When you first create your character, you go through a little intro tutorial that explains some of the game commands. Once you're done with the tutorial, you get plunked down in the actual game world and you can start exploring, making friends and having what real MMORPG fun is supposed to be :) Achaea is almost entirely player driven, by the way, which means

Player driven economy

Player driven cities, shops, political elections, it's a living breathing "world" with hundreds of other players who are trying to make a name for themselves, just like you.

An in-game NEWBIE channel exists, and guides rotate shifts, ensuring that newbies are always taken care of.

You can also check out the official forums!

Character Creation: Race

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Character creation can be confusing the first time, as many options exist to tailor your character to your exact specifications. There are a total of 12 races, which are -

Atavian: Humans that have been gifted with magnificent wings by Vastar, the Sky God.

Dwarf: Short and stocky humanoids created by Phaestus, the Smith.

Grook: They are the most intelligent of the races and have frog-like appearances.

Horkval: Powerful but not very intelligent insectoids used as shock troops by Aegis, the God of War.

Human: Their birth sparked a war between the Gods, as they are the offspring of the rape of Maya by a chaotic being.

Mhun: Sneaky, agile humanoids who prefer to live underground.

Rajamala: A proud race of tiger-like creatures, known for their speed and ferocity in combat.

Satyr: A male-only race, they are known for their horns, cloven hooves and love of wild entertainment and women.

Sirens: Beautiful females who are statistically similar to the average Human.

Troll: Large and powerful descendants of the legendary giant Gruul and a human woman.

Tsol'aa: An ancient and intelligent humanoid race, they prefer to dwell in the forests.

Xoran: Powerful and intelligent lizards from a distant world, their origins are unknown.

Character Creation: Class

Each class in Achaea comes with three skills, and each skill generally has 25 - 50 abilities. Players may learn every ability available to their class, allowing access to hundreds of different attacks and PvP strategies.

• Alchemist: Enigmatic figures wielding the power of the ether.
• Apostate: Evil, necromantic demon summoners.
• Bard: Swashbuckling troubadour adventurers.
• Blademaster: Masters of the legendary Two Arts.
• Druid: Forest-loving metamorphs.
• Infernal: Evil knights employing necromantic methods.
• Jester: Happy-go-lucky pranksters and rogueish entertainers.
• Magi: Masters of the four elements and crystalline vibrations.
• Monk: A class that forges mind, body, and spirit into a unified whole.
• Occultist: Chaos-loving summoners of extra-planar entities.
• Paladin: Noble knights wielding dual weapons with a falcon companion.
• Priest: Holy warriors with a fearsome guardian angel by their side.
• Runewarden: Mystic knights who employ runic lore alongside their swords.
• Sentinel: Metamorphing forest rangers with animals for assistance.
• Serpent: Masters of venoms and subterfuge. Perhaps the trickiest class.
• Shaman: Mystical users of Vodun dolls, curses, and runes.
• Sylvan: Forest-lovers who meld in mastery of the four elements.

You may choose to join one of six player-ran factions that represent different ideologies. You may also join a House, which is similar to a guild, and each city has a number of Houses that belong to it.

Ashtan: The city of Chaos, Ashtan has been the base of operations for the Occultists for many centuries.

Shallam: Shallam is the city of Good and is governed by the Citadel of Light.

Mhaldor: The twin gods Shaitan and Apollyon rule the city of Evil, sitting on a barren island surrounded by red fog.

Eleusis: A forestal village, Eleusis exists for those who want a community lifestyle without the big city noise.

Hashan: Often taking a neutral stance on most world-matters, Hashan is the city of merchants and rogues.

Cyrene: Affluent artists, poets, and bards call Cyrene home. They lean towards the Good end of the spectrum, but prefer to be left alone.

Joining a House is pretty simple and is based on your class. For example, there are 4 Houses in Shallam;  The Templars, the Dawnstriders, the Priests and the Sentaari. The Templars accept Knight classes, the Priests accepts Priests (duh), the Dawnstriders accept Jesters/Serpents, and the Sentaari accept Monks and other stuff.

Houses used to be called Guilds, and they would only accept 1 class. So the Paladins guild would only accept Paladins, etc. Well they started adding more classes to the game and there was no sense in creating a guild for every single class, so they created Houses and let players decide which classes they want in their Houses.

