Iron Realms Entertainment

Butterfly Counter

Amedinias of Achaea — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:14:28 +0000

Game:

All IRE Games

Client Type:

Nexus

This script automatically logs every butterfly that you catch with a net, and has an alias for quick display of how many of each butterfly you've caught, your total butterflies caught, and gold you will recieve upon turning them into Vellis.

bp = Butterfly pricelist

butterflies/bflies/bfs = diplays current butterfly count and gold estimate.

Plugin to re-order clothes

Ada of Achaea — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:58:19 +0000

Game:

Achaea

Client Type:

MUSHclient

This is a script Kalvon (<3) made for me a long time ago because I couldn't stand having clothes in the wrong order on my person. It doesn't handle jewellery and armour but works for everything else.

Ref: http://forums.achaea.com/discussion/912/arrange-clothes

How to use:

IW - Sends INFO WORN and records your clothing

MOVEUP - moves an item up in the order. If you're wearing more than one of that item, you'll need to specify the full item number, i.e. cloak works if there's only one cloak, but for something like rings, you'll need to specify ring12345

MOVEDOWN - moves an item down in the order

SHOWCLOTHES - Lists the current order of your clothes

REWEAR - removes all your clothes and reorders them by placing them in a PACK then taking them out again before wearing everything back again

Make sure you have a backpack and not wearing any armour before hitting REWEAR.

Animated timers

Cern of Lusternia — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:39:23 +0000

Game:

All IRE Games

Client Type:

Mudlet

UPDATE: added a new option to choose whether the time is shown on the timer or not. Also added a :stop() function, so you can remove/cancel a timer if you need to.

A small framework for creating animated timers using Geyser in Mudlet.

This is based on code I found on the old Aetolia forums by http://www.ironrealms.com/users/lin-of-aetolia. The youtube video was run on a version of Mudlet which started with a 1, so I used the code there to make something that will use Geyser and all of its attendant functionality.

Full information is available on the Mudlet forums: http://forums.mudlet.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3257

How to Prepare to Run for a City Leadership Position

Aktillum of Achaea — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:30:48 +0000

If you have any leadership experience in a gaming environment, then you know it can be as much fun as it is work. However leading some kind of political office in Achaea is more than just filling out reports and posting to the news. It means taking initiative, leading events, and interacting with members of the organization in which you serve.

Leading a city in Achaea is the next step up from leading a house. Prominent city leaders will find that this is just one more rung on the ladder towards applying of the coveted position of Celani. Unlike leading a house, which is only one small part of a city, leading the city itself means you are responsible for a larger group of adventurers.

The Election Prep Checklist

However even adventurers who are qualified for the position of an in character leadership role can fail to achieve it if they make some common mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes that adventurers make is to throw their name in the hat on the spur of the moment without thinking through the time commitment involved in holding such a position. Here are some things that can help you be elected to a city office.

SUPPORT – If you don’t have the support of your in-game spouse, friends, family, house, and other organizations then you may not be ready for leadership. Does this sound familiar? If you find that it is then ask people how they feel you could improve your chances.
CAMPAIGN – Form a committee to help you campaign during the election. If you are running for an office in Hashan, then have someone in your trusted circle sit at the Crossroads. This person can not only interject positive remarks about you during daily conversation, but they can also be your eyes and ears, letting you know the overall feeling of the general citizenship.
RESEARCH – Know what issues you want to tackle, and make them part of your platform. To do this you will need to research what people want, so you can prepare to give it to them. Maybe you are tired of seeing litter in the city streets, or you feel that the list of fines for enemies needs an overhaul. The important thing is for others to want them, too. If you run for reasons that don’t matter to anyone else, then they will not care to vote for you.
SLOGAN – It does not hurt to have a slogan, and once you do make good use of it. Create an election ribbon and embroider your slogan on it. Use your slogan to sign news posts, letters, and set it as your return message. For example if you play the character called Cain then your slogan might be, “A vote for Cain is not in vain!”
DEBATE – If no one else suggests it, and you feel you are prepared for such an event, then offer to host a debate where citizens can ask questions and better get to know the people running for office. Plant volunteers from your family, house, and Divine Order in the crowd to ask questions that you are prepared to answer.

Boost Your Credibility

You can boost your credibility in preparing to run for city office by getting involved. Serve as an aide to a minister, or better yet serve in a ministry position. If you do a good job, then it will tell others in the city that you are a character of your word. Serving the city in a lesser office not only prepares you for the position of city leader, but it also teaches you about the city itself.

Serving in a city ministry can teach you about the needs of the city in various capacities. It gives you a prime opportunity to get to know other citizens. And it helps you learn about why the city holds its traditions, like celebrating New Year’s through self-sacrifice, or with a concert held by a group of bards. Regardless of which city you plan to take over, good luck!

About the Author

University student Emily Saunders discovered MUDs when a fellow computer lab classmate introduced her to Achaea. Whether she is leeching WiFi from a local café or home on holiday, she checks in often for messages, news, and of course all the latest gossip from Lyaeus the Bard! When she isn’t studying or gaming Emily works as a freelance photographer and enjoys singing karaoke with her friends at the local pub.

How Your Player-Created Content Affects the Lifespan of Your Favorite Iron Realms Games

Aktillum of Achaea — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 18:53:00 +0000

Far too many people see computer games as a source of entertainment and leave it at that. But people who play RPGs like the ones offered by Iron Realms Entertainment know that these virtual realms filled with made-up characters are not only games, but they are also investments.

The Investment of Time

You may be thinking, “Yeah, I have invested a college semester’s worth of tuition in credits!” but in reality the investment goes far beyond any dollar amount. First there is the investment of time people put into playing the game. All you have to do is look at your STAT for confirmation of this.

