Tuluk Closing to PC play -- discussion thread

[Marauder Moe]

Personally, I mainly play in Allanak.  I am sad, though, because I wanted to have another go at Poet's Circle.  That clan has fascinated me since I started this game, and the only PC I had in it had to leave for... reasons.

Thinking back, opportunities to actually interact with strongly-affiliated northern PCs were VERY rare, especially in the years since the Copper Wars.  The two cities were quite isolated from each other.

I think, overall, this will be a good thing, or at least a good experiment.  I'm looking forward to a significant influx of players to other parts of the game.

[Down Under]

I feel like I just attended the Red Wedding.

Rathustra is Walder Frey.

Nyr is Roose Bolton.

While I am reeling in shock and feel like Staff just killed Robb Stark in front of me and I am Catelyn Stark growl screaming, I think ultimately this is one of the better decisions Staff has made. It is a difficult decision. It is a decision I would never be able to make myself.

But I think it will ultimately be good for the game.

Fuck.

[Molten Heart]

I had to check the timestamp several times, thinking this was an April Fool's joke that mistakenly got bumped.



More reactions to come, I guess.

I had the same reaction.

[whitt]

Can you talk about the consideration of the impact to:

Travel between Luirs and Allanak?  The Outpost now becomes more of an IC destination than a waypoint and it's IMHO not really destination worthy in its current form.  I'd hate to see even less traffic headed that way.  This could be a very good thing for Luirs or it could mean no one ever travels through the Red ever again.

Will there still be "enforcers" in the North?  So that the entire Northlands doesn't turn into open season for, say, Rogue Gicks and Outlaws who now no longer need to worry about PCs regularly being present in an area that was previously well populated with potential risk and that is chock full of cool places to hermit-out in?

[LauraMars]

I don't know how I feel about losing Tuluk as a playable entity but I am pretty sad about losing Tuluk as an entity to interact with.

I don't think that will be the case.  You can't play a gith, but they still affect people's stories.

[Aruven]

This makes me sad.

[Nyr]

Will there be an increase in clan hiring caps for other clans, like AoD, noble houses, specific merchant branches, etc?

This is a good question.  The short and obvious answer is yes, there will be tweaks to that.  The more complicated answer is that we will be reassessing what clans are open and available and what works in terms of interaction.  With an increase in nobility and other localized leadership roles would come a necessary increase in clan caps.  

[Marauder Moe]

To anyone being forced to store a PC, you have my condolences.  I've been there.  It sucks.

But ultimately I moved on to bigger and better things.  I'm sure you will too.

[frankjacoby]

Does this mean that you can no longer gather wood or is it just going to be that the city is no longer in place? 

Walls disappear and leave a description only room?

[Rathustra]

Will there still be "enforcers" in the North?  So that the entire Northlands doesn't turn into open season for, say, Rogue Gicks and Outlaws who now no longer need to worry about PCs regularly being present in an area that was previously well populated with potential risk and that is chock full of cool places to hermit-out in?

Tuluk isn't vanishing. If you cast in the North and don't respect the virtual world. I will load an army of HG soldiers to batter you. In a way this is a liberation. I don't need to rely on PCs anymore.

[BadSkeelz]

To anyone being forced to store a PC, you have my condolences.  I've been there.  It sucks.

But ultimately I moved on to bigger and better things.  I'm sure you will too.

At least I won't have to write a character report anymore.

Following up on whitt's post, will the northlands in general see a closing off? Will there be more rooms added to the south of the Known, so that Luir's is "farther" away? Or will the gates of Tuluk just be shut?

[Rathustra]

Rathustra is Walder Frey.

I think you are misrepresenting my role in this.

[Ritikki]

Wow. I had to check and make sure this wasn't a belated April Fools, too.

I actually really, really like this change and think it will benefit the game at large to have a consolidated player base. I loved Tuluk, and I hope you guys can or will put something in to ICly make sense why someone would not be able to enter the city state at all!

Perhaps Tuluk becoming self-sustaining behind high, impregnable closed walls?

[HavokBlue]

Can you talk about the consideration of the impact to:

Travel between Luirs and Allanak?  The Outpost now becomes more of an IC destination than a waypoint and it's IMHO not really destination worthy in its current form.  I'd hate to see even less traffic headed that way.  This could be a very good thing for Luirs or it could mean no one ever travels through the Red ever again.

Will there still be "enforcers" in the North?  So that the entire Northlands doesn't turn into open season for, say, Rogue Gicks and Outlaws who now no longer need to worry about PCs regularly being present in an area that was previously well populated with potential risk and that is chock full of cool places to hermit-out in?

Well, there's still a northlands clan you can play in by way of the ATV but I guess they go from policing Tuluki PCs to... The most remote clan in the game, in terms of actual distance and player density?

[Down Under]

Ultimately the very frustrating thing is that I felt the storyline with my PC was leading to an incredibly awesome destination.