This is actually a really good starter-read for people considering playing. There is also something called the trait system that lets you pick a stat-pack for your race (balanced or something like 14/12/12/12, 12/14/12/12, 12/12/14/12, etc) along with "traits" that let you customize your character further (letting you do things faster, giving you an extra stat somewhere, healing more from elixirs or plants, etc.). As a general rule, constitution is for tanking, strength is for physical damage, intelligence is for magical damage, and dexterity is for dodging. You can't dodge denizens, so most of the time it's the best idea to pick the constitution sub-race if you're an afflictor, or strength/intelligence if you're a physical damage-dealer or magical damage-dealer. 

Good luck, and if you ever have any questions, please feel free to ask either in-game on NEWBIE questionquestionquestion, or even here if you can't find any help.

Shallam or Eleusis are the most newcomer friendly.

The Monk or Priest class are the easiest to get into.

One thing I would recommend any newbie do is announce that you're totally new to the game across your CITY channel, just type something like ct hello I am completely new <--you'll get loads of help that way

• 1tear         ace           ack           adulate
• advance       agree         ah            aha
• ahem          ahoy          alarm         amok
• apologise     applaud       argh          aroo
• aroo?         avoid         aww           aye
•  
• babble        back          backhand      backoff
• bah           bare          bark          bravo
• beam          bearhug       beckon        beg
• belch         bellypoke     bibble        bigwink
• bird          bitchslap     bitekiss      bitethumb
• bkiss         blanch        blankstare    bleat
• bleh          blink         blow          blubber
• blush         boast         boggle        bollocks
• boo           boogie        bounce        bow
• brace         brag          brandish      bray
• brb           bringiton     bristle       brush
• buff          bugeye        bugger        bumphips
• burp          buzz          bye
•  
• cackle        caper         caress        cartwheel
• catcall       cautious      cavort        chant
• cheer         cheers        chin          chinlift
• chortle       chuckle       clampteeth    clap
• clear         clearmind     collapse      comfort
• concerned     console       contemplate   contempt
• contentsigh   convulse      coo           cool
• cough         covereyes     cower         crazy
• cringe        crossarms     cry           cuddle
• cuff          cupcheek      curious       curse
• curtsey       cya           
•  
• damn          dance         daydream      deadfaint
• deepkiss      defy          deny          despair
• determined    dies          dismay        dmiss
• doff          doh           done          doomed
• dour          dramaqueen    dread         dribble
• drool         drunkdance    dsmile        duck
• dude          dude!         dude?         dudenod
• dudette       duh           dust
•  
• earlick       edge          eek           eep
• egads         egg           eh            elbow
• embrace       envy          erk           erm
• eskiss        evil          evilgrin      eww
• excellent     eye           eyekiss
•  
• facepalm      faint         fan           fart
• fawn          fhkiss        fidget        fine
• fingercross   flap          flee          flex
• flip          flirt         flit          flop 
• flutter       foetal        fondle        footrub
• fran          fret          frolic        frown
• fume          furious       furrow
•  
• gag           gah           gambol        gan
• gape          gasp          gaze          gazeout
• g'donya       gear          gentlehands   gentlespin
• gibber        giddy         giggle        giggleblush
• gigglefall    glare         glee          gloat
• glower        gnash         goats         good
• goodnight     goosestep     gotohell      gotohelldie
• grab          greed         greet         grimace
• grin          grinbroad     gripe         groan
• grope         gross         grouch        grouse
• grovel        growl         grr           grumble
• grump         grumpy        grunt         guesswho
• guffaw        gulp
•  
• ha            haha          hairstroke    halfsalute
• halfsmile     handkiss      handshake     happygasp
• hate          hatestare     headlean      headshake  
• heckle        heh           hehe          hello
• hex           hhop          hi            hiccup 
• hidebehind    highfive      hiss          hmm
• hmm?          hmph          hoho          holdhands 
• hoot          hop           hope          howl 
• hrm           huff          hug           hugbehind 
• huh           hum           hurl          huzzah
•  
• idiot         ignore        iknow         incline
• innocence     innocent
•  
• jeer          jig           jump          
•  
• keel          kiss          kisscheek     kneel
• knuckles 
•  
• lacehand      lalala        lashkiss      laugh
