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So this thread caught my attention on one of my check-ins and I have some thoughts. (And maybe this tangent has already reached the point where it should be split into its own thread anyway.)
So I'll use Enorian circa 2009 as my reference point, since @Eydis mentioned it. There were a lot of unique factors at play around about that time that do not really apply today, for different reasons, so I'll explain a bit of that:
- @Eydis mentioned there being a Zealous edge to Enorian, and this is true. A lot of the Leadership were Daru/Luminary and were the driving force for the zeal in Enorian at the time.
- Enorian had the Paladins which acted as a sort of counterbalance to the more radical ideas that the Daru/Luminaries would have. The Paladins were the majority guild of Enorian (Often equaling or surpassing the other two guilds in raw numbers)
- Auresae had been an active influence on many of the players at the time. So Auresae's Order was also a driving force in Enorian at this time.
- Duiran (I think it is fair to say) was at a low ebb, which left Enorian in a good place to pull in people who would not have considered Enorian for their city if Duiran was.. well.. good.
So with all of these factors, we had three guilds with an active core covering the different leadership roles, a healthy non city guild population and the Ascendril who tended to always be the quieter of the guilds. (I can only remember one or two Ascendril from the time, sorry!) all of the guilds did not necessarily agree on everything so much as they were able to work to a sort of balance with the Daru/Luminaries/Auresae's Order acting as the "engine" for Enorian at the time. The Paladins were an effective counterbalance and had a number of active players who could direct that energy through fighting, in-game politics, etc.
Another point that I think might be slightly harder to believe is that there were no clear cliques (to my memory), people associated with their guild/order first, but the city was the thing that pulled it all together. If Arion had a problem, it was a problem some in Enorian would help with and so on. So there was a lot of interplay between the guilds and the orders - While you would see some segregation in orders, such as Auresae being mostly Daru/Luminary, Arion being mostly Paladin, you would get some Daru Arionites, for example. In this way, the links for the city were formed there.
So does the last paragraph sound obvious? It should. There were so many different organizations and belief structures and the city was the melting pot for it, so there was internal conflict that often came up in flash points, but those were opportunities for those people to work together to resolve them through their links. Be it the GMs getting together to solve a problem or the city identifying a new direction, goal, etc.
I think Enorian 2009 was the culmination the last 3 or so years where the city tried to maintain a core of fighters, call in people from other cities/guilds. (The Auresians were particular about the Vampire/Undeath cure being a method of "redemption"), but it also had a core of players who had been in the city for a long time and used to working together. It's not something I could -ever- claim sole responsibility for, but I would be being humble beyond belief if I said "I got lucky". I put a lot of hours into getting to know people in my city and tried my best to be careful about not neglecting people - if it meant spending a few hours in the Paladin/Luminary GH, so be it. My job was to make the game fun and give others a stage to play on.
So I suppose what I am saying overall is that the drive comes a lot from the player base, but it -does- need support from the game admin (I know this can be hard at times), Auresae/Arion were able to give Enorian a push when the city may have been petering out and inspire groups of players to be vocal in a city sense.
I don't understand enough about Bloodloch/Spinesreach to offer very specific advice, but I think Enorian benefited from an overarching goal coming from multiple sources, so any direction that the cities take need to get some direction from their guilds/orders. (The pillars thing @Vyxsis mentioned sounds promising for Bloodloch, though I understand it only comes from Teradrim atm?)
I think if you get the guilds/Orders active and pursuing goals, that will quickly show in city leadership/current leaders being challenged by those who -do- have an agenda to push, which I think is the vital ingredient for the city - people in leadership that have their own agenda/world view to push and use the city as a vehicle for and encourage people to buy into.
So, I guess I wound up rambling a bit, but I hope it gives some ideas.
Will the neighbors be more annoyed with my singing in the shower if I use the shower head as a microphone or is it more dependent on the genre?
Edit: Since I'm about to move I decided not to care and amped up the volume.
Also, sorry if I killed the thread :frowning:
What if Bamathis is really Severn in disguise and a means to put the Spirit tether in a rough position morally and politically, and the "Varian" that appeared to seal Jox was just an illusion? What if Severn had already laid all the plans to seal Jox away again, and when he yelled "Stick to the plan" during the last battle, it was all intended? He also consolidated his and Bam's divine orders.
Hi.
(Spinesreach): Xiuhcoatl says, "Oh man, grab the children-corn. This is gonna be good."