The Argument for the Restoration of Tuluk

[Malken]

I'd return in a heartbeat if Tuluk was open again.

I still haven't returned to Armageddon because I really dislike Allanak - When Tuluk was open, it was always a struggle for me to go play there once my Tuluki character died. I never liked it.

I thought about returning recently but I absolutely do not understand Luir's anymore and I think I'm too old to just shoot in the dark - create a character and hope for the best. I've got too many stuff to do and games to play to do that.

Tuluk is a totally different matter - I've spent like 90% of my Armageddon years in Tuluk. I love the grasslands, the scrub plains - I always had something to do there. I didn't have to "struggle" too much to get to a point where I could actually start enjoying the role-play (you know that sweet spot you get to once you feel like you won't be starving to death). I knew all the clans, what they stood for. I knew the different types of templars, how to get them not to kill you, etc.

Yeah, Tuluk is probably the only way I'd ever return to Armageddon. Tuluk is a comfortable place for an old Armageddon dude like me.

(I haven't played in like YEARS, but I still read the GDB daily hoping that someone will announce the reopening of Tuluk)

[Dresan]

Sigh~

I do miss getting involved without having to join a clan.  Also due to the culture nobles in tuluk had an easier time mobilizing the population. And public opinion on nobles mattered.

I don't think the numbers would increase as much as people think and some areas would need to suffer for a while. On top of that certain clan would need to begin imposing stricter enrollment caps.

[Erythil]

I say open it, even if it's just the western portion of the city with no clan support, so that people can buy and sell there.

[Bebop]

I've lost interest in the game greatly because of the lack of Tuluk and would consider returning when it does.

[triste]

I like the elven noble house idea and ask, what if that was done with all true races (dwarf, elf, human). Like Tuluk is trying to fix the race issue by practicing the racist idea of power through segregation. This has half breeds and races like half-giants left in the lurch somewhat. Products such as muls would be a co-product of the dwarven house and a slave house, etc. Just a thought. I just want to see a different approach than simply human-centric storytelling after so long.

When I first heard the idea of an Elven noble house I was like no way. Doesn't fit current setting. But now I am more in favor insofar as I think it fits Tuluk somewhat well what with Hlum nobles [albeit retconned I think], citizenship, and so forth. It also strengthens Tuluk's position as an opposing foil for Allanak. It would open up more narratives that this game has been critiqued for not having. It also preserves themes that I enjoy. Fun idea. If you hate the idea think of how much fun you will have antagonizing these new concepts.

[HeeBeeGB]

Hlum Nobles weren't retconned as much as phased out through IC events (so it wasn't an OOC sort of retcon/this never happened), and they were actually phased in after a previous phasing out (~2005). "The Grey Hunt" was an old tradition IIRC derived from the lack of Nobility that survived the cataclysm and occupation, and was a means to bolster the ranks of Nobility. It made organic sense, and it was an exciting way for a Commoner to possibly, some day, become a Noble. Very cool.

I play Armageddon, and I have moments of enjoying it, and PCs I've enjoyed playing (Byn Sergeant, Salarr Family member) that were outside the box for me and fun. But I do miss Tuluk terribly, and would play there in a heartbeat as well. Like, the moment it was announced, any PC I was playing, even if it was a Southern Templar, I would store and apply for some role there or just play an inked commoner.

Part of what bugs me about Allanak is the idea that common people are stupid there. That dick and fart jokes are king, and that any modicum of intelligence or proper grammar in a Commoner is seen as 'You're Being Northie'. The level of conversation is really not stimulating for the most part, unless I'm playing a somewhat middle-class or GMH Family or something along those lines and up. I enjoyed that Tuluk allowed for a 'Smart Person as a Commoner', at least one that could have witty sentences or be clever and not be called a 'Northie' every ten seconds. Sometimes, I enjoy playing the dumb farmer from Yaroch who becomes something, but other times I like to play someone with half a brain and in Allanak, that seems to go against the zeitgeist of the city (at least in terms of PCs and Players, not necessarily documentation).

[HeeBeeGB]

I too like the idea of an Elven Noble House, and it does fit the setting if you know some of the older game lore. It'd be an interesting take if Elves and Dwarves of exceptional bloodline were elevated to a minor Noble status. There would need to be a foil, otherwise every elf and dwarf would want to ditch what they were doing to go work for the Elf / Dwarf Noble.

