Tuluk Closing to PC play -- discussion thread

[X-D]

Oh well, Lets see here...first off, how about MAGICK...something all Tulukis are trained from birth to fear and hate above pretty much anything else. But Oh wait, that training can be overturned at a moments notice...bleh.

What else, Oh, City of essentially the eternal enemy...Barbarians with no art , corpses in the street...Yup, sounds like a perfect choice for any Tuluki.

Land of the oppresser to those that might know any history, Bowing to nobles and Templars.

Assured persecution, lack of place to live...The Gaj....Reds.....Gates that lock you in at night. Yes, I know, to a nakki this is for your safety, but I rather doubt a Tuluki would see it that way.

So, IC reasons? I can think of none. And I am not entertaining OOC reasons.

[Malken]

Oh well, Lets see here...first off, how about MAGICK...something all Tulukis are trained from birth to fear and hate above pretty much anything else. But Oh wait, that training can be overturned at a moments notice...bleh.

What else, Oh, City of essentially the eternal enemy...Barbarians with no art , corpses in the street...Yup, sounds like a perfect choice for any Tuluki.

Land of the oppresser to those that might know any history, Bowing to nobles and Templars.

Assured persecution, lack of place to live...The Gaj....Reds.....Gates that lock you in at night. Yes, I know, to a nakki this is for your safety, but I rather doubt a Tuluki would see it that way.

So, IC reasons? I can think of none. And I am not entertaining OOC reasons.

You must not have studied human history much if you think that people will not force themselves to move from one shitty location to a shittier location if it means the difference between life or death. But again, we're almost falling back into IC stuff so I don't know what to tell you except, huh, trust the playerbase? (lulz)

[wizturbo]

I have absolutely nothing against Southerners being wary of sudden Northerners coming along and banging their ladies, what annoys me is that assumption that Staff are giving Northerners a free pass and are somewhat telling Southerners Higher ups to leave Northerners alone on an OOC rule of command of sort and now it's up to the valiant defenders of all that is good in Allanak to rebel against such Staff intervention and make sure that every single northerner PCs met on southern soil should be PKed in the name of Good Ol' Armageddon.

I think you're the only one making this assumption, even if it's an assumption about an assumption. Staff have said they're not doing this and I believe them.

As a player of a leader in the south, I can confirm, they have said absolutely zero about giving northerners a break to me.

[Marauder Moe]

I see a lot of speculating and suggestions about an on-going plot and what decisions actual PCs might take...


Maybe instead just chill the heck out and see what happens?

[X-D]

Huh...Human history...interesting.

So, We are playing on earth? Oh wait, I forgot, Tuluk is an all human earthling city...my bad.

Rather hard to even entertain this...since in all of human history there has never been a true, change into dragon, bury you under dirt, raze a city godking with his elementalist gemmed minions and even scarier Templars.

As to trusting the playerbase...for the most part I do. But my comment was not about the playerbase, it was about Tuluki citizens.

Now, I can see staff giving Tuluki citizens a good reason to leave Tuluk...I do not see any to go from there to nak. As just about anywhere, including a gortok den would be more enticing.

[wizturbo]

I see a lot of speculating and suggestions about an on-going plot and what decisions actual PCs might take...


Maybe instead just chill the heck out and see what happens?

^^^ 

There is no evil staff intervention or bad role play going on here.  There's huge IC events going on, and the world is responding to them ICly, nothing more than that.  There might be odd things happening that you normally wouldn't see, but that's what big changes sometimes cause.  If you're completely OOCly shocked by some of what you're seeing, take a moment to consider the possibility that you don't have all the facts about the situation before griping on the GDB.

[HavokBlue]

Bitter naysayers will be bitter naysayers. They are firm in their opinions and nothing anyone says will change that.

[Desertman]

I think it's fair to assume most Tuluki's would rather go to Luir's or Redstorm than Allanak for obvious reasons.

I think it's fair to assume that some Tuluki's actually have friends in Allanak they can fall back on there that might help them and this gives them a better reason to choose Nak.

