Content and creation sidebar/replies.

[Shabago]

Copy/paste from other thread, and will update if/as more are put forward. Replies to follow:

- City Elf Tribe
- More Noble Houses open.
- Pclan reworking (in a round about way)
- Some sort of outfit/clothing QoL (code, but it was read/noted)
- Full class mages
- GMH hunting branches
- LARP structure
- Remove crimecode
- Code markers for criminals
- Slave roles
- New/more plants & materials to make cloth
- More grunt jobs.
- Power from death - sorc/mage
- More explorer content/animal dens. + Dye making ability. + Magicker and anti-magicker tools, charms, potions.
- Tuluk, in part/whole.
- Silt sea expansion/addition.
- Clan compounds/apartments overhaul.
- Underground content/tunnels/networks
- "Outside the Known" force.
- More smokes/smokables.
- Post char-gen sub guilds.
- NPC shop buyers buying 'all' per PC.
- Dungeon crawls/rotation.
- Phouse/non-pickable apartments
- "notes" which could be added by staff and by players.
- Farming - Flax/wheat, etc.
- Player Tats.
- Temporary roles/Red shirts/slaves through gith.
- New Race
- Money sinks.
- New Elf gear.
- Bury inside the city.
- Mount skills/husbandry
- Wilderness Quit
- Multi-rent apartments.
- Inner city scribble
- GMH Flophouses
- Carry command
- Not clause
- Disguises
- House scripts/additions
- Strangle/Tie
- Wear locations on mounts for the display of scars/markings
- A scar/dismemberment room you can access with your mount, to add various things to location.
- Places to sell stolen mounts, not just butchering them.
- Affecting mounts with spiced foods.
- Remove free clan food
- Subguilds/Nilaz/updates.
- Helpfiles/Wagon combat
- Outside the known rebuttal on force/army
- Flophouse rebuttal/General GMH
- Potted plants
- Forage patches/random locales.
- Return to staff driven plots
- Removal of the glass ceiling
- Scribble update
- Removing drop rooms


Up to date, I believe.

[Shabago]

To preface before diving in, as a personal view, I don't much believe in hard no's. Over the course of Armageddon's history, we can see evidence that things that didn't fit or couldn't be done have come to pass. Thus, if a put forward idea from the list is given a 'No', I'll attempt to give some reasoning/explanation behind said no, for the current state of the game rather than slamming a door on said concept.

City Elf Tribe

As some of you are aware from the discord chat a few days ago, this is something staff have discussed and/or undertaken a few times with mixed results. Whether this has been inner-clan, or outside and bigger forces - they haven't held up to the test of time. Failures aren't something to result in a closed door and something to never be tried again, especially with player interest.

As such, I can confirm that a C-elf tribe is, indeed, being worked on. Interested/supportive staff on our team currently have picked up the ball on this, and want to see it come to pass. I'm not going to place a time-line on when this will be seen in-game. Between docs, building, back-end efforts of history, objects, crafts and so on, it will naturally take time, without said staff having any RL factors come up to bite into their time. But, short answer is yes - you guys will see your C-elf tribe.

More Noble Houses open.

Interestingly enough, I've thought about/discussed this with the staff team myself. As discussions go, there are various pro's and con's to be had.

PRO:
- RP Tools for you all, unique backgrounds/approaches
- Different story potentials
- More (potentially) niche abilities for Nobles/employees in said houses. IE: Rennik actually growing plants, upkeep on the Arbor, etc.

CON:
- Elimination of inner-house conflict. If 1 PC is Borsail, 1 PC is Tor, 1 PC is Rennik - there's no dog fight to be had for promotions/inner house perks and so on.
- Little return for massive workload. Let's say, for example, Rennik takes six months to make. Create NPCs, create player docs, update rooms, add scripts, jobs, etc, etc, etc, for 1-2 PCs that may be interested in that House over the next X RL years, and/or barely used by those IG.
- Overlap with other clans. Tor dilutes AoD, Byn. (As do the Wyverns) etc. Could this be altered or changed? Yes - feeds back into above. Even more workload for little return.

Several more pro's and con's, but listing a few to show why this is generally a non-starter at present. Could it be done? Yes - but imo, it'll come at the cost of other areas/stories/RPTs/HRPTs and existing PC support.

