IG History

[jcljules]

How much of the game's history has been created by players playing in game? Have the merchant houses always been around? Were there really characters named Kurac and Kadius, or was that just written up by the staff?

[Tisiphone]

Very much more than most people think has been created by the players.

[mansa]

AFAIK ->

History started here:

     628
    The armies of the city-states of Allanak and Tuluk clash at Wyntek Harzen, east of the Red Desert. The battle is short and inconclusive. During the war, a black fortress is discovered in the sands. It is believed to be the home of Luir Dragonsthrall, last living servant of the Dragon.

http://www.armageddon.org/cgi-bin/help_index/timeline.cgi

[jcljules]

Oh wow! So the merchant houses weren't even thought up by the IMMs then?

Funny to think that some of our players might be over a thousand years old....

[Malken]

Oh wow! So the merchant houses weren't even thought up by the IMMs then?

Funny to think that some of our players might be over a thousand years old....

Kadius, Salarr and Kuraci were not PC formed.

[mansa]

Oh wow! So the merchant houses weren't even thought up by the IMMs then?

Funny to think that some of our players might be over a thousand years old....

Kadius, Salarr and Kuraci were not PC formed.

Are you sure about that?

[Rahnevyn]

There have been player-formed merchant houses in the past. The most recent example is House Terash. Delann and Kohmar, I believe, were also player formed.

Even the "Big Four" (Don't forget Nenyuk) have undergone drastic changes in terms of political outlook, objectives, and resources as time as gone by.

[jcljules]

I really wish Nenyuk was open--its my favorite.

[Rahnevyn]

I really wish Nenyuk was open--its my favorite.

It is, on a very limited basis: http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/topic,30834.0.html

(Vanth has already filled the role, I'm just posting the link for your reference.)

[Malken]

Oh wow! So the merchant houses weren't even thought up by the IMMs then?

Funny to think that some of our players might be over a thousand years old....

Kadius, Salarr and Kuraci were not PC formed.

Are you sure about that?

My first character was a human working for an elf who was a merchant of Kadius, he had his own wagon and they had their own little warehouse in Tuluk, that was almost 13+ years ago..

Now if you tell me that it was started by a player, then you can't really compare it to what it would be like to do so today, since back then, everyone was buddy with the Imms and you had tops 10 players
online at peak..

[jcljules]

Do you ancient players with +1000 karma still play mundane characters ever? Or just defilers, nobles and house family members? 

[Is Friday]

Do you ancient players with +1000 karma still play mundane characters ever? Or just defilers, nobles and house family members? 

So far as I know, people vary depending on playing style no matter how long they've played. It's skewed across the board.

[Malken]

Do you ancient players with +1000 karma still play mundane characters ever? Or just defilers, nobles and house family members? 

I still mostly just play warriors and rangers. Most of them are all human.

[jcljules]

Thats what so great about this game--you have no idea who the other characters are, what the players look like, or even (hopefully) who they are on the forums and how long they've been playing.

[buzz]

How much of the game's history has been created by players playing in game?

Boy, that's a great question, and one which I wished came up more often on this board.  I hope to answer it briefly to my satisfaction, and yours, and if possible spark some ongoing discussion about this topic.

I believe that almost all history in the game should be player-generated.  After all, we're the ones that are writing the story every hour of every day, when we log in and contribute our time and imagination to the world.  It's a rare and special feeling to look back on something in a document, or even something actually "physically" in the game and say to yourself, I did that, and it's still here.  I think influential PCs played by imaginative players should be able to influence the game for posterity, from something as small as being able to say that you were the first one who started a simple tradition among your clan, all the way up to having streets named after you or statues built of you.

I hope that Arm 2 is being painted in broad enough strokes by the builders that there are enough holes to fill in with player imagination, rather than having every single little detail spelled out.  Over-detailing makes for a stifling world, where players don't feel like they're able to contribute.  Armageddon (the original) is the result of 15+ years of a thousand minds bent singly to the purpose of fleshing out this desert world.  You can't come close to that in a couple years of a few dozen people building, even though I'm sure we've got our best and brightest working on it.  Give us the canvas, some broad brushstrokes and a color palette; let us paint the picture together over time.

[jstorrie]

I disagree. I don't think the entirety of history should be PC-determined; that sort of setup would lead me to feel, as I play, that PCs in-game were the only other characters of consequence. That sort of thing leads to me feeling like I'm playing in a playground with thirty other people I know, not playing in an entire new world.

Let player-characters have whatever level of historical influence their actions entitle them to, but let the world keep turning, too. Everyone seems to be rattling on about player-driven content on the GDB lately, but I don't think many of you would actually enjoy the consequences of a purely PC-led world. Events need to also come from 'the environment' - the setting itself and its dramatis personae.

[jcljules]

Well maybe not -completely- PC-Led; of course there is quite a job for the IMMs to to do. But I'm fine with a lot of it being PC-Generated, and I would like to see more of it.

[Jenred]

I've never been satisfied with player created/driven content, in MOST cases. Most of the most influential "engaging" pcs that I've met have been in it for nothing more then to advance their own character with perks from the staff.

[NoteworthyFellow]

I disagree. I don't think the entirety of history should be PC-determined; that sort of setup would lead me to feel, as I play, that PCs in-game were the only other characters of consequence. That sort of thing leads to me feeling like I'm playing in a playground with thirty other people I know, not playing in an entire new world.

Let player-characters have whatever level of historical influence their actions entitle them to, but let the world keep turning, too. Everyone seems to be rattling on about player-driven content on the GDB lately, but I don't think many of you would actually enjoy the consequences of a purely PC-led world. Events need to also come from 'the environment' - the setting itself and its dramatis personae.

I agree wholeheartedly.  When I first log into 2.Arm, I want to feel like it's a complete, detailed world already, just like 1.Arm feels when I log in.  I want the culture of each settlement to already be established.  Players can and should be able to change those sorts of things, over time, but I want to feel like there's a good structure already there when I log in.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who's okay with the level of attainable PC authority as it is now.  I mean, I won't complain if there's more, but I don't want the entire first couple years of the game to be fraught with PCs trying to independently decide what the culture of their favorite settlement should be, y'know?  Granted, that's just one example.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Do you ancient players with +1000 karma still play mundane characters ever? Or just defilers, nobles and house family members? 

I still mostly just play warriors and rangers. Most of them are all human.

I still mostly just play warriors and rangers. Most of them are all non-human.

[mansa]

i play human pickpocket or burglars.

[musashi]

Though I haven't been around for very long, I do have karma ... and I've also yet to feel the urge to use it.

[jcljules]

Yeah, I'm not really interested in playing elementalists for whatever reason, or non-humans. I'd only -really- want to play a nilazi or a sorcerer, and that takes a -lot- of karma, so will probably take some time, if I ever get there.

[Rhyden]

No matter how many karma required characters I've played, the mundanes are always the most fun.

[musashi]

Yeah, I'm not really interested in playing elementalists for whatever reason, or non-humans. I'd only -really- want to play a nilazi or a sorcerer, and that takes a -lot- of karma, so will probably take some time, if I ever get there.

I feel the same way ... it's psi, defiler ... or bust for me!