I think it's fair to assume some Tuluki's simply make bad IC decisions and go to Allanak anyways because...they aren't very smart IC'ly.

I also think it's fair to assume some Tuluki's choose Allanak because OOC'ly they just want to interact with the bigger playerbase there and that is the only reason they are doing it.

I don't think there's really anything wrong with any of that. The last one is a bit iffy, but, I'm willing to look the other way (as a player, not in-game) considering the circumstances.

[Cind]

I'm actually honestly expecting Tulukis to be most common in Luir's and least in Allanak. I trust the playerbase, even though we play exceptions to the rule all the time.

[Malken]

Huh...Human history...interesting.

So, We are playing on earth? Oh wait, I forgot, Tuluk is an all human earthling city...my bad.

Rather hard to even entertain this...since in all of human history there has never been a true, change into dragon, bury you under dirt, raze a city godking with his elementalist gemmed minions and even scarier Templars.

I'm analyzing/listening to a lecture titled "The New Era in U.S. National Security" for a journal essay at the moment and trust me, a big ass dragon melting your face off is probably a better way to go than some of the creepy stuff I'm hearing about on what people are capable of today. Magick got nothing on us.

[Centurion]

I so would have loved to have seen the reactions to Allanak closing and leaving Tuluk open...

Its fair to assume a lot of things, but the fact remains Tuluk is being closed due to OOC reason, and this puts out a lot of players. Its not closed IG.

Part of the hope is to consolidate players to the one city.  If people wanna head to Allanak, let them, but of course they need to be wary. Just like refugees from Allanak need to be wary in Tuluk. It happened. Whats so unbelievable about it going the other way?

[Iiyola]

I would personally discourage players from crossing the line into ridiculousness when trying to cater to Tuluki PCs.

Wholesale slaughter isn't required to make them feel uncomfortable and afraid - they shouldn't be fleeing a despotic city just to land in the (even just outwardly) warm embrace of Allanak. IMO they should be fleeing one despotic city for another choice that's just barely less terrible than remaining where they were. Immediately rolling them into your society with open arms because of OOC considerations seems like falling a little too far over the line of believability, and I hope not to see (m)any examples of that in-game.

This. Very much.

[Is Friday]

I have absolutely nothing against Southerners being wary of sudden Northerners coming along and banging their ladies, what annoys me is that assumption that Staff are giving Northerners a free pass and are somewhat telling Southerners Higher ups to leave Northerners alone on an OOC rule of command of sort and now it's up to the valiant defenders of all that is good in Allanak to rebel against such Staff intervention and make sure that every single northerner PCs met on southern soil should be PKed in the name of Good Ol' Armageddon.

I think you're the only one making this assumption, even if it's an assumption about an assumption. Staff have said they're not doing this and I believe them.

As a player of a leader in the south, I can confirm, they have said absolutely zero about giving northerners a break to me.

Seconded.

[valeria]

I always prefer to operate under the rule of "give other players the benefit of the doubt, you rarely know the full story of what's going on."

The only way I think northerners moving into Allanak would have less of a hard time right this second than previously is that there will possibly be more than just one northern PC, so there will be more harassment to go around.  If you've ever played the single PC elf in a given location, you know what I'm talking about.

[Nyr]

Well, there are definitely a ton of off-topic posts here.  If you have something noteworthy to add, please do, but otherwise, we'll start moderating more aggressively.

[roobee]

If I don't leave Tuluk by the deadline, do I day or does my character get moved out automatically?

[Spartaxica]

I didn't even know all this was happening - I need to visit the boards more often - but it explains why my PC had to escape from Tuluk yesterday. I haven't been a player for long, but even I will be sorry to see the city close. I just hope I can find fresh clay pits further south, because I've been a clay forager all my life, as was my father, and his father before him....

[MeTekillot]

Poop shoveling is the clay pit of the south.

[Spartaxica]

I better check my skills

[Nyr]

If I don't leave Tuluk by the deadline, do I day or does my character get moved out automatically?

