Discussion on Aurum Testing

[Morigung-oog 2350]

I used to see no issue with aurum testing; this was years ago before I took on a character at one point who was susceptible from aurum testing as well as establishing ties with many communities who have to deal with it as a threat on the regular.

 

Overall, there does need to be a material that counters dark beings. However, it is currently being used to generate very poor roleplay that isolates hidden dark magi, even ones who are careful, from roleplay communities. A character gets darkspawn tested. If they're found to be darkspawn, they die. The quality of combat that follows is generally poor as a result of white knight rpers. 

 

Metagaming tends to set in too, I find, when it comes to aurum testing. If you see a character you know has a dark MA, they almost always become the target of 'random' aurum tests, even if they show no signs of being a darkspawn and have never showcased their magic to anyone present. 

 

Gold being used as a weapon in crp against darkspawn I'm fine with. I think the brittleness of gold compared to its dark creature hurting factors is a fine way to balance it out. [Until you get cringe slayersteel rpers.]

 

But using it to outright oust covert darkspawn, denying them an avenue of roleplay and possibly entertaining narratives for others is something that no longer sits right with me. I've seen too many people who happen to hold MAs get tested 'just because'.

 

IRL, yes, it would definitely be something that would be used regularly, but this is a roleplay server. We are here not to live perfect rp lives, we are here to contribute to a fun and entertaining story that allows for the cultivation of all sorts of niches, both light and dark and constant darkspawn testing does not necessarily help foster a healthy balance.

 

It is good to remember that not all darkspawn are outright raiding, pillaging undead goons. Some prefer to hide in plain sight. Disguised frost witches, mystics, necromancers are all indistinguishable from regular descendants visually. Frosties in particular are centred around hiding in plain sight, though I can understand why they get the most attention from darkspawn hunters as they literally kill and eat people.

 

In more recent times, most dark CAs and MAs have been given non-lethal sustaining abilities. Frost witches have really drawn the short straw on this end.

 

Edit: If I stood in the shoes of a dark mage player, I don't want to be confined to only my lair rather than generating entertaining RP in active nations. I can't imagine it'd be very fun. 

 

I think that if non-darkspawn gold testers spent a day as darkspawn only to be rigorously tested and denied rp because of an unfounded test, they'd get pretty pissed pretty quickly. I have no idea how dark magi are so patient rn.

[NotEvilAtAll 9944]

Darkspawn testing makes perfect RP sense. Cities that want to secure themselves fron darkspawn related conflict would just deny entry to sketchy characters entirely without it. Either way you’re not getting in. This is more of a problem with gatehouses and guard RP than anything else.

[Pancho 2527]

As someone who plays both sides of the coin, I think there needs to be a way to expose darkspawn w/ magic. I've never played a shaman or druid or voidal mage, but it would be cool to have a spell that can expose someone for being a darkspawn through the proper rp. Aurum and salt are very abused imo.

[TheCaptain 403]

Yo, vampire dude here, for reference, I player one since it came out and still enjoy it.

 

I cannot bring up any new information, and of course, I have a bias but all that I can say is that spooks are meant to generate RP and keep on generating interesting RP, don't discourage us from interacting with you, please.

 

I want to go into cities and actively participate with its people, I want to turn people into vampires and create an interesting roleplay scenario. My favourite one is when I just became a vampire, it was legit unknown, no spook test, so I became a holy knight, turned half the order into vampires and it imploded on itself. Half became evil vampire knights and the other half, became vampire hunters, for me this is what spooks are about. I hate it that we are forced to sit in our lairs, clasp our hands and scheme because we cannot go out to a city and NOT be slapped by spook tests.

 

granted, saying ALL of this, there is ways around spook tests, recently thanks to a great amount of players actively discouraging spook testing, I have been able to get into cities and its some of the finest RP I have had in a while. To those players, thank you so much, ya'll are awesome and I will continue to interact with those communities because they allow me. 

 

tl;dr, spooks make RP, don't get rid of us plz :D

[Rebellionlife 359]

This above me ^ Is peak rp. Being able to infiltrate the order and have fun city rp as a spook. Slowly scheming. Huge problem is that all your planning can be gone with a random test that might be happening in the city. And sure, you could avoid it but there will be more suspicion on you or metagaming that you were a spook who didn't want to get tested even though it's a painful testing. I don't want testing to go away, it makes too much sense for this not to be a thing. I just wish like, only doctors or health professionals did it maybe. 

[Morigung-oog 2350]

 

2 minutes ago, Rebellionlife said:

This above me ^ Is peak rp. Being able to infiltrate the order and have fun city rp as a spook. Slowly scheming. Huge problem is that all your planning can be gone with a random test that might be happening in the city. And sure, you could avoid it but there will be more suspicion on you or metagaming that you were a spook who didn't want to get tested even though it's a painful testing. I don't want testing to go away, it makes too much sense for this not to be a thing. I just wish like, only doctors or health professionals did it maybe. 

