Obsidian Mining

[Tisiphone]

There is already a very easy, coded way to convince templars (the only nobles who matter in this kind of issue) that raiding indie 'sid miners is OK for you to do.

Code Select Expand

give 1000 coins templar

Plus, avoid doing stupid things, like shooting people standing under the steel dragon, or even worse, shooting the gate guards.

[manonfire]

I used to raid-bait with my Krathi.

Good times.

[roughneck]

A raider character, although generally not long lived can be an awesome way to generate some rp for other people and yourself.  I tend to make them when I'm really busy with work or traveling and can't handle a role that requires any kind of consistency in play time.  It's also great because it's a completely PC vs PC which I maintain makes the most intense and ultimately the best rp scenarios in the game.  You don't any imm intervention, generates plots on a smaller scale but plots that really fill out the world as Zalanthas is a place where people raid but you rarely ever see.  It  also helps creating a game that doesn't have that high fantasy good vs evil let's band together and kill the kill the orc army crap.

I came back to Arm after a few year hiatus several months ago, made a couple characters like this as I was traveling with work and discovered the game was a lot different then when I lift and that I couldn't -generally- create the kind of circumstances I was trying to any longer with this activity.

I'll share a few things that happened but it was a long time ago and I don't think it's too IC, if you think it is that's fine, feel free to let me know.  But it's not and has no impact on the game or spoiling secrets.

There is already a very easy, coded way to convince templars (the only nobles who matter in this kind of issue) that raiding indie 'sid miners is OK for you to do.

Code Select Expand

give 1000 coins templar

Plus, avoid doing stupid things, like shooting people standing under the steel dragon, or even worse, shooting the gate guards.

No, I meant -nobles-.  I had a raider PC leave a northern merchant unconscious outside the gates and returned with a city-wide search for me.  A noble who had my desc passed on to her contacted me with the way so I obliged and met her, only to discover I was somehow a threat to the entire city and this noble had nothing better to do but champion the cause of every beat-up commoner from every other city.  That being said my interactions with Templars with the similar type characters has been awesome and they've reacted in a way that keeps things moving and dynamic.  Good job Templars.

I used to raid-bait with my Krathi.

Good times.

I've also come back to discover magickers outside the gates every time I leave the city.  I left one unconscious outside the gates, took her shit to Storm to sort through and discovered FOUR MAGICK WEAPONS!  Sweet addition to the game, four hour warriors getting magick weapons.  My desc was once again passed on to a character that had never seen me and the rest is history, but it was lame.

If you have a magicker, hunt a raider because he fucked with your friend, because you were paid or because you have something to gain or it will spark up a storyline of some kind.  If you have a karma-restricted class you can impact the world a lot better than waiting for hours in the desert until someone comes along that you can justifiably roast and have no consequences when you return to the city or interact with other clans.  But, I suppose that was the easiest way to play with your fireball spell and exert some of that class power on another PC with no risk of losing the time invest of spell training.

Sorry to get sassy, my intention was just to relate my experiences and frustrations in trying to generate intense, gritty rp with mundane pcs.  Chances are the people that posted have nothing to do with what I've talked about and it's most definitely not an attack because obviously I don't know your characters, you personally or anything you've done in the game.

My final point and appeal is this:

Miners are awesome, they fill out the game with roles of beat-down commoners taking on brutally hard work in an harsh environment just to get some sids to get ahead.

Raiders are great because they fill out the game and generate small plots by being dirt bag common folk who are pissed off and move to an harsh environment with no laws so they can have some control over their own life and over others.  Also so they can take other people's shit and get ahead and feed themselves.

I wish armageddon would turn back to it's roots and that the general populace wouldn't give a damn about the political backdrop, over-arching storyline of the world and just fuck with each other all day long.  That raiders would leave people alive so they can fight later, that nobles would drive their own story lines free of imm assistance and magickers would keep their role mysterious the way it should be, quit farming the permanency shit and use their power to generate some story lines that we don't need the imms.

I love what the imms do but the best shit to get caught up in is the shit that's just players fucking with other players.

[Tisiphone]

Get involved with magickers a lot, do you?

[roughneck]

Can't avoid them.

[brytta.leofa]

It's possible that obsidian mining would disproportionately attract those who (a) don't have an aptitude for mundane combat, (b) have something to hide, and/or (c) aren't welcomed into many of the normal circles of society.

[LittleLostThief]

While I'm not particularly disagreeing with you here...

You can still take this one step further, and involve even more people in the mundane raiding plots that you create.

If you survive one magicker encounter, or at least have a savvy enough character, hire a magicker of your own to go with you while raiding.  Split the profits with them, and use them as protection against other magicky type things.

Also, use items that hide your sdesc.  This will most often leave your character FAIRLY immune to everyone knowing who you are instantly.  Not only that, but understand that if your main description contains any rare and unique qualities, those will land you known too.  Not too many people have a giant dragon tattoo hovering over a city and breathing fire on the inhabitants on their foreheads.  Next, after you've been raiding a particular cities citizens, don't go to that city for several OOC days.  That should take a little steam out of those that are scouring the city for you.