For example a person with a time investment that looks like this, “You have played for a total of 615 days, 13 hours and 27 minutes” has obviously made bigger sacrifices to play the game than someone with a character that same age who has only played the game for a quarter of that time.

Adding Unique Content to the Game

Another type of investment people make is with player-created content. People who love the game enjoy being a part of its creation without resorting to becoming one of the admins or learning technical coding terms. When people are able to add their own content to the game, they are likely to stick around longer thus improving the game’s lifespan.

Text-based RPGs make it easy to add player-created content without a lot of headache to either the player or the coders. That is because adding content does not change the original source code. In Achaea the ways to add player-created content are nearly endless. Here are some of the more popular ways.

Crafting Skills & Heraldry – Taking up a crafting skill like tailoring, jewellery, or cooking, or even the ability to emblazon things with heraldic arms, serve two purposes. First it allows players to express their own creativity and secondly it fills a need for other adventurers who make use of these items.

Item Customization & Artefact Pets – Achaea recently introduced a new customization program that is done entirely within the game. People can alter the look of items, add reactions, make items nodecay, or have an item reset to their inventory all within a few simple commands. Additionally, people can order artefact pets, which are custom denizens that are loyal to an adventurer and have few restrictions in regards to their special abilities and powers.

Mortal Building – Mortal builders are able to add player-created content within reason. Novice builders will start out with projects like rewriting existing rooms and work their way up. However, periodic contests allow players to vie for the chance to have their own unique content added to the game and in the past have included things like designing items, denizens, rooms, or even an entire island.

Benefits of Player-Created Content

When a game like Achaea allows people to add content based on things from their own imaginations and ideas, it adds so many benefits – especially for people who play the game. New players are often impressed by the things created by their peers and they aspire to obtain crafting licenses to develop their own unique content.

Crafting and customizing items can lead to a larger job like mortal building or coding. This can lead to a position such as Celani, Demigod, or Divine in which the player is not only creating content based on their own wants and needs, but they also have the opportunity to make these dreams come true for other adventurers when they do things like patron a house or city.

In graphics-heavy video games, allowing player-created content appeals to a minuscule portion of the player base. However the opposite holds true for text based games. Anyone who doubts this need only to log into Achaea and look at the CRAFTERWHO list of everyone in the realm who is visible and holds some type of a crafting license.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Seth Grayson is a college student who uses inspiration from real life whenever he adds new content to his favorite text MUDs like Achaea from Iron Realms. Although he is not much for fashion or accessories, he really enjoys the game’s new Cooking miniskill. For example he recently created a series of coffee-based desserts (which to Achaeans would be kawhe-based desserts) inspired by the ones in the café where he works as a barista.

Offense vs Defense - A hard balance to strike in MUD game development

Aktillum of Achaea — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:19:53 +0000

When thinking of building a PvP system that caters to dueling (1v1), into any game, classes or professions will inevitably have to be balanced in some manner. As skills and abilities get created we have to consider counters to powerful offenses. If we think ahead to that dreamt of release date, when Joe Public gets his hands on your pride and joy, there are going to be cries of OP (over-powered) and whining that so and so turtles with his highly defensive build, making him impossible to kill.

This is where, back at the design level, we have to consider how our PvP is going to flow. An intricate system that relies on someone making a wrong move leads to incredibly drawn-out, defensive dueling. Skills with aspects of luck in them, or that rely on someone having a faster connection than you, may end up in player frustration, and your 1v1 scene falling out to favor small or large group skirmishing.

Ideas for an exciting combat scene:

Powerful offensive abilities. You want that "Oooo" factor when someone pulls off their big skills.
Give a supportive defense to everyone. Not something that will negate all offense, but that gives opportunities for getting the hell out and minor curing boosts. Perhaps these come at a cost.
Administrative rule and support. Combatants can occasionally go overboard with their shiny powers - ensure that you have some sort of moderation for those who don't wish to be caught in the action.
Allow combat to be fluid, innovative. Skills that complement each other and flow off similar balances will encourage your players to strategize, plan, practice and come back with new ideas, keeping combat in your game fresh and exciting.
Be certain that every profession or class build has a viable "kill" method. Make this special too, it's a rush for a player when they get the kill, and even more so if the manner of death is a bit different, gruesome, than just a simple damage out. (Don't build to encourage prep-less killing, while fun, this tends only to encourage "griefing".)

People like action, but any PvP system without moderation will lead to the normal non-combatant issues and complaints. With some simple rules to protect those who don't wish to be involved in conflict, you can really get inventive with the crowd that does. Interesting abilities, offering not only flavor but, high damage, hindrance, perhaps afflictions that promote the player to consider strategies and push for innovation are good. These will keep people interested in playing, invested in your combat scene, and separate your game from the hoard of competing MMORPG’s..

A system that can lead to fights where someone seeks simply to run someone out of a curative or background allowance such as willpower or endurance is a pretty lame offering. An interesting duel in a game shouldn't take three quarters of an hour, fast-pacing, exciting is where it's at, and that's a hard thing to find when offering PvP that allows for defensive maneuvers.

About the author:

Julian Talley is a long time gamer and MMORPG aficionado, and an especial fan of games that offer challenging and balanced PvP. Between bouts of trying to beat other players in as many ways as possible, he attends college and enjoys writing about his favourite MUD games.

How Your MUD Newbie Can Make a Splash in a Sea of Seasoned Players

Aktillum of Achaea — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:05:05 +0000

Have you ever started playing a new game and felt totally lost? It is somewhat similar to being the new kid on the first day of school. You do not know anyone. All the instructions are hard! And it seems like everyone has a clique with snappy catchphrases that makes it seem as if they are speaking a foreign language.

Gaming versus Roleplay

This is especially true if you are familiar with playing video games, but not the act of interacting with other characters within a game. For example, if you are playing Call of Duty on Xbox Live the objective is simple. Go shoot the other team as much as possible so that your party has the most points by the end of each round so that you can win the match.

