EDIT:
I feel like a total idiot. I failed to look at the time/date of this post nor relate this poll to the thread about the storyteller campaign on creating more overarching plots. Oh well, please read my rant anyways. lol.
Aeie bon dia todo,
I am new to the website, but after reading a lot of lore, and going through different threads there are some things that I noticed immediately and want to bring up here (especially after Gossamer's poll) I have RP'd for awhile on another website that had the same quality driven attitude (i.e the Creative Manifesto). Through my past experience, reading through the forums, and talking in chat I think I have a good grasp on what this website is all about.
Anyways here is my opinion on the three topics I voted for in the poll. I want to actually discuss these points I have made and I really want people to respond with their opinions.
I believe that Mizahar's first priority in going forward should be to put more emphasize on "Epic overarching plot-lines". I also believe that "small scale plotlines that tie to larger plots" and "battles between gods (short term and long term conflicts)" will fall under overarching plots lines.
Overarching Plot-lines:I think that there should be a main plot-line in Mizahar that encompasses most, if not the whole world. I think that there should be conflict between nations. The reality is that
nations compete, whether it is through war, technological races, religious disputes, social-political problems, or trade negotiations. Also I think that there should be collaboration between nations. Nations can collaborate for the same reasons that they have conflicts.
That being said, I don't want you to think that
we (myself and the others who want more over arching plot lines) want to destroy the freedom that PCs have in Mizahar (that is why I joined in the first place). The RP site is great, but having a overarching political-social plot line will:
A) Make it easier for players to place their characters in-context of the game. Players can use events that have occurred as tools to shape their characters. Even if the character is not participating in these plot-lines. They can
fit their character in the worlds history, so to speak, they can shape their characters based on current events and still maintain the freedom that Mizahar has. Not only does it make it
easier, but it also creates
more opportunities to truely make a great character.
B) It allows opportunities for character who want to "play their hand in history" and be part of the development of the world. It allows people to play character archetypes that normally wouldn't be supported that well by Mizhar. I think that it is possible to keep Mizhar like it is now, allowing great opportunities for freedom, personal plot-lines, exploration etc. At the same time it could cater to those who want to play a character who is more involved in the world so to speak.
C)
Small scale plotlines that tie to larger plotsIt is easier to develop and connect individual plots, with a large meta-plot. PCs can make and develop their plots to coincide with each other. For example, if their is a conflict or war between two nations, a player could create a privateer character and make a plot about being about him/her stealing from the opposite countries ships. In this example, not only could players make pirate characters to join this privateer group, but also characters from other factions can set up interactions between each other. There will simply be more opportunities to make small/personal plot-lines, because their will be a skeleton so to speak for people to work with.
D)
Battles between gods (short term and long term conflicts):After reading lore, it is very easy to understand that gods have a huge hand to play in Mizahars main plot. I think that with a meta-plot in effect involving the gods, we can expand the horizons of character development and plot-lines. Not only would this intensify the meaning of receiving a gnosis mark, but it would also add a new dimension to the game. I can already imagine characters, being "used" by goods to complete the god's goals. If gods were in active conflict, making a character that is religious is much more serious and much more complex. Like everything else I mentioned, this will allow more and more opportunities for awesome character ideas and original plot lines.
E) I think that introducing epic overarching plot-lines will consequently touch the following poll topics as well, allowing for easier and further development of the following:
- IC Building Projects & Development (technology, artifact, and construction competition)
- City Interaction (obviously)
- Divine Interaction/Intervention (considering the lore of Mizahar meta-plots will bring in the hands of gods more into play)
- Business Opportunities! We want to make money! (I can for see meta-plot contributing to this)
- Lore Development (Out of necessity lore will need to be developed more)
- History Development (same as lore development)
- More organized religious groups (I think this will naturally occur as well)
- Easier or more organized travel (a possibility if the meta-plot requires a lot of travel)
- Violence - we want a whole lot more of this.(this could occur naturally too),
- Secret Societies (want to go indie against the factions/god involved in the main plot?)