I can't say anything about particular nobles... but 99.997% of people in powerful positions are corrupt, and a little bribe can often go a long way.

[Salt Merchant]

I wish armageddon would turn back to it's roots and that the general populace wouldn't give a damn about the political backdrop, over-arching storyline of the world and just fuck with each other all day long.  That raiders would leave people alive so they can fight later, that nobles would drive their own story lines free of imm assistance and magickers would keep their role mysterious the way it should be, quit farming the permanency shit and use their power to generate some story lines that we don't need the imms.

I love what the imms do but the best shit to get caught up in is the shit that's just players fucking with other players.

I agree that things have been a bit too cooperative lately.

On the other hand, the low-level plots that you describe get old after a while, because they're just the same thing over and over. How many times can you play a raider beating down on miners or vice versa before it gets tiresome?

As for magickers, it sounds like some people want them to simply disappear from the game. Mysterious? Do you mean back to the days when "Someone" would start messing with a traveller? It's been done too and in fact people started complaining bitterly on the GDB about running into magickers outside the cities. It really sounds like you just mean "never seen at all". If I have to wait two years RL between making public appearances with my mage, then all the magick slinging classes might just as well be NPC and handled by staff on those occasions.

The "mysterious" is gone because people have simply been playing that long. You'll never recapture that first year or two when everything was new and at its most exciting because it's a stage in playing the game, not because "something" (i.e. some change or other) has since spoiled the game.

My own beef is how difficult it is to build something. You have to build something to give your followers or clan mates something to defend and others a target to destroy. Maybe it's a personal failing of mine, but I find it incredibly difficult to motivate people to pitch in on such projects. And the staff is naturally more inclined to help out when it's something that involves many people rather than a lone character. So I can't get much to happen in the game either. 

[jcljules]

I will pip up and say... Obi mining is fricking dangerous!
I've had more PCs die or have an attempt against their lives mining then I have deaths or attempts at any other single work or such. At least 25% my PCs.

And.. Obi mining is a little less dangerous then Glass, though at least.

Its not dangerous if you do it offpeak.... of course thats twinkish, so I don't do that. 

Right?

[Tisiphone]

I will pip up and say... Obi mining is fricking dangerous!
I've had more PCs die or have an attempt against their lives mining then I have deaths or attempts at any other single work or such. At least 25% my PCs.

And.. Obi mining is a little less dangerous then Glass, though at least.

Its not dangerous if you do it offpeak...

You just keep believing that. It just might be less dangerous.

[Gunnerblaster]

I will pip up and say... Obi mining is fricking dangerous!
I've had more PCs die or have an attempt against their lives mining then I have deaths or attempts at any other single work or such. At least 25% my PCs.

And.. Obi mining is a little less dangerous then Glass, though at least.

Its not dangerous if you do it offpeak....

So says the off-peak D-elf player pointing a bow and arrow at your face. =)

[Wicked]

Sure, you might have less chance of getting caught by someone while out mining if you play off-peak, but consider this... There's also less people to help you out of a fix then, too!

[Delstro]

If you only do dangerous things like 'sid mine, hunt, travel during offpeak, it is bad form, if you then just hang out in civilization while everyone is logged in. Convienant, yes, but you are robbing yourself.

[jcljules]

I understand that, and I do dangerous things at peak times as well. Its just that there -is- nothing to do off-peak except resource-gathering/crafting/etc.

[Zoan]

What if you live in Australia and can only get off-peak times mostly? Surely you can't call it bad form then.

[Desertman]

Getting raided is the best. 

In theory yes, but the problem we have with this is the sid deposits are rediculously close to the city gates in most instances for a raider to risk raiding you.

As it stands if I run in to raid you, and you havent done something stupid like exhaust yourself completely in a blowing sandstorm hacking sid, you can run three squares back into the city and tell everyone..."THE BLUE-EYED LARGE-MEMBERED MAN TRIED TO RAID ME!!! HE HAS A SCAR ON HIS RIGHT FOOT AND A TATTOO OF TWO DWARFS MOLESTING A ERDLU ON HIS BACK!!!"...which happens all of the time.

Solution, lets move obsidian deposits much farther away from the city gates. Get into groups grebbers, sid mine smarter, not harder. If you want to get rich quick, go ahead, but now you have twenty squares to book it, instead of two or three, to get back to safety when I catch you out there alone packing on five small worth of obsidian a day.

[amish overlord]

I believe can mine more than just obsidian, but more risky(more valuable too). Just gotta take risk and explore more.

Amish Overlord 

[brytta.leofa]

As it stands if I run in to raid you, and you havent done something stupid like exhaust yourself completely in a blowing sandstorm hacking sid, you can run three squares back into the city and tell everyone..."

> say (panting and windmilling ^me arms) --raider! Tried to smush me!
The aureate, obsidian-eyed templar looks at you.
The aureate, obsidian-eyed templar asks you, in sirihish,
  "A raider. What did this raider look like, citizen?"
> say (halting the arm-windmilling abruptly) Big. Lord Templar. Um. Ridin' a beetle.
> em inhales quickly, slurping a menacing gob of saliva back into ^me mouth.
> say (helpfully, standing up straighter) Beetle was big, too.

