Tuluk Closing to PC play -- discussion thread

[Wolfsong]

Imagine a couple more Noble Houses opening, to further fray the political scene.

The only thing I have ever really wanted to do on ARM is to play in a janitorial crew in House Jal, routinely cleaning out the sewers of sewer horrors, zombies and giant rats, as well as hiring gemmers to assist them down there blowing out shit/corpse blockages.

"Sir, it appears the fountain in the nobles' quarters has clogged again."
"Oh, damn. You had better bring the mul with you this time."

Or:

"Sir, it appears Ober Fale has accidentally flushed his signet ring down the latrine again."
"Put on your thigh-high boots, boys. We're going shitwalking."


EDIT:

WHO DO I SEND THIS ROLE APPLICATION TO

[Lizzie]

I feel like if you gave it an honest chance you might find that Allanaki high society isn't really that alien to what you're comfortable with in Tuluk.

Allanak - Everything is out front and confrontational. You screw up and the law and nobility have no qualms about killing you right there no matter where you are. Or even better they make a spectator sport of it and throw you in the arena.

Tuluk - Law and nobility pride themselves in strategic attacks that they try very hard to keep out of public eyes.

How do you view these with any kind of similarities?

That is their perceived reputation, based partly on docs and partly on opinions posted on the GDB. The reality of the game is a whole different ball of wax. The docs refer to a perceived reputation, AND they have actual rules and regs. And the players of templars and noblity, and the game code itself, has to adhere to certain rules and regs.

And if you screw up badly enough to get caught, and the screw-up is significant enough, then yes they'll toss you in the arena. And why not? Gives everyone else something to do for an hour, and lets you, the significant, busted screw-up, a chance to fight a critter you might not otherwise have a chance to fight. And ICly, the citizens get to cheer, all Hunger-Games-like, for the death of the underdog while reinforcing their own oppression and futility.

Win-win for everyone.

[RogueGunslinger]

Hmmm...mixed feelings on this...mostly because I'm not sure how this will play out.

Lets take for example clans. There are certain clan such as the byn and merchant houses who most enjoyable premise is basically that it takes its employees back and forth between city states. Allowing them to mix their routines up with the events and people from both places, potentially allowing interesting things to happen in between.

I know this is such a small part of what you wrote, but I just wanted to say that was my very least favorite, and least sense-making aspect of GMH and Byn life. Traveling up to Tuluk in middle of a war as a southerner never made sense, and always felt OOCly driven to me. A northern Byn should be able to fill their ranks with all northerners, and the same should be said for the south and GMH's.

[HavokBlue]

Traveling to Tuluk as a hardcore pro-Allanak GMH agent was an absolute chore for me, and the process of making sure both garrisons were staffed enough to be functional when the northern leadership were away from the game or non-existent was super stressful.

[Nyr]

Hrm.

So...will other Allanaki clans be opening, after this?

Even prior to this (only about a month or so prior I think), Allanak opened Tor and the Atrium.  Additionally, we will be increasing MMH support (the eventual minor merchant house option for independents) in Allanak, which means more warehouses and perhaps some other deviations along that path.  Long term, this means you might see more clans open up as players create their own, but short-term, there are several options available.  Clan caps will be adjusted where they make sense.  Some things will depend on where player interest resides and whether that aligns with what we can help facilitate.  (So, uh, don't create a bunch of PCs and go out to the farthest corners of the Known and expect that we will come behind you to create options there, unless you want those options to be local indigenous wildlife that has a taste for your PC.)

[HavokBlue]

I feel so bad for the people who come into help-chat with questions about Tuluk

Like, explaining to a new player that the city they're in is closing shop 

[Barsook]

It is a golden opportunity to start a new tribe. 

Yes, but I think it would be nice if it was a c-elf tribe (allanak or rinth) but I think that would be frowned upon by the staff.

I'm thinking more of the homeless levies and other rogues and vagabonds. The new gypsies.

Sounds like a clan than a tribe, but sounds like a fun one.

