, they're just a lot more tactful and respectful of the idea that there really should be a strong customer service element to the whole thing, too.  That doesn't mean that there aren't great people providing great service in the other games, because there are.  But here, it's really clear that it is a top to bottom sort of thing, and it encompasses how players feel about where the game is going, as well as "thanks for fixing my doodad that broke". 
    Post edited by Jules on
  • AistraiAistrai Member Posts: 6
    Much more helpful to see, thank you Jules. So What I'm really wondering is if I'll be completely misplaced in my time and maybe even money if I try to find interest in Imperian. Shall I? I'm not sure. Perhaps I'll give it a go....
  • IniarIniar Member Posts: 3,213 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2016
    Senali said:
    Finally, Achaea. The big one.
    being a GIANT FREAKING DRAGON.

    Wud.

    BRB
    wit beyond measure is a Sidhe's greatest treasure
  • AistraiAistrai Member Posts: 6
    I'm very glad that you took the time to give such a detailed response, I've been skeptical lately that anyone would answer my questions honestly! 

    Now for me to be honest, I am what is often labelled as an 'RP Snob'. I like long form. I like treating in game mechanics with logical language and rationalization...Heck, turn tells off and force other people to send me letters and I do the same for them. (This being just preference) In many cases I would be better served on a true RPI like Armageddon, even.

    IRE games are mechanically advanced, so much so that I can't look at other games without seeing the glaring flaws. And then there is that fantasy that the combat can fulfill.

    Now perhaps I just find myself wishing I could be an Achaea Amazon.....but I can try Imperian as well :D Thanks again
  • JulesJules Member Posts: 1,080 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2016
    For your playstyle, you might really like Aetolia best of all (for RP).  Possibly certain niches of Achaea as well (for both RP and a higher "risk" profile).  And yes, Achaea is absoutely the game that still caters most to players who want "real" losses/risks rather than perceived ones - although I think Lusternia is still high stakes for both pvp and bashing too.  I think that truly is a love it or hate it for a lot of players.  There are a few - very few, who don't mind much either way, and they are always people who can do well in either situation.  Or even MKO, actually, although the tiny player base can be an issue, and their bashing makes me sadface.  They have a "flee" mechanic and xp loss for bashing, but no xp loss for pvp.  That said, the people there are so charmingly weird.  I enjoy dabbling over there.  There is a heck of a lot of drama though, hehe.  Every time I check in with those guys there is some big he said she said fuzzball in progress.  

    EDIT:  Imperian certainly has RP, too, but a lot of it might not be the kind of RP you seem to be looking for (I love Antioch's style but it definitely rubs most "real/serious" RP-ers the wrong way, for example) - maybe some worthwhile (for you) exceptions though.  
    Post edited by Jules on
  • WysriasWysrias Member Posts: 410 ✭✭✭✭
    I've also played every IRE until endgame, though how far 'into' endgame varies heavily. Most of my experience is centered around Imperian and Aetolia, though I've gone back to Achaea recently for a fresh start and have been having a good time.

    From what you've described, I think Aetolia is probably your best bet - while Imperian does have niches of RP that are very enjoyable and fulfilling, Aetolia has centered itself firmly into the 'RP-heavy' side of IRE. The major obstacle you generally hit is finding a way to break into the various cliques, which tends to be a more ambiguous task than in other games. My suggestion would be to just start emoting in bits and pieces and see who picks up on it, and then carry it from there - just like most games, players are always excited for new blood and will probably bend over backwards to incorporate fresh faces.

    However, since this is Imperian's forums, I do have to give credit where it is due. Especially recently from the sounds of things, RP has shifted back into the focus as players/admin realize how important it is for establishing a living, breathing setting and taking advantage of the unique tools MUDs offer in that domain. It will come down to the setting, too, as this is another major dividing line between the various games. Imperian has a lot of raw, untapped potential, especially with the setting dramatically shifting in the last few years with plenty of pockets of lore that have barely even started to be touched on. There's a real opportunity for player-driven projects from this perspective, as you have a lot of room to shape your story that you may not be afforded elsewhere.

