Has any

[Ilshara]

I completely understand what you are talking about, Rhyndar. Many things should be left up to the players, RP-wise. For we are the individuals who collectively make up Akanbar. I also agree that if people want to RP, they should initiate it. I for one find this rather hard. I can take time and energy to engross someone in RP with a well though out emote, and all I get in return is a grin of dismissal and onto the next topic.

Sure, I can RP solo. I've RP'd giving orders to my men, RP'd a solo spar against an invisible opponent... 'practicing' my new skills, I've even RP'd taking a bath in the Rummet. Thing is, RP without other people is far and few between and RP with groups beats the hell out of RP solo. Also, many people RP without emotes. It's how they do things in everyday life. Ilshara, when marching, was being killed over and over. But it was her sense of duty to her men and city that made her not quit or give up. When me (the person behind the screen) was frustrated beyond all belief and could have throw a brick through the wall from all the hard earned 11 levels of experience I gave up.

Two main things, people either just don't RP and are the hack-and-slash straight-forward types or RP is just a foreign (far and few between) concept to them. It amazes me how little people RP, even people with 12, 14, even 16 RP points. I, myself, have 4 and hold them dear. For two were given by you, Rhyndar. There is that system in place, but people either -don't- use it, abuse it, or when you RP in groups you're left out cause someone already used theirs for the month. I know, I don't RP every single day of every single month, because I grow complacent with how things are. 'No one RP's so let's not try' mentality. I think that this thread, people will either look over or look at it and take something from it.

[Silas]

Thanks, Ilessa, for at least letting us know that you all are paying attention.

At the same time, if time constraints are truly that bad, please get another coder. I'm sure one of us wouldn't mind.

[Murdoch]

If the solution was to have more coders, i think it would have been done already.

[Ilessa]

Thanks, Ilessa, for at least letting us know that you all are paying attention.

At the same time, if time constraints are truly that bad, please get another coder. I'm sure one of us wouldn't mind.

Thank you for your input, but it would be much appreciated if you left the issue of coders alone.

[Bult]

POP! Another bubble burst.

So things are going very slowly (even though for valid reasons), things aren't likely to improve anytime soon, and discussing ways of imroving the situation isn't welcome.

I just hope you understand this thread was not just about complaining, its about some people who are getting frustrated about something we all care a great deal about, this game has so much promise and potential and over the past year its seemed like it has been slipping away.

We weren't pointing the finger at anyone, I guess we were just hoping to hear things were going to improve.

[Silas]

I wrote out three replies directly to Ilessa's post before deciding it wasn't worth it.

A handful of people are frustrated, the Admin are doing what they can. It's not enough, but as there is apparently something sore about the subject of coding/coders, it'll stick like this until there's a breakthrough.

Apologies for having gone into some bad waters, I guess.

[Ilessa]

POP! Another bubble burst.

So things are going very slowly (even though for valid reasons), things aren't likely to improve anytime soon, and discussing ways of imroving the situation isn't welcome.

I just hope you understand this thread was not just about complaining, its about some people who are getting frustrated about something we all care a great deal about, this game has so much promise and potential and over the past year its seemed like it has been slipping away.

We weren't pointing the finger at anyone, I guess we were just hoping to hear things were going to improve.

It's the specific issue of coders I'd rather not be discussed here. That is something that Zycandos decides, and he takes that issue very seriously. I don't mind you discussing in general ways to improve your enjoyment of Akanbar, and we have an Ideas thread in this very section to do just that. So if you all have ideas, please, post them there.

Fair warning: Major changes, plot development, and most things involving combat balance are on a hold while time issues are ironed out. Everything else is more or less fair game.

Now, let's see your ideas!

[Joscelin]

That's the thing, though. The brush was cleared, the forest was gone through.

There was a huge war, it ended in peace. After peace, the war started up again. We are now in the midst of another war. Can you imagine how this will turn out?

What happened to the armies from Mt. Arquenos? Carmena would be a great place to start....but I continue to come back to my biggest issue: Some things do not get finished.

I could just have a skewed vision of the landscape in Akanbar right now, but it looks to be the same as it has for a while.

Ends with me getting swamped in IRL studies. Leaving Golgonath to spiral into economic depression because the majority of Golgonian players are enslaved or still rogues, and cause I've been the only bloody bastard donating hundreds of gold for the past couple years. >_> Likely end in a cease-fire because neither city can keep up with the costs of war.

That has been the only RP in the entirety of my character's life. Infighting and more infighting that chases players out of cities. Players just can't seem to get along with each other due to OOC reasons or whatever it is that they take too personal, and express it through their characters in the game. So I completely agree with Lady Ilessa, Ilshara, and Rhyndar. Much of Akanbar's problems are player-related. The game has all the tools you need to rp, but nobody bothers using it because they can't keep ooc issues separate, or whatever else the problem others have posted in the thread mentioned.

[Bult]

Firstly, thanks Ilessa. Perhaps it was just me but I felt your second post in this threat was very dismissive. Your recent post changes that. It wasn't the answer I was hoping to hear though, while there are some good idea's in the idea thread, I feel that it is actually "major changes and plot developement" that the game really needs.

