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Grell · 07-30-2004, 11:16 PM

Take this how you will. I played Achaea for roughly 3 and a half years before I gave it up to play Imperian. There are various reasons, but chief among them is I felt Achaea wasn't the same experience for me that it used to be. That's just me though. Anyway, onto the everpresent debate about Achaea masquerading itself as something its not.

I see Achaea as akin to the shareware days of old. Anyone remember Wolf3D when it came out? Yah, I played the shareware and was like "Wow, this is cool." I mailed in my money and got the rest of the experience I wanted.

Same principle for me with Achaea, I went through maybe 2 or 3 characters, trying out Achaea and making sure it was something I liked before I ever remotely thought of buying credits. Then I realized that "Hey, I kinda like this. I want to experience the other parts of it." So I bought some credits.

Now, Achaea is different than shareware in that you don't have to buy at all to reap the benefits of the "full experience". There are several in game methods of getting credits that don't involve using OOC money. Buying credits with gold, mentoring, lotteries (I think they still have them rarely, like I said its been over a year since I've really played), monthly bardic/art competitions, working to make the game better through helping newbies in an official capacity (guiding), also I think that sometimes incentives may be offered for building.

This is because they realize the principle that Cyre spoke off. To some people, time is a commodity and to others, it is money. I had no desire to "catass" my way to what I wanted, but I wanted to learn that next skill, see the next cool thing I'd get, etc.

So yes, by all means Achaea and all IRE games that I know of are free to play. But because I work 40 hours a week, and have other commitments on top of that, why should that mean I can't enjoy the game as something I want.

Is it any better than the ton of muds where you have to "catass" your way to the top with no other option? No one told me that I had to invest 40 hours a week to even begin to see some sort of benefit.

Achaea doesn't lie about its premise if people look even a bit. If you don't look and then get all offended about it, then that's your issue.

The cup of tea principle is in full force. It may or may not be your cup ot tea, but if it isn't why drink it? No one is forcing you to partake, and no one really wants to be criticized because they prefer Nestea over Lipton.

07-30-2004, 11:16 PM	#45
Grell New Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 3	Take this how you will. I played Achaea for roughly 3 and a half years before I gave it up to play Imperian. There are various reasons, but chief among them is I felt Achaea wasn't the same experience for me that it used to be. That's just me though. Anyway, onto the everpresent debate about Achaea masquerading itself as something its not. I see Achaea as akin to the shareware days of old. Anyone remember Wolf3D when it came out? Yah, I played the shareware and was like "Wow, this is cool." I mailed in my money and got the rest of the experience I wanted. Same principle for me with Achaea, I went through maybe 2 or 3 characters, trying out Achaea and making sure it was something I liked before I ever remotely thought of buying credits. Then I realized that "Hey, I kinda like this. I want to experience the other parts of it." So I bought some credits. Now, Achaea is different than shareware in that you don't have to buy at all to reap the benefits of the "full experience". There are several in game methods of getting credits that don't involve using OOC money. Buying credits with gold, mentoring, lotteries (I think they still have them rarely, like I said its been over a year since I've really played), monthly bardic/art competitions, working to make the game better through helping newbies in an official capacity (guiding), also I think that sometimes incentives may be offered for building. This is because they realize the principle that Cyre spoke off. To some people, time is a commodity and to others, it is money. I had no desire to "catass" my way to what I wanted, but I wanted to learn that next skill, see the next cool thing I'd get, etc. So yes, by all means Achaea and all IRE games that I know of are free to play. But because I work 40 hours a week, and have other commitments on top of that, why should that mean I can't enjoy the game as something I want. Is it any better than the ton of muds where you have to "catass" your way to the top with no other option? No one told me that I had to invest 40 hours a week to even begin to see some sort of benefit. Achaea doesn't lie about its premise if people look even a bit. If you don't look and then get all offended about it, then that's your issue. The cup of tea principle is in full force. It may or may not be your cup ot tea, but if it isn't why drink it? No one is forcing you to partake, and no one really wants to be criticized because they prefer Nestea over Lipton.