Story Update - Autumn '24

[squakhawk 14038]

 

 

HI MEOWS.

It’s about time for another quarterly update. 

 

In this update we’ll be talking about updates all sects of the team, from Event Team, Lore Team, Builders, and even management as well. We’ve got a lot to talk about, so feel free to navigate through the sections of this post and see the changes we’re making and upcoming. As always, feel free to ask any questions here or in the Story Team Discord.

 

Lore Team

 

Materials Changes

ISLAMADON: A year or two ago the LT undertook what was called the "Material Project", where we rebalanced numerous Rare Materials across the server to make them more viable. As time progressed, and metas altered, the LT again took the time to revise the abilities of currently accepted ST Materials. For each sub-section I will include our general thoughts on the problems each material has, and why we chose the changes we implemented. We also came up with a tier list that showcases the relative durability of materials; Again, I cannot stress enough that this chart is not "LORE ACCURATE", but a general visual guide to help players understand the relative durability of materials.

 

 

DRACANIUM

Dracanium, despite being a T5 Rare Metal, has been tremendously lacking in mundane use. For the most part, base Dracanium has functioned as a less-effective Medium Desnsity Boomsteel, and its steel durability left it vulnerable to Carbarum smashers. As a result of these factors, Dracanium has only really seen MArt use by the Nephilim. With this rework, we sought to play on Dracanium's inherent ability to take on Fire, and reworked it at a base level so that it can be used as a means of absorbing and redirecting sources of evoked flame. Likewise, we enhanced the flavor aspect of the Remnant Voice, and gave the material a strength just above that of steel to give it some protection against other high-quality materials. With these changes, we hope that Dracanium will truly feel like a T5 Rare Material.

Spoiler

ADDITION: Fire Absorption
Once per combat, a Dracanium object may absorb a source of evoked flame and redirect it either as a fireball or arc of flame. The Mechanics are as followed:

• Emote 1: WITH FOCUS [i.e. no other action] Dracanium can be used to block and a absorb evoked Mundane, Draconic, Deific [+ Malflame], Voidal, or Abyssal Flame; this causes the material to glow vibrantly akin to red-hot steel.
• Emote 2: The Dracanium may then redirect the absorbed flame, manifesting in one of two ways for an attack:
  • 1: The User may conjure a beach-ball sized mundane fire ball and lob it up to [16] blocks. When striking a single target, the Fireball will combust and push the target with a force equivalent to a human shove, ignite flammable materials, and/or manifest 2nd degree burns upon exposed flesh.
  • 2: The user may arc a wash of  mundane flame [6] blocks forward and [3] blocks wide. This lacks concussive force, though is capable of striking up to [3] targets and will ignite flammable materials and/or manifest 2nd degree burns upon exposed flesh. [FIRST THREE IN PATH]

 

ADDITION: Personality Flavor
Dracanium, when subject to different types of flame, will optionally and temporarily alter the personality of the Dragon within. For example, Templar Holy Flame may make the personality more bold and courageous, whereas Malflame may cause the remnant voice to speak more demonically. However, this ability shall NOT APPLY to Dracanium forged from the Drachlalite of Dragaars or Drakaars.

 

AMENDMENT: Voice Range

Dracanium's Remnant Voice may now utter words in #rp range, rather than #q. 

 

AMENDMENT: Strength Modification
Dracanium's strength has is now stronger than standard steel.

 

THANHIUM

Thanhium has been the staple mage hunter metal for years, but has since fallen out of favor. Since map launch, there has been practically zero Thanhium use, let alone forging. The LT believe this to be the result of our prior nerf which caused Thanhium to inhibit the wielder's own casting; magic is simply more useful day-to-day. While we attempted to spur some more Thanhic use by reducing the cost to forge it via the addition of Gelunite, we still didn't see any noticeable uptick in this material's usage. We asked ourselves: "What might cause a Magic user to WANT to inhibit their own magic for CRP?" Our answer was simple: to grief other mages. The solution we arrived at was thus to provide Thanhium with a new ability that passively increases the emote cost of ALL MAGIC around it by [1] emote, the radius scaling upwards with each ingot utilized in the item. This might help out with Brisk Step! Further, we altered the Thanhic absorption rate to apply to individual items that absorb mana rather than bulk; this will enable players with multiple Thanhic items to not lose them all at once. HAPPY MAGE HUNTING!