Partly in answer to Joscelins post too, while I admit there is some validity to your claims that the players do take things personally, I believe that to be a single problem within a much larger issue. The game is begining to stagnate. With no developement in areas or plot it becomes much harder to keep novices who join the game. It is a major deterent to know that no one is actively bettering the game. (there was an article written about this on the mudconnector forums) Add to that the vague mistrust some of the older players have for novices being alts, and I don't believe we keep that many genuine NEW players. New players bring fresh ideas, and no baggage, and this helps to keep the game alive.
There is a second and seperate issue that I feel adds slightly to the sluggishness of the game, the three city's ethos' are immutable. This does restrict a lot of roleplay character types. ei: the murderous evil assassin, the carefree pryomancer, or in Bults case I was wanted him to be a righteous zealot, prepared to fight evil using every means at my disposal, even to the point of slaying the women and children of Golgonath to serve as a lesson to those who come later of what the rewards of supporting an evil empire are. Clearly I couldn't actually do most of these things but it was the mentality I wanted to portray.
My very first interaction with Golgonath landed me in hot water with my city, and I was repremanded. When I tried to defend my point of view (roleplaying my intended character) I was then placed on probation and then evicted from my guild with a final warning of being un-Elysian. Since then I was re-instated but my own frustration with the situation and my big mouth has landed me right back in probation. I can't help but wonder if other players have also felt hard done by having to accept a third parties (ie: the cities) set of values as their own.
Personally I'd like to see less strict rules for cities, especially the ones that refer to an indiviuals behaviour, and greater relevence attached to the respective religious orders of the cities. So the order of the patron becomes the core belief of a realm, and the actual cities are just a loose collection of like minded people, who may or may not live by the strictures of their cities patron.

Finally,(phew) a small comment on roleplaying. No offense Ilshara, but I find no value at all in roleplaying solo here, I can do that in my head without even turning a computer on. Nor do I find much use for roleplaying having a drink with someone in a bar, because I can also do that in real life. I play fantasy roleplaying games because I want to be a part of something fantastic, world changing events that will have saga's sung about them for generations to come. And unfortunately these, as Rhyndar pointed out, require more tools than mere players are provided with. Even lesser events more often than not require a neutral (god/guide) person to instigate them, just so all the involved factions actually get together to participate. So I don't complete agree that it all up the the players, like Joscelin and Ilshara mentioned.

[Ilshara]

Finally,(phew) a small comment on roleplaying. No offense Ilshara, but I find no value at all in roleplaying solo here, I can do that in my head without even turning a computer on. Nor do I find much use for roleplaying having a drink with someone in a bar, because I can also do that in real life. I play fantasy roleplaying games because I want to be a part of something fantastic, world changing events that will have saga's sung about them for generations to come. And unfortunately these, as Rhyndar pointed out, require more tools than mere players are provided with. Even lesser events more often than not require a neutral (god/guide) person to instigate them, just so all the involved factions actually get together to participate. So I don't complete agree that it all up the the players, like Joscelin and Ilshara mentioned.

While I do agree with you on some level. What is Roleplay? It is -being- your character, living your character, developing your character. 99.9% of us are people who stand around and don't socialize in realistic ways (aka... how many of us actually use emotes in everyday speach? we say things blankly and use general emotes), and go through the world hacking and slashing. What fun is it to just sit around and talk, when you could sit around a table in a tavern and sip on a drink while chit chatting about relevant topics. Sure, there might not be a battle every month against a raging dragon bearing down from the skies to destroy Elysium and it's citizens, no epic burning of a village by Golgonians. But things like that are unrealistic in the great span of the game. It requires non-mortal help, which isn't always available. I find -more- RP value in the little things like the little custom emotes people have, the way people talk and how they respond IC to things, than I do the big things. Because we have to find value in them. We can't have the epic RP opps at our leisure, it's simply unrealistic at this point in time.

[Bult]

It is -being- your character, living your character, developing your character.

I completely agree. But in Elysium for example that usually means all being a cookie-cut character. Character developement is limited to "being the same" or "going off the rails."
This is probably all still a bit too close to the bone for me.

Because we have to find value in them. We can't have the epic RP opps at our leisure, it's simply unrealistic at this point in time.

This is a compromise, one that I think would hurt the game in the long term, and probably already is. While major rp/plot events shouldn't happen at anyones leisure but the admins, I think they should occur every few months at least. It gives people something to talk about, whether they are directly involved or not. Imagine an old friend who hadn't logged into the lands for several months popped in and said, "Greetings, old friend. What news of late?" And you actually had something really exciting to tell them. Think on that, and what benefits it might bring.

[Ilshara]

I quite agree with you. Many times I would see a plethora of people in the lands when something was happening. The incident with Reiha and the wraiths... many people were out and about. Action, draws people. More people and action together, make people stick around. But there's only so much people can do. Divine and Guides are real people behind the screens with lives just like the rest of us. Their time in the lands has to be prioritized, and sometimes, animating a NPC comes second to say an important bug or issue needing fixing. We have to do the best with what we have.