[Shabago]

Pclan reworking

Has been and continues to be discussed/updated. One example being the warehouse rental NPCs that are in place. We're aware that time-frames are usually the biggest talking point when it comes to these undertakings, and while changes may well come, I'd caution expecting anything drastic, because it's not very realistic. A "Nobody" commoner making a business from the ground up, should absolutely be an uphill battle. An IC year to plan even opening isn't that bad - a pair of IC years to grow your market/secure clients isn't bad, and even the last stage taking 5+ IC years doesn't seem horrid, when you factor in the coins necessary to pay for that MMH status, without getting into twink territory for coin making.

Some sort of outfit/clothing QoL

Neat idea. I'll bring it to the staff boards to see it discussed.

Full class mages

In short - Unlikely. Various reasons/positions on this. To name a few;

1) Exceptionally limiting as a role.
2) Guild sniffing for those trying to remain ungemmed.
3) Unbalanced/overpowered and unfortunately, prone to abuses in various forms.

** More to come on the other topics.

[Shabago]

GMH Hunting Branches:

Preeeeeeeeetty much what JustAnotherGuy posted.

So I want to speak on the Hunter Branches as I was apart of it a bit at the time of the removal.  As for what Staff are doing now about it, I have no say nor opinion on it, but I do have some suggestions.

Hunter Branches of the GMHs in an economical sense to the Houses were to expensive.  Paying someone a consistent rate month after month, and they brought in what you needed... sounds great and all, but let me tell you from my experience in those clans how it worked out.  I've played as an Agent and Merchant, and have some intimate relations when it comes to the GMHs.  So what happens is you have a crew of hunters that go out and hunt, it was great... but then you get item bloat, so much junk and unneeded items that it became a chore to handle and maintain.  As a crafter, I HATED going into a craft hall and digging through the absolute mountains of materials... it was even worse if it wasn't organized.  Then you'd tell the hunters to stop hunting... they'd get bored, get themselves killed... then you'd have to hire more.

As for leader roles, to operated a GMH clan at the time of hunting divisions, there was the Sponsored Hunter leader, then Agent & Merchant.  So three sponsored roles.  Normally there was need for a second leadership position for the Hunters, so the hunter leader would try to find one.  (Oh note, I've played a sponsored role hunter leader also.)  So we have four potential leadership positions there, then add in the senior crafter... we're talking some leadership bloat here.

Next we have all those hunters, we're talking normally 4-5 hunters per clan, normally this number would get up to 6-8, so in the top days of this, that is 24 hunters between the three GMH clans that would use hunters.  No GMH house needs that many hunters, but then if we cut down on the number of hunters per clan, we get 3-4 per clan.  New hunters would go out on their own because not everyone is on their play times, then they would end up dead.  Rinse repeat, find new hunters.

So economically, it more feasible for the GMHs to buy only the materials they need directly from hunters, but from what I understand, it can sometimes be hard to find those hunters.  If they GMHs get only the materials they need, they are happy.  Hunters get paid for what they bring in, they are happy.  So we really have two problems here, GMHs need hunters, but they don't need them in clan... but having them in clan makes it more convenient, though it adds bloat to the clan.

Here is my suggestion... Hunter Clan in Luir's.  A singular sponsored role hunting clan, similar to the Byn in a way.  I could see the GHMs coming together to sponsor a Hunter Clan of sorts.  This could be a great Newbie entry clan also, just also like the Byn.  I think the issue is that this SHOULD have come up already with the Player Clans, but I don't think the current Player Clans rules allowed for it to come to become a fully sponsored Clan by Staff as easily as it should.

Having this Hunter Clan they could easily sell goods to each of the GMHs, maybe one GMH will pay a bit more to get one material that is commonly used by many.  Each of the GMHs don't need their own hunting division, what they need is a group of reliable hunters they can buy from.  A sponsored clan make it more reliable and can have documentation and rules to go along with it.

I don't know, I'm just spitting this idea because I think it is very fitting for the world.  Now that I think on it, it would have been likely a better idea for the GMHs back in the day, but the Player Clan Rules came out also... so I'm sure the intention was to see this come out of the player clans, rather than created by Staff.

The move further encourages interaction between GMH/Indy PCs, allows player agency in creation of said style of pclan, and generally allows more walks-of-life to participate.