The only way to communicate with other players is to chat through your headset, and the game provides little in the way of customization. (Unless you have a custom class to get different types of weapons and such, but that is an article for a different gaming platform!)

Getting Started

When I began playing Imperian for the first time, I had no idea what I was doing. My closest thing to a MUD experience up to that point was Zork. Despite using a variety of commands and reading everything on the screen, there was no mailbox in site. My only hope was to progress through the newbie tour and hope I could avoid being eaten by a grue.

Fortunately I managed to join a guild which led to finding a person who I consider the most helpful mentor within the game. As I gained footing within the game, she offered tips and advice that I still use to this day, regardless of what type of game I am playing. Here are some that I found most helpful. If you plan to start playing a text-based MUD, maybe they can help you, too!

Read the Instructions – If you want someone to sit around and hold your hand, leading you from quest to quest and prodding you about what to do at each location then you are not really gaining anything. In fact, you are missing out on the pride of knowing that you figured out things for yourself.

Probe Everything Here – I am fairly certain that the INFO HERE command is pretty common among all five of the Iron Realms games. Once you use IH or INFO HERE to know what is in the room with you, then you can PROBE things to learn more about them. Here’s a hint – if it is loyal to another player or an organization, do not kick it.

Don’t Wait for Handouts – People have gold and credits because they earned them through hunting, questing, or some other entrepreneurial venture. If you need help padding your bank account, then take up a hobby that helps you to earn gold. For example in Achaea you can sell off corpses of rats that you kill or catch butterflies for Vellis.

No Means No – If you ask someone to take you hunting, refill your vials, cook food for you or do some other chore and they say no, have enough respect for their time to not ask them again. Trust me when I say that you will not truly appreciate this until you reach a higher level and possess the means and abilities to help others who are just starting out in the game.

Using the Resources Available to You

Each Iron Realms game offers an introduction to those just starting out. After finishing the trial, newbies have the benefit of guides who can answer their questions and provide them with basic assistance until they reach level 21. Beyond that there is a plethora of resources both in and out of the game and as a last resort characters can use ISSUE ME to ask the Divine a question directly.

However the best way to submerge into a new game is through character interaction. Join a guild or a house, and a city. If it turns out that you totally hate it then you can usually quit and join another with little to no drama. And if it turns out to be a huge problem, then you can always roll up an alt!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Seth Grayson is a hard-working college student who enjoys playing all of his favorite Iron Realms MUDs from the comfort of his own dorm room. Even though his major has nothing to do with creative writing he enters all the Iron Realms’ bardic contests in hopes of winning the top prize. When Seth isn’t attending classes or gaming he works as a barista in a local café.

5 Must-Haves for Your MUD Game Bucket List

Aktillum of Achaea — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 22:54:05 +0000

There's so much to do in MUD games, it's hard to get bored once you immerse yourself in everything available to you.

The Game That Never Ends

Most games are finite. You start as a newbie. You hunt and quest your way to the level cap. And the next thing you know, you are at GameStop trading your game in for a new adventure.

However Achaea isn’t like that at all! There is no level cap, and the adventure is only outlasted by The Song that Never Ends. One of the risks people take when playing a game like Achaea is that the find themselves in a rut.

The tagline for Achaea is Dreams of Divine Lands, and once you immerse yourself into the game you will find that the dreams are as unending as the hunting and questing opportunities. But too many people sit at their org’s local hang out spot chatting up others about how bored they are.

A Bucket List to Combat Boredom

When this happened to me, I found myself not wanting to play the game anymore. As an org leader, I felt so guilty, like I was letting everybody down! Then a friend of mine suggested two things to help get my gaming back on track. The first was to take scheduled breaks, and the second was to create a bucket list.

So I began cheating. Don’t get me wrong. I did not cheat inside the game, and do not suggest doing it. Nobody wants to spend the rest of their Achaean life as a shrub! But instead I took time away from Achaea to shower my gaming console with some attention.

And it turns out that playing those other games was just the inspiration I needed to create a bucket list. Here are some of the items from my own Achaean bucket list. If your character is in a rut and you find yourself complaining of boredom, maybe some of these items can help inspire you to create a bucket list of your own!

COMBAT AND THE ARENA – Set a goal to play X number of arena events, or to dominate the combat rankings. This may lead to an org-related position giving you the opportunity not only to help others with combat, but to combat your boredom as well.

EXPLORATION – Did you know that in Achaea, adventurers are ranked by how much they have explored? Using your own mapping program or using copies of someone else’s maps, set out to explore as much of the realm as you can.

SWITCH ORGS – A new org means gaining a new set of friends, being given a new series of requirements, and just finding a lot of new opportunity for adventure in general. However, be careful to have a roleplay reason for the switch so you don’t get labeled an org-hopper!

LEARN A CRAFT –Currently, Achaea offers tailoring, jewelry, cooking, and heraldry. The first three allow you to submit designs to the crafting guild and create a whole lot of designs – whether they are your own, ones friends have shared with you, or from the public list of patterns, sketches, and recipes.

GET MARRIED – If you are bored in your MUD game, then I promise that getting married can prove very interesting. Marry the right person and it can enhance the game and help build up your character’s reputation. Marry the wrong person and you can experience a whole new level of crazy. Either way, you will not be bored!

Since creating my Achaea bucket list and taking scheduled breaks to do other things, my character has really blossomed. Where I once dreaded logging in due to feeling overwhelmed with feelings of obligation to my orgs and guilt for not really wanting to be there, I now find myself looking forward to escaping into my favorite text-based MUD!

