Difference between revisions of "Newbie Guide"

Welcome to the Achaean '''newbie guide'''. Upon this page you will discover a comprehensive introduction to Achaea and its basics. While not every topic is explored in excruciating detail, we will frequently point you to other sources of information if you wish to learn more beyond the basics we explain here. If you are new to the lands and/or MUDs in general, read on!

There is any number of other paths you might take - master [[bardics|bard]], [[Ivory Mark|Champion]] or [[Quisalis Mark|Assassin]], trend-setting [[Category:Trade_skills|tradesman]] - and it is up to you to follow that path. Though the actions of others may influence your character, only your decisions will set your true path.

There are a dozen [[Category:Adventurer_races|races]] from which to choose starting out. Clicking on any name on the intro screen gives a brief overview and lists any racial bonuses.

A [[Category:classesclass]] distinguishes you from others, offering a set of three [[Category:Skills|skills]] which allow you to take on any number of identities, including a brave knight, a magical elementalist, or a cunning thief.

The 17 classes are available to adventurers are [[Alchemist]], [[Apostate]], [[Bard]], [[Blademaster]], [[Druid]], [[Infernal]], [[Jester]], [[Magi]], [[Monk]], [[Occultist]], [[Paladin]], [[Priest]], [[Runewarden]], [[Sentinel]], [[Serpent]], [[Shaman]], and [[Sylvan]].

Click on the [[Category:City-states|city]] name for a one-sentence summary. NOTE: Your choices may be limited based on the class you picked in the previous step. Forest-based classes may only reside with other nature preservationists in [[Eleusis]], and devotion-users can only join other zealous beacons of righteousness in [[Targossas]]

;Gender:You may choose to be male or female. The exceptions to this are that all satyrs are male and all sirens are female.

The references are provided by the [[http://www.achaea.com/game/helpview/achaea/administrators-and-special-administrators administrators]] for your own benefit. The vast majority of Achaean adventurers have no difficulty abiding by these policies.

=Initial Quests and Registration=

==Registration==

It is highly recommended that you '''Register''' your character. This is in addition to the email address you gave when creating your character for the first time.

Registration helps you keep your account safe, manage multiple characters on the same account, or reset your password. While registered characters may still be purged, they are not purged nearly as quickly as otherwise.

Registration will ask for your:

*date of birth

*country of residence

In addition to that, we ask you how you heard about Achaea. This tells us where to keep advertising so we can get more awesome players like you.

*The SAY command allows you to say something to others in your current location. Verbs like SING, WHINE, MUTTER, SNARL, and SCREAM work in place of SAY, allowing you to enhance your words.

*Use the [[Tells|TELL]] command to communicate with others who are not in the same room with you. Using the CONFIG NAMETELLS ON command allows you to send tells using someone's name without TELL at the start. The TELLS command shows the last 50 tells you received, regardless of when you received them.

*You can [[Yell|YELL]] something to everyone in your immediate area.

*When you [[Shout|SHOUT]], your voice carries across the lands. Shouting requires use of a Ram's Horn Except for some powerful adventurers with the ability to hear you, only the Divine know who is shouting. Spamming, insulting, and gloating are frowned upon via this method of communication.  

*The [[newbies|NEWBIE]] channel exists for you to ask questions and request basic assistance during your time as a newbie. Due to its nature, some topics might be considered [[insanity|insane]] by other adventurers. It is important to note that the newbie channel is not available for idle chatting.

*[[Messages]] are another form of communication between players. Use MSG as a standalone command to see all the available ways to use this feature.

*The [[news]] allows adventures to communicate with each other in non-real-time by writing posts available to be read at your leisure. You can read the news from anywhere, even while sleeping, but must be awake and in the news system to write a new post.

The rules for using language in Achaea are simple. Do not inflict overly obscene language on people who you do not _know_ are willing to hear it, and do not use discriminatory language (racist, homophobic, sexist, etc) AT ALL, in any circumstance. [http://www.achaea.com/game/helpview/achaea/language-rules HELP LANGUAGE RULES] explains more.

