Volunteer AMA!

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Comments

  • How willing are the divine to ‘shake things up’ for order and congregation members’ ambitions?
    To elaborate on shake things up, I’ll give an example. Say an order member is sees an NPC area as an affront to or impediment for the goals of their chosen deity, changing the mechanics of an NPC area (ie who they’re willing to deal with, who populates the area etc) could, in some cases, cause a ruckus with other player-orgs.

    Is that an acceptable avenue for an adherent to a religion to pursue?

    kinda specifically a question for @Brax since it regards my ambitions for Ivo’s order.

  • BraxBrax Immortal
    Almol said:

    How willing are the divine to ‘shake things up’ for order and congregation members’ ambitions?
    To elaborate on shake things up, I’ll give an example. Say an order member is sees an NPC area as an affront to or impediment for the goals of their chosen deity, changing the mechanics of an NPC area (ie who they’re willing to deal with, who populates the area etc) could, in some cases, cause a ruckus with other player-orgs.

    Is that an acceptable avenue for an adherent to a religion to pursue?

    kinda specifically a question for @Brax since it regards my ambitions for Ivo’s order.

    Very good question for sure.

    Short answer: It totally depends

    Longer answer:

    A whole bunch of things would need to be taken into consideration:
    • What other orgs would be impacted by a shifting of the area?
    • Could other goals be accomplished with this in addition?
    • Could this be turned into a bigger conflict beyond a single member/smaller scale?
    • How important is this area? Are we going to need it as-is for future events? Does it hold deeper lore implications?
    • How big of a scale are we actually talking/how much work would be required?
    ..so on and so forth.

    Area building is definitely a big deal, and there's typically a lot of work that goes into it. A reskin of sorts (that's the vibe I'm getting here) would need to take the above into consideration as it'd involve writing all new mobs, writing up progs for said mobs, creating new questlines (and making sure you don't break others), likely rewriting room descriptions to some degree, and a bunch more.

    This is where on our end we'd need to get a little bit more pragmatic in considering the effort:reward ratio, and the potential impact. If it has the potential to spiral into a huge event that's super engaging for a lot of players, then we're leaning a bit more towards the 'good use of time' category. Even with that said though, it's typically a pretty big undertaking, and would pair a little better if there was already some sort of desire to do something with the area as-is, or use this as a vehicle towards a bigger thing.

    At the end of the day though, Aetolia's definitely a living, breathing game that continues to be shaped by player decisions and actions, so I'd 100% encourage you to go for it anyway. The possibility of having a tangible impact is and always will be there, but from a character-building perspective, the pursuit itself can a lot of times be just as big of a deal.
    LinIesidTeotlSekeres
  • LinLin Blackbird The Moonglade
    So what you're saying is I can crusade to turn Mournhold into an Omeiian harem
    IesidSekeres
  • PhoeneciaPhoenecia The Merchant of Esterport Somewhere in Attica
    Probably not since that's Slyphe's territory. 
    Lin
  • Brax said:

    .

    So I don't want to elaborate too much because it is certainly an IG ambition for Almol.

    But say the area in question is an old bashing area that hasn't changed in as long as I can remember, literally the same quests (one unfinished?) as when I played over a decade ago. The only change I've seen is that there's a new bashing area connected to it.

    It could ameliorate the current issue we have with 99+ bashing areas being constantly empty by being an avenue to add another instance or at least another high level bashing area.
    It could totally provoke/incite ire and conflict from other orgs based on RP without mechanically bothering anyone.
    The area seems to be unimportant, going off it's lack of updates and a quest that's been unfinished for as long as I can remember.
    It's a small area that's currently only used on the way to 100 and generally forgotten about after. The scale of the change would likely be just a reskin of the mobs and area.


  • edited December 2020
    Ardent said:

    If there was a viable way of doing it, retconning and bull aside, just straight up you could do it and have it done, are there any of the Divine from the past you'd like to bring back and why?