About the Author
Seth Grayson is a college student who supports his gaming habits by working as a barista at a coffee shop. He loves that the free WiFi gives him a chance to check up on his favorite MUDs between customers. The latest items on his Achaean bucket list include exploring the sewers in every single city, getting his culinary license, and someday achieving the rank of dragon.

LessonCalculator

Hinic of Lusternia — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:32:13 +0000

Game:

Lusternia

Client Type:

Mudlet

Calculates the number of lessons between 2 ranks or the rank after adding N lessons.

Syntax: LESSONCALC <skillRank> <percentage> TO <skillRank> <percentage>

This will echo back a line estimating how many lessons it will take to reach a particular rank.

Syntax: LESSONCALC <skillRank> <percentage> PLUS <number of lessons>

Echos a line estimating your rank and percentage if you were to learn N lessons.

NOTE: The skill numbers/ranks between IRE MUDs are only slightly different (i.e. "skilled" is called "master"), so you can either make the few modifications to match your MUDs numbers/ranks or use it as it is and avoid projecting over too far of a range.

If you would like to contribute code, you can find the project at https://github.com/markrae/MudletLessonCalc

Language translator/swapper

Vadimuses of Achaea — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:16:42 +0000

Game:

All IRE Games

Client Type:

Mudlet

This is a little demo to show you how you can encode words, to speak another language.

For example, given the following dictionary for translating:

	hello = "veyleh",
	I     = "ai",
	am    = "ikh",

Doing say hello, I am Bob. This works with this script will make you do You say, "Veyleh, ai ikh Bob. This works.".

The dictionary is pretty easy to edit - take a look at the alias on how to add/remove words.

5 Tips for Roleplaying a Change in House, City, or Divine Order

Aktillum of Achaea — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:53:30 +0000

When someone new joins the same house, city, or Divine Order as your character, it can be an exciting time. This is especially true if the person is a seasoned player looking to make a major roleplay change. But if the person is an org-hopper then the situation is quite different.

Do you play the type of character who hops from one org to another with little thought to the roleplay reasons behind carrying out those life-altering choices? If so, then perhaps it’s time to change your modus operandi.

Repeating the same actions over and over again, like changing orgs without a substantial reason for doing so, gets the same reaction over and over again. And if your reason for changing orgs is something like, “But all my friends are doing it” then you may find yourself unhappy with the end result.

Before changing orgs, sit down and list the pro’s and con’s. For example, changing cities might mean that there is less emphasis on combat but you might have a better chance at gaining a ministry position. Here are some things to do before changing orgs to help ease the transition and make it more RP-based.

The Cool Kid Clique – Where do members of this org hang out? It is a great way to meet people and begin social networking to build a foundation for joining the organization. This will give you a great idea of what to expect from people once you join the organization as well.

Lean on Family – Do you have family members who hold membership in the organization that you wish to join? Getting to know their friends can help you connect with other adventurers within their organizations.

Introduce Yourself – If you’re sitting around at Centre Crossing in Cyrene and don’t know anyone, then it is easy to meet people and even make friends. Volunteer to help people with things you can do based on your abilities, like refill vials, cook snacks, or even provide runes or blessings.

Join Org Clans – Some organizations have clans that are open to anyone, even non-members, so long as the person is not enemied to that org. When you join a clan in anticipation of joining an org, then in addition to getting to know the members its news posts can give you some background about the org, too.

Participate in Events – If the city in which you plan to apply for citizenship is hosting an open arena event, join up and give it all you’ve got. Good sportsmanship with things like combat and arena events will add a lot to your reputation regardless of whether you follow Good, Evil, Chaos, or Nature.

Making the Best of a Bad Situation

Sometimes life in your favorite game does not give your character a choice about organizational relations. Your character could get kicked out on a technicality, or as with Achaea in recent events, the Divine you follow could wind up on the losing end of a sudden death match.

If you find yourself org-less, trust me when I say that the last thing you want to do is jump into another organization right away. As with relationships with other people, you don’t want to hook up with a “rebound org” on the heels of severing ties with your former ones.

When you jump from one organization straight into another one, whether it is a house, city, or Divine Order, chances are that you will find anything but happiness there. Give yourself time to transition and interact with other people. After all, roleplaying with others puts the R in RPG!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
College grad Rick Williams would prefer to play all of his favorite Iron Realms MUDs from a hammock on a tropical island. Until his ship comes in he feels fortunate that he can continue grinding his way to dragon in between the daily grind of working a desk job. In his free time Rick enjoys pursuing real life adventures like mountain biking, paintballing, and rock climbing.

How to Improve Your Roleplay by Changing Class

Aktillum of Achaea — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 19:33:25 +0000

Change by itself is intimidating to a lot of people. But changing class can be downright scary especially if your entire Achaean life since stepping foot from the Trial of Rebirth has been spent practicing the same skills and abilities over and over again.

Whether you are a diehard PK’er (pun intended!) who wants to start out a new class for roleplay reasons or just want to change the way you roleplay period, Achaea makes it very easy to try out something new. Many adventurers change class throughout their time in the realm while keeping the same house, city, and Circle of Friends!

Leading Up to the Change

Sometimes the choice to change class is spontaneous and spurred by a highly emotional decision. More often than not the decision comes after plenty of thought, research, and not to mention figuring out how many credits you will need to supplement the change in order to trans all your new skills.

Another thing you will have to figure out in the time leading up to changing class is how to best roleplay the switch. If you are a rogue then a class change might be as simple as a visit to Certimene. Here are some suggestions to help smooth the transition regardless of your current standings in the realm.

DISCUSSION – Take advantage of knowing friends and family who are already this class. Ask them the pros and cons of joining. Even if you think you know everything there is to know about the skills, abilities, and history associated with the class there could be something that surprises you.

ARTEFACTS – Are there artefacts that you will need to help ease your transition into a new class? For example, if your new class requires a lot of mana usage then you might consider investing in a Circlet of the Will. And if you have artefacts that no longer apply, then consider turning them in to help fund your class change.