If you are within 100 steps from a one of the places in your list of [[landmarks]] then you can WALK TO <landmark> directly. Landmarks are especially useful if you are lost and unsure of where to go next.

:[[Administration|Admins]] show up as bold white, and

*QW <match> - Shows only names that match, for example QW TEC would show Tecton and Telendrieth but not Titonus or Trey.

'''Hunting''', or '''bashing''', refers to the slaying of [[Category:Denizens|denizens]] and [[Category:Creatures|creatures]]. Every denizen has an experience value, depending on its level and strength. You can estimate this level by using PROBE or CONSIDER (i.e. ''PROBE WILDCAT'' or ''CONSIDER IMP''). A full list of denizen strengths may be found in [http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=CONSIDER HELP CONSIDER].

:Butterflies are most commonly found in Minia, the [[Savannah[[, and the [[Pash Valley]], although they could potentially flit into any location. Once you obtain a net from [[Vellis]] at the ivy-covered archway to Minia, WIELD NET and then attempt to CATCH BUTTERFLY. When you are finished return to the archway and GIVE NET TO VELLIS, who will review its contents and reward you with gold. Each of the six different species of butterflies able to be caught in a net is worth a different value.

::NOTE - Once you give your net to Vellis, he won't give you a new one for at least one Achaean [[days|day]], which is about an hour in real time. While there is no limit to the number of butterflies a net holds, leaving the realm, dying, and releasing the butterflies allows them to escape the net. Vellis pays nothing for empty nets.

[[:Category:Weapons|Weapon]] proficiencies allow you to specialise in certain classes of weapons, like longswords or flails, even if your class does not permit you to use them at the cost of 100 lessons. Find the appropriate [[:Category:Proficiency Teachers|proficiency teacher]] and LEARN PROFICIENCY IN <weapon name> FROM <teacher> to begin your training. Then practice with the weapon until you reach mastery.

Much of the history of Achaea, from [[Creation]] to the [[Modern Age]], may be found [http://achaea.com/history.php here]. A shorter period of history, from Creation to the aftermath of the [[War of Humanity]], is written within [http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=MYTHOS HELP MYTHOS] - though by no means is the scroll a short read! Apart from the Mythos, there is a vast amount of history contained within the [[news]] boards of Achaea. All adventurers have access to the Public and Announce boards, as well as the veritable Events board, but you may discover lesser known history within the private boards of the Houses, Cities, and other organizations. [http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=NEWS HELP NEWS] explains precisely how to take advantage of these newsboards.

There are a few ways to communicate which are slightly different from your typical [[channels]]. These each have their own time and place, though they are used less often for various reasons. One of the most well known alternative means of communication is the [[news]]. There are a few newsboards that all adventurers have access to, including the Public and Poetry boards, and others which may not be written to by normal mortals, such as the Announce and Events board. Every organization has its own newsboard, as well. News posts are most often used to speak to a large group of people at once, no matter what date and time they may come across the post. In this way, they are similar to messages sent to a large group of people.

To view the newsboards you have access to, which post you last read on each, and how many posts each has, you may use the NSTAT command. To read the news, you can use READNEWS <section> <#>, or RN (to read the next unread newspost). You can also go to a [[newsroom]] and peruse the news in silence, using the newsroom tools listed by using HELP in a newsroom. To write to a newsboard, you ''must'' be in a newsroom. (For more useful information on the news, please see [http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=NEWS HELP NEWS])

Another way to get a message out to nearly everyone in shouting distance is to, yes, [[shout]]. To shout, one must first find one of the [[giant ram's horn]]s located all over Sapience, usually in high altitudes such as the [[Vashnars]]. The horns require a payment of ''exactly'' 100 gold: simply PUT 100 GOLD INto the HORN, then SHOUT <what you want>. However, some may not hear shouts due to being deaf to shouts, or indeed afflicted with [[deafness]]. Shouting is generally anonymous unless the shouter identifies themselves, is a Dragon, or a recipient has the ability of Recognition in [[Vision]]. Depending on the shouter's level, their shouting voice will be different. You may look at your STATUS to view what your own shouting voice would sound like. It should be noted that shouts may only be of a certain length: too long, and you will pass out. Worse, the entire world will know you passed out, instead of hearing your wonderfully worded masterpiece.