[HavokBlue]

Imagine a couple more Noble Houses opening, to further fray the political scene.

The only thing I have ever really wanted to do on ARM is to play in a janitorial crew in House Jal, routinely cleaning out the sewers of sewer horrors, zombies and giant rats, as well as hiring gemmers to assist them down there blowing out shit/corpse blockages.

"Sir, it appears the fountain in the nobles' quarters has clogged again."
"Oh, damn. You had better bring the mul with you this time."

Or:

"Sir, it appears Ober Fale has accidentally flushed his signet ring down the latrine again."
"Put on your thigh-high boots, boys. We're going shitwalking."


EDIT:

WHO DO I SEND THIS ROLE APPLICATION TO

I don't know how I missed this post but I would play the shit out of this role.

Minor merchant house opportunity?

[The Lonely Hunter]

I never really thought that new Tuluk felt 'true' to how I envision Zalanthas. It seemed almost like a different game entirely. During the Allanaki occupation I -loved- playing in the north. There were raiders (Black Moon), rebels with a cool resistance element, and it just felt like a little war-torn village. There wasn't anything really sponsored up there to take away from the south but there was things going on - a lot of which was simply player driven.

I admit that I am a bit afraid that Allanak will now take a similar turn and start to get more...fluffy.

[Setting Sun]

What felt fluffy about the new Tuluk? What in particular would you like to see avoided in Allanak?

Without delving into the details of recent Tuluki events players might have heard of, the vast majority have been player initiatives.

[Semper]

Allanaki politics is not all "in your face" as it seems people make it out to be. There are still laws and order and maintaining that kind of image is just as important in Allanak as it is in Tuluk. With more political players/minions and more staff attention, I think we can really see just how nuanced Allanaki politics can be. It's a much easier system for people to pick up as well, so should get more pcs involved (in theory).

[absurdist]

Imagine a couple more Noble Houses opening, to further fray the political scene.

The only thing I have ever really wanted to do on ARM is to play in a janitorial crew in House Jal, routinely cleaning out the sewers of sewer horrors, zombies and giant rats, as well as hiring gemmers to assist them down there blowing out shit/corpse blockages.

"Sir, it appears the fountain in the nobles' quarters has clogged again."
"Oh, damn. You had better bring the mul with you this time."

Or:

"Sir, it appears Ober Fale has accidentally flushed his signet ring down the latrine again."
"Put on your thigh-high boots, boys. We're going shitwalking."


EDIT:

WHO DO I SEND THIS ROLE APPLICATION TO

10/10 would play

Move over Byn

[nauta]

What felt fluffy about the new Tuluk? What in particular would you like to see avoided in Allanak?

Without delving into the details of recent Tuluki events players might have heard of, the vast majority have been player initiatives.

On the other hand, I think a thread of things you liked about Tuluk that would be cool to see in Nak could be helpful.  A few things (among others) come to mind (take this with a grain of salt since I'm fairly new, so maybe these things are in Nak, and the fourth is obviously a separate thing atogether):

1. House Dasari!  (Duh.)  I suppose Borsail/Oash might get you this, but I always saw Borsail as Winrothol, and Oash deals with gicks not awesome science.  (Again, I could be wrong.)

2. House Kassigarh.  There were a lot of neat plots concerning the giving and lending of money.  Does Nak have something like that?

3. Bards (natch).  Of course, Fale gives you some of this, and I'm pretty excited to see how Fale responds to the influx of creative bardish Players.

4. The capacity to get away from all your friends and enemies for a while and experience a fresh crop of faces while still getting involved in city plots.  (I like desert elves too, but after playing crime or a noble or an aide, it can take a long time to clear the playing field/forget the plots, and my desert elves never live that long.  Alternative option: kill all the aides!)

[HavokBlue]

I think House Sath or Rennik would function as closer approximations of Dasari, but neither of them are playable or exact matches in the way the Winrothol/Borsail/Kasix are.