ORGS – Does your current house and city accept your new class? For example, if you are an infernal knight in Mhaldor and want to go druid, then you will be required to quit your current city. That is because only the city of Eleusis accepts forest-based classes as citizens. Additionally, only certain houses accept certain classes. Using HOUSE LIST (class) while in the game reveals your options.

Benefits of a New Class

There are so many benefits to changing class that it is sometimes hard to list them all. For one thing, being the same class in the same house located in the same city your entire time in Achaea is boring. It not only limits your perspective which puts your character at risk for becoming a narrow-minded individual.

But changing class can offer you a more well-rounded perspective which can add new depth to your character. This will especially be necessary if you go from a class with skills like forging, harvesting, or enchanting that generate income to a class like bard which offers very little chance at using skills to turn a gold coin at all.

Embracing Your New Class

Even if your reason for changing class is totally insane, meaning out of character in this case, then you should have an in character reason for doing so. Your reason could be fueled by a major event, like a new Divine awakening after being gone from the realms for a long while, or something less realm-shattering like house or city politics.

After the big change, make sure you give yourself enough time to immerse yourself not only in your new skills and abilities, but also in the history and lore surrounding the class. One of the best things about Achaea is its rich plots and storylines. A little research can go a long way toward easing your transition into a new class.

Trying a New Class as an Alt

If you still have doubts, try creating a second character. If you do this then you should keep two things in mind. First it is very frustrating to start as a newbie because unlike your established characters, you lack the resources and social networks to fully enjoy the class.

And secondly, whenever you create an alternate character in Achaea, be careful that you do not violate HELP SECONDS or HELP MULTIPLAYING. No matter which class you are now or what new one you wish to try, nobody can get anywhere in Achaea if their only action is to sit over there, rustling a bit.

About the Author

Annie Foster is a college student who funds her character’s class changes by working as a freelance writer. No matter whether she is hanging out in her dorm room, killing time at the on-campus coffee shop, or even at home for holiday, she loves that she can play her favorite Iron Realms "MUD games" from the website without having to download anything to her laptop.

How to Tell If You Are Destined to Be the House Boss or If You Are Just Being Bossy

Aktillum of Achaea — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:28:24 +0000

I have a confession to make. My character’s house had the worst leader ever. The person was obnoxious, self-centered, and cared about one thing – making himself look better no matter who he stepped on as he climbed the ladder to success. I am ashamed to admit that the character was one of my own, and the time he served as house leader ranks as one of my all-time lows in all the time I’ve ever spent gaming.

The worst part was that I could not even see that he was being so overbearing and driving people away. It was not until most of the house membership left and that I woke up and saw the negative results of my actions, but by then it was too late. Adding insult to injury was the fact that the house secretaries were not even willing to take over when I decided to quit.

4 Musts for People in Leadership

If this sounds familiar, then perhaps you also had a leadership experience that proved you were better at being bossy than being the boss. Whether you are in a leadership position right now or planning a future in roleplay politics, here are some tips to help avoid you suffering through the same misfortune that I experienced.

Try to Be Patient – Leaders are patient people. Even if you are watching someone designated as your aide fumble through something you could do in half the time with twice the efficiency, if you do not give them the opportunity to do it for themselves then they will lose interest. If the end result is not what you had planned, it is not the end of the world and the person doing the work might surprise you – it could be a better end result!

Stop Trying to Be Perfect – The main reason why people are bossy is because they want things done right. When you are leading a group, mistakes within the group reflect poorly on the leadership – and that person is you! Your way is not always the perfect way, and it is certainly not always the best way. Sometimes it is better to suck up your pride and your desire to have everything done your way, the perfect way, and let someone else have a turn at leading.

Spend Time with People – People support those who they like and trust. But if you spend all your time holed up in your office, they can’t get to know you. And if people don’t know you, then it will be difficult for them to like and trust you. In return, spending time with people helps you get a better idea of who you can trust. This is important when building the next generation of leadership within your house or other organization.

Communicate with Membership – Whether you are having a full house meeting or just making a news post to the members of your house, honing your communication skills will go a long way in making people feel like valued members of the house. When disciplining members for misdeeds, then be sure and treat them with respect even if you are on the verge of ousting them. Even if they are unhappy now, you will leave them with a better lasting impression for it.

Ask for Feedback – Meet with your council of house secretaries or other leadership positions within the organization and discuss the state of affairs. Discuss future goals, and what you would like to see membership accomplish. Meetings are also a good time to discuss things that need attention, like an unruly house member or a change to house requirements. But also talk with new members to the house. When a member of leadership descends from their pedestal to talk to the younger members of the house, it makes that person feel important and keeps them coming back.

A Final Tip

So you think you are ready for leadership? Ask people whether or not they feel you would make a good leader. If they say no, ask them how you could improve. Even the harshest criticisms should be taken as constructively as possible to avoid flying off the handle, or worse a full-blown confrontation. When people see you are serious about wanting to serve your house, then they will be more likely to vote you into a leadership position.

About the Author

Seth Grayson’s older brother introduced him to his first MUD game when they were teenagers and he has been playing ever since. His characters boast a great deal of leadership experience, some of which he once used on his personal resume in real life. When he isn’t playing his favorite Iron Realms Games or studying for his next college exam, you can find Seth whipping up lattes behind the counter at the local coffee shop.

Aliases to embed/dampen vibes

Ada of Achaea — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 07:25:30 +0000

Game:

Achaea

Client Type:

MUSHclient

This alias set lets you embed and dampen vibes with only a couple of aliases.