Spoiler

ADDITION: Dampening
Thanhium, while uncovered, shall dampen the flow of Mana in an area scaling to the amount of ingots used, resulting in ALL spells necessitating an additional [1] emote to cast. The radius is quantified as [4] blocks for every thanhic-steel ingot used in the item. The radius shall defer to the object with the greatest ingot cost and shall not stack atop other Thanhic objects.

 

AMENDMENT: Melting.
In the event Thanium overheats past criticality and melts amidst CRP or relevant Roleplay, the player must now use the "/use" command to dispose of it. Likewise, Thanhic objects now heat individually rather than in bulk.

 

LUNARITE

Lunarite for the past few years has been in a "nothing-burger" spot. It's steel that glows softly, and cannot rust. Boring! For awhile, we've sought other ways to buff Lunarite. Originally we had thought to give Lunarite aurum effects but we deemed that, due to the extreme amount of Lunarite in circulation, this would cause the material to become oppressive.  This idea later became Argentum. Thus, we approached Lunarite from a different angle: MAGIC. The LT understood that a vast quantity of Lunarite was used to make Jewelry, and with the advent of Enchanter's Sickness, we sought to provide Transfigurationists a bit of a break by enabling them to negate it for [1] use on Lunarite objects [albeit with +1 emote cost] . . . It will also function as Magegold! See, there was a point to referencing Aurum. We also sought to play on its "glow" effect by enabling the Material to, when used as a casting implement or when evoking its enchantment, expel its light upon others to determine if they've sources of Mana on their person [see redlines]. This could be used to test for illusory disguises, to reveal ghosts, or other creative things within reason; if this turns out to be too problematic, we may amend this heavily [we've already put in the safeguards we could think of]. Have fun in developing new kits - just beware the Thanhic users!

Spoiler

ADDITION: Enchanting Boone
Lunarite shall be capable of retaining Enchantments in place of mage-gold, and Lunarite items fashioned of [1] ingot or more shall gain the ability to negate Enchanter's sickness for [1] cast, though will increase the Emote Cost by [1] for that enchantment. Attempting to utilize this ability twice, regardless of switching Lunarite items, shall afflict the user with Enchanter's Sickness for the remainder of the RP scenario.

 

ADDITION: UV Scanner
When utilized as a Casting Implement of at least [1] ingot, or when using the aforementioned Lunarite Enchantment, the Lunarite shall glow exponentially brighter for a duration of [3] emotes once a spell is cast. While in this state of "super-glow", the user may disperse its light in a 2 block radius from the caster, illuminating anyone or anything mana-based with a soft and silvery glow for the remainder of the RP scenario. While in the presence of Thanhium, this projection may be negated, and shall not cause the Thanhic objects of [1] Ingot to heat.

 

This glowing shall indirectly reveal incorporeal creatures, and illuminate those bearing magical disguises, enchantments or other magical illusions. It is noted that this glow does not reveal the extent or nature of the mana presence on the individual; thus, one will be unable to assume with absolute certainty, per "false-positives", as to why an individual might be glowing. This ability may only be used once per OOC day per person.

 

VOLATITE

Volatite is in a pretty good spot, but we ultimately felt that High-Density Boomsteel remains the #1 go to material these days due to its ability to cheese. To reduce its oppressive nature, we've thus decreased the use limit by [1], and provided safeguards to prevent arm-swapping to negate its inherent drawback. We also clarified that Medium Density Boomsteel has a durability comparable to Ferrum, since the wording of the lore was a bit vague.

Spoiler

AMENDMENT: High Density Exhaustion
Exhaustion shall now manifest after [4] Strikes rather than [5], and afflict the whole body with fatigue rather than a single appendage.

 

CLARIFICATION: Medium Density Durability

The durability of Medium Density Boomsteel shall be quantified as Ferrum, rather than "slightly less than steel".