• lean          leer          legcling      leghump
• lick          licknose      lie           linkarm
• listen        loathe        lol           love
• lovecomfort   lovetoo       lullaby
•  
• makeface      massage       meep          meh
• melt          meow          mercy         mine
• mm            moan          mock          moo
• moon          mope          mourn         muhaha
• mumble        murmur        mutter        myhero     
•  
• nag           narf          narrow        naturelove
• nay           neckkiss      nibble        nibblekiss
• nice          nicemeet      no            nod
• nodcareful    noogie        nose          notfair
• np            nty           nudge         nuzzle 
• nvm
•  
• offerarm      offerhand     ogle          oh
• ohh           ohmaya        ohwell        oi
• oink          ok            okaly         okay
• omg           ooer          ooo           oops
• ouch          outrage       ow
•  
• pace          pah           panic         pant
• pants         paranoia      pardon        pat
• patient       pathead       pause         peck
• peckl         peckrt        peer          perk
• pester        pet           petnice       pff 
• phew          picknose      piffle        pinch
• pinchcheek    pishposh      pity          pkiss
• plaugh        playgrowl     plead         please
• pnose         point         poke          ponder
• poof          pose          pounce        pout
• praise        prance        pray          pride
• prod          profane       prostrate     pssh
• pstare        puke          punt          puppyeyes
• purr          pyro
•  
• quack         quail         quake         queasy
• quiver
•  
• raise         raisehand     raisehand!    raisehand?
• rally         rasp          rave          really?
• recoil        refuse        relief        remindme
• resent        respect       right         riight
• roar          rofl          roll          romp
• roombow       roomcurtsey   rub           rubfoot
• rufflehair
•  
• sadshake      sagenod       salute        scoff
• scold         scorn         scowl         scratch
• scream        seal          seethe        seksay
• serenade      shake         shakefist     shakehands
• shame         shameonyou    sheesh        shh
• shifty        shinkick      shiver        shock
• shoo          shriek        shrug         shudder
• shuffle       shyaway       shysmile      sigh
• sighnod       simper        sing          sit
• sithands      skip          skulk         slap
• sleepylean    slobber       slowdance     slowkiss
• slump         smack         sman          smile
• smilesoft     smileweak     smirk         smooch
• smooth        smug          snan          snap
• snarl         sneer         sneeze        snerk
• snicker       sniff         sniffle       snigger
• snivel        snog          snore         snort
• snuffle       snuggle       snuke         sob
• softclap      soothe        sorry         sowhat
• spank         sparkle       speechless    spit
• splutter      squeak        squeal        squeeze
• squirm        stagger       stampfoot     standdown
• stare         stars         stomp         stretch 
• stroke        strokecheek   strum         strut
• stumble       suck          sulk          super
• sure          surprise      suspicious    suure
• swagger       sway          swear         sweat
• sweet         swoon       
•  
• tackle        tacklekiss    tada          tag
• takeaim       takehand      tango         tantrum
• tap           taunt         tclick        tease    
• teehee        tenderkiss    thank         thanks
• thelist       think         thought       thrash
• threaten      thumbsdown    thumbsup      thump
• thwap         tickle        ticklechin    tiptoe        
• tired         titter        toast         tongue        
• tralala       tremble       tsk           tug           
• tugarm        tut           twiddle       twinkle       
• twirl         twitch        twitter          
•  
• ugh           um            urge          urgh
•  
• victory       voices        vomit
•  
• waddle        wag           waggle        wahoo
• wail          wait          waltz         warble
• wasntme       wave          wavehand      wavehi
• waveto        weep          welcome       wha?
• what          what.         whatever      whee
• whew          whimper       whine         whinny
• whistle       whocares      why           whyme
• wickedgrin    wiggle        wince         wink
• winknudge     wither        woe           woohoo
• woot          wootwoot      worship       wow
• wrestle       wriggle       wtf
•  
• yahoo         yarr          yawn          yay!
• yay?          yearnsigh     yelp          yes
• yo            yodel         yodel!        yodel?
• yuck          yum
•  
• zerbert       ziplip

Those aren't all the possible emotes! The emote system allows you to emote whatever you want, and those are just basics. So your emotes are limited by your imagination.

I didn't even know the act of blowing a raspberry on someone's belly had a name until I started playing Achaea. Zerbert, hm.