 

Infiltration is one of the best parts of spook rp.

[Tabby64 1295]

There has been a redline against gold test for ages. Why are we talking about it still?

[monkeypoacher 6993]

It's a cool trope. The way it plays out in roleplay is exceptionally dumb, because everyone meta-knows that it is effective, and people are willing to suspend their disbelief about their character's own tolerance for getting their hand sliced open to get where they're going. It becomes less "painful reflection on how paranoid this fantasy world is" and more "they're making me walk through the metal detector AGAIN"

 

The aurum "lines" outside gates made of pressure plates or gold blocks are repulsive. I can jump. I will roleplay stepping over it. A goblin will come and pry the gold leaf off the bricks. Come on, guys. 

[Rebellionlife 359]

Quote

There has been a redline against gold test for ages. Why are we talking about it still?

 

I assume you mean this redline 

-Aurum is only effective against undead given mass. Small applications such as flakes or pebbles would still hurt an undead, but would give little effect otherwise. A dagger or blade, or perhaps even hammer, would be significantly more effective, with the increased surface area. "Pin-prick" tests, or anything similar, would be indistinguishable between a normal reaction to so, and any affected by Aurum's.

 

Which clearly states a pin prick test. Most Aurum test these days are deep gash cuts across your hand. There is no redlines here to protect spooks from Darkspawn test. 

 

Vampires immediately get cut and salted, and other undead just get deep cuts to cause searing. 

[BobBox 3211]

59 minutes ago, Rebellionlife said:

Which clearly states a pin prick test. Most Aurum test these days are deep gash cuts across your hand. There is no redlines here to protect spooks from Darkspawn test. 

The redline also says "or anything similar", which covers the testing you've mentioned. 

[Zanael Moonstrider 272]

I feel like on one hand Aurum testing makes sense... if there's been a Darkspawn issue in the city doing the testing.

However doing Darkspawn testing on every single person that enters a city when there's not been any Darkspawn issues seems a bit paranoid.

 

Also I've been told to test multiple times... I'm a Musin... we can't become Darkspawn It just makes the rp seem kinda lazy and autopiloted.

[rukio 8910]

I just came here to tell the people who keep mentioning paladins testing people: Our mist doesn't allow us to 'test' for darkspawn and if we do a salt/aurum test there's probably been significant other build up.

 

As a gate guard in Celia'nor last map my favorite thing to do was tell people they'd have to be tested to enter. My character would actually just let all high elves through without a test but of everyone else, no darkspawn actually made it through because they'd lose their mind and leave. People who didn't leave he'd just whisper "Pretend it hurt and go in" and let them in. He did no actual tests unless you refused the question of if you'd be tested or not and demanded to leave and came back later. 

 

I would like to see darkspawn leave their lairs more often but I would also like to see communities have easy ways to keep darkspawn they don't want in their community out. Some groups are anti magic or don't want the drama that stuff brings, plenty of places do, and I don't know why darkspawn don't all just rp there instead. 

[Apotolofo 1414]

I feel like there should be an alchemical potion or sm that allows you to like become immune to the effects for x amount of emotes, in exchange of not being able to use any of your abilities. Or, allow the body/soul to mimic what's normal.

I think that would provide a way to like- escape meta ig? But also make it necessary to do the alchemy rp, get the potion signed, have it on you, etcetera. 

Idk, I think it would balance it out. 

[Werew0lf 12022]

I believe that @SethWolfis wrong! Aurum testing is detrimental to the server because it means that my character can get revealed! I don't like that!

 

That's all.

 

Many thanks for the discussion.

 

 

[Islamadon 4429]

I am LECTOR.

That's right! My opinion matters most here since 80% of modern people who do spook testing read my minecraft book and now they bang blocks together like a primitive who learned that fire is hot! That's right, I've seen all of you with my book in your libraries! That's right, I've seen you Haensemen who made a plagiarized doc with the only new content being added images!

To this day you still come to my cozy Japanese weeb city and go:  "ERM, LECTUR, PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO KILL DEMON! IT NOT IN DA BOOK!"

Aurum testing is fine as it is, players are just cringe and like to test without zero prompt. That said, you little spook people give me plenty of reasons to test you! You look like Hot Topic Emos. You spout esoteric Xion slop. You openly defend weird bloodsucking bat people. You try to slander guards and holies. You nerdpost everything. Frankly, no one likes the cut of your jib but yourself! The Dark RP you seek to generate isn't real it's a mask for power fantasy.
 

Be more discreet and you won't be tested as often. Aurum just requires deep cuts and you can play it off by going "OWIE ZOWIE THAT STUNG OWIE" because you just got deeply cut. Peter Griffin seethed for a whole thirty seconds because he tripped and bumped his knee.

TL;DR players shouldn't test without prompt but spooks are delusional if they think they give zero prompt because their entire chosen personality and aesthetic are red flags.