It's boring to be Duirani

Ayastia · June 2022

Well, I think a lot of people are going to blame this thread for current events xD

Iazamat · June 2022

They can, but having conversations like this openly is good for the game, especially if it leads to IG movement.

Tetchta · June 2022

Even if it were the case, change that's good for the world and the game happening isn't suddenly ruined because there was a thread related to it. If nothing else, it's good to see actionable stuff happening for once when someone brings up an issue.

Sibatti · June 2022

Eaku said:

But sometimes it feels like that time I was an officer in an RP FC in ff14 - at one event I ran a ton of people (ten to twenty) would show up, and the next week I'd have, like, two people. No feedback, no criticisms, nothing in between but the occasional 'i had fun!' and I'm left doing guesswork as to why one approach worked once and then never again. At times it's worse in Duiran because I get a crumb or two of feedback, adjust accordingly, and continue to get nothing. I don't think I'm alone in that.

Duiran as a whole feels a lot like that impenetrable enigma. In one day, we get lore drops that should light a fire under our collective butt (most importantly, Haern reveals that Dendara is not only dying but actually in the death sleep) but seemingly really struggle to move forward with any of it despite what seems to me the best efforts of many players. I know I've chased geese down rabbit holes for RL hours in the time since and turned up, as best I can tell, absolutely nothing of value, and I don't think I'm alone in that either.

This has been something that has been very frustrating as of late. It's been especially prevalent in the past few years and I don't want to just call it 'apathy' and move on, it's more complex than that, but I don't know how else to describe it.

It's like... a lack of curiosity, and a lack of urgency both. Sib will get up to some crazy Shaman stuff and it's so disheartening to have no one bite, let alone riff off the situation. Or, like you described it, a lukewarm 'I had fun!' and nothing more. Everyone is nice enough, there's just no bite in anyone.

I think one of the mistakes Duiran might be making is that things get built up into unfeasible expectations. Eireachdus is a prime example of this. It's taxing and comes bundled up with a lot of stress in what ultimately amounts to navel-gazing. Maybe it's the reliability and predictability that's made it so unimportant over the years? There's just this great sense of no one caring about it.

Another problem I have with the Rhythm/Cycle/Balance stuff is that some of it can be restrictive - and honestly it wouldn't take too much to fix, but it's tough to go against the grain, and it's tough to have your character risk displeasing Dad. But now that I think about it, perhaps it's the player interpretation that's being wielded as a justification for so many years of neutrality. Maybe it doesn't have to be that way!

The other thing that's remarkable here is that there are clearly a good chunk of people who care deeply about this problem to try and do something about it, and all agree on the problem, but it's reached that point where it's an open secret, clearly.