The Aetolian Confessionals

Arbre

If your cat is shiny, something is wrong.

Rivas

I feel like that's a euphemism for something I've never heard of before.

Moirean

Spoilered for being a link with ladyparts shown.

[spoiler]
http://store.vajazzling.com/
[/spoiler]

Areka

Probs should spoiler/nsfw that link, not really pg13 appropriate considering they've legit got pics of the vajoo all up on there. 

Arbre

Done.

Haven

I've spent more money on Aetolian art than on the game itself.

When it comes to art for my characters, I try not to direct the artist too much because for the most part I enjoy seeing how others imagine/interpret what my character looks like. Because of this I've quite the wide range of portrayals for my characters, especially Haven!

Hugo

When I first started 8 years ago my only rp experience was what I acquired on Yahoo messenger. Which really led to some derp moments. Such as trying to heal a wall with hands. I feel I've gotten a bit better in some aspects. I'm afraid of mischanneling so much I'll check the syntax five times before I post.

Lin

Hey, it's this thread!

• I was so certain I'd quit. Utterly convicted. I was doing so well for almost three years. But then, I shit you not, I had an unexplainable dream. I was sitting in a friend's personal theater in their basement, watching home videos. The videos were time lapses of Aetolian characters and their families in stages of growth. The character alone, then them courting their significant other, then their children growing up. I know Xenia was one, and Aishia. There were a few others but I forget. I woke up feeling lonelier than I had in ages, and I logged in later that very day. If you're a psychologist, have a field day with that one.
  
• I'm kind of rude now? I remember being nicer. Everyone else seems to be rude too, though.
  
• Lin has a new, deep, dark secret, but it's the kind that could really mess things up so I have no idea how it will ever be expressed, if at all.
  
• I've become extremely attached to the random permanent items my character has accrued throughout the decade of her life.
  
• Recently, I lost the oldest possession Lin owns during some stellar RP, and although it was dead sexy, I feel super anxious about it being gone.
  
• I'm responsible for the Tsinkin Municipality, and Remi, one of the hobo NPCs, is Lin's canonical father (as in I willfully inserted the pre-established character into the game, not that I decided on the connection after the fact).
  
• I'm also responsible for Sterion. I'm sorry, I was going through a phase.
  
• One of the lamest things about Aetolia was this sense of staleness, in which it's either the same characters, or alts of the same characters that you can spot from a mile off. Now Aetolia is full of what appears to be actual new players, and the idea that someone might not know who I am is thrilling! I've had to actually step up my RP game because I can't just fall back on reputation.
  
• If you write "apathy" or "stagnation" I absolutely will not read your news post.
  
• I discovered an unreleased Hobby completely by accident. I can't reproduce what I did to discover its name again.
  
• I would become a mortal builder just to get a chance to completely remake old wilderness zones (the Ithmias, Shamtota Hills, etc.). This poor game needs a fresh coat of paint. Also Spinereach? You gotta go. Circular maps are the new hotness.
  
• If a guild's lore or required reading bores me or I just find it badly written, I will just barely skim it, then make educated guesses when I'm quizzed on the content during an interview.
  
• I have never failed a guild interview.
  
• Almost every time I make to esteem somebody, I get most of the way through writing it, second guess myself, try writing a new one, and then repeat the process until I give up. I owe a backlog of like 10 esteems since I've come back. I think maybe it feels self-aggrandizing? I have no clue. See the note in the first post about a psychologist.
  
• I'm frustrated whenever a really cool character acts like a total dork where I can see it. Powerful, imposing figures who shout in all caps, make endless goofy jokes, and generally pal around in low RP mode. I'm aware it's my own imposition that you have to be serious and cool and high effort at all times, but it doesn't make it any less disenchanting for me.
  
• Because of the above confession, Tani's order is virtually off limits for me where RP is concerned.
  
• I want a lot of attention and I don't think that's anything to be ashamed of. You want attention, too, even if only a little. It's basic human behavior.
  