 

AZHL

Azhl has been around for years, yet has had little use. Unfortunately, the Material has had no "real" function given that the poisoning effect only renders after CRP, and bleeding out seldom occurrs due to the epic will of heroes. Its vague durability didn't help it much either and many newer players assumed it just defaulted to gold or slightly better than gold, thus they'd opt for stronger materials instead. In addressing Azhl we sought to find a way to have its poisonous effects render mechanically in some way that wasn't totally oppressive or something that could be shrugged off . The solution we came up with was imparting fatigue by slightly lowering movement distance. In slowing down opponents, Azhl wielders might be able to escape from CRP with greater ease or, if attacking, facilitate their own hunt by reducing an enemy's escape potential. We also clarified that hardened Azhl maintains a durability comparable to ferrum, and have included a safeguard to prevent people from using Azhl dust bombs.

Spoiler

AMENDMENT: Durability
The durability of hardened Azhl shall be quantified as Ferrum.

 

ADDITION: Durability
When wounded by Azhl weaponry, the victim shall find their body acquiring a degree of exhaustion as their reflexes begin to slow down per the onset of Azhl Anemia. Amidst combat, standard movement shall be reduced by [1] Block and sprinting shall be reduced by [2] blocks, with the latter stacking ontop of Heavy Armor's debuff.

 

CLARIFICATION: Inhalants
Azhl's effects can only be wrought through the affliction of wounds; thus, powders and other varied inhalants will prove ineffective amidst combat for the administration of the blight.

SLAYER STEEL

Slayer-Steel has been a core of LOTC materials for as long as I can remember, and is usually noob's first  - even if player signed. In the past, Slayer Steel saw extensive use because some CAs had regenerative abilities that could only be negated by Aurum. Thus, Slayer Steel was a go-to given its increased durability, which enabled hunters to clash with striga claws and the like. However, as time progressed, regeneration mechanics faded out and Slayer Steel was rewritten into being rather brittle. For the past couple years, Aurum has outclassed it by every metric, primarily due to the fact that Aurum does NOT have a hard strike limit. Aurum should always be more potent, but less durable. As a result, we sought to fix Slayer-Steel by simply endowing it with Ferrum durability; now it serves as a bridge between Aurum and Argentum.

Spoiler

AMENDMENT: DURABILITY
The durability of Slayer-Steel shall be quantified as Ferrum, and the [8] strike limit has been removed.

 

ARCANIUM

While discussing Lunarite Changes with regards to enchanting, we also sought to provide a simple but effective buff to Arcanium. While Lunarite would increase emote cost and negate enchanter's sickness, Arcanium will now REDUCE emote cost for enchantments, though retain sickness. We hope that this simple change would encourage more Arcanium enchantments and help this material to truly fill that Voidal Supremacy niche.

Spoiler

AMENDMENT: ENCHANTING
When enchanted with a Voidal Enchantment, Arcanium shall reduce the emote requirement wrought from Transfiguration by [1] Emote. This is to say that an enchantment of [3] Emotes will instead cost [2], akin to the actual spell. It is noted that Arcanium Enchantments still afflict the user with Enchanter's Sickness.

 

SALIUM

There isn't much to say on Frost Salts, given that they were exclusive to Almaris. That said, some of you yokels managed to horde some since the map switch and I've been getting plenty of questions as to how it would interact with Carbarum. So, we clarified it. Given the titanic strength of Carbarum, we didn't think it'd make much sense for it to break so easily . . . Thus, if you're willing to sacrifice your ICE, you can now get a steel durability Salium item.

Spoiler

CLARIFICATION: Carbarum Interaction

Frost Salts, when applied to Carbarum or Bluesteel, will endow the material with a durability comparable to steel.

 

Clerics

ISLAMADON: The initial Cleric Bowl has concluded, and 3 out of 3 proposals have been denied. One was Manager Veto'd, and the others failed to pass in Lore Mag. The reasonings for these denials are very simple - they aren't "fresh". The denied proposals borrowed heavily from other lore pieces and came across as rather rushed and uninspired. A common critique levied by the reviewing LT was that these writes often ignored or underutilized the concept of LAW, which is one-half of Tahariae's whole gimmick. Likewise, the team felt that the abilities themselves were just reskinned from other magics, or worse yet, wasting potential. When opening Clerics for submission, it was the LT's hope that Paladin 2.0 wouldn't be a thing, let alone ranged Templars or holy Naztherak. We feel that there is plenty of room to uncover a new niche, and a new magic system that would bring life to the MA. This especially needs to be considered for the HEALING aspect of Clerics.

