Payment FAQ

All About Game Credits

  • 1. Do your MUDs cost money to play?

    Nope. You can play our games for free, forever.

  • 2. What are Credits?

    Credits are an in-game currency obtained through various methods, including buying them from the website, buying them from other players with gold, or getting rewarded with them for doing various things in-game. They're then used to buy things like special items, pets, houses, and more. Remember: You can always get credits just by playing the game and earning gold in it.

  • 3. Can I transfer credits between characters?

    Yes, you can transfer credits to characters on the same game provided the credits are 'unbound credits' and providing you're not violating rules around your characters helping each other. Type HELP SECONDS to read about that in-game. Any credits you buy with earned currency (gold, or Marks in Starmourn) or with real money must be converted to 'bound credits' before being used. Once converted to ‘bound’, the credits can no longer be transferred. Please type ‘HELP CREDITS’ in each individual text game to read about the syntaxes for working with credits.

  • 4. Can I transfer credits between IRE MUDs?

    Not typically, no. The only method of doing so is retirement. HELP RETIREMENT in each game will tell you more.

How to Purchase Credits

  • 1. Where do I purchase credits?

    You can purchase game credits directly from the individual game websites. Those pages are listed here:

  • 2. What payment methods do you accept?

    We accept VISA, MasterCard, Discover, and Paypal. You can make your purchase directly from the individual game websites, listed above.

  • 3. How long will it take to get my credits after buying them?

    Nearly-instantly in most cases.

  • 4. How much do credits cost?

    See the prices on the individual game credit pages, above, and note that every single month we have a different kind of promotion going on that you can read about on the announce news board in the games.

  • 5. Is it possible to purchase larger amounts of game credits?

    Yes, and there are discounts available for packages of 3000 credits and higher, but you must coordinate that with the person in charge of credit sales for each text game. These are:

    • Achaea: nicola (at) achaea (dot) com 
    • Aetolia: ictinus (at) aetolia (dot) com 
    • Imperian: skuf (at) imperian (dot) com 
    • Lusternia: uilani (at) lusternia (dot) com 
    • Starmourn: damiel (at) starmourn (dot) com

  • 6. What appears from the game on my credit card statement?

    Your credit card statement will show a billing from the MUD game like this: Iron Realms - <game>. So, for instance, “Iron Realms – Imperian.”

  • Is the credit card server secure?

    Yes, and it's not ours. We use a company called Stripe, which has excellent security, and Iron Realms employees have no way to see your credit card number, which is never stored on our servers.

Problems with Payments

  • 1. My credit card keeps being declined by the game, but I know I have funds.

    This could be for a variety of reasons. Usually it will happen if you input an incorrect address or security code. Follow the instructions on the page carefully, and if that doesn't work you may need to contact your credit card company to ask them what's happening.

  • 2. My credit card was declined by the game, but it still got charged.

    Actually, your credit card has not been charged if it was declined. Occasionally a bank will place a hold on funds when an authorization is requested even though they then decline the charge, usually for ‘invalid address or zip code.’ The funds are released after a few days, when the bank realizes that actually no charge was placed. Honestly, we have no idea why this happens. No bank has ever given us a straight answer, but it rarely happens.

  • 3. I bought credits for the game but they haven't arrived.

    If your credits don't arrive within minutes and you're sure your payment went through, contact support@<game>.com and ask for help.

Other Credit Questions

  • 1. Why do we have to pay for credits?

    Ultimately, so we can continue to support the games. Our MUDs are considered the best in the world for a reason, and that reason is our excellent staff, who need to get paid in order to keep working on our MUDs!

  • 2. Will I be charged more than once by the game?

    All purchases are single, one-time only purchases. The only exception is if you sign up on a game for an Elite Membership, which charges you monthly.

  • 3. Can I do a monthly game subscription?

    Yes. We have the Iron Elite Membership with several different benefits based on the text game you are playing. Type in HELP ELITE from your favorite game for more information.

  • 4. How can I cancel my Iron Elite membership?

    Cancelling your membership is easy. Simply log on to your PayPal account, navigate to the "Preapproved Payments" page, and cancel your scheduled payment.

    If you paid with Credit Card: Simply navigate to the relevant page below and enter your order number (from your payment receipt) and your email.

    If you no longer have access to your last payment receipt, you can email support and we will send it to you.

  • 5. Can I get a refund?

    Iron Realms Entertainment does not offer refunds. The reason is simply that to do so would mean that anyone who had a bad day of playing could ask for a refund. Of course, we make exceptions for cases of fraud, and we involve the FBI and Interpol wherever possible in such cases. If you have any questions or problems, please contact your game support at support@<game>.com and we'll try to help. (So, for instance, support (at) aetolia (dot) com.)

  • 6. Who do I talk to about credit or purchase problems?

    Please address billing inquiries to support (-at-) <game> (-dot-) com. Please include your character name from the game and as much information about your inquiry as possible so we can better assist you. Thanks!