Tuluk itself would need to be inherently dangerous to outsiders, more than it was in the past, regardless of race or social status, thereby discouraging most from attempting to gain employment there if they are from, say, the Labyrinth. If you made it so that Crim Code did not kick in if you were attacking/killing someone who was a non-citizen...Well...That would be an interesting start. It would make traveling there inherently dangerous, pissing people off there or divulging that you were not from Tuluk or a citizen a risk, and so on.

I'd also love to see Tuluk change its stance on Magick. If they allowed Nilazi/Anathema witch hunters (finally), that would be pretty boss.

[triste]

If you made it so that Crim Code did not kick in if you were attacking/killing someone who was a non-citizen...Well...That would be an interesting start.

No crimcode for non citizens would be amazing, and it would be awesome to see the inverse in 'Nak. While there are some questions of realism and people hiding their origins, it would be awesome for players to exploit any discoveries they make about people's origins. Suddenly adds a lot more incentive to hide accents and inks.

Also would be a steady stream of player created conflict similar to the way people are detained overseas when traveling to hostile regions in reality.

Also would be interesting with regards to the fact that Red Stormers can [for better or worse] easily blend in with Allanakis, and would increase espionage opportunities on that front as well.

[triste]

Just one more note is I would find any increased mechanics around citizenship interesting. People in this community have joked about the "nomadic origin character who learns southern accent and becomes an aide." Might be nice to have more of a mechanic around it so that it is not perceived as being a silly and trivial matter of popping an accent on your skill list.

[HeeBeeGB]

If you made it so that Crim Code did not kick in if you were attacking/killing someone who was a non-citizen...Well...That would be an interesting start.

No crimcode for non citizens would be amazing, and it would be awesome to see the inverse in 'Nak. While there are some questions of realism and people hiding their origins, it would be awesome for players to exploit any discoveries they make about people's origins. Suddenly adds a lot more incentive to hide accents and inks.

Also would be a steady stream of player created conflict similar to the way people are detained overseas when traveling to hostile regions in reality.

Also would be interesting with regards to the fact that Red Stormers can [for better or worse] easily blend in with Allanakis, and would increase espionage opportunities on that front as well.

Yeah, it would be cool if this was true in both Allanak and Tuluk. Allanak doesn't have the history of inkings for citizenship, so perhaps that's more of a risk. You could have it so a Templar/AoD/Legionnaire could codedly verify someone's citizenship status. There might even be room for counterfeit inkings in the North, or some other litmus test in the South.

[triste]

You could have it so a Templar/AoD/Legionnaire could codedly verify someone's citizenship status. There might even be room for counterfeit inkings in the North, or some other litmus test in the South.

In favor of being able to verify citizenship if there is some limit. Example, maybe only allow people to use it in a jail, or only once a day or something. The fun would be ruined if a Templar spammed this command on a public street [similar to a Templar spamming peek on random citizens, makes no sense and just hurts gameplay].

Litmus testing in Nak for citizenship would rock, and give the Atrium and other organizations more to do.

Loving all these ideas people!! Opening up this area more broadly is opening up so many ideas here and I <3 them all.

[triste]

Goodness, sorry to keep babbling but lastly this citizenship idea would bolster the appeal of Red Storm and Luir's as places where you can have a drink without getting arrested over citizenship, thereby addressing worries that opening Tuluk would hurt Luir's and Red Storm. This idea hits 8 birds with one stone.

[gotdamnmiracle]

I like the nilazi/anathema employment idea. It fits perfectly and with the retcon of necromancy they are way more pointed to one specific task. Honestly if Lirathans took a higher role in the order (essentially red robes, they should be NPC imo) and provide guidance to the lower orders. This is followed by Jihaeans who handle regular templar tasks and frequently handle anti-magick kill teams in the North hunting down rogue magick users with Lirathan guidance. The Jihaeans manage these teams and are the handlers of the Black Moon Order, the Nilazis, rare specialists within these teams.

Even if Tuluk didn't open and we just had a group of badasses like this I would be smitten. Also, this would be the perfect niche for the current Nilazis IMO.

[Malken]

Part of what bugs me about Allanak is the idea that common people are stupid there. That dick and fart jokes are king, and that any modicum of intelligence or proper grammar in a Commoner is seen as 'You're Being Northie'. The level of conversation is really not stimulating for the most part, unless I'm playing a somewhat middle-class or GMH Family or something along those lines and up. I enjoyed that Tuluk allowed for a 'Smart Person as a Commoner', at least one that could have witty sentences or be clever and not be called a 'Northie' every ten seconds. Sometimes, I enjoy playing the dumb farmer from Yaroch who becomes something, but other times I like to play someone with half a brain and in Allanak, that seems to go against the zeitgeist of the city (at least in terms of PCs and Players, not necessarily documentation).