    Lleis. Everyone loved her, everyone still loves her, and her themes are incredible. I'd go so far as to argue that you need that sort of regenerative, vital counterbalance as a presence in a game like this! We lean into cosmic and Gothic horror, and as fun as it is to play with themes of inescapable decay... a story needs light to see the darkness by. No other dead God or Goddess did as much for the game or its mood, or contrasted with the horror quite so elegantly.

    Lleis, in a heartbeat.
    Teotl said:

    aaaah awesome thread! I read through so I will try not to repeat questions.

    1. Do you have a favourite bit of lore?

    There's tons of small things I absolutely adore about the game's lore, so picking one is difficult for me! Let me hit some highlights of mine.

    Numerology is one of my favorite skillsets in the game. A lot of that is the culture and lore that grew to surround it, facilitated by the two guilds that have had it... a lot of its flavor was originated by players, particularly the idea that it's a dangerous, fiddly art capable of annihilating less capable practitioners. The aura of mystique and risk that surrounds it, as well as the detail that's gone into its lore over time? It's easily up there for me.

    Idar's whole story is great, but I love his downfall by Catiana/Chakrasul's hands. It's like it's straight out of a horror novel! The lore we get describes the events at the castle a little sparingly, it's true, but the sheer tragic perfection of the narrative felt mythical and instantly memorable to me.

    Is it lore if it's fictitious in the game's setting? Oh well. Read Veriara's book, Tossidar's Tale of the Little Librarian! It's one of my favorite player books ever, and it left a huge impression on me way back in the ancient days when I was a tiny newbie.

    Mournhold, which is one huge shout out to the Lovecraftian genre of horror. Everything about it conveys such a bleak, dim mood... the way the town's descended from survivors of a civilization-ending apocalypse, the thrim-worshipping cultists down in the warrens below... there's so much going on there, and all of it feels like such a natural stepping point from the lore that preexisted it.

    ...which, speaking of, is also some of my favorite lore. The Kerrithrim is classic and it's always going to have a spot in my top five. Whenever you can inflict a miles-high tentacle monster on the continent, kill tons of players, and imply a thing or two about its creation in the process? It's hard to top that.

    My favorite bits of lore, as you might guess from this brief sampling, is stuff that's either clearly evocative of the game's inspirations... or which achieves a sense of verisimilitude or continuity from its starting point. When I read lore, I want to know how it fits into the other lore - I want to be able to construct an idea of the world in my head. Anything that illuminates Aetolia's world a little more is doing its job.
    Teotl said:


    2. Aside from expressed esteem, what feels like a nice treat for you?

    Dark chocolate!

    In an Aetolian context, seeing my work discussed on the forums or in the official Discord is always an ego booster. I like knowing that the work I've done has impacted and inspired people. Audience response is something I enjoy a lot, regardless of the form it takes - positive or negative, praise or critique. I want to know how I'm doing, and I want to improve as an administrator and storyteller if something is lacking. When people tell me something is off, I try my best to learn from it.
    Teotl said:


    3. Would you worship any of the Divine irl and if so whom?

    Nope! Religiously I'm already spoken for. Sorry to any Gods who might be reading this thread... it's not you, it's me...
    Teotl said:

    6. In the least meta way possible... if you give me a reason to rp with you I probably will. That's not a questions, just putting it out there <3</p>

    jots down a note. Ok, you asked for it...
  • This thread died and that makes me sad, so I am going o be a good little templar and try to bring it back.
    My questions:
    Are the pools salt or fresh water?
    How often do you want to zap players but don’t?
    How often do you want to zap each other but cannot?
    How much does essence actually affect all of you in your god shells, and what can it be used for?
    tea or coffee? Trick question the answer is obviously both.
    Oh, and lastly, what is the likelyhood of getting to do something involving an npc I have never seen anyone do a quest with or animate?
  • Have you come across an oact or prog that just made you think "I wouldn't do this as a player" or the opposite "I really wish I'd found this on my mortal"? 
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