Tuluk closing to PC play on April 27

[ArmageddonMUD]

In addition to several other changes mentioned in this post:  on April 27, we will be closing Tuluk for PC play and making it virtual. It will still exist in an IC fashion and may be open for specifically scheduled RPTs, but it will no longer be a place that PCs can point to or play in without staff intervention.  We will reassess this closure periodically to determine whether conditions are suitable for it to be opened again.

This was a difficult decision, but one that we feel will best meet our needs of consolidating our staffing team and allowing us to focus on enlivening the game, enhancing the staffing role and continuing to deliver Armageddon as an RPI MUD.

Staff turnover and staff shortfalls have made the task of maintaining a staffing team with forward momentum difficult for more than short periods.  While we remain at full strength temporarily, we inevitably lose staffers (just as we lose players in sponsored roles) to real-life circumstances.  We believe that consolidating our staffing resources and altering the staffing structure will allow us to staff the game more efficiently and more productively, even with the shortfalls we experience.

We have been regularly investing in Tuluk with new documentation, new roles, new code, and the like.  This has caused a drain on staff and staffing resources.  The effort involved has been high.  The payoff has been mixed due to lessened player impact.  It would be fair to say that one other negative (on players and staff) would be vocal detractors of player and staff efforts in this area.  

We'd like to thank all staff and players that have put in effort to bring Tuluk to life over the years.  Plots, characters, and new systems have come about all due to your contributions.  The game has been made better because of your accomplishments.  

We're also sorry that we have to proceed with this as a necessity because it does affect existing PCs.  Those of you that have been playing in Tuluk recently as a non-noble/templar role have been/will be given some IC reasoning for leaving the city and staying away.  

Tuluki noble and templar roles will need to be stored.  If you are playing one of these roles, staff will be reaching out to you via request.  While it is not much of a replacement for a character you have invested in, we would like to open up dialogue with you about potential options, let you vent, etc.  This same offer for dialogue goes for anyone playing a PC from Tuluk that they feel cannot be transitioned out, or that otherwise must be stored.  Please discuss this with your staff!



We'll post a reminder of these changes once they actually occur on April 27, but a summary is below.

• New PCs will be unable to point to Tuluk.  However, they can be from Tuluk and point elsewhere.
• Tuluk will be barred from IC entry without staff intervention.  This doesn't mean "wish up to get in", it means it will be closed unless staff open it.
• The current staff of Tuluk will rotate to other roles.  Rathustra will move to the position of Administrator of Independents Team with Welda moving to GMH.
• We will increase staff for Allanak correspondingly and possibly have some other rotations.  We will focus more building and staffing effort on Allanak and its surroundings.  This will also mean an increase in sponsored player roles in the region.

Ultimately, this is a decision that we feel is for the good of the game as a whole, specifically for its effects on staffing and (by extension) the playerbase.  If it does not work out in a satisfactory way, we will have the opportunity to reverse this decision.

Discussion for this decision can be made here.  Staff will be on hand to answer questions.

This was a difficult choice to make.  It will impact players currently playing roles in the region.  If you need to get things off of your chest, feel free to express support of the idea or to vent your frustrations within reason and remembering the rules of the GDB. However, in either case, we request that you make an effort to understand the difficulty of this decision on staff, as well as the negative impact it has on existing PCs.  Trolling, flaming, baiting, and the like will not be tolerated.

[Rathustra]

Hello Armageddon,

Today, the news that we have been dreading for a month has become public. In a way it is as much a relief as it is a new burden. We're relieved that we can commiserate with those of you who we've spent time building and animating for and with – that we can share our memories of the good times Tuluk has given us and that we can begin the task of doing right by you one last time. We're burdened though by the loss of a part of the game world we viewed as being engaging, exciting, unique and challenging to play and staff for, by the abrupt end to many excellent player-developed and run storylines, by the loss of an IC culture kept alive through the combined efforts of innumerable players throughout Armageddon's history.

We regret that many of the plans and aspirations we had for Tuluk will now be put on hold – that the many other projects we have introduced recently will not have the chance to be fully utilised until Tuluk is drawn out of deep freeze. But all this is balanced by the hope that we will be around in the future when we can look at the city with a fresh pair of eyes and knit everything into a final, complete whole that will be ready for all of us to enjoy.

I hope you can forgive us for this closure. While we as a team are passionate about Tuluk, we are also passionate about ArmageddonMUD and realise that this direction is the best choice for developing the game as an RPI. None of us are planning on going anywhere – our drive and love for the parts of Armageddon that Tuluk embodied and exemplified remains and we will take Tuluk's emphasis on challenging play amd flavourful theme with us to the other parts of Zalanthas we go to work on.

Each of us are also dedicated to making sure this period of transition is as comfortable as possible for players currently in Tuluk. We invite each and every player affected by this change to get in touch with us directly so we can negotiate either a fitting closure to your character's story – or a means for your character to leave Tuluk and participate in the wider world – with a minimum of IC weirdness. Our time, as always, is yours until the gates close that final time and we move on.

Finally – we want to thank you all. Every single player who has played in Tuluk. Who has etched their name into Tuluk through their play and dedication. We want to thank everyone who has trod that city's streets and done something – good or ill, under the Sun King's eternal gaze. We also want to thank Tuluk's enemies – those who have fought hard and defined the city in adversity in game, or those outside of the game who made sure that every decision we made and every asset we built was gilded with an adversity that made our successes all the more sweeter.

Thank you all – and radiance bless.

-The Northlands Team

[ArmageddonMUD]

Tuluk is now closed for PC play.  Please read the following as some procedures we were expecting at time of announcement have changed.

• Morin's Village (near Tuluk/just outside it) has been expanded as an outpost, nearly doubled in room size.
• If you log into the game and were previously in Tuluk (but never left), your PC will be transferred to Morin's Village.
• PCs will be unable to play inside Tuluk.  New PCs that point to Tuluk will be able to go through the starter shops and then be placed in Morin's.
• Reiterating:  pointing to Tuluk will put you in the starter shops for Tuluk, then dump you out in Morin's Village when you are done buying things.

If you notice anything out of the ordinary, please wish up.  We'll work to either provide information or fix any problems.



Staff Rotations
Staff rotations have begun.  Starting now and completing over the next few days, these are the new staff teams:

Southern Team
This is everything Allanak--nobles, templars, soldiers, Atrium, gemmed.
Administrator: Talia
Storytellers:  Brokkr, Cavaticus, Eurynomos, Seidhr

GMH Team
This is everything GMH -- Kadius, Kurac, Salarr (and Nenyuk, virtually) plus any Minor Merchant House ventures that get past the Trading Company point.  Also includes the Guild.
Administrator: Welda
Storytellers:  Haldol, Taijan, Nergal

Independents Team
This is everything that isn't anything else.  Tribals, independents, former Tulukis, people with independent groups that are below the level of Trading Company, and the T'zai Byn.
Administrator:  Rathustra
Storytellers:  Enthemu, Xalle