That's actually how I feel as well.. There's just so much burping and farting emotes I can take until I realize that I'll probably get better RP on the Moonguard WoW server (and that's pretty bad) ... That has been mostly my experience in Allanak (that and getting murdered for absolutely no reason on a brand new character while idling for 5 minutes in a shop)

(Speaking of which, there's two other WoW players who would also come back in a heartbeat if Tuluk reopened, so that's +3 on my side! )

[7dwarves]

I like most of the suggestions above, except for the elven noble house. And I'm a huge fan of city elves.
Bejeweled Hand had some political clout and a nice facade of being artisans and masons first and foremost. But please no elven nobles. They don't have the right mindset, sooner or later they'd try to fuck over either the city state or another noble house and them bam crash to the ground. I like my elves scummy and inhuman, no matter how much jewelry they wear.

Otherwise, open up Tuluk in any way shape or form. You have my sword.

[Heade]

Honestly if Lirathans took a higher role in the order (essentially red robes, they should be NPC imo) and provide guidance to the lower orders. This is followed by Jihaeans who handle regular templar tasks and frequently handle anti-magick kill teams in the North hunting down rogue magick users with Lirathan guidance.

This is sort of how I feel about Lirathans, too. I always felt like they should have better things to do with their powers than worry about the fact that Stoneworker Amos is providing a dinnerware set to some noble that is Tightbutt Kadius' customer. I mean, they're responsible for furthering the agenda of an entire city-state, and their powers were often used to foil some pretty petty sideplots.

When a player is playing a Lirathan, it only makes sense that they want to involve themselves in plots, because otherwise they'd be bored. So I can't blame any players for doing this. But, behind the scenes, in a way that staff couldn't possibly provide them enough support for, there should be plenty of more important things for them to worry about. So I'm in favor of NPC Red-robing Lirathans with the return of Tuluk.

In favor of being able to verify citizenship if there is some limit.

I'm not in favor of any coded way to verify citizenship. With Tuluki's, there is already an RP way to verify citizenship, and I don't think RPed methods should be exchanged for more code-only engagements with other players. There are already enough complaints regarding encounters with other players not having RP. I don't think something like this, which could make a fine RP scene should instead be relegated to code-only, where someone can quickly confirm another player isn't a citizen, noting that they aren't protected by the crim code, and following that up with practice on their backstab or sapping skill.

As for Allanak, IC ideas on ways to identify citizens was floated at one point, and the IC reason that identifying marks for Allanaki citizens was shot down that I heard was, "No, that's what Northerners do." The Allanaki hatred for Northerners runs so deep that even if something is objectively a good idea, it will be rejected by the south as a "northern" thing if it resembles northern methods or ideology. OOCly, it makes Allanak and Tuluk oppressive in different ways. It's how they are both oppressive, tyrannical cultures, but they're different enough to justify being in a war of ideologies against one another.

[HeeBeeGB]

1. Tuluk was too bloated, both geographically and through documentation re-writes. It's clear that action was being taken prior to it being closed, geographically and documentation wise, but parts of it still felt clunky. I think this is an obvious result from many different Staff taking stabs at solving the Tuluk issue. I think it was honestly moving in the right direction prior to it closing.

We have to remember that Tuluk went through at least three major shifts, if not more -- The 'Dragons Crater' version of Tuluk that was quite small, the Cataclysm/Occupation of a larger Tuluk, and the bloated Modern Tuluk that was going through size cuts/documentation shifts. In the last version of Tuluk, we did see very problematic institutions go through rapid change, examples being:

-Lirathans and Jihanes being merged into one order, where gender didn't play a role into which order you were a part of.
-Though interesting in concept, the overly complex governorships (Straisiri/other name I forget) were eliminated.
-The geography/map of Tuluk was likewise shrunken, and could have likely gone through 1/3 more room cuts.
-Documentation for things like Shadow Artists were clarified and made less obtuse, though arguably, could have been made even less obtuse.
-Some Bardic Circles were closed to play, allowing for only a few options instead of like, 8.

2. Playerbase vs Staff vs Spreading Thin Argument. The idea is that it took twice the amount of Staff, and twice the amount of players, to keep Tuluk operational. The hope was by closing Tuluk, it would consolidate the player base into Allanak, Luirs, Independents, and Red Storm (roughly). Instead of having two or three Noble Houses open in Allanak, you could have multiple PCs in these Noble Houses or provide the opportunity to open Houses like Jal or Rennik or Valika (in theory).

