|
|
Post by sirra on Apr 16, 2015 0:21:49 GMT -5
I fucked off for a couple weeks, and I came back to:
1) Nessalin stepping down
2) Tuluk being closed
3) An apparent commitment by Nyr to give player leaders more agency by killing off NPCs*
4) More builders**
People know that I have reserved a level of vitriol for head staff that would make even ISIS blush. But this strikes me as an incredibly positive development. Am I missing something? Is there some horribly fucked up thing I've missed?
What's the catch? It's almost shaping up to be a game I'd almost like playing, again. If this is true, I'll need to revise my opinion of Nyr as something of a Mussolini figure, to more of a Francisco Franco. The differences might be subtle, but one died hung from a telephone pole, and the other got to join the United Nations, eventually.
They've also implemented a couple other things I've advocated for in the past, like the addition of NPC merchants to warehouses.
* We'll see where this goes.
** Ditto
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2015 5:42:55 GMT -5
What's the catch?
Nyr's still there.
|
|
|
|
Post by sirra on Apr 16, 2015 6:28:12 GMT -5
What's the catch? Nyr's still there. Honestly, I thought he was the kind of cat that would go down with the ship, shaking his fist into the fury of the storm. It's possible that I'm reading too much into this, as well. The human centipede that is Nessalin, Nyr and Adhira might simply have shifted. Perhaps Nyr is growing more distant and bored with the game (as Ness did ten years ago), and it's made room for other staff to make their voices heard and push forward taboo ideas, like closing Tuluk. In any case, it's a fascinating development. I honestly thought they would never even obliquely admit to the abortion that was new Tuluk and its erosive impact on the game coherence. A few of the reasons they gave for closing it, are some that I voiced nearly ten years ago. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2015 6:36:32 GMT -5
Yeah, and sorry, maybe I am being too dismissive of something that is a great change, but I just feel that, if I started playing again because of a change like this - admittedly, it is tempting, even though all I have for an Internet connection is a smartphone - then the same problems of heavy handed, arbitrarily-enforced rules... Elitist snubbing... Marginalization... Grudge holding... A refusal to acknowledge wrongs: that sort of shit would still be an issue, regardless of any sweeping in-game changes.
It's just hard to muster up enthusiasm when some of the problems are very fundmental in nature and don't have much to do with Tuluk, Templars, or Allanak.
Maybe I'm looking af it the wrong way.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2015 6:50:48 GMT -5
If they had tossed the entire karma system in the dumpster, I would be a little more stoked.
|
|
jesantu
Displaced Tuluki
Posts: 386 
|
Post by jesantu on Apr 16, 2015 7:34:35 GMT -5
The proposed changes in and of themselves are great ideas, but the people administering them have a documented history of pettiness, lying, and deliberately going against players' wishes just to spite them. You're inspired by warehouses? Who owns one without a lot of red tape just to get it? Player run clans? Has even one come into existence that's actually coded without having to keep your character alive for years of real time first?
The only hope for real, positive change is if the staff publicly announce their shortfalls (without finding a cleverly worded way of blaming it on the players as well) and prove, after time, that they are committed to what they say..... Either that or the current head staff resign and pass the game to someone who isn't burnt out, to someone who's willing to make the game fun for others (not just say they are).
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2015 7:40:22 GMT -5
^^^ jesantu is entirely on point, and the first sentence of the first paragraph basically says it all, with emphasis on spite, pettiness, and lying.
|
|
|
|
Post by sirra on Apr 16, 2015 7:45:14 GMT -5
Yeah, and sorry, maybe I am being too dismissive of something that is a great change, but I just feel that, if I started playing again because of a change like this - admittedly, it is tempting, even though all I have for an Internet connection is a smartphone - then the same problems of heavy handed, arbitrarily-enforced rules... Elitist snubbing... Marginalization... Grudge holding... A refusal to acknowledge wrongs: that sort of shit would still be an issue, regardless of any sweeping in-game changes. It's just hard to muster up enthusiasm when some of the problems are very fundmental in nature and don't have much to do with Tuluk, Templars, or Allanak. Maybe I'm looking af it the wrong way. I get exactly what you're saying and I'm right there with you. Still, it really is the only thing they've done since 2010 that even made me look up with mild interest. I bet the Allanak T'zai Byn is going to experience a renaissance. Stilt lizard twinking up in the grasslands is going to be hilarious without a Tuluk nearby for most to flee to. (Expect an uptick in tribal apps). Desert elves are going to be in a much stronger position, for sure. I remember the Time Before Tuluk as an Armageddon golden age. The proposed changes in and of themselves are great ideas, but the people administering them have a documented history of pettiness, lying, and deliberately going against players' wishes just to spite them. You're inspired by warehouses? Who owns one without a lot of red tape just to get it? Player run clans? Has even one come into existence that's actually coded without having to keep your character alive for years of real time first? The only hope for real, positive change is if the staff publicly announce their shortfalls (without finding a cleverly worded way of blaming it on the players as well) and prove, after time, that they are committed to what they say..... Either that or the current head staff resign and pass the game to someone who isn't burnt out, to someone who's willing to make the game fun for others (not just say they are). This is all too true. It does feel like a kind of subtle shift at work, however. The kinds of change that happens when some staffers step back, and some others grow more vocal. I'm definitely prepared to be disappointed, though. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2015 7:54:28 GMT -5
i still feel betrayed about the Byn after they had that massive murder RPT - which was, yes, VERY FUN (mainly because I lived even though they tried to kill me with a psionicist with backstab) - and then, shortly thereafter, imposed all these new sanctions of Byn recruitment.