 

So then, what might be "fresh"? Fresh is something original, unique, or thematic and which has some soul to it . . . It's hard to describe. This isn't to say that the other writes are lacking these aspects in droves, but it isn't as evident as what can be found in the most recognizable lores of the server. I can provide an example of what we might consider "fresh". After spitballing in VC for no less than 10 minutes, I came to an idea of Clerics dealing damage to receive "Healing Points" that they could spend on others. Is this silly? Probably. Do I want this to be the basis of Clerics? I don't care! That said, as far as I am aware, no other Magic has a core gimmick like this, and it could be explored in many ways. "Fresh" is something that I cannot exactly quantify; it is something felt. Thus, when planning to propose Clerics in the future for the SECOND CLERIC BOWL . . . I would ask Lore Writers to sit down and try to think of ways to make their magic have a unique and thematic playstyle. I will instruct my LT to have an open mind! This all said, please keep in mind that while thematically viable for Clerics, healing abilities are generally frowned upon by Lore Criteria standards; please try and make these abilities embody some degree of consequence, and refrain from being oppressive in CRP.

 

P.S. If anyone wishes to cannibalize that healing system you're allowed, I'm never going to write Clerics. It isn't required for approval either, it was just an example. Also, please don't use chains as a tell - it'll grief the Eshtael write in 2032!!!

 

 

The Cosmos and the Seven Skies

ISLAMADON: A project that I have personally been working on behind the scenes with LT Management and the Pantheon Project is revising our general server Cosmology. For a year or so now I've encountered constant misconceptions about how the LOTC Universe works, most often spawning from voidal circles or those who've been totally gaslit by cults. With Dingo's help, I've gone through dozens upon dozens of lore pages within accepted lore and the archives that range unto Aegis. From this, and to the best of my ability, I've tied concepts together, dug up old cool ideas, and smothered things that have been all-but retconned to provide to the public a front-faced summary and narrative of how the LOTC Cosmos came to be, and how it works. Obviously, the information I prove cannot be metagamed, but it should prove useful nonetheless for those with an interest in the subject.

 

Similarly, we have also begun refining the Seven Skies as a Realm given the uptick in Seven Skies related proposals. In reviewing the currently accepted piece, Dingo and I lamented that it didn't quite plug in with the rest of the Server Lore, and ultimately served as a wonky power-source. Thus, we have taken efforts to rewrite it as to endow it with narrative connections to the greater cosmos, and reasonings as to why it's not the domain of an Aengudaemon. I know Human RPers always sweat when this stuff is mentioned by LT, I can only hope you trust me when I say that Dingo and myself are life-long Human RPers who deeply care about Human narrative and culture, and we did everything we could to provide the Skies with the utmost respect and importance. Obviously, we understand that the usual suspects might take issue with how we'll frame it given that Canonism isn't being translated into Server Canon. Others might see this as reactive to Canon Adherance in order to kill it; I assure you we are not trying to cut out the capability for Seven Skies magic, and are instead working to have it be based on modern concepts/standards while also providing potential themes that the magic could adopt while in its drafting stage.

 

 

Event Team

 

 

Event Statistics

Hey guys, Bbox here. In this section I'm going to be breaking down and evaluating the Event Team and our performance versus last year.

October: 
So far in the month of October, the Event Team successfully ran a total of 68 events. These events involved 577 participants, with 21 different Event Team members either assisting or leading these events. On average, about 8.5 people are involved per event, and about 3 events are held per day. Our busiest day in October saw the completion of 9 events, while two other days had 7 and 6 events. It is worth noting that many of these events were organized and run by the newer Event Team additions, and I’m proud of the numbers they’re putting up and the events they’re running

 

During October last year, we had 69 events in the whole month, providing interactions to 488 players. It’s clear that we’ve already well exceeded last year but I think it’s also good to look back at September.

 

September:
Looking back to September, we had about 781 players involved in events for the month over 87 events, with an average of about 9 people involved per event. During this month, we had events located around 11 unique nations, multiple different magical groups, and across various biomes, such as the jungle or swamp. Looking back on last year, September had 647 players involved in the 81 events that occurred, which is nearly 8 people per event. Overall, I believe the consistency and improvement between months is great to see for the team. 