• Lin had a kid - with Sibatti! I want to see him played, but I've had all of my children made into real characters and it has backfired every time. I'm still on the fence about making some kind of request.
  

Lin

new confession: i'm an idiot and didn't see this thread

Arbre

Lin said:

new confession: i'm an idiot and didn't see this thread

Meh, screw that thread. We be ovah heah today.

Lin said:

I'm frustrated whenever a really cool character acts like a total dork where I can see it. Powerful, imposing figures who shout in all caps, make endless goofy jokes, and generally pal around in low RP mode. I'm aware it's my own imposition that you have to be serious and cool and high effort at all times, but it doesn't make it any less disenchanting for me.

Because of the above confession, Tani's order is virtually off limits for me where RP is concerned.

This bothers the hell out of me. It's fun to goof off every now and again, but this is the Midnight Age. Some sense of seriousness seems to be required, imo. But on the other hand, I try not to tread on other people's unicorns, because if they're having fun, who am I to moderate?

And Tani's Order is more than shouting, I promise!

Mjoll

Oof

Aishia

Damn I feel like me doing the goof thing is like the most major wedge between us @Lin I distinctly remember absolutely crushing a watermelon in front of you once and things have not been the same since.

Serrice

Did you CALL YOURSELF OUT ON SIDE LINE (regarding Sterion)!?

Lin

Lmao yes

Koda

After not playing for at least a little over two years, I for some reason just can't stop checking the forums at least a few times a week and love seeing what's going on with the game nonetheless. There are a lot of different names, but after ~8 years of playing I can recognize things like writing styles and life events/details to know who a lot of those different names are. It's kinda like watching old friends grow and evolve from the sidelines. There are also a good chunk of them I'd have no idea of, and it's heartwarming in that way to see the game growing.

< diary>

I would love to start playing again, and I definitely get the itch really often. I miss the sort of creative outlet this game provides, and the opportunity to just bounce out of real life for a little while and into something immersive and very much a break from all the craziness going on outside. I've made good friends playing Aetolia that I still keep in touch with now, and have met a bunch too - hell I spent my high school senior week meeting people from the game (that was almost 10 years ago, wut), and after college moved across the country to live with somebody I met from Aetolia for 6 months while I landed my first post-college job in my industry. It's had a huge impact on my life.

..But the thing that sucks is it doesn't seem like there's really such a thing as casually playing Aetolia. RP sessions with the depth that I've grown to love from this game don't quite get pulled off in 20 minutes here and there. Events can't be paused for a call with a client. Influence isn't really formed in the game by spending an hour once or twice a week in it. When you're not logged in, the game's still very much alive and continuing, and piling up things (if you want to be involved in what's going on) for you to spend time catching up on properly the next time you play, which eats limited time as it is. I feel like because of these things, playing seems like a sort of all-or-nothing type experience, because anything less than a very real time commitment results in a watered-down, less-immersive experience.

These days time for me seems to be budgeted much like money, and there just doesn't seem to be enough free time in the budget to allocate to playing in a way that's fully satisfying. Where the entertainment portion of the so-called time budget is, instead ends up being games that I can play, get somewhat into for an hour, then save and quit until the next time the opportunity presents itself, whenever it may be.

That bums me out a little, and I definitely miss you guys and what's going on here.

< /diary>

Aishia

I just roleplay that Aishia is basically always pregnant and that I have an infinite amount of children out there. The main conceits being, either she stashed them in Yuzurai with all the other little wingbabies, Valingar tucked them in a monastery school somewhere, or she accidentally traded them to the Fae in some dark bargain. I pretty much have no idea how people manage to rp fake npc kids and it kind of weirds me out hugely. I love the idea of just finding someone and being like. "OH CRAP WAIT IS THAT YOU." Seems to have a higher hit rate than people recruiting people to play their kids.

Lin

Aishia said:

I pretty much have no idea how people manage to rp fake npc kids and it kind of weirds me out hugely.

Louder for the people in the back!