[Shabago]

LARP structure

Yes and no? This happens as is, in various story arcs. Staff will watch how players react to what is happening in whatever plot has caught their eye (or they started themselves) and react accordingly via superior animation for rewards/promotions/admonishment or virtual world echoes, object creationism, and so on.

As a rigid structure, I don't feel it would work. Not only would we (staff) be dictating what/when/how and handcuffing player initiative or desire to veer in unexpected ways, but further putting up a brick wall ending. "I found 10 coconuts and so I won." End of? If the player decides they want to do an additional step, create a plot off of that outcome, or even burn the things into dust, then what? If the answer is 'too bad' - that's fairly limiting. If the answer is "Let them" - that's the game structure we have now. Adaptive/reactionary, rather than set LARP structure/rulebooks.

Remove crime code

This would cost us players, imo. We just had quite the series of threads on "Pointless/excessive PK." Going off IC evidence in non-crimcode enforced areas, the murderfest that takes place at present isn't very encouraging to see this happen. As is, the crime code realistically enforces a crazy-powerful sorcerer kings death-grip control on a city proper, and creates a hurdle for players to stop and think about their attacks and plan accordingly to avoid their own deaths.

[Shabago]

Code markers for criminals

As mentioned in the other thread, this exists in part. I'm not against the idea of expanding it in some fashion to other locations in the Known.

Slave roles

This is a rough one as ever. Playing a slave as a generic slave just splinters off into so many different "problems" that said problems have never really outweighed the 'Pros' since these roles were removed.

- Slaves are often abused/beaten/mistreated in some fashion, if not some 'special variety'. - > This has and would lead to a can of worms on consent rules alone.
- If they're a special variety, that usually means their owned by <insert GMH/Noble/Templar here> and thus, no owner means you get to sit inside a room/cell and stare at four walls for X time online, hoping to match up with said other player.
- If they're specifically designed for interaction/engagement (Looking at you Reigning Gladiators), I have to point to the lack of interest in the role leading to it being discontinued.

Catch is, I like the idea put forward in the thread. It has merit. As did the gladiators, the special slave auctions, etc. It's novel, with a short shelf life of interest, and promptly dies out. At present, it just doesn't really meet the bar to invest in for the staff team, if the return is a few PCs to take a spin through, die out, and it turns into nearly entirely staff run.

[Shabago]

New/more plants & materials to make cloth
More grunt jobs.
NPC shop buyers buying 'all' per PC.
Farming - Flax/wheat, etc.

I'm going to group the four above into the same reply, as it all comes back to (in full or part) the economy. While other members of the team may well decide to take up portions listed above, speaking for myself - "No, not yet." would be the reply. Correcting the really odd database of items we have already to make sense, before adding even more to it, is where I'm at. - To briefly expand on that for each of the listed 4:

- More plants/materials = More clothes being sold, more coin generated -> More tilted economy.
- More grunt jobs = More resources, which in turn equal more materials -> more coin generated -> More tilted economy.
- NPC shops buying everything -> More coin - More tilted economy.
- Flax/wheat/farming -> More resources -> more materials -> more crafts/items to be sold for coin -> more tilted economy.

I'll stress and bold the one word that matters for you all in my reply, for these: Yet.

Once some sort of standard level is reached to not make things even more bonkers on coin making potential/anti-theme realism, I'm not against any one of these ideas. In fact, I'd likely personally enjoy working on and adding a couple of them to the game. I know I failed to update the economy posts lately, but the work is still being done. I think we're up around something like 11 thousand items corrected/updated?

Hang in there. It's a "No for now."

[Shabago]

Power from death - sorc/mage

I think on the surface, this is pretty cool for an approach. Theme/game world/Lore wise, that would be a hard sell. By the docs, magick just doesn't behave that way, and since power is drawn from the 'planes' (Mage wise) - then in theory, what they discovered is already obtainable by you/others, rather than locked away in their heads for secret knowledge. There's more to this via code/lore, but that'd be telling. The dreaded FoIC, right?

Beyond that - power balance. In theory, if a mage/sorc kept gaining and gaining and gaining, they would end up Tektolnes level of crazy powerful. We store at Red robe strong because it's not something the player base could reasonably react to/prevent/kill - and thus, ends up being either A) A completely pointless/boring role or B) Something staff need to step on from map-wide murder power for the sake of the 'whole'.

[Shabago]

More explorer content/animal dens.

