Aetolia (online game)

Aetolia, the Midnight Age, is an online MMORPG MUD, owned and operated by Iron Realms Entertainment. Aetolia launched on October 7, 2001,^[1] with a duplicate map layout of Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands. Originally Aetolia was a dark gothic fantasy world, with the backstory of everyone's memory having been erased (known as the Great Artifice in the game), however the game is currently transitioning to a steampunk type realm, with the introduction of technology trees (powered by ylem), the Dreikathi Empire invasion, and other technological advancements. The game features a multitude of playable races and classes, with players able to hold multiple classes.

It was revealed to the playerbase in late 2010 through an uStream with Eric Lamy, who was then Aetolia's producer, that the entire playerbase would be shifting to a new continental map, known as Albedos, that will continue the game's evolution away from its Achaean roots. This is considered the penultimate part of the steampunk transition.

In 2015, a new event has occurred. Labelled the "War of the Night", shadows from a rift to the Elemental Plane they dwell within have been unleashed upon Albedos, causing recurring attacks upon the cities. With the sudden appearance and invasion of the Nazedha Empire, Aetolia is currently under war, with its players working together to attempt to beat down the Nazedha, and reseal the rift.

Free to play, pay for perks

Aetolia, like Achaea and all other Iron Realms games, is completely free to play, but to gain advancement it is generally recommended that one buy credits. The controversial credit system is further detailed on Achaea's page.

Producer turnover

Unlike other Iron Realms games, Aetolia has had various producers and associate producers control the game throughout its history, which has hampered the games growth. A popular meme among the players of the game was 'Coming Soon', a propensity for the games administrators to promise something and then fail to deliver. The game's current producer, Michael Duncan, started as a player, then a volunteer, before eventually being named Associate Producer and finally Producer. Duncan has promised the playerbase through the official forums that 'Coming Soon' would be ending under his watch. Aetolia has seen a resurgence of activity since Duncan took over.

At the time of Aetolia's launch, Josh Olson was the producer of Aetolia. He was replaced in late 2005, which was announced to the playerbased by Matt Mihaly, the owner of Iron Realms.^[2] Mihaly also announced that Jeremy Saunders, who was producer of Imperian, would take over the role as dual producer of both games. This would continue until January 2008, when Saunders would be promoted to CEO of Iron Realms and he would promote Eric Lamy, who was then Associate Producer to the role.^[3] Lamy left Aetolia in late 2012 and was replaced by Michael Duncan.^[4]