Lin

I have no idea what Mhun look like

Hawa

Lin said:

I have no idea what Mhun look like

human, but slightly shorter, and tending toward more grey-ish skin tones? i thought this was written somewhere... hrm...

Iazamat

I have a horrible habit of not looking at the characters I interact with on a regular basis.

Axius

I let some IC misconceptions and a bit of poor IC/OOC separation cause me to end up avoiding certain -amazing- peeps in our community... and I'm trying to repair that by interacting with y'all players who I originally was kinda like "eww.. that person's character is a jerk. They might be a jerk." (I'm lookin' at you @Haven, the original person to -break- this misconception in me, and help me learn I'm a daft weirdo for -not- making that separation subconsciously.. seriously tho. We gotta get some sorta non-aggro RP between us one of these days!)

Sarita

Stuff that happens ICly can still make me cry/jump around with excitement/get overly emotional IRL.

A little edit here: If people ask me OOCly whether I'm ok with something that happened ICly, there is a very good chance that I'll lie about it and say that it's fine because I don't want people to treat my characters any differently.

Nisavi

This might come across as a bit of a jab at some folks and I assure you that it's not, but having been playing on Shadow again with a more dedicated character, I think many of you don't realize how similar both sides really are. Sure, Spirit has a bit more of an RP focus while Shadow tends to be a bit more centered around PK, but I've seriously noticed something that I'm calling GIGS (Grass Is Greener Syndrome). This might be rich coming from me given my history once upon a time, but not everything the other side has is OP, Keroc is not a biased admin (seriously, that statement has become a meme in itself), and Spirit and Shadow are probably the closest to each other that I've ever seen. Older players should remember the experience the days of old Lure, old Grove Annihilation, Quickfoot Sentinel, the lack of ranged options that Spirit had once upon a time, etc. and how far Aetolia has come since then. The game is far better off now than it has been in terms of balance. For all of our sakes, let's try not to take PvP so seriously where we're allowing it to cloud our perceptions of players. When I die, I have triggers that literally tell me to relax, take a breather, review the logs, and see where I went wrong. I encourage people to do the same before they jump to conclusions and get heated.

Edit: This post was largely generated from conversations I've had with players on both sides of the fence that make erroneous assumptions about the opposing tether, like claiming that one side is more hostile than the other or more "cheap" than the other. Both sides can, and have, been dickish. Both sides fluctuate in terms of who is strongest.

Nisavi

Double post somehow. My bad.

Sanir

Shadow is OP, it has Mazzion. If Keroc nerfs him specifically, we'll be good.

Nisavi

Sanir said:

Shadow is OP, it has Mazzion. If Keroc nerfs him specifically, we'll be good.

I have nerfed Mazzion in the past. It doesn't stop him, it only sustains him and makes him stronger.

Arbre

Nisavi said:

I have nerfed Mazzion in the past.

Kinky.

Tenshyo

We doing confessionals over here??!?

MAAAAAAA, CALL THE PRIEST.



Ahem...

Sometimes I feel lost. I'm afraid to let my guild down, my friends, and hell even letting myself down. 

I go through periods where I feel like I am on top of the world, and I love my writing.... Other times? I don't feel like I write as well (or as I perceive it as well) as I do and I get gunshy on pulling various rp triggers...


But even with that being said, I am eternally thankful for those who do rp with me when I'm in those low spots and continue to make this game and world fun

Sibatti

A confession I became painfully aware of recently:

Whenever I'm emoting, I am always obsessed with making sure my tags ($Stine_him, etc.) make sense not only to the person I'm directly roleplaying with, but any other potential onlookers, secret or not. This means rewriting certain sentences quite a few times until I find a configuration that makes sense regardless of who sees it.

I don't know if anyone else does this, or if I'm particularly weird in this regard. I'LL DIE BEFORE SOMEONE THINKS I HAVE BAD GRAMMER.

Iazamat

Sibatti said:

I'LL DIE BEFORE SOMEONE THINKS I HAVE BAD GRAMMER.

You can't erase this one!