I do agree, Desertman...deposits are probably too close in.

[Desertman]

I believe can mine more than just obsidian, but more risky(more valuable too). Just gotta take risk and explore more.

Amish Overlord 

Yes, there are greater risks to be taken for greater profit.

But, when I can make half a large in one IC day mining obsidian less than ten squares from safety, its really a mute point to make an entire large an IC day mining (secret stuff) thirty squares from safety.

You are still extremely rich, extremely fast.

[Desertman]

As it stands if I run in to raid you, and you havent done something stupid like exhaust yourself completely in a blowing sandstorm hacking sid, you can run three squares back into the city and tell everyone..."

> say (panting and windmilling ^me arms) --raider! Tried to smush me!
The aureate, obsidian-eyed templar looks at you.
The aureate, obsidian-eyed templar asks you, in sirihish,
  "A raider. What did this raider look like, citizen?"
> say (halting the arm-windmilling abruptly) Big. Lord Templar. Um. Ridin' a beetle.
> em inhales quickly, slurping a menacing gob of saliva back into ^me mouth.
> say (helpfully, standing up straighter) Beetle was big, too.

I do agree, Desertman...deposits are probably too close in.

LMFAO, I WISH people rp'ed it this way.

I have had people tell me they saw through my disguise, because I smelled like me.

Do not underestimate the power of twinkdom, do not.

More often than not, it will be

"He was tall, and had blue eyes with little gold flecks in them, and he was missing one ear, and he had three scars on his neck, and he he had a missing pinky toe, and he had callouses on his hands, and he had three testicles, and he had four tattooes, which I will tell you about in vivid detail in a moment, even though they were all beneath his clothing which I am just ignoring"

"Oh, and when I contacted him, he was the blue-eyed, winkywinky man"

The sad part is, the next time the templar that was reported to sees your raider in a tavern, they wont RP not knowing you...most of them are so bored, they will still say..."He fits that description, arrest HIM!".

[brytta.leofa]

"He was tall, and had blue eyes with little gold flecks in them, and he was missing one ear, and he had three scars on his neck, and he he had a missing pinky toe, and

Twinky indeed.

But I also think the code is letting us down here.  It's crazy that it's so hard to disguise a character.

If masks/facewraps/hoods are promoting excessive, unrealistic raiding, why not add NPC patrols of the major mining sites?  I would expect Allanak to spend a fair bit of effort protecting its economic base outside the walls...the mines and farms.

[Desertman]

"He was tall, and had blue eyes with little gold flecks in them, and he was missing one ear, and he had three scars on his neck, and he he had a missing pinky toe, and

Twinky indeed.

But I also think the code is letting us down here.  It's crazy that it's so hard to disguise a character.

If masks/facewraps/hoods are promoting excessive, unrealistic raiding, why not add NPC patrols of the major mining sites?  I would expect Allanak to spend a fair bit of effort protecting its economic base outside the walls...the mines and farms.

Masks, facewraps, and hoods arent promoting excessive raiding. The fact that they dont work realistically are promoting less raiding.

Allanak used to have a contract with the Byn to do this patrolling, if patrolling is done, I would rather see it done by PC's, which are available to do it.

[Tisiphone]

As it stands if I run in to raid you, and you havent done something stupid like exhaust yourself completely in a blowing sandstorm hacking sid, you can run three squares back into the city and tell everyone..."

> say (panting and windmilling ^me arms) --raider! Tried to smush me!
The aureate, obsidian-eyed templar looks at you.
The aureate, obsidian-eyed templar asks you, in sirihish,
  "A raider. What did this raider look like, citizen?"
> say (halting the arm-windmilling abruptly) Big. Lord Templar. Um. Ridin' a beetle.
> em inhales quickly, slurping a menacing gob of saliva back into ^me mouth.
> say (helpfully, standing up straighter) Beetle was big, too.

I do agree, Desertman...deposits are probably too close in.

Twisting back to a half-giant soldier, the aureate, obsidian-eyed templar says, in sirihish,
"Alright, I'm tired of this shit. You, you're on gate duty; tell the guards there to detain anyone
shorter than you who's leading a beetle."

Looking through the eastern gates at nothing in particular while loosening the leather strap holding
his jade-emblazoned bone axe, the aureate, obsidian-eyed templar says, in sirihish,
"Time to go hunting."

Yeah. We can dream.

[Malken]

I think the obsidian mining was a great idea when it was balanced out by the fact that the surrounding areas of Allanak was populated by insanely dangerous critters very close by the walls..

Problem is that they removed most of the danger surrounding the obsidian mines but they left the mines there..

The ratio of potential_danger to reward_In_sid is probably 1:5000

[brytta.leofa]

Yeah. We can dream.

A strange shadow stirs in the shade of the gigantic gate.
> contact flame eyed half elf scary death
> psi Oi there, Barby. There's a blue-robe leaving the west gates now. Ain't got but two guards.
> psi I got a buyer for his [item]...seven large.
> cease
Somewhere, a rogue Krathi sharpens his claws.