Now i'll have to take the next offramp and wonder 'what if'. I suppose that mystery has always been lurking around the Mantis head corner, however, and isn't something I am unfamiliar with.

Some really stupid questions:

With no one 'guarding' the wood of the Grey Forest, what prevents loggers from spamming up to Tuluk, cutting down some trees, and selling them at exorbitant prices in Allanak and Red Storm Village?

Who will sing 'The Wind Over The Plains'? Will this become the equivalent to "Rains of Castemere"?

Do you feel that the RPT that occurred yesterday could have been better planned to include more PCs? A natural death in an RPT of that nature might have left people a little less shocked or butthurt about closing Tuluk to play, especially Leaders who have no option except to store.

[Rathustra]

To anyone being forced to store a PC, you have my condolences.  I've been there.  It sucks.

But ultimately I moved on to bigger and better things.  I'm sure you will too.

At least I won't have to write a character report anymore.

Following up on whitt's post, will the northlands in general see a closing off? Will there be more rooms added to the south of the Known, so that Luir's is "farther" away? Or will the gates of Tuluk just be shut?

The gates will be shut. vNPCs will still move in and out. It will still open for events. It will still be animated and virtually present in the wider gol Krathu,

[Down Under]

Rathustra is Walder Frey.

I think you are misrepresenting my role in this.

Tywin Lannister?

[Beethoven]

I'm kind of sad because I never got the chance to play a Tuluki and really learn what it was all about. I was always putting it off because I was intimidated by the idea of being a noob all over again. But in a way it's kind of good because Tuluk will always be the 'other' that I kind of enjoyed their being.

That means I'll probably never really be able to play a Tuluki ex-pat, though.

[spicemustflow]

What will this mean for the entire northern section of the map? What will be the reason for people to even go there now? I hope you'll make the south/middle section extremely dangerous/interesting  to make up for the world shrinkage


(bring back the red fangs, you know you need them >.>)

[Adhira]

Will there be an increase in clan hiring caps for other clans, like AoD, noble houses, specific merchant branches, etc?

This is a good question.  The short and obvious answer is yes, there will be tweaks to that.  The more complicated answer is that we will be reassessing what clans are open and available and what works in terms of interaction.  With an increase in nobility and other localized leadership roles would come a necessary increase in clan caps.  

To add to this - when we wrote that we want to put more time and effort into some other areas of the game this is absolutely true. We don't quite have this all figured out yet, and a lot of this is going to develop over time and we're going to be playing it by ear. But we do hope to see more variety in the role types and in the scope of what some of the other clans, like the merchant houses, have on offer. This isn't just about increasing hiring caps, and opening up those clans, but really being able to look at what is happening within that clan group, within that areas a whole and making it work better. Through resources, stories, holdings and so on. It won't be immediate, but we're hopeful that there will be some results here.

[nauta]

Personally, I mainly play in Allanak.  I am sad, though, because I wanted to have another go at Poet's Circle.  That clan has fascinated me since I started this game, and the only PC I had in it had to leave for... reasons.

I too hope that the bardic culture from Tuluk somehow creeps into Nak (or the existing culture gets amplified and formalized).  I think I'd miss that the most, next to ginka pie.

This also makes yesterday's RPT bittersweet.  Glad I saw Tuluk while I could, it was a fun ride.

[Ouroboros]

Kudos to staff as a whole for being impartial enough to judge the situation aptly and make this difficult decision. As a few others have said, I think it'll benefit the game both in the near and long term.

[Adhira]

I don't know how I feel about losing Tuluk as a playable entity but I am pretty sad about losing Tuluk as an entity to interact with.

I don't think that will be the case.  You can't play a gith, but they still affect people's stories.

+1 This is the intention. Tuluk will still exist.

[Eyeball]

*checks date* Not April 1st?  

Let's give it a try. I hope the dedicated Tuluki players will forgive and allow Allanak a chance.

[Rathustra]

Ultimately the very frustrating thing is that I felt the storyline with my PC was leading to an incredibly awesome destination.

Now i'll have to take the next offramp and wonder 'what if'. I suppose that mystery has always been lurking around the Mantis head corner, however, and isn't something I am unfamiliar with.

Some really stupid questions:

With no one 'guarding' the wood of the Grey Forest, what prevents loggers from spamming up to Tuluk, cutting down some trees, and selling them at exorbitant prices in Allanak and Red Storm Village?

Who will sing 'The Wind Over The Plains'? Will this become the equivalent to "Rains of Castemere"?

Do you feel that the RPT that occurred yesterday could have been better planned to include more PCs? A natural death in an RPT of that nature might have left people a little less shocked or butthurt about closing Tuluk to play, especially Leaders who have no option except to store.

Tuluk and the ATV will be guarding the North's natural resources.

The Tuluk ex-pats in the wider world will sing it.

The RPT yesterday was not designed to kill people. I will never run an RPT with the express intention of killing PCs.