Major roleplay advances the game, but so does mechanics. It's about balance, and right now I guess we have to balance the Roleplay side and let the divine/coders/smart people handle the mechanics.

Edit: [taken out]

[Aaridan]

While most my time has vanished in Akanbar, I still feel like I have a lot to say about it even though I cannot be there. I do think a large part of the problem is the players themselves yes....but I also feel that since some things have been fixed/changed/removed that a lot of the older players like myself have become sort of stagnant. If a constant war(ie 6 hr tower respawns) are/is/was not supposed to be the focus of the realm, then I do think it is the admins role to keep the players somewhat entertain, but after that it should be in the player(s) hands. I also don't think spending time in a pub/inn isn't roleplay or something *I* would waste my time doing unless of course a group of specific friends meet there every ig month at the same exact day. I cannot speak for the younger players of Akanbar, all I know is that the motivation in the young ones is basically zero. I am guessing that could also be the fact that a lot of the younger players are in fact older players looking for a new start. Anyways, I know my player Aaridan isn't the most loved(except for profile views apparently), but I like to think that on this side of the ether I have a decent head on my shoulders.....so here goes nothing.


1.) What ever happened to things like Sekea's nightmares? That would come whenever someone fell asleep. some great moments there. I am not saying it should be like that because Sekea is in fact gone from the world, but the nightmares still have to be possible.

2.) The possibility of NPCS having their own agendas.....examples....

2a.) A bunch of trolls gather to attack a city gate, damaging it and possibly killing a few army people, but if the citizens can stop them then little damage is done.

2b.) Brigands from Kervoza sneak into a city and steal a variety of comms.....then whenever you kill Strakon you perhaps find a clump of iron or whatever else.(would help with the terrible economy)

2c.) Goglonath hire some nomads/heretics to attack Elysium's gate, the Elysians are forced to stop them or their army might fall.

2d.) Wyvern and drakes randomly going into Golgonath to kill their Npcs.

2e.) Woodcutters from Forloch threaten to chop down the Ysallyran groves. They must either be stopped or a few trees will be cut down.

(I would never imagine these ideas if the towers were respawning at 6hrs because the mere fact that it's a lot of combat for people who don't wish for it. In this era though....I feel perhaps it might be needed to get people out and about.)

3.) A quiz of some sorts randomly maybe once every two weeks just about the history of Akanbar....could even be just five questions. Just something to not only teach the younger people of Akanbar, but also keep the elders up to date.

4.) I am speaking basically of my past experiences with my other mud, but Aaridan doesn't take well to the Divine...mainly because as a player I am used to fighting Gods from my past muds. If I was Light....I would not respect the Evil God because He/She would be out attacking me or destroying all my armour. It'd be nice to see a little Divine spats, perhaps through shouts or something....but that was always something that caught my eye as a player. The whole concept of followers of different factions just hating one another. I just don't think a lot of people hate each other anymore from opposing sides. To sort of echo Bult's post....I cannot help but feel that sometimes as cities we worry too much on what opposing cities feel is right and wrong for us to do.

5.) What if Villages could stock their own items? Such as Monadh-Dach selling runes that they use from their comm centre or Marinford using that 2000+ beef to make some food to stock? It could be pricey, but as long as the village is using the comm then perhaps the economy would be better?


In conclusion, I as the player of Aaridan love a good challenge. I love going against all odds to accomplish said task....I as a player wished to be challenged to be great. I think I posted somewhere else, but I will say it again....since it was made clear that raiding is not the top priority of Akanbar, then why haven't I seen more roleplay out of the players who didn't wish for it? Being in a locked room to me isn't roleplay, it is just an option that each player has....it should not be where all our time is spent. So I as a player, challenge all of you to go out and be great at something....make a goal in your life in Akanbar and achieve it.

Please feel free to comment on any of the said following.....

[Rhyndar]

I do take full responsibility for section two not being done as of late. As such, I do not offer a concise reason other than I have not been around. Out of self-indulgence, I've written down the events and there have been sixteen events that the majority of the world has participated in that are NPC induced, four spanning multiple real-life days. I should note that I have held quizzes multiple times but I'm afraid they are not as popular as normal events or end as successfully as them for all parties involved.

[Aaridan]

I do take full responsibility for section two not being done as of late. As such, I do not offer a concise reason other than I have not been around. Out of self-indulgence, I've written down the events and there have been sixteen events that the majority of the world has participated in that are NPC induced, four spanning multiple real-life days. I should note that I have held quizzes multiple times but I'm afraid they are not as popular as normal events or end as successfully as them for all parties involved.

I don't think anyone is pointing fingers at who isn't doing what. I think the players just would like to see a little bit more...what's the word I am looking for....perhaps reason? why they should be logging on each and every day.

To add more...I think as players we all take our character to heart when we play so the things that happen around us often define who our character is and how they behave. From what I've noticed since my departure from the lands is that I've come back to many people saying that nothing at all has happened. Granted it's been since the end of September, but still that is quite a long while when taking about a mud, nearly translates into what 7-8 years? What I am trying to say is, if no real movement has happened from the admin standpoint, then can you blame the players for their lack of motivation?