 

 

Upcoming Eventlines, Plans Onward

 

BobBox: Currently I am working to create an eventline that focuses on the alchemical side of the server and is orientated towards non-magic affiliated characters. I'm planning to have this begin within the next month and aim to introduce unique rewards via the CArt system, as well as offering players a temporary area with new creatures to be used in player events. With the CArts, I hope to offer a unique experience to players, wherein multiple players can use and interact with the artifact in a multitude of different ways. Depending on the outcome and overall success of the event, I hope to engage different groups in future eventlines.

 

Besides from my own eventline, I'm also excited about the utilization of World Lore, which is now being expanded upon and utilized by a multitude of different ET. While these events are being created and ran, I am looking into creating and establishing other ways for materials to be gained by players besides combative events. While I do think the removal of nodes has been a success overall, I’m also open to hearing about and attempting new ideas for the material distribution system. Keep an eye out for new ideas in the near future.
 

 

squak: Right now I've got a lot of stuff in the oven, not only lore-wise but event-wise too. I've got a really exciting concept coming up VERY SOON alongside a continuation of The Age of Dragons eventline. The Age of Dragons I think is something that's going to persist over the course of the year and into next as this plotline overarches many others. Personally, I'm going to be delving deep into Maplore and exploring eventlines around the map with the help of various different ST to make for some exciting and interesting plotlines as we push to really explore the conflict of the map. What's going on in the north, south, the seas and beyond . . . I'm very excited for all these plots coming to tie together for something which I think will be extremely fun. I've got a few things coming out which are going to focus a lot on story depth in writing, in characters, and plot that is genuinely interesting for those who pay attention. 

 

During Apotheosis (And a bit during Forged in Blood) i was able to explore creating character-centralized plots and characters that players could find, talk to, find interest in and find distinct and unique. Sordran, Eresar sin Nathemas, Azdromoth, Nithrakor, and Magnus Stormfist, all made for chararacers both memorable and interesting that had genuine and unique interaction with the players on a very consistent basis during the eventline. People felt they knew the characters and that they were a part of their journey (And given, they were) rather than just a plot that was happening. I plan to continue this model in upcoming events by having more liberal character useage, and keeping in tune by making sure that we're continuing to not sacrifice player involvement and development for sake of plot. 

 

Overall, I'm planning to include a lot of maplore in the upcoming events I personally host, and encourage other ET too as well (who I'll be working with from time to time.). These will be fun for those just casually taking part and those closely paying attention to stories both in and between eventlines as consequences of actions will be closely watched... Keep prepared with what's coming ahead with a unique idea I want to testdrive and see the function of for those who really want to embrace the maplore. 

 

ISLAMADON:

 

 

 

Management POVs

 

 

Manager Wildcards: Lore Submissions, Alchemy Requirements, Feats, MArts, and More

Islamadon, Joel, Bobbox, and I recently discussed a few topics on things we'd both thought of and had suggested to us. Since there's quite a few at hand, I'll post it in a sort of question-and-answer type response with the proposal and our reasoning. 

 

Should there be a wordcount on lore submissions?

Some lore submissions, such as some of the magic writes of a couple years ago (and even somewhat recently) have been absolute slogs of overhauls that are not only incredibly difficult to review, but to navigate, read, and amend as well. An example was the Naztherak rewrite which came out in nearly the triple digits of pages of (Unformatted) text. Paired with spoilers, images, multiple mentions of redlines or spells in different places, and its a spell for disaster, especially for a release magic. This was troublesome with Naztherak particularly given it was such a preestablished magic, but the issue has still retained even with other newer submissions. Ultimately, a wordcount would serve to be an annoying and unnecessary worry to writers who don't come near it, and something that enforces people to reduce quality of writes that may go over it to meet an arbitrary limit. Ultimately, it should remain to be up to manager discretion if a write is showing all of it's hand outward for a new lore. 

 

Should there be a requirement for Alchemy?

Alchemy as a feat is something which has an immense amount of potential and abilities, both with base and further alchemy applications. While there are some people who do use it just as a means to an end, ultimately a lore shouldn't be judged by it's worst actors, both either real or potential. Slots are a potential but are not only widely unpopular, but wouldn't help - particularly if we introduced some form of stacking knowledge -> more slot cost, its ultimately just gonna come down to prioritizing potential rather than just doing what you want to do in roleplay and in the best interest of roleplay (Not to mention just learning and unlearning things, writing them done, so on - it just doesnt make sense roleplay wise). There are already some restrictions such as incompatibility with magics, and ultimately, that's probably enough.

