What sets Lusternia apart?

Greetings all,

I'm a new IRE player and, due to my limited time commitment, am looking for the best IRE game to focus on. I would like to hear your all opinions on what sets Lusternia apart from the other IRE games, and why it would be worth my investment of time.

What is most important to me in a game, is good combat mechanics, great storyline, and fun impactful RP that will influence the storyline (or simply just player choices).

Thanks for taking the time to read my post,
Prazza

Comments

  • ShaddusShaddus , the Leper Messiah Outside your window.
    An amazing history fleshed out by living gods, an amazing and varied design system, housing that is much, much cheaper than almost any other IRE game, gods with their own lives including romances, tea parties, hatreds based on past events, and so on. Lusternia is dynamic to the extreme.
    Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
  • DaraiusDaraius Shevat The juror's taco spot
    Full disclosure, the thing that initially attracted me to Lusternia was the ability to play as a dog-man.  :|

    I played Achaea for a long, long time before ultimately migrating, and I've found that what sets Lusternia apart is a more thoughtful playerbase. Maybe it's because it's smaller, or because I'm playing in Hallifax, but there just seems to be much less asshattery here. There are pros and cons to a smaller population, but overall I've found the pros win out. The narrative also seems (a little) more focused thanks to Estarra's guiding influence.

    Some of my favorite features are the design system (which requires no credit or lesson investment to get involved), the multiplane structure, and the ancient lore.

    Then there's the little things that make playing Lusternia so much more convenient: influencing as an alternative to bashing, aetherships (which are superior in every conceivable way to ships in Achaea), easily attainable XP bonuses, easily attainable methods of getting from place to place quickly, the glorious liquidrift.
    I used to make cakes.

    Estarra the Eternal says, "Give Shevat the floor please."
  • Personally, I love all the grey zones that exist. There is no "good" city or "evil" city. Yes, Celest and Magnagora come close, but each have things in their backgrounds that is contrary to that belief. Same with all orgs, really. Is Wyrd taint or not? Is Serenwilde really natural? And what, exactly, goes on behind the closed doors in Gaudiguch's council chambers? Depending on who you ask, you can get very different answers.
    image
  • NeosNeos The Subtle Griefer
    Ssaliss said:
    And what, exactly, goes on behind the closed doors in Gaudiguch's council chambers? Depending on who you ask, you can get very different answers.
    Are you sure?

    Influencing, aetherships, and the various planes are the 3 things that really set Lusternia apart in my mind from the other IREs.
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    Celina said:
    You can't really same the same, can you?
    Zvoltz said:
    "The Panthron"
  • ElanorwenElanorwen The White Falconess
    What drew me to Lusternia was the classes. I had been a longtime knight player in both Achaea and Aetolia before coming over. I've tried practically every class in every possible IRE... and to me, nothing will ever come close to comparing to warriors in Lusternia with their special wounds system, and don't even get me started on mages/druids and melds or what they bring to what sometimes appears to be a straightforward battle. My impression of the other IREs are that they all came out of the same cookie mold, that being the original game that was Achaea. Knight classes are always the same thing. There might be some variations on the theme here and there, but only Lusternia went pretty much all out and remade the whole thing. Granted, we have less classes in comparison, but I doubt you will find classes with so many unique abilities in any other IRE.

    Now then, beyond mechanics... if you ever get into the lore of Lusternia, you'll probably be busy for several years, even if you can keep it coming at a completely steady pace... something that might be complicated to do as not all lore is easily accessible.
    image

    Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.
  • I agree with everything said above, and also think the quests are more well-thought out and interesting than in other IRE games I've tried. Collecting honors is fun.
    "Chairwoman," Princess Setisoki states, holding up a hand in a gesture for her to stop and returning the cup. "That would be quite inappropriate. One of the males will serve me."
  • Influencing: Lusternia has an alternative to bashing where you talk to the NPCs and leave them alive. Good if you want a pacifist character.
    Planes: Unlike the other IRE games, Lusternia is divided into the Prime, Ethereal, Elemental, Cosmic and Astral planes. Most of the combat takes place on the upper planes, which are free PK.
    More Races/Skills: Lusternia has 61 guild skills and 20 playable races compared to Aetolia's 38 and 13 respectively. The number of common skills are roughly the same.
    Open Tradeskill/Design System: In Lusternia, everybody gets a tradeskill without paying credits for it. Everybody can submit designs, even for tradeskills they don't have.
  • Lusternia has no statpacks. Your stats are derived from your race. While this can be a little frustrating, and makes some of the races feel rarer than others, it has the very positive effect that your race matters and people will actually pay attention to it, instead of being a mostly irrelevant note in  your desc.

    And Estarra. Estarra's diligence and openness really helps set Lusternia apart from the others. While some gods will always be more active and less active, across games, Estarra's presence makes it feel like we've got interaction with the whole pantheon.
    Haezon said:
     Think of Hallifax as less communism and more DMV city.
  • A slight derail. Just wanted to say, your race does matter (especially) in the IRE games with statpacks. When you are no longer tied to a race because of its stats, you can choose a race to actually play, and not to fight/bash/influence.

  • MunsiaMunsia The Supreme Goddess
    I suppose that's a two sided story. You can look at a persons race some times and figure out if they are noncom or not. It depends what you prefer. However, this is what 'Race Hats' were invented for. You look and speak the language of the race hat. So essentially we have this ability still in the game.
  • edited December 2013
    Munsia said:
    I suppose that's a two sided story. You can look at a persons race some times and figure out if they are noncom or not. It depends what you prefer. However, this is what 'Race Hats' were invented for. You look and speak the language of the race hat. So essentially we have this ability still in the game.
    You cannot speak the language with a race hat.
    You can only get another language with Bookbinding.
    A whisper from the trees and a frosty presence tells you, secretly, "But you are strong, little 
    flower, and wise." The voice shifts and expands, becoming more real. "And everything you just said 
    in the ritual made me feel safer. You should, too."
  • MunsiaMunsia The Supreme Goddess
    Mmm, they let one language carry over with bookbinding? Odd.
  • I don't know what that means, Munsia.

    The only way to speak more than one language, currently, is by taking up Bookbinding.
    A whisper from the trees and a frosty presence tells you, secretly, "But you are strong, little 
    flower, and wise." The voice shifts and expands, becoming more real. "And everything you just said 
    in the ritual made me feel safer. You should, too."
  • MunsiaMunsia The Supreme Goddess
    Yes but they removed the ability to keep things from skills when you forget them. I can speak Lobo
  • Munsia said:
    Yes but they removed the ability to keep things from skills when you forget them. I can speak Lobo
    You should Bug that.
    A whisper from the trees and a frosty presence tells you, secretly, "But you are strong, little 
    flower, and wise." The voice shifts and expands, becoming more real. "And everything you just said 
    in the ritual made me feel safer. You should, too."
  • XenthosXenthos Shadow Lord
    Munsia said:
    Yes but they removed the ability to keep things from skills when you forget them. I can speak Lobo
    They only removed the trans tradeskill thing (aside from abilities that already required you to have the skill active).  Bookbinding languages have always been this way, and they didn't appear to feel the need to change 'em.

    I honestly prefer it this way, though.
    image
  • MunsiaMunsia The Supreme Goddess
    Yeah but that means I should have -all- my languages...not just one. 
  • SynkarinSynkarin Nothing to see here
    Munsia said:
    Yeah but that means I should have -all- my languages...not just one. 
    You should, I have all mine still even when bookbinding isn't active so it seems to be an issue with you.

    Everiine said:
    "'Cause the fighting don't stop till I walk in."
    -Synkarin's Lament.
  • MunsiaMunsia The Supreme Goddess
    :((
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