Is armageddon safe and cozy?

[Kebron]

So last time I played on a regular basis (I've been back for a couple months now I've got free time again)
was several years ago.
Back then it seemed like death was not only likely, but nearly iminent due to active organizations such as:
Red Fang
Black moon
Borsail slavers
Kuraci
Wild defilers and magickers
Mullish raiders
The Guild
Mantis
Gith
Halflings

It seemed for a time to be almost a game of how to survive more than anything else, if you stayed in the city states you risked incurring the wrath of a templar or being noticed by a criminal org. If you went into the wild you were almost certainly going to run into either slavers, magickers, mantiss, gith, halflings, organized raiders, or mul outlaws. The road between the city states were litteraly littered with corpses, there was a while there I had a ranger that pretty much made a fortune simply off traveling between the city states and looting corpses/collecting mounts.

Since I returned it looks like all the 'nasty' organizations are either dead, cut back considerably, or outright closed down

Is this a friendlier more cuddly armageddon?

[maxid]

Plots are now 'player driven' and most players don't have the patience, time, or balls to get big killer plots going, especially when starting or making a group that gets hyper aggressive (for example, the Red Fangs) has gotten entire groups wiped in the past.

To me, it seems like violence is now more individual, and less prevalent.  Sure a rogue magicker may kill your 2 day Ranger, or a sorcerer may dick around and get seen.. but they're much rarer now and there are no big arching plots where tons of people die, and the bedrock of the game world is shaken.  It just doesn't happen anymore, as per the new staff policy of noninterference.  There are going to be naysayers, and the usual crowd of 'EVERYTHING IS FINE!!!!!!' or 'FIND OUT IC!!!!!' (which is a ridiculous statement in a 'post your opinion' thread but it'll happen I can practically guarantee it) but that doesn't make their statements valid in any way, shape, or form.

That's not to say there is no danger or violence, but it is drastically reduced from how it used to be.  I remember when RL year+ characters were staggeringly rare.  Now I could name at least 4 or 5 off the top of my head.

[Malifaxis]

Noted.

[AmandaGreathouse]

Not so much. With some of them, they were closed due to the IC world reacting to PC actions. Other things are very much still there. Others were written out in the HRPT/events around it. Others are less likely due to PC slave rules (not as likely to be picked up as a slave, because there are no pc slave roles and it'll get you instastored now).

It's not more cuddly, and it's definitely as dangerous, in its own way. It may just be a different set of dangers now. Find out IC.

[maxid]

Noted.

Bring it, I enjoy your PCs.

[SpyGuy]

Not really.  I'm sure it comes and it goes but there's plenty of player conflict about.  And the usual NPC threats (kryl and gith being the biggies now it seems).  I'd also say that several of the orgs/roles you listed are still in game and can still be deadly depending on who's running them.

I just started back up a few months ago myself.  In the first clan I joined there was a ton of clan vs clan conflict going on at the time, at least one big battle with nasty stuff that was player initiated and then staff animated (it was really cool) and plenty of other drama going on that I just got a peak at.

[RogueGunslinger]

No. Everything is fine. Find out IC.

[Gunnerblaster]

Back then it seemed like death was not only likely, but nearly iminent due to active organizations such as:
Red Fang
Black moon
Borsail slavers
Kuraci
Wild A few defilers and magickers
Mullish raiders
The Guild
Mantis
NPC Gith
Halflings
Kryl
Carru

From when I last played, the newly edited list there will show you the 'serious' threats to the Known, as we know it.

Not trying to deter you from getting back into the game - just don't expect to drop into the middle of things with gith death squads patrolling right outside the gates, or a horde of Mantis being controlled by Sorcerers.

If anything, get in there and shake it up. I've never been one to say no to some inner-game conflict.

[Malken]

Back then it seemed like death was not only likely, but nearly iminent due to active organizations such as:
Red Fang
Black moon
Borsail slavers
Kuraci
Wild defilers and magickers
Mullish raiders
The Guild
Mantis
Gith
Halflings
Kryl
Carru
Crazy Armageddon wimmen

[maxid]

Gunner and Malken hit the nail on the head.

[ShaLeah]

Crazy Armageddon wimmen

I resent that.

[AreteX]

Perhaps because I am no veteran player... but I still feel like Armageddon is incredibly dangerous...

[Synthesis]

Carru have always been the reapers of newbie dreams.

[spicemustflow]

Noted.

Bring it, I enjoy your PCs.

2x

[Patuk]

An elf, a northerner, a gemmed, a breed, a rinth rat or two, half the southern Byn and a number of local tough guys enter the Gaj.

All leave without so much as a dirty look.

^ happens to various degrees often enough that I wonder where exactly things did get safe and cozy.

[SpyGuy]

An elf, a northerner, a gemmed, a breed, a rinth rat or two, half the southern Byn and a number of local tough guys enter the Gaj.

All leave without so much as a dirty look.

^ happens to various degrees often enough that I wonder where exactly things did get safe and cozy.

The thing is, this was happening back in 2006 when I took a break from the game.  Most people don't like playing racist assholes.  And not all PCs will be vocal or visible in their hatred.  Don't be most people.  Or just be that 'rinthi elf that's so despicable people will have to react.