 

Should there be a Feat limit?

Similarly to alchemy requirements, our thoughts boiled down to that while some people egregiously collect and hoard feats (Which dilutes the niche and makes jack-of-all-trade characters who sort of scrape by with the bare minimum), it isn't worth overhauling a system to punish a few abusers who make the worst of it and behave such a way when most don't. While there is some suggestion on having Feat-TAs count toward the TA limit that we are considering, this may too have an opposite effect. While it is worth considering if there should be some sort of change, ultimately, it's not harmful to roleplay and players, and is more often than not just a few people who come up frequently for collecting for the sake of collecting. Similarly to the alchemy suggestion, an idea that there were a set amount of feats one had with sacrificing say, one slot for 3 extra feat slots, was floated, but ultimately is shot down by the same issues as above and becomes a minmax competition for most. This will leave noncombat or more aesthetic oriented feats in the dust in comparison to ones which people can barter for or get combative usage out of. While we may re-explore this in the future, for now, the idea is off the table. 

 

Are MArts a flawed concept?

It's a common lamentation to be upset with how long MArt submissions and reviews can take, even after all the strides we've tried to take to cut it down. A rumor briefly floated around that we're removing MArts, but this isn't true. While they can be frustrating on all ends to deal with, it's a system that's truly a tough nut to crack. We've specialized the teams, slackened the requirements, slackened our own standards, and done everything we can think of within the current confines of our own system to expedite reviews and send them back. Ultimately it's tough that MArts simply just come in what seems like an unending tide and each one requires a reviewer to think a lot about the ramifications of allowing something, and the intent of what it's to be used for. It's without a doubt a system that isn't scalable, and one that was not thought of initially whatsoever with the possibility lore would be more spread and prolific. Lore when MArts were released was something with kind of a totality of less than a couple hundred (If that) MAs/CAs. Now, that number is beyond insane - there's been something like 6000 MAs (Not counting FAs, TAs, or CAs) alone since 2022. It's simply not realistic that we can upkeep a system that allows personalization of an item, CA, or other with carefully made review by a team of people. It's something we have to think about what a longer term, or more scaleable, solution may be in the future. Something on the mind, but something we don't have an immediate solution for - but who knows, maybe one will come up someday. 

 

Should we encourage rewrites for old lorepieces to fix their formatting?

This was something we saw some people submit, which was ultimately aesthetic-rewrites that changed the lore but just modernized the formatting, updated the images, and so on to pretty it up and make it more palatable. While unnecessary to ultimately review, we've decided to make it (after some suggestions) an internal project to fix up formatting on current lorepieces and post/utilize them where needed to bring a bit of life and visual clarity to old lorepieces which fell to the wayside. 

 

 

 

What Makes a CA?

Something I've been remarking for some thing (and have been approached by some folks about) is CAs in general, and as a concept. While there are no active plans to do anything with the concept currently, I'm wondering what we can do to make them more palatable. Further, if anything is needed for them in general.

 

As of now I feel as if many CAs sort of just sit idly with at their peak, a couple of players who utilize them. More often, one or two who play them as a primary and most as a secondary or off character for someone else. There are exceptions to this, such as Azdrazi, Demi-Djinn, Treelords, and Frost Witches, but a bulk sit in a state of semi-use. This isn't an issue, nor is it to say we have plans to shelf or act against any of these, it is just something to remark that CAs are scarcely accepted; and many have been cleaved down over the years due to internal problems. Strigae, Siliti, Hou-Zi, Wonks, and further and further beyond that tend to have a fierce cycle of dying out and coming back. Azdrazi, the group I'd consider most widespread and mained of any CA, took years and years of struggle and ST support to come out as something cohesive and competent, not to mention relentless effort by a few tenacious members of the community to stick it out and keep trying. 

 

I wonder if there is something wrong with the formula of CA. Feeding mechanics, disguises, tests, or anything beyond, which makes them have this inactive cycle. Is it that they are harder to relate to? Have a more limited access-avenue of roleplay? Is it that constructs inherently are bodies rather than they are characters? It's hard to say and likely a nuance of multiple characteristics contributing to it. All this to say, this is just something I've been thinking about and wondering how, or if, it needs fixed. What can we do for CAs?

