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 favoriteMUDs 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.
