What makes Aetolia unique?

Raff

Hi guys! After like a decade I'm looking to get back into IRE games, but I'm not sure where to start! I was drawn to Achaea and Aetolia as they are the largest, but I want to understand what the big differences between those two are.

Aetolia seems darker in theme, obviously. Is there sailing/navigation here like Achaea seems to have? How does combat compare in the two games? Is one of them more noob-friendly than the other? Is the RP just as alive on both games? Does one of them have more stuff to do?

Is there something you (as Aetolia players) want to tell me about this game that might sway me this way? As a noob I'd be more focused on trying to survive and not get too overwhelmed, so "try it yourself and see", while good advice, won't really get me the right exposure.

Axius

our endgame is the best endgame of the IRE's. It's also the easiest to get to the endgame in Aetolia. to detail it all out, basically?

1. a choice of one of 3 endgame races that are blank slate templates. You have a theme of life, death, or perfection. You stay in that, you get to look like whatever you want. (Axius here is a XENOMORPH. I've an alt who looks like a DEKU SCRUB)

2. A private housing that you can customize to look however you want called a "haven". They are a little more stripped down than the premium Castles that you buy with Credits, but they serve a lot of similar functionality.

3. raceskills. As part of number 1, you get a number of raceskills that you can pick from using points earned every quarter of a level beyond level 100. I remind you that level 100 is ridiculously easy.

So that covers the endgame stuff. There's a lot more to it, but that's the important bits in my eyes. I'm going to cover a few systems I found myself drawn to for when I have the credits/ability to.

1. house/shop npcs: you can create your own NPCs for your player castle and your shops (and there's a possibility for havens, but I'd need confirmation from @Oleis or someone), this alone makes for a dynamic that not many players make a lot of use of.

2. Havens: They are literally free-form areas that are treated as bubbles of existence maintained by your mind. Some recent lore has made it to be a place within your mind, but I admit, I still subscribe to the theory that they are bubbles that exist between the folds and fabric of reality.

now for reasons that I think are worth it as well:

1. our people are awesome. We are a game with vampires, were-creatures, shadow and spirit. Each player has their own thriving RP, and while I wouldn't indicate us as RP heavy as say.. Lusternia, our world is large, lush, with regular events, plenty of PVP reasons if you're into that, plenty of people to RP at, and generally? a lot of fun to be had.

2. our world is -massive-. And if you're a veteran of Achaea, or heck, even Imperian, there's enough of a basis in the maps, you could theoretically use the Achaean map to navigate Aetolia and avoid getting lost, while still finding a -ton- of new things.

3. our guilds are -awesome-. Ranging from the Serpent-like Syssin, to the Death knight Carnifex, to the Sentinel guild, the Luminaries, the Templar, and so many other guilds, and that's not even covering our -other- classes.

4. We have a multiclass system that's pretty easy to understand, and could theoretically have enough slots to learn all but maybe 2 of our -many- classes, even if you cannot use the ones counter to your tether ( spirit or shadow, it's decided by your city).

These are all reasons why I continue to play this game, and why I love it. If there are any things you want to ask about here, or maybe you want to know about something I didn't cover (because seriously, I promise, I didn't cover remotely close to everything, just -my- favorite things), do ask!!!

Arbre

We don't have a bard guild. You have no idea how much I would takemymoney.gif for a bard guild.

That being said, people can and DO get creative with every guild there is. I see where you're getting the 'bleak' idea, but it really doesn't seem like that when you're playing. Everywhere is active and thriving these days. Our crafting skills are available to every player without having to worry about a cartel or anything like that like Lusternia does, and, given enough credits, you can learn every single crafting skill if that pleases you.

RP exists everywhere. I'll argue Axius into the ground about RP compared to Lusternia - I played Lusternia actively for six months and only ever got to see ONE person use something other than premotes and says. Here, you can drown in RP if that's what pleases you.

One thing I really like about Aetolia is how many DIFFERENT things there are to do here. Don't feel like PKing today? Go bash. Go craft. Go coup help build a guild/city/House. On and on and on.

As for newbie friendly, we're the best. The admin, over the last few years, have worked very, very hard on making this game easy to get into and understand. We have a great group of players who are willing to help out newbies, but in lieu of that, we have an Academy system that gets you set up with basic gear, a LOT of CONFIG options to help tailor the experience to you, and a lot of little things (for example, the AREAS command, that lists a ton of areas and what level you should be before bashing them) that just make life easier. Also, our map path system is amazing.

Raff

What a spectacular answer. Thank you so much.