 

 

 

Reflections on our Amendments Revamp

While amendments, additions, and a few types of lores are always expedited by management, a few months ago Islamadon decided to push it further by making it easier to bundle and get a larger opinion on by having our story amendments project be a both proactive and reactive solution, rather than just the prior. Beforehand, our amendments project was something where we would draft, discuss, and implement amendments to lore when problems or clarity-issues arose that were then published in ST discord. Since then, all amendments (And sometimes very small additions) have gone to this project group where in addition to our drafts, we vote on, amend, accept, or deny amendments that have been submitted to the Lore Submissions section of the forums. This has been a great success and makes for more concise and quick reviews, and it'll certainly be something we keep with going forward.

 

 

 

Lore Guides

Lore Guides have been a somewhat frustrating effect from a manager side of things, Kalehart (A former lore manager) was a fierce advocate for their removal, and this has mostly existed from his management until Islamadon's. They can be tedious to update with every amendment and having to often format and reformat posts and writings leading up to those posts, and even the most minor discrepancy between these has lead to some frustrating instances of inconsistency which people tend to linger on for so long even after it's been fixed. While guides are designed to be something that educates, instructs, and enriches roleplay of people using a certain magic or CA, most of the time lorewriters would often take a shortcut of just copying the lore but including emote counts. Some took this to heart and did write competent and interesting guides that described roleplay and utilization of a CA, but these were truly few and far between.

 

It does sadden me because I do believe guides have a strictly positive impact, but given the level of paperwork managers are already buried beneath, they just made for a frustrating thing we hardly checked for quality over the years.

 

With this, we're going to be removing guides as a requirement and stripping them down to the bare minimum requirement of just including emote examples for spells in lore going forward. While I think personally this reduces the quality or inspirational thought of lore, and enforces scraping by with the absolute minimum with instructions on how to do the lowest-passing-bar of roleplay, it is unfortunately something that is more popular than the alternative.

 

 

 

Pantheon Update

Pantheon progress has slowed, but it certainly hasn't quit. While all contributing writers have been more or less swamped with real life, the plans still exist and are set in stone as we plan to use some of the assets we've set up and created rather than finishing out the project. We still are in plans to finish the project, (My personal list is nearly finished in total, with some bonus additions to come) but there are simply more pressing responsibilities, such as events and actually using these guys in comparison to writing out the exhaustive history and list. We've got a lot of exciting stuff storyboarded and in motion at this moment, and I hope that it's fun when the time comes around for it.

 

 

 

Shamanism Update

Shamanism is something that is often (to both a joking extent and not) lamented about that it has been left in a poor state. We enacted a freeze on all lore submissions and amendments earlier this map, and ultimately it's been somewhat agreed upon by the management side that this has been a positive effect due to the sheer amount of spam submissions and amendments the lore was getting that were so contradictory and inflammatory to one another. The lore is still widely utilized and useable, much to some long time player's disagreement.

 

After some discussion, a few Shamans and LT alike have lamented there are still parts of the lore unclear, inconsistent, or poorly written. We're going to be allowing these LT to submit amendments internally to fix these issues and hopefully begin a slow correction of the lore. While I don't like it, I believe unfortunately were the freeze lifted the immediate flood of the same issue has beforehand would come oncemore. Until that issue can be corrected, I would stand to guess that the freeze is going to be maintained.

 

 

 

Builders and Build Management

Ever since WestCarolina departed from Story-Build, I've sort of been the interim manager for the team. While the team requires very little direction on a unified manner and focuses on independent initiative and one's own desire to participate as much as they'd like, it has been a sore spot for a couple on the team. With that, I'd like to consider sometime in the near future passing off to have a proper build manager oncemore. This build manager would, for the most part, be responsible with the role I've been fulfilling of paying the builders, archiving completed requests, and onboarding new builders. It is a task that, were it truly any difficult, I would've passed off long ago; and thus hadn't seen much importance in passing it when there isn't a significant amount to be done. Regardless, I will be looking at the build roster over the next couple months and seeing their performance and quality, primarily focusing on their interaction and willingness to work with others and the team rather than the best or most active builder. 