Okay, thanks!
I'm almost certain this has been answered but I can't seem to find it.....What happens if you don't leave Tuluk the day it is closed off? Does the character die/become inaccessible or do you spawn in and you need to ask someone to tp you out or something.

I can answer this one.  There will be code in place that will shunt you instantly to a nearby yet to be determined location.

[LauraMars]

RIDING IN THE TULUK CAR FOR THE LAST TIME

[Nyr]

If Tuluk is doing well (which Staff seems to tacitly agree with, by phrasing the question that way), it's difficult to see this decision as being made in any other light than "Staff are tired of staffing Tuluk and trying to 'fix' it." Posts that "it isn't you, it's us" and your own infamous quotation Nyr of Tuluk being something that's "Tolerated" by staff don't do a lot to dispel this notion.

I know I addressed this separately earlier but I wanted to go back to this specific quote, as the argument seemed familiar (I forget why I looked it up).  You are not the first person to take that quote out of context.

[BadSkeelz]

Am I?

The point made wasn't that we on staff despise Tuluk.  It was that Tuluk has a lot of interesting potential, we see that, we have a vision to see it through, and unfortunately, we have to slog through work to fix the things that do not work that well at all to get to that interesting potential.

The context for the quote was just how much work it took to get Tuluk to a level that was considered playable. With this closing, it looks like the slogging got too difficult for Staff or you decided the Game just wasn't getting a good return on the investment in Tuluk. Which is a fair assessment, but isn't really any different from saying Staff quit on Tuluk, however reluctant you were to do so.

Personally I'm of the opinion that this is all an elaborate revenge scheme by Rathustra to get me back for quitting on his Diaspora forum game. In which case: well played Rathustra.

[Delirium]

This thread started out pretty well but is now devolving into sour grapes.

I empathize with those who are losing characters, but let's see how things go before we make judgements.

(I'm also glad to hear that my concerns re: Tuluki players in Allanak were invalid.)

[Nyr]

Am I?

The point made wasn't that we on staff despise Tuluk.  It was that Tuluk has a lot of interesting potential, we see that, we have a vision to see it through, and unfortunately, we have to slog through work to fix the things that do not work that well at all to get to that interesting potential.

The context for the quote was just how much work it took to get Tuluk to a level that was considered playable. With this closing, it looks like the slogging got too difficult for Staff or you decided the Game just wasn't getting a good return on the investment in Tuluk.

Like I said, I know I addressed this separately earlier.  Your questions were answered more in-depth already, I don't know if you saw it or not, but it was a week ago in this thread.  The only thing I sought to address here was something slightly tangential:  that the "infamous quote" was taken out of context, and not for the first time.

As for the rest of your statement, not only have we reiterated that here, we've said as much in the announcement.

What are we doing?

In addition to several other changes mentioned in this post:  on April 27, we will be closing Tuluk for PC play and making it virtual. It will still exist in an IC fashion and may be open for specifically scheduled RPTs, but it will no longer be a place that PCs can point to or play in without staff intervention.  We will reassess this closure periodically to determine whether conditions are suitable for it to be opened again.

What is the ultimate reason for this decision?

Staff turnover and staff shortfalls have made the task of maintaining a staffing team with forward momentum difficult for more than short periods.  While we remain at full strength temporarily, we inevitably lose staffers (just as we lose players in sponsored roles) to real-life circumstances.  We believe that consolidating our staffing resources and altering the staffing structure will allow us to staff the game more efficiently and more productively, even with the shortfalls we experience.

Were there mitigating factors that led to the decision to pick Tuluk as the place to close?

We have been regularly investing in Tuluk with new documentation, new roles, new code, and the like.  This has caused a drain on staff and staffing resources.  The effort involved has been high.  The payoff has been mixed due to lessened player impact.  It would be fair to say that one other negative (on players and staff) would be vocal detractors of player and staff efforts in this area.

Yes, we did decide the game wasn't getting a good return on the investment of staff in Tuluk.