Tacitus wrote:I voted for everything except More Protagonists and their Organizations, Things for Child PC's to do and Other. I'll explain my reasoning for the ones I feel most strongly about
Why Mizahar Does NOT Need More Protagonists and their Organizations (as NPC's)It takes time and strong leadership for organizations- especially larger organizations, such as nations or city-states- to be created. Organizations with a strong moral foundation will inevitably gain the support of their members (citizens)- such as a city-state with non-corrupt leaders or a group such as the
Syliran Knights. These organizations have a tendency to grow and expand indefinitely because they represent something that people are willing to rally behind should it come under threat. But the thing is, it is uncommon for multitudes of such organizations to exist in one area. Because they inherently have such a positive reputation, most people are content to join an existing one in their area rather than go through the effort to re-create from scratch something that already exists. Mizahar is a unique RP site in that a majority of these organizations have been destroyed due to the Valterrian. This allows for strife and chaos to run rampant in the world, which is the environment in which both Hero's and Villains (perhaps somewhat simplistic terms, but for the purposes of this post they will need to suffice) to make a lasting mark in the world. This ability to either try to create stability in a chaotic world or take full advantage of it is what initially attracted me to Mizahar- and I feel that creating more 'good guys' inherently creates more stability and order within the site.
We already have many stables areas, such as Syliras, Avanthal, Wind Reach, Zeltiva, ect, and they are admittedly some of the most popular areas (from what I've seen). But I feel that this has caused somewhat stagnant RP in these stables areas- if you want to become a better swordsman, for instance, you can stay in Avanthal and do Solo threads training up your Longsword Skill against an NPC or perhaps even by yourself, or by a safe, friendly duel with a fellow PC. I would personally much rather earn my swordsmanship skills fighting against an organization such as the Ebonstryfe or Syliran Knights- but it feels as though there is little opportunity for this if you want to make 'good' character.
This Thread is currently my favorite of any of the threads I have read through, although I am admittedly new to the site. It included a real call to action, options and risks available to the PC's at all times, even the possibility of character death (and great roleplaying and moderation to top it off), thus resulting in a fun to read thread (and I'm sure an even more fun thread to have been a part of).
Why Mizahar Needs More Antagonists and their OrganizationsMostly for the same reasons stated above. More Antagonists creates more instability and chaos, creates targets for Heroes (aka PC's) to rebel against, and it even makes sense logically for there to be more of them due to the relatively short time period since the Valterrian. As strongly as I feel that no more 'good' NPC's or Organizations should be made OOC, I feel that 'evil' NPC's and Organizations need to be far more prolific.
And this isn't to say that we need 100 new bandit organizations running around Syliras for the Syliran Knights to mop up over the course of a few seasons- there would be no epic feel to that at all, just repetitive RP quests over and over and over. There should be far more serious threats where a loss means more than the lives of a few mere knights but instead of destruction of an entire society- such as the Ebonstryfe. I feel that the Myrian society has great potential for this as an empire that seeks to expand it's borders. If I get around to making another NPC it will most definitely be a Myrian. But Taloba's long distance from other city states and general underdevelopment cause the great idea to be harder to implement in practice than I would have hoped.
Why Mizahar Needs Harsher Repercussion for Actions- But Not in the Way You Might Think.Currently in the Mizahar system, characters are able to sit around in a city and safely grind their way to 100/100 skill, and I feel that due to the skills system and deep connection to their character (neither of which are bad things by any means) most people want to do this before getting out and doing the 'fun stuff'- risky battles against Glassbeaks or Mooks from the Ebonstryfe, searching that old Archaeological site for Pre-Valterrian books, ect. And because it is so easy to do this, someone could spend a month (or longer) building up skills, get bored and leave the site with a bad impression (although admittedly their own fault). Thus I propose some sort of punishment to deter this- I have no idea how it would work, and understand how difficult implementation would be. An example would be something along the lines of getting less XP for solo threads after being competent and no XP for solo threads after becoming a master, or getting correspondingly larger XP rewards for taking risks and putting your character in danger.