    Mechanically, the games have long since diverged and are difficult to compare objectively. A lot of people, especially in Imperian, find things like Aetolia's static cure orders to be stifling - but to extrapolate on that example, the mechanics in that game have evolved over the years with that principle in mind, and you'd likely find that there are different intricacies and strategies to focus on that don't exist elsewhere (dedicated curing tree blockers, more 'complete' tracking, the nightmare that is prerestoration, etc.). 


  • AnetteAnette Member Posts: 814 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2016
    Aistrai said:
    I'm very glad that you took the time to give such a detailed response, I've been skeptical lately that anyone would answer my questions honestly! 

    Now for me to be honest, I am what is often labelled as an 'RP Snob'. I like long form. I like treating in game mechanics with logical language and rationalization...Heck, turn tells off and force other people to send me letters and I do the same for them. (This being just preference) In many cases I would be better served on a true RPI like Armageddon, even.

    IRE games are mechanically advanced, so much so that I can't look at other games without seeing the glaring flaws. And then there is that fantasy that the combat can fulfill.

    Now perhaps I just find myself wishing I could be an Achaea Amazon.....but I can try Imperian as well :D Thanks again

    You should poke at me in RP, I've been starving for RP and there's only so much I can get away with in cross-circle stuff.

    Honestly, this is what I've been enjoying about Imperian most though.  It's very much "chose your level of involvement."  Want to get involved in heavy RP?  There's groups that love that, and indeed I've had some quite enjoyable RP with a few (@Agrias comes to mind).  Want to kill other players?  There's a lot of that, and the people that are the gooduns here are much less elitist about it than other MUDs I've come across.  Hat tip to @Septus for being very patient with my many nooby questions as he's been a great resource, as have a few others such as @Khizan or @Jules.  Want to just bash?  Well let me tell you as the one person mad enough to have that as her central draw to the game, I've had a lot of fun with it.  There's a variety of areas, each has its own flavour, and most of them will require different strategies to do more than just scrape through if you want to do it optimally.  So there's a bit of something for everyone, and no one really has given me a hard time based upon where I fell.  As long as you're not bothering other people here, they don't bother you.  As much as she'd humbly say she usually leaves people to their own devices, based on my experiences elsewheres Jules helping Anette out when she needed it when I was first starting stands out to me because I never really got that in other muds, with the exception of Midkemia when I tried it (just didn't gel with that game though unfortunately).  People here are generally cogniziant of the fact that we all have more fun here if people are enjoying themselves and they're more than happy to help you get there yourself.

    The thing that's stood out for me most however is the amount of work that the administration - @Jeremy, @Elokia, @Hexe, @Garryn, @Eoghan, and the rest of the team working more behind the scenes, have put into the game as of late.  There's a million unquantifiable ways this shows.  This may come off to others reading as a bit odd for me to say given I've been critical of their most recent event, but there is a lot to be said that I can be, and that it feels worthwhile to give that feedback.  Whenever I've noticed a typo, or bug, or even something that just seems a little odd that could use looked at or something I feel can be done better, they've been on top of that ball every time.  Most of my reports are closed within a day.  That's a turnaround many large companies with millions of dollars don't manage, and yet here's a team made up mostly of volunteers, that does.  They love this game.  It shows, and there's a world of difference in it.

    [edit]: I see it mentioned here that Aetolia is also RP intensive.  This is true.  That said, as a roleplayer, I grew off Aetolia.  The problem I had with it is the community always seemed very insular to me, and there was a rapid tendancy towards bureaucracy I hated.  I tried to do away with this a couple times to end up outguilded once, so there's that.  This is a couple years old experience, so bear this in mind and take it for the dated thing it is, but there's a certain wall you're going to have to push past to get involved in Aetolia if you want to get involved, and I always found this frustrating because the vampire RP is basically my cup of tea (longtime VTM player) and I also liked the knightly RP the Paladins had going for some time (which is why I made Anette a templar), but ultimately I grew frustrated with the insular nature of the community and left.  At the time I left it also had a bad case of having to participate in OOC clans to get anywheres and that always put me a bit off.
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  • JulesJules Member Posts: 1,080 ✭✭✭
    The RP heavy games, or even RP heavy orgs within a game, often seem to have a strong bent towards bureaucracy.  It almost seems like it is a challenge to extricate the two from one another.  It's a big part of how I got so avoidant of "RP", but in truth, I don't hate "RP" - I hate THAT kind of RP, which tends to be the more dominant kind, because those people are usually the most insistent about what is and isn't "good" RP, and they tend to become gatekeepers of the orgs themselves, and in a more general sense, too, when they are sufficiently clustered in an org or game.  That said, that kind of environment seems to work great for some people, although there are a few people who would be widely accepted as "serious" RP-ers who do seem to genuinely hate it.  Over in one of the other games, a guy who is very well respected as a "serious RP-er", and I believe as a combatant too, wrote numerous lengthy, articulate posts railing against the evils of bureaucracy in some of the more RP heavy orgs.  In short, as he'd grown older and was playing the game as an adult, he'd realized that bureaucracy isn't much fun, and as org leader, he'd scaled it back drastically, only to see subsequent leadership pile it right back on, in keeping with a general trend in similar orgs.  And what he got in response was a lot of "oh yeah, you're so right, that's so true, respected RP-er guy, but our fast track twelve step advancement program for people who actually wrote a bunch of our lore back in the day is totally not like that".
  • KhizanKhizan Member Posts: 2,648 ✭✭✭✭✭