 

Otherwise, I've been greatly happy with the performance of the team and think builders have been doing (and continue to do) an excellent job in all aspects. While there is certainly a discrepancy of activity between some builders and others, it is entirely by design that the most active is the most well compensated. 

 

 

 

 

 

Recruitment

 

Lore Team Recruitment

The Lore Team is not a fun team. It is hardly a gratifying team. Yet still, it is perhaps the most crucial team on the server, second to Mods. The reason LT exists is to ensure that the Lore the players use on a day-to-day basis remains balanced and RP’d correctly. LT handles enforcement of lore violations, the approval of lore items (and structures) and, most importantly, the approval or denial of lore proposals. It is a lot of janitorial paperwork - THERE IS NO WRITING. At this time we are NOT looking for more LT members; we are okay with people sending in applications, though it may take until the next LT downturn for us to properly review them.    

 

Event Team Recruitment

We will be specifically hunting for new ET who are driven, independent, and interested in creating larger-scale eventlines for nations and big groups. If you desire to run your own self-operating event line stories, please don’t hesitate to apply. 

 

Build Team Recruitment

Working on Build Team is a very casual project which includes well-adjusted mina payment for every build built. This includes commissions from the team, as well as passive build projects such as event sets, monsters, and so on which you can do in your freetime or whenever you get that creative urge. If you have a skill for building and are looking for a little mina side hustle, or a greater calling to make some great event playsets, feel free to submit an application. 

 

https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forms/54-story-team-application/

 

 

Looking forward to an exciting few months for lore, events, and change both within and without the team. I'm very happy with the direction the team has been and continues to go into, and have received immense positive feedback on everything we've been up to. We're going to be looking at continuing to expand our systems and tighten up our own standards to improve even further. If you have any thoughts, feedback, or more, please don't hesitate to comment here on in the Story Discord.

 

[Cheese 8883]

meows

[Unwillingly 18103]

[wowj 9747]

mrrrow

[Ardory 2978]

8 minutes ago, squakhawk said:

After some discussion, a few Shamans and LT alike have lamented there are still parts of the lore unclear, inconsistent, or poorly written. We're going to be allowing these LT to submit amendments internally to fix these issues and hopefully begin a slow correction of the lore. While I don't like it, I believe unfortunately were the freeze lifted the immediate flood of the same issue has beforehand would come oncemore. Until that issue can be corrected, I would stand to guess that the freeze is going to be maintained.

 

 

[Pallodium 3775]

9 minutes ago, squakhawk said:

Nithrakor

THEY SHOT MY BOY

 

[Pancho 4197]

@Kanapeslet's cook up a cleric write

[rdowdy 263]

Story go brrttt?

 

Out of curiosity, are the statistics for players who participated in an event unique players? I'd be interested to see the average events per player or something similar to see how widely dispersed the events are.

[King_Kunuk 3022]

necromancy in the back corner suffering from the flam age still.

[wowj 9747]

30 minutes ago, squakhawk said:

Should there be a Feat limit?

3-4 feats limit please

 

30 minutes ago, squakhawk said:

Are MArts a flawed concept?

yes - MArt's should be non-combative

 

30 minutes ago, squakhawk said:

Demi-Djinn

shelf it

 

30 minutes ago, squakhawk said:

Shamanism Update

my rewrite is incoming.

[Metamancy 1766]

Wait. If slayersteel now has durability of ferrum but is able to hit darkspawn (coming from a ghost player), wouldn't this completely negate the use for ferrum entirely? Why would you ever opt for ferrum over slayersteel if slayersteel is simply the same thing but with some properties of aurum?

[chacmul 358]

[Venomous_Pup 2978]

Someone send this to [REDACTED] for his crimes of starting guides.

I think however, decoupling guides from being a requirement is actually beneficial to what you want. Most of the time all the effort got put into the main post, then basically guides were copied and pasted bits and pieces from the actual lore page and then they were never really updated or maintained, if guides are removed from the requirement I think we might actually see people put more effort into them and hopefully get higher quality guides than if they were basically an after thought made into making lore pieces.

[rdowdy 263]

25 minutes ago, squakhawk said:

69 events

Also... nice.

[Benleft 2580]

They nerfednny stuff???? Wtf fk these guys man