Caseus, some remarks about beloved Aby
Scales : don't bother with Prod, get Magic-3 instead, and pay a better Pretender with Death-3 too ! With Aby I like a SC chassis with let's say 3 non-Abysian paths better than a RM.
The worst challenge with Aby (in MP) is to get a decent research IMHO, so Magic scales (and hopes of getting a Sage site..) are required.
Demons : Ice Devils are fine, but aren't at all Abysia-friendly - they radiate frost when Abysians radiates heat, you've got no way of getting them except through Pretender, Archdevils are much more "getting along" Abysia (ok, they're "worse" when compared all other things equal, but "all other things" are *never* equal
!)
About MP: no, MP isn't a unfriendly jungle of cheaters, I play (way too many) MP games with a small friendly (and mostly French) group, and we enjoy the diversity of the game, play all races even if not competitive (Tien Chi, Mictlan..), do some roleplay, mucho diplomacy (and some backstabbing), play sometimes with mods, on unknown maps, with special victory conditions, and enjoy it
THAT'S the game !!