While I think this was a logical postulation, I'm not sure that it played out exactly that way. As mentioned before by other people, Tuluk was the foil to Allanak, and vice versa. If you played a long lived PC in Tuluk, you could make your next PC in Allanak or the Labyrinth or Red Storm and meet an entirely different cast of people, and start fresh. Vice versa for tribals, or stormers, or Nakki. The options of sponsored roles were also more varied, not the same four or five on rotation. Playing a Northern GMH versus a Southern GMH was a very different experience, and came with built in drama and plots depending on how politically motivated the PC was. A Northern Templar was vastly different from a Southern Templar, both in approach and play style. The same goes for Northern Noble Houses vs Southern Noble Houses, who also automatically had built in intrigue and plot devices against one another and something to work towards (or against). I think by removing Tuluk (and therefore, some of the built in conflict of the game world), the world has become smaller and less inherently interesting.

In essence, with Tuluk out of the picture, the game has gone from macro to micro. Instead of world-spanning plots, the world-plots are now isolated to Allanak as the center of civilization, with outliers in Luirs and surrounding villages/the wastes. It isn't unfair to say that by removing one of the two city-states in the game, the world has indeed become smaller. This was in part by design -- The whole consolidation theory. But Luirs can't be, and shouldn't be, a replacement for Tuluk as a civilization center. It is incongruous, and does Luirs a disservice as being simply an Outpost run by the GMH. Think of how much more intriguing and conflict-driven Luirs would be if both Tuluk and Allanak were still vying for control over it. With Tuluk out of the picture, it almost seems like Allanak has a 'why bother' mentality about Luirs.

3. Some of the best sources of conflict and 'WOW FACTOR' for the game came about through direct conflict between Tuluk and Allanak. Without Tuluk, there would not have been the Copper Wars, which is still touted as being one of the better moments the game has had in its 20+ year history, where you had Templars from both City-States running death squads against each other, mass turn over of long lived combat PCs, assassinations, and more. Without Tuluk, we wouldn't have had terrorism bombings in Allanak, we wouldn't have had Allanaki Spies infiltrate and destroy a tree of Life in Tuluk. We wouldn't have plots of spreading plagues in Allanak as a war tactic, which took months to prepare for and ultimately failed. We wouldn't have had a reason for the volcano, or a reason for it to be magically dropped on Tuluk's head. In a Batman v Joker analogy, neither character is interesting without their natural foil. If Batman had no one to fight, what defines Batman? If Joker didn't have Batman to cajole and torment, what defines the Joker? Without the foil, Allanak is difficult to place and define, and by association, people that play within it.

4. Some people didn't like Tuluk. Like, at all. And maybe that's kind of the point? The people that did like Tuluk, liked it a lot. The people that didn't like Tuluk, hated it a lot, and made PCs that also hated Tuluk and would stop at nothing to destroy it. I sort of hate Allanak, but that's it as far as centers of civilization go now.

5. Disservice to those that spent years of their life playing in Tuluk, and the history of that part of the game is now not even well documented or remembered. For those who love Allanak and the PCs they have had there over the last 20 years -- Imagine Staff decided to close Allanak tomorrow to re-open Tuluk. Imagine what that would feel like, that all the time you invested into that part of the world over the years, is basically erased. It sucks.

6. In essence, the game of chess has become one side playing against itself. It's sometimes confusing, sometimes fun, and otherwise a distraction, but it isn't an actual game of chess. No one can finish the game. It is an endless stalemate. I do not think that 'winning the game' is at all important, but there have to be stakes, rainbows with treasure at the end of them, enemies to work against or allies to assist, or backstab. To me, when Tuluk was removed, the purpose behind the game was sort of arbitrarily removed as well. Without overarching railroad plots, without a DM guiding the game session and telling us 'this is what happens in your next adventure', Tuluk v Allanak was naturally something to fall back to. And without it, it feels the game is a masochistic time-sink.

--

If Tuluk were to return, I would see it being consolidated, xenophobic, and dangerous. Open three clans -- Templarate, and Two Opposing Noble Houses. For the sake of ease, make it Tenneshi and Winrothol, or Tenneshi and Lyksae. For a more difficult experiment, design two entirely new Houses that absorbed several old Houses and their responsibilities. One Noble House oversees infrastructure/city development, the other is expansionist/war-minded. Experiment with having limited or no crime code in Tuluk.