Sure. I'm game to try and keep this going. You may recall the last batch that went in awhile ago? 2 of 5 were actually found thus far. There's also talk of added content in general for certain areas that will feed directly into this want. Stay tuned.

Dye making ability

Doable already, though not a comprehensive list. I believe Emme was recently doing something on this, in fact. It's being discussed, at the very least. Stay tuned, part 2?

Magicker and anti-magicker tools, charms, potions.

Maybe in time? I don't have a solid answer here to be right upfront with you. They're vastly outdated and caused no shortage of headaches for players and staff alike. They would need a pretty heavy overhaul to be in-theme for the game-world as it is now, and a top down review of just how/why they would do anything in the first place, given magick canon/lore. It has been talked about periodically staff side, so I wouldn't say it's a lost cause - just something we're not looking to work on currently.

[Shabago]

Tuluk, in part/whole.

Not shutting down the topic, but there's a ton of threads on this, ranging in reaction and desire from a full opening 'How it was' to 'This new thing' to 'In part opening' to 'destroy it', etc, etc. Staff haven't thrown the topic/issue to the garbage. We continue to discuss it actively. If/as things are decided upon, we'll naturally keep you all informed.

Silt sea expansion/addition.

There have been additions to it. No, not on the scale as described in the idea - but some. Yes, more will be coming. On what it is, it's scale, or when isn't something I'll disclose just now. In general, this ties back into 'Explorer' content as listed above. A few of us have lists of things we want to or are building, and as those are completed, you all will see posts regarding it to the weekly update and/or staff announcements. As is? There's new content out there already that has not been seen/found or used by a sizeable majority of the player base. If looking in that area is something you/your PC could or would do, you just might get a surprise.

Clan compounds/apartments overhaul.

I'll be honest and say the ability for this sort of reworking has been largely spoiled by certain witnessed behaviour. It's not a one off case where we've seen X location be hit/raided stolen from with utter disregard for the world around them. There are, pending clan/tribe, hundreds of employees/family/guards/tribals there, and a PC waltz in and steals half a warehouse worth of goods and waltz back out. Changing the build to allow this isn't something I'm very interested in. Those actually wishing to engage the game world realistically and accomplish something like this are welcome (and encouraged) to work with staff on it. It's doable, but should be extremely risky/challenging - without the check and balance in place, it leads to abuse.

On the apartment front, this is something we've been discussing. Apartments are a very different creature compared to big compounds/Houses. Finding a balance of possible to do, but with appropriate risk would be ideal. We're working on it.

[Shabago]

- Underground content/tunnels/networks

There's been some recent effort here for a portion of the game world, which is on-going. It has a specific purpose/goal in mind, though I'll be honest that it isn't going to be what was suggested. There's reasoning behind why this hasn't already happen (or will happen) yet, which I'll link into the following that's been brought up...

- Dungeon crawls/rotation

Really cool and would be fun on paper. < No realistic basis.

Where did this come from? We have ruins, battle sites, outposts, research/dig sites and so on that would explain a potential location for a "dungeon", be it above or below ground. Those could potentially be built, yes. But it's a one off. The idea of rotating them with replenishing <insert loot here> is pretty jarring, imo. It's sort of like Sandy Claws is real, running about and dropping presents for people to find, after X was cleared out. This ties into the above, because ... who built it? Why? There's one group or two out there that needed <thing> and they made the thing. Beyond that, it'd be hard to game-world justify.

Referring back to my first post on this one. Not a fan of a hard no, but at present? I can't see this fitting. If IC actions or <event> causes such to be doable/realistic, I'm game. Who knows? Some ungodly huge salt worm decides to go on vacation to a silt island? Boom - Tunnel.

***
ETA: This won't remain a closed thread. Once replies are done, you're all welcome to give another round of feedback/debate points I've put forward, etc. Not against having my mind changed.

[Brokkr]

emote points a crossbow at ~shabago and motions for them to put their hands up.

This is part thread hijacking, part public service announcement.

We appreciate all the ideas going into the other thread and I assure you it isn't just Shabago reading or discussing things that come up there. That said, sometimes ideas can take a long time to germinate.  Sometimes there is an idea and a month later it is brought to fruition.  Sometimes an idea hinges on PCs, and may take root or may never happen.  Sometimes it becomes a side project, like the Muark were.  If you were lucky enough to get chosen, you'll note the first posts are from Sept 19, 2019, but the first mind to paper started July 2018 and the idea was there before that.  The original proposal for House Jal was, strangely enough, May 20, 2015...exactly five years ago.