    One of the things I really like about Imperian is the low-to-non-existent death penalties, because I generally believe that the only thing that high death penalties do is keep the low-rollers out of the game.

    I mean, look at it. For a death penalty to be of any real significance to somebody like Juran/Khizan/Septus/Eldreth/Risca/etc, that death penalty has to be absolutely devastating. We're talking about a largeish flat percentage of experience, or heavy gold penalties, or SOMETHING. Realistically, you are never going to see a death penalty high enough to make us think twice about doing stupid things, because then nobody else would be willing to do anything even moderately risky. The kind of death penalty it takes to make somebody like us care about dying is the kind of death penalty that keeps somebody like Jules from even trying.

    And since your death penalty basically doesn't exist for the high-rollers, you might as well make things so that it doesn't exist for anybody. I'd much rather have a game where it's possible to clear the benches and get everybody involved than a game where people are too worried about the death penalty to get involved. 

    "On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."

  • AnetteAnette Member Posts: 814 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2016
    Jules said:
    The RP heavy games, or even RP heavy orgs within a game, often seem to have a strong bent towards bureaucracy.  It almost seems like it is a challenge to extricate the two from one another.  It's a big part of how I got so avoidant of "RP", but in truth, I don't hate "RP" - I hate THAT kind of RP, which tends to be the more dominant kind, because those people are usually the most insistent about what is and isn't "good" RP, and they tend to become gatekeepers of the orgs themselves, and in a more general sense, too, when they are sufficiently clustered in an org or game.  That said, that kind of environment seems to work great for some people, although there are a few people who would be widely accepted as "serious" RP-ers who do seem to genuinely hate it.  Over in one of the other games, a guy who is very well respected as a "serious RP-er", and I believe as a combatant too, wrote numerous lengthy, articulate posts railing against the evils of bureaucracy in some of the more RP heavy orgs.  In short, as he'd grown older and was playing the game as an adult, he'd realized that bureaucracy isn't much fun, and as org leader, he'd scaled it back drastically, only to see subsequent leadership pile it right back on, in keeping with a general trend in similar orgs.  And what he got in response was a lot of "oh yeah, you're so right, that's so true, respected RP-er guy, but our fast track twelve step advancement program for people who actually wrote a bunch of our lore back in the day is totally not like that".
    Well, to some people creating and going through these kind of systems is engaging to them and they enjoy it.  The problem is when it's at an org level, any organiztion (city/guild/order) is going to have a diversity of people, and those kinds of systems appeal to *one* type of roleplayer among many, to say nothing of bashers or pvpers.

    So the problem you run into if you keep a requirements system is that it ends up being exclusive in a fashion, or you make the requirements so low that they're essentially meaningless.
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  • AistraiAistrai Member Posts: 6
    Bureaucracy being a nebulous topic all I can say about orgs that I -do- like is when they have a believable system from the bottom up. The new people need to be mentored, the mentors were once new people, they're learning the ins and outs of their city/house/etc until taking on an Administrative position and so on and so on....When those positions are meaningful and give you even more of the (R)ole in RP, it's great. I can see all the cons you lovely people have provided, though. 

