Hello there ...
Well ... how should I begin ...
<B>Welcome to the World of Fight and Magic of Akeran !!!</B>
That's how the saying goes at least. Maybe I'll just try and describe what Akeran is or isn't, and why it should appeal to you .
Akeran:
- Is an IRC game <I>à la</I> Masters of Magic (i.e. Civilization with a fantasy setting).
- Lets you:
+ take the role of a powerful Mage in his quest for glory, wisdom, and wealth (of course ).
+ control several cities in a world where 5 races coexist ... not so peacefully in fact.
+ Send caravans all over the world to seek gold and rare goods.
+ Create complex buildings to train armies or research ever mightier spells.
+ Wage war and conquer other player's cities (of course, the more players there are, the more fun it is to play).
- <I>Does not tie you to your computer nor does it eat up your all Internet connection</I>: it is quite possible for a skilled player to win an age (2 or 3 months) while spending less than an hour a day on Akeran.
However, Akeran:
- Is a text-based game. No nice graphic 3D interface. On the bright side, it's light and anyone with an IRC client can play it. But it's still text-only. Well, for those of us who enjoy spacedock, this should not be such a challenge, but it had to be said. There's hope still: We're working on an html-java interface .
- Could do with more players (how can one compete against Everquest? That's just unfair! )
Why will you like (or dislike) Akeran?
- Skill and strategy have a much greater role than time spent playing. No more getting beaten by people who spend their life online and have no real skill whatsoever (I'm not naming any game ).
- The world evolves and lives as ages go by, alliances are forged and wars tear the face of Akeran.
- Moreover, IRC enables much player interaction, as it makes treaty negociation and attack planning, debriefing, and commenting quite easy.
- Even if you have too much connection time on your hands, Akeran won't keep you from playing other games .
- While (trying to be) as newbie friendly as possible, Akeran can potentially be extremely complex and realistic.
I know many fellows on the boards can use IRC, enjoy strategy games, and are not afraid of a somewhat austere first-impression ... so why don't you come by and have a go? Channel is: #Akeran on undernet, http for the map, manual and so on is: http://akeran.dnsalias.org/
P.S.: A new age should start within a week, so now is a good time to join in