I don't want to discourage people, but rather to remind them that sometimes it can take awhile for an idea to get discussed, refined, planned and worked on.  On the other hand, one or two things might get seen on a much quicker scale, although maybe not necessarily how the person with the original idea envisioned.  While igniting the spark of peoples passion and seeing quick results can be gratifying, there is real value to the game in having a set of well-thought out content ideas and direction that we could go with, as various plans and plots are formulated.  Thank you.

[Shabago]

"Outside the Known" force.

This has likewise been something to come up a few times on staff-side chatter. As a general rule, the team seems agreeable to the idea on paper, much like some of you in the player base at large. It has it's appeal and a pretty decent list of pro's. There are some cons attached to it as well.

Q: Why were they never mentioned anywhere in game legend? A: They were outside of the Known!
Q: Ok, if outside of the Known, how are they getting into the known? A: Skimmers over the silt! (example)
Q: Ah, but the silt in enclosed by cliffs - where are they getting through? A: An earthquake broke a hole?
Q: Ok, so an event that never occurred in game happened off screen allowing this new race? How do players interact with them? A: Players can set sail to their homeland or see them when they come ashore, in angry/peaceful fashion?
Q: So, an area even further out than Tuluk that requires mass building, and would take a big chunk away from condensed play zones and thus, utterly eliminate the point of Tuluk's closure?
A: This is awkward.

Tongue in cheek, obviously, but I imagine you all get what I'm driving at. "New race" out of nowhere in the current setting would be real jarring/senseless on the continuing story of the game as a whole. Adding one 'outside' the Known defeats the purpose of the condensed play-area for interaction.

Yes, absolutely there are ways around said cons/hurdles and we've continued to speak on them staff side. Again, pros and cons to the various suggestions.

Short answer - Maybe.

More smokes/smokables

Cool idea, and I get the interest behind it. Up front answer is, it's not something that would currently not be worked on given other overhauls/updates needed first - But as the spirit of the thread is to put forward new content ideas rather than simply what has/is being worked on, consider me adding it to my running list of projects to be discussed/maybe worked on in the future.

Post char-gen sub guilds.

Not something I can really weigh in on, to be honest. This would require a code change and Producer level decision. I'll bring it to the IDB so it can be discussed, at the least, unless a Producer wishes to reply here directly.

[Shabago]

Player Tats.

Jumping around in the list of topics some, I know, but I wanted to potentially bring some good news on this one?

I love the idea. There have been 'cons' listed in the other thread already, and we have a few more staff side to tackle as well - BUT, I think it's something that can be overcome. It may require some sort of limitation and a check/balance staff side (Perhaps akin to the MC process?) Consider this to be another one that's added to my list of things to work on. If/As some of these hurdles are addressed and/or some active development is being done, I'll update all of you.

[Shabago]

On we go! Sorry for the delay, folks!

Phouse/non-pickable apartments

"Soft no" is where I am at this. While we're looking at ways to change apartments in some aspects, making them mini-fortresses is out. The money sink aspect doesn't fly, since if you have so much coin, getting stolen from really shouldn't hurt too much, right? Yes, I'm aware this is abused and people try to walk off with beds, chairs, couches, crates - Do me and staff a favour if this occurs and report it. We are, as a whole, not the least bit interested in this sort of twinky behaviour and it'll be addressed. If you're an apartment thief reading this? Keep it below something that would actually make Copperfield struggle to make disappear?

- Multi-rent apartments.

You mean clan compounds, or pclan warehouses? 

More seriously, getting tossed on back into realism on just what these apartments are, versus how they're used - Eh. Not much a fan personally on this. I understand the theme of people living on top of one another, but as we already see tents/single room apartments being jammed with crates, cots, two couches and a tree dug up from the Grey Forrest just for two PCs and they're upset when capacity is met, adding a 3rd, 4th, 5th renter is just fuel to the fire. Further, it takes away a 'perk' to joining certain clans and there's a balance issue. Finally, accessible RP partners are fun for the game world. A mini indy clan that finds the two or three people they enjoy playing with gets sucked into the void of their 4-5 room apartment fortress, never to be seen again by the populace at large.

I'd be more inclined to build a communal, quit-safe tent in the middle of the commons that anyone could stay in/walk in and out of and interact with people, over apartment increases.