[Kebron]

It really used to be where you prety much hid out til you had SOME training under your belt (back then training also seemed easier too) And once you were capable of killing things like carru by yourself THEN you dared to stop wearing shitty gear (previously having worn shitty gear so noone would bother you just out of sheer "Bleh he's not worth it" ness) and start buying useful stuff and going out...  I'm just saying, here was a regular trip to tuluk from nak for me-

Go a few leagues out of nak huge scrab or spider tries to eat you.
Little further down the road, anywhere from 1-6 hidden gith, some of which would be scattered out and using throwing impliments.
Once you pass that point is where you start looking for borsail slavers/magickers/anything else. And usually if you hung out for more than 5 minutes you would find one of the above.
Stopping in tuluk for 5 minutes tops (because those crazy spice addled killers would do you over just as bad as the borsails would)
You then did your best to speed travel through the north road which wasn't the safe place it is now, but was really just a choke point where all the PC raiders would litteraly camp out in HUGE hoardes waiting on silly newbies to come by :/
Then you were looking at having to avoid gypsies red fangs wild elves magickers black moon and any other asshole that just felt like robbing you on the way to tuluk... IF you made it past that, you still had to pass the gortoks and the carru, and sometimes a few halflings that might wander out onto the road...

So all in all it was a mad dash from one thing that wanted to kill you to another, and you could actually make a fortune being a ranger just learning how to go around all that stuff and making people pay you to carry them back and fourth (there are ways to do this , Find out IC)

It just boggles my mind that only every NOW AND THEN things try to kill me... before it was like... every 5 seconds... I actualy went and had a smoke break while OUTSIDE the city walls yesterday... I would have never done that before. Sneak and hide be damned.

[Jdr]

The most dangerous threat in the Known: pits.

[Nyr]

Some things have definitely changed in the past 8-10 years, but it looks to me like confirmation bias.  Surely that wasn't what happened every trip or even on the majority of your trips.

In addition, you had a larger sample size of playing time then compared to now.  If you've only shown back up in the past few months, you're basing your observations on a relatively short period of playing time.  You've also lost PCs since returning due to actual NPCs in the game, no?  I suppose I'd call you an outlier if you returned and kept the same PC alive since coming back, but it doesn't seem like I would have to do that. 

[Fredd]

I think it's still dangerous. Yes a few Clans are gon that once threatened the known, but there are other things.

About the only thing that hit me a year ago as somewhat jarring was when i was playing a raider.

Me and my buddy were raiding the north road, north of Luirs, using it as a choke point. I remember a Byn sergeant actively hunting us both down for a bounty, which didn't make alot of sense to me. Since Me and my Buddy were causing the Byn to get more escort contracts, because people knew me and my buddy were out there, waiting for them.

But beyond that. I see Battles between clans, plitical backstabbing, litteral backstabbing, bribing the powers that be, and everything else that makes this game what I love.

[Riya OniSenshi]

Me and my buddy were raiding the north road, north of Luirs, using it as a choke point. I remember a Byn sergeant actively hunting us both down for a bounty, which didn't make alot of sense to me. Since Me and my Buddy were causing the Byn to get more escort contracts, because people knew me and my buddy were out there, waiting for them.

Sounds like you don't know the whole story there... Likely not a good idea to make conjecture about other players like that.

[Gunnerblaster]

Raiders are, from what I've picked up, supposed to be a 'common' occurrence for the vNPC populace. It just kind've hits hard when you finally hear of a bit of raider activity and then every do good'er and their mother wants to go out raider hunting, all of a sudden.

At times, I think people can be a bit too justice-bound for this game.

The mentality that most of my characters have had is; "if it doesn't directly affect me; it's not my problem".

[Fredd]

Me and my buddy were raiding the north road, north of Luirs, using it as a choke point. I remember a Byn sergeant actively hunting us both down for a bounty, which didn't make alot of sense to me. Since Me and my Buddy were causing the Byn to get more escort contracts, because people knew me and my buddy were out there, waiting for them.

Sounds like you don't know the whole story there... Likely not a good idea to make conjecture about other players like that.

I'm not. I was stating it didn't make sense to me. But all in all, it was a greatly rewardingly fun plot, all around. As I understand.

[maxid]

Raiders are, from what I've picked up, supposed to be a 'common' occurrence for the vNPC populace. It just kind've hits hard when you finally hear of a bit of raider activity and then every do good'er and their mother wants to go out raider hunting, all of a sudden.

At times, I think people can be a bit too justice-bound for this game.

The mentality that most of my characters have had is; "if it doesn't directly affect me; it's not my problem".

This is another reason that the danger of Armageddon has, in my opinion, lessened over time.  People want to be the HERO!  Despite that being a bad idea most of the time.

[Morrolan]

People want to be the HERO!  Despite that being a bad idea most of the time.

People do. Protagonist, antagonist, they just want to show up in the credits. And the ones who do not, we remember less. Is that confirmation bias, or "the squeaky wheel gets the grease"?

• You are not the Chosen One.
• You are not the Chosen One.
• You are not the Chosen One.

P.S. Arm is not safe and cozy.  The older you get, the better you get at this game. I swear, nearly the last thing most characters would think, if we were being honest, is some version of "ooooOOooo!  Shiny!" followed quickly by "Umm......".  Many adults are partially immune to that reaction.