A third unique method of communication is by Achaea's postal system. Letters may be sent to anyone, no matter where they stand on the continent. They may be bought from a post office for a fee of 100 gold; simply REQUEST a LETTER to buy one. You may then WRITE in the LETTER to enter Achaea's editor, and PUT an <item> IN the <letter> to deliver an item if you like! When you are finished, MAIL LETTER TO <person>. Remember, you must sign your name in the letter's contents if you wish the recipient to know who sent them that lovely ring. On the other hand, perhaps you didn't want them to know after all!

Letters decay ten months after their purchase, so if the recipient does not enter the realms before that time is up, the letter will decay in transit, along with any items you may have shipped along with it. As such, you may not wish to send expensive or important items through the post, unless you know for sure that the recipient will be around to receive it.

Finally, as an [http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=INSANITY insane] method of communication, one may utilize the official [http://forums.achaea.com/index.php Achaean Forums] to chat and discuss Achaea. The forums are completely OOC (read:Out Of Character), so posting sensitive information on the forums, or using information gleaned from the forums to your benefit in-realms is highly frowned upon, and may get you in trouble with the administration. There are also rules that '''must''' be followed when writing to the forums, located [http://forums.achaea.com/index.php?act=boardrules here].

[[Credits]] are a special form of currency, used to buy many things that are not priced in [[gold sovereigns]]. One might buy [[artefacts]] or [[housing|room credits]] (used to create rooms in your private home), or convert them into [[lessons]]. They may even be sold on the credit market for gold, which fluctuates in price based on adventurer supply and demand. How do you gain these wonderous tokens? One of the easiest methods, at least at first, is to reach certain [[level]] milestones, listed in [http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=LEVELS HELP LEVELS], such as levels 10 and 15. At each milestone, a certain number of bonus credits are obtained (though these are bound [[credits]] which you may not transfer to other adventurers), which you can use towards nearly whatever end you desire. Another method is to buy credit packs at [http://achaea.com/credits.php this page], using real-world money. There are many differently-sized packages, from the basic fifteen credits to the whopping two thousand credits, to suit both casual and hardcore Achaeans.

For more information, please see [http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=CREDITS HELP CREDITS], [http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=CREDITMARKET HELP CREDIT MARKET], and [http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=ARTEFACTS HELP ARTEFACTS].

Issues are, first and foremost, <b>[http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=INSANE insane]</b>, so they should never be discussed on public [[channels]]. Before you file an issue, ''be sure it's really an issue''. Read [http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=ISSUES HELP ISSUES] to be sure, so you don't end up wasting the admins' time.

Sometimes, you may need to contact customer support for some reason, though, such as clarification on what ''exactly'' this [[artefact]] does - "Is it chewing [[tabac]] or smoking tabac that the tabac pouch generates?" - or arranging a special wedding with the aid of an administrator. <!-- actual example given by HELP 1.9 --> Such requests should be handled via the ISSUE ME <message> command - yes, that's a literal '''ME''.

At other times, however, you may have a genuine issue with another person, for possible griefing, or perhaps the breaking of the rules of player killing or theft. In such cases, ''you should thoroughly read [http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=ICRESOLUTION HELP IC RESOLUTION] before filing an issue''. If you are sure you want to file an issue against this person, you can use ISSUE <adventurer> <message>. The other adventurer will be notified of this and will be able to respond, aiding the administrators in making a ruling.

Please see [http://www.achaea.com/irex/helpview/help.php?q=CUSTOMERSERVICE HELP CUSTOMER SERVICE] for additional important information regarding issues.

[[Category:Newbies]][[Category:Edit needed]]