I am interested in Aetolia, and figured that I would post that interest here in hopes of hearing from people who have played both games and can give a fair contrast.

There is really no need to start a 10 page thread (unless you feel inclined to...), though I would like to hear your opinion at length. My AIM is Bluehaven52.

Thanks.

I've been playing both for a long time: and the differences can be vast. Aetolia is a bigger world, with more things to do and more places to go. The organizations are sprawled and there are more ways and reasons to fight. Combat there seems to be less about instakills and more about attrition affliction/damage.

Lusternia is a simpler, black and white world. Everything has to be in -direct- contrast in an attempt to force conflict. Combat, however, is more complex (and more frustrating if you're not good at what you do). When you're fighting someone it really feels a lot more like you're fighting their system than the person. The combat is oftentimes based around ascendents and demigods, rather than about knowledge of how to use your abilities. Warriors are a great example of this, where it's simply not possible to build wounds quickly unless you've got the 25 strength and artifact weapons.

Both games are fun, they're just fun in different ways.

So you would say Aetolia actually has more activity?

Could not disagree more with your comment about systems, Isuka. Aetolia is simplistic enough that it is pretty much system vs. system to the fullest degree (to the point where several players have built automated OFFENSIVE systems just because they can). Lusternia, being much more complex, lends itself much better to player skill, and a system alone won't carry you to victory.

Aetolia is also generally less active with less conflict.

Yeah, in a way it does. It seems like it's easier to get in on the action there, so more people are willing. Lusternia is kind of the elitist IRE game.

Aetolia is a lot of fun, I think. But I think because it's a bigger world (i.e. more cities), you don't run into people as much. If you play as a vampire in Bloodloch, I know there's a fair amount of intra-House activity and RP which I haven't received from other guilds I've dabbled in. It might just be that I never got past level 21 on any of my characters and eventually returned to Lusternia.

There aren't guilds associated with only one city, which is pretty neat, though the game is still split between Life and Death (Undeath?) and... well, maybe it was my time of play or choice of city/guild, but I really didn't find a lot of people hanging around.

If you want more activity in the sense of more people around to interact with, there's always Achaea.

Interaction is important, but so is quality. That is why, I was told, to avoid Achaea... but who knows.

The reason I never got into Aetolia was because it felt so... quiet. Sometimes I'd ask a question on GNT and get no response, and I never saw anyone else wandering around the city, so all my noobs died.

It apparently had a reputation as the best IRE MUD for roleplay, but I'm not sure how that is nowadays.

Yeah, do stay away from Achaea if you're looking for quality.

Aetolia was actually pretty cruddy until they got new management, from what I heard. And supposedly it does have the rep for the best IRE roleplay MUD. It definitely has mechanics that make it so (emotes, etc), I just... never really got into it. It wasn't really new player-friendly, at least in the guilds I tried.

I've played all the IRE games, no less than two years now. Lusternia has been the favorite, followed by Aetolia. Aetolia had more control of who you were, but also in a way less control. You were stereotyped in Aetolia. "Oh no, you're a , you must be my enemy." SMASH...so yeah. I will give it that it all depended on how you used your skills, its timing crucial, much more than Lusternia's...but you get ganked by bigger groups in Aetolia all more often than Lusty.