New Additions to the Character Generation process!

[Nathvaan]

As of this morning, we have implemented a new section of the character generation process described below.  In short this means you will be able to indicate where your character is from and choose a different starting location.  Tuluki tattoo locations are now part of the character generation process instead of a bolt on after you point to Tuluk.

There are also a few other changes, including the ability for human tribal clans (Arabet and Al'Seik) to be able to point at the Hall of Kings, no longer needing very special staff attention to get setup.

Please feel free to use this thread to discuss and let me know of any issues that anyone finds.  Enjoy!

UPDATE TO ADD:
You can now choose 'A nomadic location' as your origin location.  This means you aren't from any city and you could expect accents to reflect that case.

Origin
You will now be asked to provide an origin for your character.  The origin of your character is where they were born or where they grew up.  This is not necessarily where you actually start playing the character; that detail will be chosen after you enter the game for the first time.  The location your character is from will determine your accent.  In some cases, this will determine your citizenship.  Be aware that there may be in-character consequences for being from one location and starting in another, as relations between different locations in game change from time to time.  (For example, Tuluki characters may not be very welcome in Allanak and vice versa.)  Should you choose a character from Tuluk, you must also select where to put your citizenship tattoo in order to proceed to the next step.

For your first character, we highly recommend that you choose to play a character from Tuluk in Tuluk, or a character from Allanak in Allanak.  You are much more likely to encounter other players in these locations.
http://www.armageddon.org/intro/chargen.php

[Desertman]

I like it.

Thanks for the addition.

[ShaLeah]

I like it.

Thanks for the addition.

Me too!

[Barzalene]

Brilliant!

[Lizzie]

I love the idea for people who have at least a passing understanding of the game world. For sparkly brand new players though, I think it might be more prudent to not have this option until after their first character.

[Nyr]

I love the idea for people who have at least a passing understanding of the game world. For sparkly brand new players though, I think it might be more prudent to not have this option until after their first character.

Can you elaborate (both on why you feel this is the case and on what you feel the alternative should be for first-time characters)?

[Cutthroat]

This has been an idea bouncing around on the GDB for a while - I'm glad to see it was put in.

I love the idea for people who have at least a passing understanding of the game world. For sparkly brand new players though, I think it might be more prudent to not have this option until after their first character.

I think as long as that recommendation about picking a Tuluki in Tuluk or an Allanaki in Allanak shows up in the character generation process then it should be fine. I'm not so much more worried about new players ignoring that recommendation as I am about other hang-ups newbies might encounter in the old system, like getting the six-pronged star stamped on their left ankle or forgetting to get one entirely, that could make things more difficult for them in Tuluk. (There isn't really an equivalent to this problem in Allanak.)

What I am curious about is if it is possible to pick a tribal origin, or if players should still be picking the Nomad subguild for that.

Thanks for putting this in!

[Nyr]

As an example, here's what you'd get if you were picking an Allanaki:

The origin of your character is where they were born or where they grew up. This
is not necessarily where you actually start playing the character, that will be
chosen after you enter the game for the first time.  The location your character
is from will determine their accent and in some cases it will determine citizenship.

Pick your character's origin.
a) Allanak.
b) Tuluk.
c) Luir's Outpost.
d) Red Storm Village.
e) The Labyrinth.
f) A nomadic location.

What is your character's origin location?
a
Origin set to Allanak.

On the lines below you must enter your character's background. This
will provide the staff with insight into your character's motivations
and actions.  If your background is too long to fit into the standard
length, please provide a thumbnail version and add a new one once the
character is approved.

Here's what you'd get if you wanted to roll up a Tuluki:

The origin of your character is where they were born or where they grew up. This
is not necessarily where you actually start playing the character, that will be
chosen after you enter the game for the first time.  The location your character
is from will determine their accent and in some cases it will determine citizenship.

Pick your character's origin.
a) Allanak.
b) Tuluk.
c) Luir's Outpost.
d) Red Storm Village.
e) The Labyrinth.
f) A nomadic location.

What is your character's origin location?
b
Origin set to Tuluk.

As a character from Tuluk, you would have been marked with your Tuluki
tattoos at a young age.  Follow the link below to see more detail on the
Tuluki caste tattoos.

http://www.armageddon.org/help/view/Tuluki%20Caste%20Tattoos

You can get your Gol Krathu citizen tattoo on your choice of:
a) Your neck.
b) Your throat.
c) Your face.
d) Your right shoulder.
e) Your left shoulder.

Where is your Gol Krathu tattoo?
a

On the lines below you must enter your character's background. This
will provide the staff with insight into your character's motivations
and actions.  If your background is too long to fit into the standard
length, please provide a thumbnail version and add a new one once the
character is approved.