Usage:

e <vibe> - to embed a matching vibe

d <vibe> - to dampen a matching vibe

portal <name> - to embed a sonicportal to somebody

The embedding alias will outrift and spin the correct crystals before embedding. It will also inrift those crystals after embedding just in case you're in the arena or if those crystals are already spun. For the Cataclysm vibe it will only outrift and spin the crystals for you, you'll have to embed it manually. You can also specify partial names for vibes; like, 'e sil' will work for the Silence vibe.

Right click on the link and click 'Save link as...' to download. You'll want to IMPORT this file from File > Import... > Import from: File... and select the file where you've downloaded it. To uninstall, hit Ctrl+I to open the Immediate execution dialog and write DeleteGroup("Crystalism") and click Run (assuming you have no other groups called 'Crystalism' of your own). It's written in Lua. Enjoy!

RP versus PvP – Why Neither is Mutually Exclusive in an RPG Setting

Aktillum of Achaea — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:21:01 +0000

RP stands for roleplay, and it is the primary purpose behind RPGs. It means to play a role, and in Achaea as the scroll HELP 15.6 ROLEPLAYING and OOC explains, “,,,roleplaying means that you play as if you were your character. Achaea is a roleplaying game: some level of roleplaying is required.”

But there is another side to roleplaying games and that is PvP, also known as Player versus Player. In Achaea this is also known as PK, or Player Killing. PK is such a common aspect to Achaea that the administration has compiled a set of guidelines that allow people to explore the combat side of playing the game while respecting the right to roleplay such in character lifestyles.

Comparing and Contrasting Mentalities

There are some areas of the game where RP and PvP are exclusive and rarely ever mix. Let’s take for example the city of Cyrene in Achaea, where one house is decidedly RP-based, and another is more focused on PvP. Here are some details about each.

The Wardens of the Cerulean Spire	Ty Beirdd, the House of Artists
This house has dedicated itself to preserving knightly ethos, while progressing forward into the future. They serve the city in roles that are both military and constabulary in nature. Here is a bit about what life is like for each stage of house membership.	Ty Beirdd is a house of artists who pride themselves on their talents. They have won more Bardic and Artisanal contests than any other house. Every New Year’s they hold a concert in Cyrene. Here are details about each phase of house membership.
Novices – These newer members to the Spire go through basic newcomer information material, which is largely based on house ethos. Otherwise the basic training is mostly geared towards helping equip novices and teach them survival basics.	Novices – These little bardlets are expected to prepare for their interview by learning the bare basics of survival. The other part of their preparation for sponsorship to House Rank 03 requires preparing an artistic audition for a path of study.
House Ranks 03 and 04 – Passing through these ranks involves passing one large trial. It is difficult and involves comprehensive exams based on combat. The members who hold these ranks live and breathe combat, and must know things like curing, limb damage, venom locks, and similar PK-related terms.	House Ranks 03 and 04 – Graduating beyond these ranks involves passing a path of artistic study. Aside from the basics of anti-theft and self-defense, all of the requirements are artistic in nature whether the path is based around dance, poetry, lore, music, or theatrics. The house has a combat path, but few ever sign up for it.
House Ranks 05 and Higher – After passing the lower rank requirements and passing the big test, members enter the Cyrene City Guard and swear fealty to a Knight. Then more roleplay is introduced that, if done correctly, seamlessly blends with a new layer of roleplay. This roleplay is based on embodying Knightly virtues and ideals that provide a foundation for the house.	House Ranks 05 and Higher – After graduating to House Rank 05, house members in Ty Beirdd are free to begin another path of study, join the ranks of leadership, run for city office, or do most anything else they please so long as they do not violate house and city laws. Regardless of what the members choose, you can be sure that it is almost always based on roleplay before combat.

Despite the fact that these two houses are both located in and dedicated to the city of Cyrene, it is obvious that each one is very different from the other. One is dedicated to protecting the city through use of bloodshed, while the other is dedicated to preserving the culture of the city through events and other artistic endeavors.

Neither house is wrong in what it represents, but someone obsessed with PK is not going to have a happy future in Ty Beirdd. And likewise, someone who hates combat would probably be miserable trying to suffer through the PK-related requirements necessary to advance in the Warden house. There are exceptions to these generalizations but they are few and far between.

It Takes All Kinds

As you can see, even though one house revolves around RP and the other is very PK-heavy, neither is mutually exclusive. That is because just like in real life, your favorite RPG takes all types to be a success. Imagine how boring the world would be if everyone chose the same class, race, and city. Part of what makes Achaea fun is the free will to try new things, and if it doesn’t work out, go on and try something else.

If you are a die-hard PK player, sheath your weapon and enjoy an RP event that doesn’t involve bloodshed now and then. And if you are a bard, take that dusty rapier out of your pack and get off the stage and into the arena. Even if you end up completely hating a walk on the other side of life, at least you can say you tried!

About the Author

If freelance writer and college student Seth Grayson had his way, he would game from the comfort of a hammock hanging between two palm trees on a tropical island. But since he doesn’t have the benefit of playing his favorite MUD game while being waited on by cabana girls in grass skirts, you can probably find him in his dorm room after a long day of studying. Working as a barista in an off-campus café helps to support his gaming habits.

Elist2 - Vial management

Ada of Achaea — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 16:25:17 +0000

Game:

Achaea

Client Type:

MUSHclient

Script: elist2.xml

While ELIXLIST in Vision is of great utility in itself, a brief summary is often more useful than a raw list. This plugin rewrites the output from ELIXLIST and VENOMLIST and displays a short summary of vials in your inventory. Additionally it also automates the task of pouring old vials into new ones so you can safely feed empty vials to your favorite humgii with good conscience.