Both Imperian and Achaea have bardic guilds (with a Bard class to boot). What similar equivalent is there to the more creatively-oriented in Aetolia? The "bleak" sort of atmosphere, while great thematically, makes me worry that there's too much of an air of negativity (IC of course) for such things to thrive.

Havens sound really cool, as do the endgame options. The whole Dragon thing doesn't do it for me (though don't take that to mean I'm discounting Achaea as a whole yet, I'm very much still on the fence).

Is it easy to break into PvP? I have always wanted to get into it in IRE games but last time I tried (a few years ago in Imperian) I found the barrier to entry a bit too steep. Basically the same 6 superheroes fighting each other and me unable to find any sort of competition that was on equal footing with me. Don't take this as a complaint on the P2W model--that's very much how IRE works. It's more of a "do any non-artifacted people even bother with PvP?"

To anybody else who wants to chime in with their opinion--please do! I bet there's a lot to say, even though I've marked the thread as "answered."

Tenshyo

As a comfortable mid-tier combatant for Aetolia, I can say some classes have it a bit easier when getting into PvP. As with any game we have our people who are the top dogs, of course, but even they are helpful and willing to help you help yourself.

The Forums have a -FREE- curing System called Source that anyone in Aetolia can put into their Mudlet profile, do a couple simple alias's to get it setup, and they're on their way!

Is there a proverbial buy in? One could argue that, I am sure. But artifacts are -not- necessary to PK.

There are people who PK who range from low-tier novice, all the way up to "I am a god, fear me' -- And the whole spectrum is covered on both sides of the game.

I personally do not have artifacts related to PvP at all, and while I'm not the best, I can hold my own just fine. Draiman was a vampire PKer who didn;t have artifacts and was one hell of a fighter, knew his ins and outs, and could easily beat most everyone.

Is Aetolia a P2W? Absolutely not. Is it a 'Pay to have things a little easier'? I would say that is more acceptable and realistic.

Teani

As @Arbre said, just because there is no Bard guild it doesn't mean there's no creativity in the other guilds. Our crafting system allows for you to go full out crafter if that is your thing. Even in RP there's creativity to be had.

A lot of people have something of their own little thing going on, be it with research or family dynamics or general rabble rousing. There will always be some who are not interested in certain arcs, but in general they'll just find their RP elsewhere if that's the case and not bother you. The widespread RP in this game is always what has captured me. I have not found the same feeling in any of the other IRE games. 

Ghend

While as said there is no bard guild, it's worth noting that there are talents for producing customised instruments (Luthier and Ventier), and a strong player culture of neutral meeting places in the NPC coastal city of Esterport. If you were interested in the singing and storytelling bardic tradition, you could absolutely pursue that.

In my experience as a player, PVP in Aetolia is as deep as you want it to be. You have the firstaid system to handle curing for you from entry level to middle tier combat, and the leyline/focus system and the orrery (a periodic PVP zone) for general group PVP to get your feet wet. Then you have bounties, the Sect of Blades, and arena events for more intensive solo PVP when you're confident. Most guilds have a contingent of PVPers, either internally or via the city clans, willing to mentor and teach, and there are plenty of in-character rewards for participation. That said, plenty of people either don't PVP or just go along to foci and spam their autobashing button - there's no pressure or expectation to be an amazing solo PVPer just to get involved in general.

Seir

Hello @Raff,

As someone who has played Lusternia (I was Nienla) and more recently Rahiel on Imperian, I've been across IRE a few times. However, my permanent stop and one game I always find myself returning to is Aetolia. This is primarily because of the roleplay. I've not really seen a more detailed and vivid roleplay environment anywhere else, not even in RPI MUDs. As far as PvP is concerned, the game is active in that department and you have a few means of participating. There's the Sect of Blades, which is enforced 1v1 combat for various perks. There's also lessers and the Orrery, which I could get into, but they basically revolve around group combat, where everyone and anyone can contribute. Just having First Aid on and curatives is enough to suffice in group environments and you'll definitely be a contributor to your group regardless of how artifacted you are.

What I'm looking forward to the most is the return of the war system in Aetolia, where organizations lead troops and capture territory. War was a big deal back in the day, with large political ramifications and consequences for both victor and defeated. It was the first conflict system, outside of village revolts in Lusternia, that I felt that I was "growing" my org or exerting its presence beyond its borders. I can think of many situations where, as a Benandanti (council member) in Duiran at the time, where we had RP with other cities to plan for war or other eventualities. Some of my best memories come from war planning or treaties.

If you have any questions or need help acclimating from Lusternia to Aetolia, feel free to let me know. I'm Seir in game.

Aishia

How do you catch a unique rabbit? You nique up on it.