    SO. At this point I definitely have some investment I can't ignore for Achaea but I do think I'd like to roam around Imperian and give it all another try. After all the last time I played was 10 years ago!

    My last question for all of you is about the level of investment in combat and curing needed from these games. If you know Achaea you know Vadimuses and what became essentially commercially successful curing. Do the other IRE games have simple enough systems? Does everyone have Serverside curing now? Is it enough?
  • TheophilusTheophilus Member Posts: 784 ✭✭✭✭
    Serverside curing is more than enough. You can shift curing priorities as you see fit, but the default system is good enough for starting out.

    You'll want to at least tritrans and have survival and antidotes to be competitive. 696 in antidotes and ~1700 in survival, plus ~1700 in each of your guild skills. You can trans almost two of your guild skills by leveling up alone. There is a reasonably priced 2000 lesson and 300 bound credit package available to help with it.
    (Ring): Lartus says, "I heard Theophilus once threw a grenade and killed ten people."
    (Ring): Lartus says, "Then it exploded."

    (Ring): Zsetsu says, "Everyone's playing checkers, but Theophilus is playing chess."
  • AistraiAistrai Member Posts: 6
    I knee-jerked coming back to Achaea and bought those packages for my new character after retiring a 13 year old Veteran.....*1tear*.  The Iron Elite Membership, however, is the best thing to happen since sliced bread so I have that too...I think I'll be fine :) There is an admirable amount of love to show here and I'm thankful the community has been receptive thus far. 
  • SalikSalik Member Posts: 143 ✭✭✭
    Lusternia has Vadi's m&m available to everybody as open-source now, if you use Mudlet.
  • DiceneDicene Member Posts: 913 ✭✭✭✭
    Svo is available for one of them too, open source. I think Achaea?
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  • LartusLartus Member Posts: 487 ✭✭✭
    Midkemia has Matawa which is free to download. Handles curing, bashing, stuff.
  • KhizanKhizan Member Posts: 2,648 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2016
    Aistrai said:
    My last question for all of you is about the level of investment in combat and curing needed from these games. If you know Achaea you know Vadimuses and what became essentially commercially successful curing. Do the other IRE games have simple enough systems? Does everyone have Serverside curing now? Is it enough?

    Autocuring straight out of the box is going to be good enough for 90% of the game. Autocuring with some changes to the priorities will be good enough for 95% of the game. The 5% who really get into top-tier 1v1 combat are going to need to track afflictions clientside to adjust autocurings priorities dynamically, but they're still going to use autocuring as the base of their system. It's just too good to do otherwise; In theory, you can make a client-side system that is better than autocuring. In practice, latency issues will almost certainly negate any gains made by such a system. 

    As far as offensive systems go, I do not know of any offensive systems being sold at this time; the two players who did sell such systems went inactive and IIRC those systems are no longer for sale or supported. You don't really need a complicated system for most classes, though. Basic if/then/else coding skills will handle everything you need to do for everything but top-tier affliction combat.

    You mentioned Amazon in particular; that class has a fairly low coding threshold to be good. I mean, even @Theophilus can do it! :D

    "On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."

  • TheophilusTheophilus Member Posts: 784 ✭✭✭✭
    Khizan said:

    You mentioned Amazon in particular; that class has a fairly low coding threshold to be good. I mean, even @Theophilus can do it! :D

    You ****.
    (Ring): Lartus says, "I heard Theophilus once threw a grenade and killed ten people."
    (Ring): Lartus says, "Then it exploded."

    (Ring): Zsetsu says, "Everyone's playing checkers, but Theophilus is playing chess."
  • JulesJules Member Posts: 1,080 ✭✭✭
    But he's OUR **** :(


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  • JulesJules Member Posts: 1,080 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2016
    It's not foolproof, but I recommend that you dig around each of the games' forums.  In particular, dig around until you find conflict and points of contention, and see how it's handled by players and admin alike.  Now, if there is -no- "spirited" discussion from time to time, that's not a good sign either.  This is another area where I think Imperian really shines, in letting us have our say, but taking swift action when a conversation turns into actual nastiness and bullying, but yeah, dig around for yourself.  I always do.  If you are somewhat familiar with the games, you'll gain some insight from that.   

    EDIT:  All game forums can get a bit rough, basically, but considering the nature of the beast we are, I think we do really, really well here.  
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