This plugin is written in Python, please see this page to setup Python on your computer: clickey

The following aliases are available:

Elist2 - Display a summary of all vials (except venoms) held in your inventory
Vlist2 - Display a summary of all venoms held in your inventory (Do Elist2 first to let it collect empty vials if you intend to 'repour')
Elist2:Repour - Pour contents of old and decaying vials into fresh empty vials

The algorithm in the 'repour' alias makes sure that vials with the longest lifespan have the most amount of any fluid available in them. This ensures you don't lose much even if you do end up with vials decaying before you've had a chance to buy new ones.

The aliases are not case sensitive, you could probably make your own aliases and Execute() these to make it shorter.

Please message me in-game for feedbacks and comments! Enjoy!

How to Organize a Small Group Roleplay Event

Aktillum of Achaea — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:02:53 +0000

Have you ever attended an event in your favorite online game? Whether it is something like a meeting for members of the same house or city, or something that involves characters from other houses and cities from across the realm, someone has to do the work to put these events in motion.

Some events might seem unnecessary, regardless of which group of players they target. They eat up time that people could be questing or hunting and a lot of them do not seem to have any reward other than emotions associated with its inevitable end. Regardless of how you feel at the end of the event, there are some real benefits.

Events require people to interact and team up. No matter if it is the good side versus the bad side or everyone teaming up to serve a single purpose, an event gives you the opportunity to interact with players that you might have not met otherwise. Events are also a great way to attract new players into the game.

The 5-Point Event Planning Checklist

Just because you are not a Divine or serving in some other kind of administrative position in an Iron Realms game does not mean that you can’t set up an event. Just like with real life, hosting something spur of the moment that you failed to think through will not go over as well as something that is well planned. Here are some tips for setting up your next RPG event.

Planning – If you need help from others, try to set up a meeting with interested parties before doing anything else. This gives you an idea of what skills and talents people on your planning team can offer, what type of budget is necessary to pull off the event, and when is the best time to hold the event.
Venue – The venue is where you will hold your event. I cannot stress this enough – always have a backup venue. What happens if ogres storm in and smash the tavern where you planned to hold a drinking contest? Or what happens if the city where you planned to host a series of lectures is swallowed up by the sea? This saves you the embarrassment of looking unprepared.
Invites – Who do you want to invite to your event? Is it just players in organizations where you hold membership? Is this something worldwide? Do you plan to invite the Divine? Once you nail down the guest list, how will you invite them? Will you use the news, post office, or messages? If you are selling tickets, you might use an advert and also the market channel. Although if you are inviting Divine guests, I highly recommend providing them complimentary access!
Divine – Do you need Divine help to plan your event? Perhaps you are hosting a city festival and want a denizen to sell special items to commemorate the happy occasion. Maybe you need a denizen to interact with you in a special way to help get the event started, or as part of the closing. Be sure to contact the Patron of your organization first, and give them plenty of notice. And always, always remain in character!

The Big Day

Now that the big day is here, you have to obsess over every little detail and micromanage your team, right? Wrong! The reason why these people are still in your committee is because you have some level of trust in their abilities. The cliché that there is no “I” in “TEAM” is overused, but in this case it totally applies. Besides, after all that hard work in planning for the event, you deserve to kick back and enjoy it, too!

After the event, give yourself a day or so to relax and recharge your batteries. Then meet with your team to evaluate how things went. What can you do to improve next time? Were there any complaints you heard through the event? Did you hear any compliments of things you want to be sure and repeat in future events?

While running an event can be stressful, if you plan carefully and delegate the work to committee members who you know you can trust to get the job done, then it can be very rewarding. If you like working with different types of people, have a healthy respect for time management, and do your best work under pressure, then what are you waiting for? Let’s plan an event today!

About the Author

Annie Foster has been leading roleplay events since her freshman year of college when she led a group of newbies through a cavernous lair, straight into the gaping maw of a ferocious dragon. As a freelance writer, Annie plays her favorite MUDs no matter where her job leads, whether it is from a mountain lodge several thousand feet above sea level or in a hotel room that overlooks the ocean.

Personal Warp Database

Ada of Achaea — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 10:09:30 +0000

Game:

Achaea

Client Type:

MUSHclient

Script File: warpdb.xml

I’m a serpent and I often wonder which warp to take to reach a given area from a given area. This plugin addresses the problem with a warp database which may be looked up for such assistance. Have a look at the available aliases to interact with it. I’ll add the ability to work with ATCP/GMCP information, warps in the wilderness and open some possibility to work with a mapper in later versions.

This plugin is written in Python, please see this page to setup Python on your computer: clickey

The following aliases are available:

WarpDB:sources - Check for warps in your area and add them to database
WarpDB:endpoints - Display a list of all areas you can reach from your location
WarpDB:endpoints <area name> - Display a list of all areas you can reach from the specified area
WarpDB:toarea <area name> - Check for warps leading to the specified area from your location
WarpDB:export [<area name>] - Export all warps optionally specifying an area
WarpDB:import - Import a list of warps exported by the above alias
WarpDB:orphans - Display a list of outgoing warps from your location who's destination area is not in the database

The plugin will ask you for a file location on first load, just point it wherever you want your database file to be created. If you get "OperationalError: database is locked" error while trying to add an entry, please delete the .journal file wherever you have your database file to resolve the issue.

The aliases are not case sensitive, you could probably make your own aliases and Execute() these to make it shorter. More help and examples are available here: clickey

Please message me in-game for feedbacks and comments! Enjoy!

Keeping a Cool Head in the Heat of MUD Battle

Aktillum of Achaea — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 20:50:18 +0000

Everyone loves to see their own name light up deathsight (on the right side, of course), as we dish out textual retribution and wage fiery wars for cities, shrines, resources, or anything else. There's something deeply satisfying about watching our STAT STATS kill/death ratio turn positive until we're the last one standing.

