Iron Realms

***NOTE: Sorry for the delayed updating of this blog, summer school has been kicking my butt.***

Last month I covered the oldest MUD in the world. This time I'm gonna review one of the largest commercialized MUD(s) in the world. I speak of none other than Iron Realms Entertainment's (IRE) MUDS.

IRE has quite the collection of MUDs available for play, and yes, they are free. They run Achaea, their most popular MUD on the internet at present, Aetolia, Lusternia, Midkemia, and Imperian. Though all use the same base coding, they each differ to some degree, be it large or small. I'll focus on Achaea for the sake of this article and simplicity.

IRE was founded in 1996 by Matt Mihaly, a former deity in Avalon (such is the similarities in the games). It started out with one game, Achaea, in 1997. He had many tweaks and edits done to the game to differentiate it from Avalon and make his own unique game in which there would be a set of rules that would facilitate a friendly and role-play intensive gaming experience favorable to his clientele.

The divinities differ from Avalon's system, whereas the divinities in Achaea are used in a more role-play capacity and rarely, if ever, interfere in "mortal" (player) affairs. Many things are player-run. The players stimulate the economy with trading and shops, and most often these shops are stocked quite nicely with a wide variety of selections. This is quite nice. There are quests and some mundane chore-type quests available to new players to help them build their character's wealth as well. Starting out as a new player is enjoyable and quite a nurturing experience.

Achaea focuses on a PVE or Player Versus Environment fighting system, with minimal Player Killing outside of the arenas. This means that more often than not, you are out killing computer controlled enemies by yourself or in groups.

The fighting system in Achaea is similar to Avalon, utilizing equilibrium and balanced-based attacks and abilities. Many of the abilities in Achaea are replaced as your progress in your profession. Which makes sense if you think about it (a business proposal made by a CEO would most likely trump a business proposal made by an intern any day).

My experience in Achaea was full of helpful players willing to guide me to learn the ways of the land and become accustomed to it's ways. It was very helpful and, as stated earlier, -nurturing- above all else. One of the most interesting facets of play was the politics system. Each city is player-run, and I literally mean that! Citizens elect their leaders, and being a leader in a city is no small feat. There are many politics that go into this, be it delegating between an enemy city, passing judgement on a wrong-doer within your city walls, or simply telling those dirty imps to stay the hell out of the holy temple of light, a politician's job is never done.

A few small issues I found fault with in Achaea was that some of the players do not care if you are new or not, they demand that you know the racial politics within the game right off. I was an elf and I spoke with a dark elf, and I nearly got killed for it by one of my city-mates. It was quite offensive to me. Another issue I did not like was the slow progression. There are so many levels within the game, I believe I only got up to level 12 or so before I got bored with fighting the computer controlled monsters and called it a day.

You may progress more quickly if you buy credits. Credits give your character in-game currency that may be converted into lessons (you spend these to learn new skills) or gold. The credit system is great if you are willing to drop some real money into your character, this also makes your character permanent (it won't be purged from the system if you don't log in for a week for example). The game is otherwise free to play, which is a great way to attract players and add to the overall gaming experience, thus making the players who do drop money on the games they play more apt to. Ingenious!!!

Overall, Achaea is a great game with a HUGE player-base and is pretty helpful to the novice player. It is role-play intensive and as such, is great for us social gamers. See more at http://www.Achaea.com