Possibilities now available that were more difficult for players to arrange on their own:

PC is from Allanak and starts in Tuluk.  (has southern accent, no tattoos, and won't get tattoos; instant conflict if desired)
PC is from Tuluk and starts in Allanak.  (has northern accent, tattoos; instant conflict if desired)
PC has tribal origin and starts in a non-tribal location if desired (has tribal accent, bendune; able to be a tribal without using nomad subguild if that is not appropriate to the concept)

[Nyr]

What I am curious about is if it is possible to pick a tribal origin, or if players should still be picking the Nomad subguild for that.

Yeah, we were so stoked about the rest of what this change meant that we forgot to make it a point to mention that...Nathvaan is updating that post now.

[RogueGunslinger]

Oh hell yes.

[X-D]

Woohoo.....too bad this did not go in ages ago...Ah well, fits with my next PC concept.

[Zoltan]

Awesome addition, particularly the tribal part.

[Lizzie]

I love the idea for people who have at least a passing understanding of the game world. For sparkly brand new players though, I think it might be more prudent to not have this option until after their first character.

Can you elaborate (both on why you feel this is the case and on what you feel the alternative should be for first-time characters)?

I feel that the learning curve is already steep enough, when you limit new players to "being from their starting location." I feel that eliminating that limit, steepens the learning curve further and creates OOC stress on both the new player, and on the more seasoned players who now have to work even harder to help the new player understand that yes, we're really serious about the Tuluk ink on your face having a significant impact on why our characters are treating your character like shit. Or why your NOT having an ink showing that you're a Tuluk citizen is having a significant impact on why our characters are excluding you from our fun, and not letting you get past points A, B, and C in Tuluk even though you live here (unless that's already been codedly addressed?).

I feel the alternative should simply not provide the option to pick your location of origin. Let new players be "from" the place they gen in. Tulukis born in Tuluk and genning in Tuluk with the appropriate inks, Nakkis born and genned in Nak, etc. etc. Same as it was for all of us before the change.

A lot of new players I've noticed, will jump into the game, some of them with preconceived expectations based on their experiences in other games, or based on information given to them by (probably Ex-) players. As such, they show up already rping in a world that isn't really what they thought it was, or what they were told it is. It just makes it that much harder for them to adapt to the learning curve, and it makes it that much harder for the rest of us to help that new player adapt.

That's my only objection, but I feel it's an important one.

Edited to add further suggestion: another alternate "new player" idea - instead of letting them pick a location of origin after their first character - make it so that after they've had a minimum of 2 hours played total - no matter how many characters that takes - they can then pick a place of origin on their next character. So if they have a character and only play it 5 minutes - they still can't pick a location of origin on their next character. But if they have three characters - one with only 5 minutes on it, one with an hour, and the very next one with an hour - well that's over 2 hours total, and their NEXT character can have a location of origin that's different from their gen location.

[Lizzie]

Help file on "accent" needs to be changed, currently says you can't start out with an accent from a place you didn't gen in, without special apping the role.

[Nyr]

I see your point.  Unfortunately it would require more coding to do this; we have only now gotten to the point where we have the feature available, period.  If we are going to make assumptions for new players and their first character and assume that they just can't handle figuring out that you can be from somewhere and start somewhere else with IC effects on that, we have other assumptions we'd want to review making at the same time based on data (restriction of first PC to starting in Allanak or Tuluk, possibility of generic pre-generated PCs, etc).

Help file on "accent" needs to be changed, currently says you can't start out with an accent from a place you didn't gen in, without special apping the role.

Actually looks to be correct as you still cannot choose to be from Allanak, start in Tuluk, and start with a northern accent.  However, it might need to be reworded regardless.

[KankWhisperer]

Nice. It's sort of been a tiny want of mine. Current hate offsets free trip.

[LauraMars]

I have always wanted exactly this.

Always.

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i know you did it just for me

[titansfan]

I love this change and have been wanting it for years. Awesome. Thanks.

[solera]

I hope there are gloves in the starter shops. 

[Malken]

I hope there are gloves in the starter shops. 

The game would be a lot funnier if Tuluki tattoos were required to be placed on your buttcheek.

Also, great change, thanks!

[Evilone]

Kudos for the hard work.

[FantasyWriter]

I have wanted something like this for years!
My favorite addition to the game in a VERY long time.

[Narf]

I have wanted something like this for years!
My favorite addition to the game in a VERY long time.

It's good, yes, but I don't think they're ever going to beat Quit OOC

[RogueGunslinger]

Automated Extended subguilds/skill bumps into character generation will be the greatest code implementation ever.

[ShaLeah]

Automated Extended subguilds/skill bumps into character generation will be the greatest code implementation ever.

+1