Victory is a heady sensation, but it's important to remember we aren't shooting grunts in a Halo single player game. There are people on the other side of every deathsight, a loser in a battle for every winner. Everyone has a rightful desire to be the victor, but restraint in victory, and a willingness to sometimes lose, are vital in ensuring there will always be opponents to clash again. Repeatedly crushing an enemy or faction can potentially suck the fun of conflict out of the game for them, especially when accompanied by an obnoxious attitude or lack of restraint, which can result in having no one who's willing to fight. This can easily be exacerbated in cases of group and organizational combat where every blow must somehow be met with crushing retaliation that can turn cyclical.

How can we work to ensure that things don't get over the top?

Text pride isn't tangible, there is no loss of real face in letting your opponents have a win once in a while. Give them some encouragement in the form of small victories and perhaps you'll have opponents more eager to face you.
Try and keep a handle on your group party numbers; the offensive side should rarely outnumber the defenders. General might, skill and artifact levels should also be accounted for. If the city you want to raid has twenty novices present, that's not an excuse to bring ten heavy-hitters. Think in moderation and what your opponents will enjoy clashing with, and give people a chance, else they might not try at all.
Be OOCly reasonable. Other players have plans and schedules too, that should at least be considered when planning a raid. If you get an OOC message from the enemy saying they have something going on, it's usually best to back off for a time (maybe with a snarky shout or too) and return later.
Practice restraint, and don't tally attacks. Someone raids, someone defends, people attack each other. Don't hold grudges and seek out every little person who aimed a kick, punch, warp at you hours or days later when they're not expecting it. There will inevitably be another raid, and with it a chance for retribution. Doing otherwise will only discourage people from participating in conflict in the future.

Your factional opposite isn't your real life enemy, and we're all people who love and participate in the same role-playing communities. It can be easy to get caught up in the moment and forget the importance of restraint or maintaining a good attitude, but we should take every opportunity we can to remind ourselves. Our games, enemies, shrines, and text-grudges will all be there tomorrow, so don't be afraid to back off and call it a night. On the flip side, if you're on the receiving end of constant raiding, don't be afraid to speak up. Most people are understanding of planned events and desire to end a fight, at least temporarily. If you find yourself getting angry at the happenings in the game, step back, log off for an hour and calm down. You're not obligated to get upset over a game.

Make sure your favorite MMORPGs are fun for you and the people you play with, and you'll always have enemies to clash against.

About the author:

A long-time fan of MUD games in particular, Julian Talley has spent a long time playing on both sides of most conflicts. A constant proponent of fair and reasoned gameplay for everyone, when he’s not playing his favorite games, he can usually be found attending college or practicing percussion.

Show and Tell – How to Add Flavor to Your Character’s Description

Aktillum of Achaea — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 04:35:18 +0000

When you create your character’s description in a text-based game like Achaea, how do you do it? Do you use vague terms that leave a lot to the imagination or do you spell it out so that absolutely no mystery remains?

The Basics of Character Creation

Creating your description is like drawing people into the prologue of the story that is you. Your description will begin with something like He is a winged atavian or She is a tiger-like rajamala, so there is no need to mention your race. But beyond that, you are giving whoever looks at you a brief narrative that explains who you are, but does not spell out your entire life story. That’s what your background is for, anyway!

You will definitely want to reveal your hair and eye color, as well as the shape of your eyes, ears, and lips and your hairstyle. You might also mention special facial features like freckles, birthmarks, or scars from battle. Another thing that is acceptable to mention is your height and overall build. Perhaps you are tall and slender, or short and round, or somewhere in between!

Advice from the Files

In the useful scroll called HELP DESCRIPTION, the admins give some really good advice. Here are some of the finer points on which I have added some extra details and examples based on my own experiences in Achaea.

CLOTHING – Don’t show it. Whatever you are wearing will be revealed when others LOOK at you. The same goes for things you are wielding in your hands. Also, don’t describe anything that would be seen beneath your clothing. If you’re dressed from head to toe in the latest finery that Achaean tailors have to offer, nobody is going to see that dragon tattoo on your back unless you ditch the clothing in favor of going topless all the time.
FEELINGS – Not everyone is going to look at you and feel or do the same thing, so please don’t use phrases such as: You look at him and smile because you feel safe knowing his muscular form will protect you till the end. While that’s a noble sentiment, it’s best to let people find that out through your actions than forcing them to react that way just by looking at you.
TASTE – Use good taste. This means leave private parts private. Nobody wants to see that. If you doubt me, use the COVEREYES emote sometime. Bosoms, bottoms, and other wobbly bits should be left out of your description. Not only is it in poor taste, but Achaea is open to those 13 and older. Even though 13 year olds meet the age requirement, knowingly involving minors in sexual situations is not allowed in Achaea.

Leaving Something to the Imagination

You want to leave something to the imagination, however. Something like a jagged scar zigzags across his face from forehead to cheek nearly missing his right eye will cause people to ask you how you got the scar. That encourages interaction and roleplay, which is the whole point of being in Achaea.

But if your description says something like he wears the scar of a dragon’s talon across his face like a badge, while that’s equally descriptive would people really know that a dragon’s talon caused the damage to your skin? Not to mention if you spell out your life story through your description, then you are robbing yourself the chance to create a full background that others can read, and denying them the chance to ask you for the information.

If you aren’t sure if your description is okay, then it’s best to ask someone else, preferably someone who is considered a leader in your house or city. If you use CHELP or HHELP then you might even find that they have a scroll that details more information on the topic! As long as your description is not vulgar and free from anything that would be rated PG-13 or higher, then it is probably fine and something people will enjoy looking at you!

About the Author:

Seth Grayson first discovered MUD games when his older brother needed extra guild members to help win a battle against a group of pesky goblins. Since then he has accompanied the guild on many other adventures, even graduating to lead a few of them. When he’s not working as a barista or studying for college exams, you can find him in his dorm room playing all of his favorite Iron Realms games!