Not everyone enjoys taking these risks. I understand that. If you spent months creating and development a character, submersing yourself into their mind, only for him to be killed against some lucky bandit- well, it sucks. I've done it before on other RP sites. But I feel that discouraging 'safe' threads would make people more willing to take risks, and I believe wholeheartedly that people, once they find out how rewarding it is, will be glad that they took the risk. I would rather die in
threads like this than work my way up to 100/100 in pure solo threads any day (re: grinding), and I think there should be incentive for this.
(Edit: I really need to work on making my writing more concise.)
I would like to take a moment to second this post. I am new like Tacitus, and after pursuing various threads I have come to the same conclusion as Tacitus. Although, I have no qualms with the antagonist/protagonist situation that Tacitus describes I think that is an issue that can be addressed when developing a meta-plot (How can we get more people to be villains?)
What I really agree with is Tacitus's opinion on on the skill system. I do not think that people should be able to solo grind skills by safely sitting in a major city. This could lead to people leaving as Tacitus pointed out Even non-combat skills like fishing or being a brick layer or a weaver or whatever should require that character must be involved in some risk after a certain skill level. A fighter can only spar to a certain point, he/she needs to experience real battles/fights.
Maybe to become a "master" in a certain skill one must embark on a quest of gain skill points. Using the examples I mentioned before: To gain master skill points one would need to travel to a distant lake or sea to catch a huge monstrous fish. Or a brick layer is recruited to build a fortress in a frontier land; the brick layer moving far away from home and living in constant danger as he/she builds this stone building. The weaver must create a magical cloth that requires magical threads that have been blessed by a god or something. In order to find these magic items to finally become a weaving master, the character must go through a awesome quest to attain it.
That being said though, I think that there should be some level of grinding at the novice and competent levels (lvl 1-50), but once your in the master area (>75) the character should need to complete something epic and dangerous. To become a
master at a certain skill, the character needs to be able to complete the most daunting versions of the skill. For example martial arts. One could train for many years in a dojo and achieve expert skill status as a martial artist. However, in order to truly become a master martial artist, one needs to go out in the world and fight the most talented people/ monsters. I think that this is essential.
TLDR:I think that introducing an overarching or meta plot line would be a huge boost for Mizahar. Not only will it unlock more potential and possibilities for character development and plot lines, but it also brings to the table many of the other topics discussed in this thread and on the poll. I also second Tacitus's post on skill points and I believe that one should not be able to "grind", so to speak, ALL of their skill points. Grinding is fine at first, but characters should have to go out into the world to achieve master status on their skill.
Conclusion:Whoo! Now I am done. Sorry about the huge wall of text my friends, but I am really excited to RP on this website and I would like to contribute IC and OCC as much as possible. After writing all of that out I now realize that it is a huge daunting task for the storytellers to take up a project like adding a meta-plot as it would seemingly open up many other topics to address.
Please, please, please discuss in this thread! I think it's important that more people post in this thread and have discussions and conversations about how to improve the website. Please tell me what you think of my points, and the points of others. I think the storytellers will really appreciate us as a community a lot more if we all take time to have an in depth discussion about this. Thank you for your consideration if you took the time to read my post, also thank you in advance if after reading this you decide to enter this discussion.
-Mike
PS
I really do not want to come off as pretentious or as an idealistic moron or whatever it may be. I am truly being humble, and only saying what I think would be a good addition to the website. My discussion is based on what I have read and seen on this site in the last week. I am
obviously missing the knowledge that older and more experienced players have,
but that is why it is important that we all discuss in this thread. Please let me know if I am interpreting some of these things incorrectly.