[Shabago]

- "notes" which could be added by staff and by players.

Yep, you're right on a number of these being added or used in some variation since that post, staff side. Further additions are certainly possible, and I'll add this to the staff boards for a developer to eyeball as something they may wish to pursue.

- Temporary roles/Red shirts/slaves through gith.

This is done, sparingly, already. Most recently with the war out on the saltflats. (kudos to each of you raider fellas). Could it be used more often? Sure. I'm hesitant to do this for random reasons/time frames with things like gith/mantis and such, however.

- Bury inside the city.

Sounds neat, I'll pitch it.

- Inner city scribble

Don't they last a fair bit as is? Inside rooms surely persist. If you mean on random walls and streets - I'm 50/50 on that, considering wind and sand scouring taking place at the best of times, and game chalk isn't exactly finely ground, super-glue like compounds we have in modern times. Heh.

[Shabago]

- Money sinks.
- New Elf gear.

Economy work. If this is sped up/taken on with other members on the team, bonus! For me personally, I'm getting there, slowly. Once things are back in balance, and we see what sort of coin players do or don't make at that time - there will be further branching out into such sinks. As for gear, same thing. We've been working on some HG specific stuff as some/most  of you likely know? So I'm not against seeing a specific npc or two made for elven specific trade. Maybe with the C-elf tribe?

[Shabago]

Mount skills/husbandry

Partially already in the works, as may be guessed with the recent mount updates/additions (Kudos Oryx/Rath). Stay tuned, as more was being done here.

Wilderness Quit:

Seems obtainable - in part - by finding appropriate rooms that do exist in the wilderness as is to make 'camps' in or around? Failing that, if the PC doesn't have wilderness quit as a PC perk as is, chances are they shouldn't be trying to rough it out there to begin with. They gonna dieeeeeee.

This just sort of seems like a hack to 'More save rooms in the wilderness' desire - which as mentioned elsewhere, doesn't really help for interaction 9/10. I've one idea in mind on how this could be slightly modified/less restricted, but I'll keep that to myself until I can be sure it's workable for the player base at large.

[Shabago]

**This space for rent**

I know there are more topics in the other thread to add to the OP list and address.

[Shabago]

GMH Flophouses

In theory, I like this. In practice, I'm not so sure it would fly. As it stands right now, getting employees/minions to GMH or Noble Houses both seem to be a challenge. Reducing a perk for the role may well just make the issue all the worse. Granted, it could be unrelated to perks and merely people want their 'freedom RP' or coin making ability. Whatever the reason may be. I'll give it some further consideration.

Mount scars/wear locations:

This has merit as well, and I'll pitch it up to the team that's been working on the mount overhaul to see what they think on it!

Not clause:

I get the attraction and QoL to be had there. I'll add it to my list of things to put on the staff boards, though I'll be upfront that as this is both code and low priority, I don't know an if or when it may be worked on.

[Shabago]

Carry command
Disguises
House scripts/additions
Strangle/Tie
Affecting mounts with spiced foods.

All code, and as mentioned previously in the thread here - While I can acknowledge each and let the ideas be known, I won't yay/nay things on our coders behalf.

Places to sell stolen mounts, not just butchering them.

How would this work? They take the stolen bug and turn around and sell it in some black market area for less than the regular stables? How is this NPC housing/feeding them? How would the other sellers compete (or why would anyone go and pay a higher price), which circles us right back into more coin for PCs, more npc dependant and broken economy.

Remove free clan food

Can't really do this from a game-wide play-ability stand point. If you're an indy, you can just go get food whenever/where ever. If you're a clannie, you're on the hook for that chow, unless you buy it from an NPC somewhere, which is now more reason to not clan, because why bother if there's no perk? Just an indy with a shiny name. Now, there's a fix to this via roleplaying, I feel? Leaders out there? Your House is HUGE. You have many employees, slaves, staff. Discarding a concept like a House Cook "Because I have the npc" should not be a thing. If a PC is willing and able to do the work, let them. Have a PC take care of PCs, and only have that npc as a safety net when that player can't be available/online. Collaborate and help each others stories - it'll make for a more rewarding experience on both sides.

[Shabago]

Subguilds/Nilaz/updates.

