How'd you get into IRE games/Mudding?

Haven

I saw an ad for Aetolia somewhere I think and that's how I got started on muds... I tried the other IRE games for like a day but couldn't stay. Aetolia just too good. If i tried any of the other muds first, I don't think I'd have gotten into mudding at all. However, I originally learned how to RP on like AOL, Yahoo messenger chats, etc.

I always enjoyed writing and building characters and creating worlds with my imagination. My earliest memory of Aetolia was me being interviewed in the world tree with like 15 Infernals for squirehood. XD It's so funny to me that at the time I studied like mad for that test, more so than anything I've ever done for school at the time. Most nerve wrecking experience. Looking back it's so crazy to me. Sephtrial, Inaeternum, Baragor, and many more...

I miss Aetolia sometimes but then I think it devours too much of my time. I'm very thankful for the friends it's brought me even though I've been very bad in keeping in touch. Must not rant! Ah, the memories.

Emelle

I've always enjoyed writing, especially collaboratively. I somehow got into some themed forum RP, but the slow pace and inconsistency of it turned me off, so I started looking for alternatives. The first MUD I ever tried was Threshold RPG, which didn't really hook me, but I liked the idea of RP in real time. From there (probably through TMS or something) I found Aetolia, and was fortunate enough to fall right into the thick of RP. I was maybe 14 at the time, and my first character was Dreala.

I essentially stopped playing during college, in part due to DRAMA but mostly because of a busy schedule, but Aetolia never really left me. I would occasionally log in to lurk, and then one day when I was in graduate school I got caught by an old friend, which prompted me to start playing again. I'd created Emelle as an alt awhile back and hadn't done much with her, but I loved the concept, so I revived her. I'm so glad I did.

While I often go through phases of inactivity due to a busy RL, I always find myself drifting back. I have such nostalgia and fondness for Aetolia and this community! Perhaps you'll see more of me this summer...

Ishin

I think I was about 17 too. Big-time D&D nerd, I love playing. I almost always play a rogue-type, but I've been known to whip a fighter or mage out of the closet, depending on the GM and what they'll allow. I met a friend somehow on ICQ, don't remember details, and got involved in a white wolf MUD. Don't remember which, but eventually I landed in Achaea. Played there for a good while, then it got too populous for me, and I moved to Aetolia. Basically been here or in another IRE ever since.

Rashar

One can only hope.

Melantha

It took me a little longer than most of ya'll to get into MUDs, but that's only because I've always been a pretty heavy roleplayer. My younger sister is the one that got me into it. Counting the improvised LARPing we'd do (It really didn't fall under the aegis of 'make-believe'), I was around 9 and my sister was 8. A few years later, we found Neopets. >_>

That was when I first got into forum roleplaying, although my sister was by far the more active (and all-around better) one. I didn't do much roleplaying on their boards. I did, however, discover anime, courtesy of Cartoon Network. I found an MSN Zoids RP group that used IM for battles. I ignored the forum aspect. Then .hack//SIGN came out, and I had to roleplay it. Yahoo search (this was 2001) eventually turned up a Proboards site, and so Rykoyo, the Wind Wavemaster was born. Pure wish fulfillment, and OP in the way that so many early teen creations seem to be. Still, between it and IM RPs, that carried me through a good five years of my life that I still remember fondly, if vaguely. Of course, I also remember the pain that was life with dial-up and shudder Internet Explorer. Losing what was sometimes a good hour of work was an occupational hazard. But I digress.

When I was 16, the forum finally closed its doors, and I went looking for something to fill the gap. I might have dabbled with other MU*s before or after, don't remember which, but I found Achaea. Naturally, I decided to bring back Ry. I made many, many alts, but could never bring myself to play a Darkie. I dabbled in the other IRE games occasionally, but kept coming back to Achaea. This blissful state of ignorance came to a crashing halt after four years, and that was how I came to Aetolia. Made Mel and here I am today. Oh, and for the record, I found her name on BehindTheName and liked it. Completely forgot about the Achaea Goddess until after I was off the Isle. So yeah. Ranted a bit, but that was mostly for my own benefit. Haven't thought about the past for a long time. Wanted to get it all down.

TL;DR: Long-time roleplayer, found Achaea when I was 16, switched to and stuck with Aetolia when I was 20. I'm 25 and still here.