SEASONS FEEDBACK: How will world consolidation actually work?

[MarshallDFX]

I'm creating a topic for each area of feedback that Usiku posted.  Please don't turn them all into "seasons is trash", that can go in the "how do we feel about seasons" thread.

Usiku asked:

I know there have been bits of information here and there about areas of the game and borders and folks are talking about invisible walls. We have not agreed on exactly how this will work and what this will look like. We want to make sure there is enough variation and world to suit everyones playstyles and desires and we want to make sure that we find a way to bring the majority of players, who want to be around other players, together in a smaller area so it's easier to find interaction and move plots forward. But we haven't agreed yet on the best way to achieve this.

Definitely open to input and ideas here!

So what do you think? How should borders work? How big or small?  Personally I think if we are upsetting everybody anyways we should try going small. This is a chance to make LuirsMUD a reality. Siege of Luirs. 

[papertiger]

I would like them not to entertain clan requests for the zones specified and for them to close off the cities and villages as needed, but unlinking rooms one by one to sever whole chunks and creating npcs and systems to make up for lacking mats seems like a heck ton of work they're going to have to undo later. I would like the downtime to be as short as possible. The longer it lingers, the more people risk we losing. It may not be a concern for all, but I like the rpers here and it would be a shame to lose them.

[CirclelessBard]

I would prefer to see the world open as much as possible for exploration but only with staff support for the area of focus the season is intended for.

So if season one is planned to be Allanak-focused, then clan support should only be for the clans in Allanak or directly interacting with Allanak from outside. Players should only be able to point to Allanak or other locations that might be within the same scope (e.g. Labyrinth, Red Storm, or a tribe in the south). At the same time, people should be able to go anywhere in the world if they wish to. However, staff would only support player-created clans that are intended to interact with the seasonal focus (so, no going to the Gol Krathu to set up your group that never goes south of Luir's). They would also only support plots and actions that actually contribute to the season (e.g. no Allanaki templars going for a pub crawl to the Sun King's Sanctuary just because there won't be a PC reaction).

This kind of setup would put the focus of the seasonal story on a narrow group of areas that make the most sense to focus on, while keeping other areas open for things like trade and resource gathering.

Of course, if everything north of Luir's 100 years in the future is a giant inaccessible crater or something, so be it, but I would hope that staff would not write themselves into a corner for future seasons.

[Kaathe]

I dunno if they're gonna use it because I came up with this unasked before even the internal announcement, but I had an idea for closing storm, nak, mul outpost, and tuluk. Nak refugees take most of Luirs but leave a neutral area for GMH to manage and allow a lawless area to grow. Tuluk refugees expand morins. Blackwing fixes the pot holes and encourages trade with both. Luirs becomes the new main hub.  Tuluki players can still be tuluki.  Elves can still be elves. But clans are fewer, civilized areas are tighter, armies are stalemated but small scale conflict is put in walking distance. And the rest of the world is still open for exploration.

I don't think they'll actually use this because it isn't that focused and it's after the exciting world events. Also it's largely the same as now, just tighter.  But exact story beats are not set afaik so maybe.