These particular 'changes' are done at the Producer level. Your request did indeed spark discussion. What is/isn't happening, however, I'll leave for Brokkr to weigh in on if they so choose to. Otherwise, I'll leave it at "There is work being done in some fashion." Cryptic, no? Sorry.

Helpfiles/Wagon combat

A helpfile update ticket certainly isn't a bad idea. I'll pitch it up to discussion with other points here. As for helpfiles in general - Agreed. A number of them likely do require new polish or information with the various changes/additions that have taken place. I'll aim to make it a job of going over the "main" ones on the website over the next little while to see if anything really stands out as awkward.

Wagon/cart combat - I can't just flat give this information away but a portion of this was already coded in, and can be done or affected. A few other points in this can't be, but never say never on further code additions. The parts I'm aware of that can't occur at current, I'll mention to see if/how it could be done or if there is interest in coding it as a whole.

Scribble update

I went and did some digging into this code-wise to verify. This is actually quite a bit more robust then I really ever gave much thought to. Yes, this is affected by location. Indoors, outdoors, desert, road, etc. There are also "Other ways" that such can be made to last longer. I'm not quite sure how much I could or should reveal on that end of things, but... play around a little, think of how you could make something stick around longer and you may well not be far off base?

Removing drop rooms

Yeah, I get it. A few of these can be pretty bothersome, jarring, but some of them are certainly quite valid given game design, necessary challenges, climb code, natural events (like earthquakes) and so on. That said, after a number of updates, changes and agreement on the staff team that deathrooms serve little purpose, there is exactly one remaining in the world that would cause insta-death. If you get to that room? Well - death is pretty deserved. "Big falls" still exist, yes. Are they guaranteed death? No. Can a bad roll have it happen? Yes. Which circles back into necessary challenges/climb, yada yada.

'Random' falls, as mentioned elsewhere in the thread could/should be avoiding by aiming your flee, reading room desc clues and so on. If there are blind drops out there in the Known that you feel aren't realistic, let us know? And by realistic, I'm referring to flat scrub, rooftops - even surfaces. If it's in the desert, hilly, etc - You could absolutely reach the crest of a dune without seeing the other side and go for a tumble, imo.

[Brokkr]

Subguilds/Nilaz/updates.

Feedback is tricky.  As Staff, we have to look at feedback in the context of what our own plans are, what the player may not know, what the player definately does not seem to know, where we want to go, how the player's OOC goals seems to be influencing their feedback, etc.  Good feedback typically does generate conversation. This is opaque to the player, because they are a content contributor to the conversation, rather than a participant to the conversation.  We know this can be frustrating, especially when the player is trying to advance a particular viewpoint of what "should" happen.  I know it can also be frustrating when Staff timeline can be much, much longer to implement changes than players have in mind (years rather than months in some cases), or feedback seems to be ignored because a different direction is eventually taken and that isn't discussed with the giver of the feedback.

I'm quite familiar with the feedback specifically mentioned.  It was good feedback.  I absolutely understand where you were coming from with it.  That said, we have a different vision.  We aren't necessarily in a hurry.  Eventually it will probably make sense.  In the meantime, we aren't going to discuss our plans with one individual that gave us feedback, because we don't do that.

We do try to keep some mystery as regards magick.  And we don't typically announce stuff before we do it. That said, most of the magick subclasses seem reasonably where we want them.  Do some players not find them to be what they want, and they would like X, Y and Z together?  Sure.  Do some players personally find this to be more powerful than that, so why don't we buff up this?  Sure.  Are we willing to take feedback on all that?  Sure.  Are we actively pursuing something to revamp the magick subclasses based on feedback right now?  No.  There has been a multi-year effort to go through the existing elementalist and sorcerer subclasses.  Some subclasses even got added as part of that. That is drawing to a close and there isn't a compelling need to go through and re-do all that vs working on other areas.

[Shabago]

Return to staff driven plots:

It's sort of amusing my lack of reply on this thread the past while has been some to do with how to reply/word it all, but mostly having my on-port time taken with a continuing staff plot that was dropped for players to run with, and morph due to said efforts, among other things. Sorry for the delay, and here's hoping this will be a fun read for everyone:

So, as the above states, staff driven plots are a thing. They have and continue to happen. What "changed" back then was important on the wording. There was a shift in focus to player driven plots. This still holds true. We would like to support/advance creative content put forward from you all, and our focus will remain there to give the tools necessary. If/as/when these are not happening, or certain portions of the game world begin to feel stale or stagnant, staff will attempt to give it a jolt. - The PBRPT, "Things happening in Luirs", etc.

