Discussion on Aurum Testing

[wowj 2824]

19 minutes ago, Islamadon said:

I am LECTOR.

[MadOne 3387]

27 minutes ago, Islamadon said:

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.

 

This is so true btw to the point where I can without any metagaming whatsoever take a look at your skin and guess your dark magic CA with %99 accuracy, if you want not to be tested i think you should dress like a farmer or an ordinary guy or something like @Traveller did with his vampires often, but if I see you in red flaming robes and a white evil looking mask as an elf who talks about anti-establishment things It's really a no brainer that you must be some sort of a punk

[Laeonathan 3970]

My spook character I played for almost 2 years now has never been spook tested. Most people dont even oocly do not know he is a spook CA. It's glorious. Well, besides the people who got their souls sucked out.

 

But if you have 'notorical spook rpers' who rp really edgy looking characters. You are black and red dressed? Talk about Xion all the time? Man - it's obvious youre no paladin.

[megavoltar 1110]

 

Aurum testing is an excuse to pull two crossbows from a holster, 10 paces each, and wait for the animii clockwork to strike Saint's twelve.

 

 

[FlemishSupremacy 4930]

I don't feel like mass, random testing happens very often, though? 
I do believe that spooks get tested for legitimate reasons, though, and a way to test characters suspected of being spooks shouldn't be locked behind some magic, feat or rare material.

[Jentos 6881]

I am completely for aurum testing because I enjoy pain !!! 
 

[femurlord 2364]

I stand with Islamadon

 

1 hour ago, Islamadon said:

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.

 

[Child Neglecter 2137]

Alright, time for a blast back to the past.

 

As someone who's continuously roleplayed only spooks on the server for the past 7 years, I can think back to the days of Axios and Atlas and immediately recall how a younger me had some extreme issues with the spook testing that existed in those days. Many of you were not around in those days, spook roleplayers and non-spook roleplayers, and so you might not recall how things existed in those days pertaining to the state of spook testing. 

 

1. As it was, in those days, both Clerics, Paladins and Ascended existed, each a form of holy mage that could test for spooks in their own individual ways. Compared to today, they had complete free reign to be able to easily identify any spook without issue.
    
   • Today, in contrast, Templars and Paladins cannot specifically identify spooks in the way that they could before. The energy that Paladins produce hurts everyone without any kind of specificity, barring them from being able to test people. Templars, as far as I am aware, are not able to produce any kind of specific spook testing beyond the mild discomfort that spooks feel in proximity to their magical hearths. This is a VAST improvement.
      
2. Each of these holy mages were able to, and thus did, erect pyres of holy fire in each and every gate house that existed on the continent. 
    
   • Simply stated, if you touched that fire and you were a spook, you would feel immense agony. If you were not a spook, you'd feel some comforting warmth. Another vast improvement is the complete lack of these pyres today. They were chronically used, and you would be asked to place your hand in the fire every time you entered a gatehouse.
      
3. Not only were holy mages able to SPECIFICALLY test for dark magic in people without fail, but so were voidal mages.
    
   • I was once caught as a Dark Mage because a Voidal Mage was able to utilize a certain ability to view my magical aura, which, as a spook, was black. They were then able to deduce my status as a spook and sic the guards on me. I know this doesn't seem super relevant, but think about it - if all of these options were around back in the day for people to specifically test for dark magic without fail and effectively curbstomp any attempt at villainy within their cities, why are people still complaining to the same degree regarding spook testing as they did back then?
      
4. Aurum testing has always been around.
    
   • Whilst earlier on, there were more efficient, more successful ways at detecting Dark Mages, these have since been eradicated, obviously. The reason for the prevalence of the salt test and the Aurum test these days is simply because there is nothing else, and nothing better, that people can do to try and stop the forces of evil from entering their homes. It is a mundane, accessible option, but not one that always succeeds. It's been around for years.
      
5. The Aurum test inadvertently exists to make villains think with a little more intelligence.
    
   • There have been some very valid points from both sides of the argument that have already been raised, such as by @SethWolf and @Unwillingly and @Islamadon, but in all my time as someone who's always enjoyed playing the villain, I've always believed that this test has simply existed as something for people to be able to think more intelligently about how they go about their villainous activities. Whilst it is lazy to test in this way, it is equally lazy to not think of the best way to avoid it. I personally have found that this form of subversion is one of my favourite parts of being a villain. There's always going to be someone who's going to try to get in your way. Your job? It's just as much about getting past them and the problems they pose as it is causing the villainy in itself. 