[Dresan]

I am not arguing for or against this but if luirs ever gets apartments, kurac will basically be the Templar/nobles/soldiers/merchants of the north all rolled up into one minus the sun-king and any associated abilities, force IC reverence  respect that comes with that and not to mention anyone can go hang out in luirs. That might not be a bad thing.

I do hope redstorm gets some more apartments, maybe even a few larger ones. And the area north of Redstorm gets looked at so that the weather is just a little more forgiving to newbies who didn't roll ranger. That weather code seems buggy there. I swear for me its either perfectly clear or you can't see a thing. A little more in between weather for playability reasons would be nice and to further promote player IC interactions (both negative and positive) between allanak and redstorm.

[Patuk]

The Red Storm weather is bad, but I don't think that's a bug. Have you ever been to the sea? The wind at sea is crazy. Combine that with the Zalanthan sea being silt, and I think the weather over there is fine.

[RogueGunslinger]

People from Storm should get direction sense.

[HavokBlue]

The Red Storm weather is bad, but I don't think that's a bug. Have you ever been to the sea? The wind at sea is crazy. Combine that with the Zalanthan sea being silt, and I think the weather over there is fine.

I dunno, every time I get lost in those storms, it's the bugs that get me.

badum-tish

[Dresan]

The Red Storm weather is bad, but I don't think that's a bug. Have you ever been to the sea? The wind at sea is crazy. Combine that with the Zalanthan sea being silt, and I think the weather over there is fine.

Oddly enough I think the area south of redstorm right on the silt sea is fine actually and is more forgiving. While it might not be a bug I always felt that area was like that to make redstorm a less desirable place to play or just to making travel there more annoying for people in allanak and redstorm. This is really a realism vs playability issue, I know it can be argued that it is realistic but I feel especially now that tuluk is gone people might be looking for alternatives on where to play, and it should be looked at once again.

[Semper]

The Red Storm weather is bad, but I don't think that's a bug. Have you ever been to the sea? The wind at sea is crazy. Combine that with the Zalanthan sea being silt, and I think the weather over there is fine.

Oddly enough I think the area south of redstorm right on the silt sea is fine actually and is more forgiving. While it might not be a bug I always felt that area was like that to make redstorm a less desirable place to play or just to making travel there more annoying for people in allanak and redstorm. This is really a realism vs playability issue, I know it can be argued that it is realistic but I feel especially now that tuluk is gone people might be looking for alternatives on where to play, and it should be looked at once again.

Having played a long-lived Red Storm pc, the weather code is fine. It's a matter of learning how to adapt and live in that environment. It's probably similar to an Alaskan living during the winter there vs a Floridan trying to live in the same situation. Is playability a concern for the Floridan? Sure, but that doesnt mean the weather needs to be fixed.

[Jeax]

It is a golden opportunity to start a new tribe. 

Yes, but I think it would be nice if it was a c-elf tribe (allanak or rinth) but I think that would be frowned upon by the staff.

I'm thinking more of the homeless levies and other rogues and vagabonds. The new gypsies.

Except they're not homeless. Tuluk is virtual, so technically it would still be operating the exact same.

[Semper]

If the situation in Tuluk becomes common knowledge, it would be nice if staff could make a general announcement on the GDB of the IG reason so that players know how to play subsequent characters with a Tuluki background.

[Wday]

Sorry if I am not following this well enough.
But isn't there going to BE something ICLY for Tuluki?
I thought for sure I saw where staff say things will icly make sense.
Just first it was told OOCLY? Maybe things in game just hasn't kicked off yet and we all should wait.

[Kankfly]

Staff did encourage current Tuluki PCs to send in requests so arrangements can be made, regarding what will happen to your PC when Tuluk closes for play. So I imagine that various PCs will be given various IC reasons to leave the city, or store.

With that said, I'm excited about the prospects.

[Patuk]

People from Storm should get direction sense.

I can see how this'd make sense ICly, but this would make Stormer backgrounds wayyyyyyy powerful on anything not a ranger.