I entirely understand the individual player perspective when things are in a state of player driven plot support. I'm still a daily player on my own PC, and have absolutely said or thought to myself while IG "Wow, this is quiet." - I get it. Then I flip back to 'staff sight'(tm) and note how team Indy is trying to run/support player 1,2,3. GMH is backing a plot from Luirs, and Southern staff is running a plot for Tor/Rennik/Borsail/Templarate. Does that matter to my nobody boot employee of GMH, rando indy, or 'Nak rinther? Nope. Not a bit. Everything seems dead. So, let's look at some pointers/fixes and accountability here.

**Disclaimer - I am not throwing the following at anyone here, past or present, to say ALL of this does or doesn't happen, ALL PCs do this or ALL staff. If it's read and you feel it applies to your PC? Maybe a different view will help.

Player Leaders/Sponsors:

- If you come up with a plot/story you want to pursue, please communicate with your clan staff about it. Despite certain opinions that persist, the vast majority of requests for support, guidance and so on are granted. I would ask that you take a step back during your plot brainstorming to look heavily at the game theme. Does it fit? Did you account for the virtual world? Would your House/Clan want this to happen? If all 3 are yes - chances are pretty damn good you're going to get support.

- If you get a plot rolling, have a staff bone thrown to you on some story line hook, or learn of juicy gossip about XYZ - Let it bleed out. Share with your clannies/underlings. Hell, laugh in your enemies face about what you heard that they didn't. Let the information flow out, rather than hoarding it to yourself. Again, I've been here and I understand the mindset of wanting to keep your cards close to your chest so you can 'win' against another clan, political rival, etc-etc, but what I've come to find is there isn't anything *to* win when you do this. Great, you held out on the info, and got a promotion/pin/award/head pat from a senior. Meanwhile, the past two weeks of RL time that you could have had intense conflict/interaction with other players in a shared story, the thought "Well, things are dull/boring." went through your head at least six times.

"Minions" and Indy/tribal playing folk:

The above points apply to you, too. If you hear something from your 'boss', let it bleed to your best friend/lover, IC. Continue the ripple effect of letting it go through the player base so more people can hear, participate/engage and do yourself the favour of more interaction. "But I could get foiled, or have someone kill me!" - Good? Failure is an option and can be a damn good story in and of itself. And if you don't get foiled or die? NOW you actually have something to be proud of. You MCB'd your way to a just reward, rather than "I hid away until any threat was gone and now I have something shiny."

Further, just because you don't have some fancy rank/title/sponsor slot, does not in any way shape or form limit you from doing your own plots and gain support for them. The only difference is the "power" backing scope that you have. Will you get the whole of, say, Salarr behind you for a plot to stab that jerk NPC merchant that was animated? No, but you'll get support to allow it to happen. Will "All" of the tribe want to support or encourage you to up and run half way across the Known in search of some needed material to help your people flourish? No, they'll probably think you're crazy, but you'll get staff support (and appropriate blowback/support from your npc/virtual mates) and so on. Keep it in the realm of what would truly be realistic and fit the theme of the game, the world and make sense for your PC to even want to do, and yet again, chances are pretty damn good you're going to get support and a bigger bang for your buck on interaction from both staff and fellow player.

Shabago (and the staff team as a whole) - What? Yes.

If you read that a plot is forming from a player, or see something they're starting to go towards IC while on port but feel it doesn't fit the theme or world, offer advice/guidance. If the thought is "That's not how I would do it" comes to mind - Good? The entire game, player and staff both is a collaboration of story so we can all have fun. In order to do that, we all approach it with different views and opinions on things and have different ways of expressing creativity. If we were all of one hive-mind for what makes a good story, man would that get old/stale. Obviously, we have to uphold the theme, the game world and supply realistic responses to what happens, and follow our policies and rules that are in place. That said, if it *could* work or fit if just A and B changed to C and D - tell the player. Communicate back the same as the player communicates. If the idea is just too wild/crazy or will not in any way shape or form fit the game theme, explain it so the player can learn and grow from it, rather than a simple "We can't support this."

Now, if all three of the above came together - how about we all imagine just how crazy-awesome this game would be, with the amount of creative talent all of us nerds, player and staff, have?