Their entire goal with that murder plot was the thin the Byn ranks, and they didn't even try to cover it up because the next step was to OOCly impose hiring restrictions and caps on the sergeants.
Really fucking shitty of staff members to pull crap like that after players, in spite of the best efforts of Nyr, manage to pull together a great clan in Armageddon.
It's like... When staff members who have been unsuccessful in their own clan building as players (see: Thrend Lyksae) see players doing some amazing shit with clans, they feel compelled to smash it to pieces and make sure that it doesn't happen again. Happened when Nyr took over my Kadian group. Happened when they intervened with the Sefaj Byn pack.
And it will probably happen again - under the pretext of pushing whatever new "thing" they're going for with Nak.
As long as certain attitudes remain, all of their /things/ will be fucked, and they will fuck the /things/ of other players if they think THEIR *things* will suffer.
|
|
|
|
Post by LordOfChange on Apr 16, 2015 8:01:56 GMT -5
the prob with arm wasn't too many cities or ness being too involved or too many black robes vnps. the catch is nothing important has changed.
|
|
jesantu
Displaced Tuluki
Posts: 386
|
Post by jesantu on Apr 16, 2015 8:23:45 GMT -5
I believe LOD had an influence in the move for San and Ness to order Bhag to step down. He submitted a player petition, signed by quite a few disgruntled players. Take with that information what you will. Not sure what Nyr really thinks, but based on what I know of human nature I'd be surprised if knowing an entire website devoted to hating him didn't get to him at points. Maybe whoever said he might be slowly stepping back a few posts ago is right.
|
|
|
|
Post by nyrsucks on Apr 16, 2015 8:29:37 GMT -5
The problem is the staff isn't willing to give up significant control of the story. They admitted as much. The story is set, and you are just the flavor that has no real impact. Watch their magnificent plots with NPCs!
|
|
Jeshin
GDB Superstar
Posts: 1,516
|
Post by Jeshin on Apr 16, 2015 8:31:10 GMT -5
At the risk of sounding like a staff fan boi... Armageddon is easy mode for creating an engaging experience. It has player emotional investment, it has a rich history of player actions that can be referenced (because it isn't currently) which will give everyone the warm and fuzzies, it has -a lot- of latent conflict that hasn't been tapped in a long time. It doesn't take the staff publically acknowledging their shortcomings (though this would be good for relations with players) all it takes is them making a good decision. Then making another good decision. I could probably, off the top of my head, jot down 5 plots that the majority of you would enjoy even if they were totally railroaded. Just like I bet the majority of you would say you had a good time at the rebooted Star Trek movie when it came out even though it wasn't old Star Trek  TLDR - Armageddon is just waiting for the staff to start trying again, in the right way. EDIT - Lets not forget that SOI (original 1.0 and 2.0 versions) had a much higher playerbase than Armageddon did in its height of popularity and that was operating on a railroad timeline from the Tolkien books. Railroads can be done well. |
|
|
|
Post by LordOfChange on Apr 16, 2015 8:31:58 GMT -5
The problem is the staff isn't willing to give up significant control of the story. They admitted as much. The story is set, and you are just the flavor that has no real impact. Watch their magnificent plots with NPCs! this This THIS +1000 now that tuluk is gassed the imms will have an easier time hamfisting pieces around the checker board. enjoy the lights in the sky, buckos |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2015 8:44:36 GMT -5
Everyone seems pretty sure that this RPT spells the end of the Black Robe Order. Can we be positive about that? What if they are just trying to make it so that the Red Robes are going to be vying for their positions now? Just a thought.
|
|