The first hurdle for this new Tuluk to tackle is reconstruction. Dissolve slavery in Tuluk, relying instead on a mixture of indentured servitude with a sentence (A punishment for theft is to assist re-building a wall for two weeks) and patriotic duties . Set it apart from Allanak in as many ways as possible.

Make magic illegal, but turn it into a Salem-era trial system. Anyone can be accused of being a witch. Trials become a regular occurrence. Instead of a Gem, allow northern templars to have an ability to remove someone's ability to cast magic (Perhaps removing their reaches from the skill sheet). Make punishments revolve around penance, rather than execution exclusively. As a further twist, allow for Nilazi to app in as sponsored roles for Templarate death squads, that eliminate, monitor, and track magic use in the city, and outside of it.

Make service in the military mandatory for becoming a citizen. Instead of being born with inks slapped on you, when people come of a certain age, they must serve in the military, in a Noble House, or in the Levies for two years. At the end of that two years, they can be recommended or vouched for, and become an inked citizen. Provide benefits to being an inked citizen. Tuluk could even be a twisted "Democratic Republic" with the illusion of voting power. You may think this doesn't fit the setting, but Balic (one of my favorite city states from Dark Sun) pulls this off extraordinarily well.

Anyways. Those are just some thoughts and ramblings.

[triste]

I'm not in favor of any coded way to verify citizenship. With Tuluki's, there is already an RP way to verify citizenship, and I don't think RPed methods should be exchanged for more code-only engagements with other players. There are already enough complaints regarding encounters with other players not having RP. I don't think something like this, which could make a fine RP scene should instead be relegated to code-only, where someone can quickly confirm another player isn't a citizen, noting that they aren't protected by the crim code, and following that up with practice on their backstab or sapping skill.

As for Allanak, IC ideas on ways to identify citizens was floated at one point, and the IC reason that identifying marks for Allanaki citizens was shot down that I heard was, "No, that's what Northerners do." The Allanaki hatred for Northerners runs so deep that even if something is objectively a good idea, it will be rejected by the south as a "northern" thing if it resembles northern methods or ideology. OOCly, it makes Allanak and Tuluk oppressive in different ways. It's how they are both oppressive, tyrannical cultures, but they're different enough to justify being in a war of ideologies against one another.

Yeah well argued and thank you for letting me know about that previous discussion on 'naki citizenship, but I hope staff put some time evaluating mechanics. I always hated that this was often the extent of espionage roleplay:

wear collar
wear gloves
change accent __other side__
east;east;east;east
A templar says: "HALT! Remove thine gloves."

[Blink]

A lot of stuff that was spot on.  A lot of stuff that is really thought provoking.  Some was a bit off the wall but intriguing nevertheless.  Intriguing and exciting.

Wow.  Thank you for the very insightful analysis. 

Though I was not a huge fangirl of Tuluk, I liked it well enough and enjoyed playing there every 2 or 3 PCs.  I loved the Bards of Poet Circle culture, the appreciation of the arts in general, and, above all, the fact that it wasn't Allanak. I do miss Tuluk.

That said, I'd never have fought to get it back because I don't believe we have the player base to support it.  HeeBeeGB's post has got me thinking more about how much more we've lost than simply another city state by having it closed. We have lost a source of tension and conflict.  And I do start to wonder though if it might be possible. 

[Is Friday]

*application for staff*

Beep boop beep.

"Your application has been accepted, citizen. Please submit a join an imm forum request."

[Barsook]

A lot of stuff that was spot on.  A lot of stuff that is really thought provoking.  Some was a bit off the wall but intriguing nevertheless.  Intriguing and exciting.

Wow.  Thank you for the very insightful analysis. 

Though I was not a huge fangirl of Tuluk, I liked it well enough and enjoyed playing there every 2 or 3 PCs.  I loved the Bards of Poet Circle culture, the appreciation of the arts in general, and, above all, the fact that it wasn't Allanak. I do miss Tuluk.

That said, I'd never have fought to get it back because I don't believe we have the player base to support it.  HeeBeeGB's post has got me thinking more about how much more we've lost than simply another city state by having it closed. We have lost a source of tension and conflict.  And I do start to wonder though if it might be possible. 

Like Blink, I had a few characters in Tuluk but never really was a fan of the city-state. Only with Durik I started to get it and now when I think about it, I think I never did get into it.

I do agree with what everyone is saying but I fear that Blink might be right. Maybe it would be worth it to focus on what we have and try to make changes on those items.