 

I'm entirely open to criticism about the way I think, and I'd be happy to debate it, either here on the forums or in my Discord DMs. My Discord is childneglecter. Hit me up if any of you want to talk about it any further. 

 

[Carson 936]

1 hour ago, Islamadon said:

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.

This is true, part of not being suspected as a dark mage or no longer being suspected as a dark mage is… not dressing the part. Acting relatively normal. It works.

[Poor_Fellow 812]

[squakhawk 7922]

i remember thinking minitz was such a joke last map me and 3 friends put on ftu skins on fresh throwaway characters and walked in with tags on and got aurum tested and questioned why we individually acted reluctant, in pain, or rationally to being told we have to cut open your hand to see if you’re evil or not, which i think was sort of the pit of low quality testing but i can’t say i see it’s like that anymore 

 

i will also say i appreciate gold lines being a cultural thing because they stopped working like 3 years ago because you can just step over them or wear shoes (except for a type of phantom, I think), but the redline in aurum lore does specifically protect against pinprick/handcut tests being indistinguishable between regular people and people who are reactive to it, shockingly i’ll follow in saying i don’t think we’ve ever received a complaint or confusion regarding it 

 

 

I do feel too often there is the automatic assosciation of some players with evil, there’s been times i’d see a friend of mine like sluggo or something and just automatically assume no matter what they’re doing they’re a frostwitch, and consciously or not that influences how i roleplay 

 

 

i had a good interaction the other day with @Reckless Banzai Screamerand other people from norvelyth and sakagakure (csnt rember how to spel off the top of my head :( ) where my azdrazi spoke to them and it was totally cool but i did deliberately throw some red flags in there, in which they tested, knowing it wouldn’t get a result from the method (templar on a disguise), and weren’t shocked when my character recoiled at seeing a severed head instead of assuming that for “erm, that caused fear, that’s a spook right there”. i was really happy with the roleplay done and was happy it was very equally good faith that they did not make it their mission to completely change the roleplay, and only investigated when given some pretty heavy handed clues. it was great rp (love u guys) 

 

I had some cool roleplay with @Ankan some time ago where my character, not a darkmage, acted like an antisocial freak and did assosciate with some darkmages outside haelunor. She wasn’t prick tested or anything at any point, except when she was invited to the palace to discuss important matters which thrilled her. There, a paladin was waiting, enshrouded her in mists to no result, and the meeting was dismissed pretty promptly. it was cool because intentional or not it seemed like a proper setup and investigation of testing rather than just throwing it out there, assuming, or employing lazier methods. it’s an interaction i still remember because it was super cool for my character and spawned a distrust for an authority while she herself still craved it. 

 

in general i think its necessary to have mundane testing and avenues for that, i don’t think there’s an easy way of solving that outside of abiding by that redline while other more appropriate methods are pursued, while some folks are right that people are like discernible darkmages by just how they look, it is an equally sided argument to both sides. 

[Haseroth 953]

If you dont like aurum testing then that feels like a great cause to lobby for in roleplay. As some others have stated, it is a ludicrous act and so you may have a case against it in roleplay. I would prefer if people just advocated against it that way rather than having it ooc banned.

[Borin 5259]

4 hours ago, TimberBuff said:

oh this world where I go "ouchie" when someone cuts me open and then burns me alive for being a witch

like real life

you do nothing but still get burned for being a witch. its not THAT unrealistic

17 minutes ago, squakhawk said:

i remember thinking minitz was such a joke last map me and 3 friends put on ftu skins on fresh throwaway characters and walked in with tags on and got aurum tested and questioned why we individually acted reluctant, in pain, or rationally to being told we have to cut open your hand to see if you’re evil or not, which i think was sort of the pit of low quality testing but i can’t say i see it’s like that anymore

if I had my way we'd burn all of you for no reason at all

[ReveredOwl 5331]

why have a weakness that you're then going to try and remove when its uncovered

4 hours ago, Morigung-oog said:

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'.

This would be a good point if most dark CA's didn't have the ability to change their disguise to someone entirely new when uncovered, the fact they can just change their disguise if they are uncovered is incredibly stupid and unfair

[rukio 8910]

1 minute ago, ReveredOwl said:

 

This would be a good point if most dark CA's didn't have the ability to change their disguise to someone entirely new when uncovered, the fact they can just change their disguise if they are uncovered is incredibly stupid and unfair

I have spent hours/days hunting people down and the moment they have seen me and gotten away, even ten minutes later, they have a new disguise. Alchemy is cool and all but my god. When you can escape all consequence with transformations that are CA based or alchemy based it just makes for less dynamic RP.  I say this as someone who's character's appearance changed via alchemy. (once).