#LuirsStrong2020

[Dresan]

I just don't think all the problems facing the game will disappear if Tuluk is opened.

The only thing Tuluk can provide is an alternative city based location to play which i agree could possibly help with game burn out. However, this will turn very boring very quickly unless staff puts massive effort into making the area fun. There is nothing wrong with Redstorm as an alternative to play except for the fact that staff don't provide it as much support as Allanak right? If staff really want to see how much interest there is in Tuluk culture all they need to do is  put an apartment building in Morins putting it almost at the level of Redstorm, where people could even play thieves that go steal and rob at Luirs. Unfortunately, without massive staff effort, clan based entertainment, Tuluk will just turn into a bigger Morins but with apartments. 

For Tuluk to be the enemy Allanak even notices or be a fun place to play without that effort from staff, players would need to step way up. Especially if its not in the form of outright murder something which was discouraged when the war was going on. Unfortunately the game rarely supports this type of player anymore in my opinion. It is much easier for the game to have that player putting effort just die, and then roll a character that joins the rollercoster theme park ride that is known as the byn, then continue to push the game to provide more time, effort and resources to accomplish their goals. Additionally look at all the effort going into allanak and we have not yet seen that investment return in terms of plot and story my opinion.

The things people remember fondly were huge staff sponsored events the likes we haven't seen since the last great volcano tossing war.  You don't remember how empty and boring Luirs and Redstorm were because everyone concentrated one one or the other location. You don't remember that most players in either location rarely had any plots or interactions that involved someone from the other city. You don't remember that one of the issues we were having was that people were refusing to alternated with each character death and play in another supported city location, causing players to demand more from their favorite location or just feel burnt out none the less.

Frankly the effort require to make Tuluk fun by staff which by looks of allanak is most likely going to be the case  could be put into just about any other location to get the same results.

Approaches that could have bigger impact on the game and evolve less effort then tuluk re-opening:

• World encompassing story that has mundane basis, e.g the fire gith nation invading[with some HRPTs]
• Move away from just clan based plot support instead towards bigger holistic plots that everyone can get involved in their own way
• Make those bigger plots generate interest in location that people don't visit or play in regularly to attract get people to shift location once in a while
• Build up Morins as Luir's 'Redstorm' [add apartments], making it haven for mundane criminals that cause Luirs headaches
• Usher in a mundane era of love and accomplishments like the magick classes experienced during end of the world

[LauraMars]

At the end of the day everyone working on the game is a volunteer. Nobody is required to be there. If only one or two people on staff want to re-open Tuluk, it will never happen, because once those people get bored and quit, everyone remaining will be left with a big-ass city nobody is interested in running and then the game will suffer, because staff will be assigned there, hate it, and burn out sooner, which trickles down to player stories that are left hanging and clans that aren't properly overseen.

I do think it would be cool if it returned, for many reasons that people have already listed - but there has to be enough interest and momentum among the volunteers who run the game to keep that project going.

Tuluk is a shitload of work.

[RavingTregils]

Optimize for the playerbase.
The city was too big. Hell, living in the Circle was an annoying, long walk to get out the western gate..or southern. Remove the elven market (move/keep the archery store!), the barren lands enclosed to the east, half the warrens, red sun commons could be smaller (4 rooms?), etc. No need to add anything, removing stuff would make it more playable.

Cut down to 2 noble houses and one templar group (still have salarr/kurac/kadians/bynners in the city).
Don't bother with PC professional soldiers, have a volunteer militia and let the templarate or a noble house run it.
Let the nobles control the poet groups. 

And, I really like the nilazi idea. Don't bother with a special clan, just have a requirement to notify a templar and be "on call" for special duties.

[Dresan]

It is my opinion that there is not enough attention and support in location such as Rinth, Redstorm, Morins and to a lesser extend Luirs to make people feel like they can play there and not feel like their missing out something by not having access to Allanak location/people/clans.

This is by design because when staff create plots they usually target the most amount of people which are not often in those area. Luirs is better off, but the folks playing in Morins or Redstorm are just out of luck. Which creates this vicious cycle of making these places feel isolated, dead and just worth investing the time to play from at all.  So when you get burnt out from Allanak all the other location feel lackluster, which sadly the are.

Again I don't believe we've seen a return in the investment in terms of plot and story for the the support and love allanak has been given, not sure cutting their support in half now and attempting to fuel plots in another city state will make the game better especially for people still playing in allanak and all the surrounding locations.