Transparency - What's up with war?

[Spoopy_Duck 3217]

Hello everyone! If you saw my status update yesterday you know that I promised an update on war rules so here it is! Unfortunately this is most likely not going to please everyone and upset a decent amount of you but I am here to give transparency to the issue nonetheless so here goes.

TLDR for anyone who does not want to read the whole post:

No war is not live… sorry.

Why are you writing this post Spoopy_Duck and not literally anybody else?

 

Because I want to.

 

So, why did war rules take so long?

 

This is the first thing I would like to address. Nectorist mentioned war rules specifically in his post from the other week and I made a comment there but I will give a more detailed answer to such here.
Back in the summer we announced the war pause shortly after land selection and pre-build officially kicked off. In the post we mentioned a roughly 2 month grace period at the start of the map before war was re-enabled. At the time we were hoping for a September map launch which would have us returning to war in Late-November / early-December. However, the launch of 10.0 did not come until mid-late October which left us with a slight dilemma. If we stick to the two month schedule we would be having our hypothetically first war start right during Christmas! Usually we honor a loose Christmas truce when it comes to warclaim hosting specifically so I brought up the idea of post-ponement until January which was agreed upon.

Now that I have addressed that let us talk about the behind-the-scenes part. Why did it take so long to write them in the first place? The honest answer is that this is on me. Once we agreed upon the delay I was dragging my feet in regards to sitting people down and discussing them properly. We had talks in meetings and Xarkly had a proposed draft that was left to sit for a bit until December when I finally picked it up and we discussed it and made a draft we thought was good. We then forwarded this draft to all Realm Leaders in December (credit to disarray for organizing this) and gave them around 10 days to give feedback. Once that feedback was gathered we did a re-review of our doc and made changes we thought were warranted and then made a final draft doc. This process was completed on December 29th. Since then we have just needed to wait for an admin meeting which just occurred. The rules were reviewed by them and tentatively approved with some changes sent back down to us to verify and confirm if we agree with.

So what has changed?

 

This set of rules still uses the most recent iteration of the 9.0 rules as it’s framework with 2 major and a couple of minor systems changes that I will TLDR below:

- The return of a two warclaim system for core tiles. Field → Siege.

- Different war goals have differing costs. More elaboration will be later in the post.

- Reducing war eligibility requirements to their original 20 hours from 40. 

- Clarified and tweaked how interceptions will work.

- Changed the requirements to take a realms capital.

 

What are the new rules?

I am glad you asked! Here is a copy of the rules that we have! (Note the formatting is not 100% done but the wording and all of that should be)

 

Spoiler

 

I: FEATURES

 

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

 

 

Community: Realm Leaders engaging in War will assume an active role in fostering quality roleplay & camaraderie. Wars must be grounded in mutual OOC respect.

 

 

Simplicity: Follow the spirit of the rules, not the word of law -- these rules create an environment for fun and organic War, and loopholing will not be tolerated.

 

 

Dynamic: You may run wars any way you choose. If all participants agree, they may (within reason) add, remove, or update any of the rules below before the first Warclaim. Amendments after this will only be permitted with Moderation approval.

 

 

WAGING & DECLARING WAR

 

 

Warclaims

 

War on Lord of the Craft is fought via ‘Warclaims’, where Realms rally their players and fight (either in a Field Battle, or a Siege). 

 

Unless both sides reach an agreement, Warclaims will usually be held on Saturday or Sunday afternoon between 1PM EST - 4PM EST. 

 

 

War Declaration

 

To declare War, a Realm must make a Warclaim Post that sets out the narrative of the War, their Wargoal, and their Warpath. The Warclaim Post should be made in the Warclaim Subforum, found here [INSERT]. 

 

JUSTIFICATIONS FOR WAR

 

War is often cruel and arbitrary. Realms may declare War freely at their own peril. 

 

II: WAR RULES

 

 

STATE OF WAR

 

You may declare a state of War at any time by posting a Warclaim with an indication of your target Tiles, and your Realm and allies route to the targets. A state of War will continue until there has been no initiative to set up a Warclaim for two weeks. 

 

WARPATHS

 

The route an army travels from their starting location (a Tile within their Realm’s territory) to the Tile that’s being Warclaimed is called a ‘Warpath’. 

 

When posting a Warclaim, Attackers must include their Warpath in the same post. Allies joining the War - on either side - must post their Warpath as a reply to that post at least 48 hours before the Warclaim is scheduled to happen. An example of a Warpath is as follows: 

 

 

Defenders do not need to post a Warpath when their own territory is being attacked.

 

 

Target Tiles

 

Attackers can only attack Tiles they can reach without passing through another one of the Defender’s Tiles. For example, if the Attackers wish to conquer Tile A, but Tile B blocks their Warpath to Tile A, then they must first Warclaim Tile B. 

 

Warpaths Between Warclaims

 

Note that after the first Warclaim, all participating armies are considered to still be ‘on the march’; they do not reset their Warpath between Warclaims. Therefore, if there is a second Warclaim on a Tile adjacent to where the first Warclaim was, Warpaths must simply move one Tile. 

 

COSTS

 

 

Participant War Cost

 

Attackers, Defenders, and their respective allies all pay a base cost of 25 mina per player, per Warclaim. There will be no base cost for defending your own Tiles, though allies still need to pay. 

 

Participant Travel Costs

 

As the Defender, Attacker, or an ally of either, each Tile your army travels through to the Tile being Warclaimed incurs an extra 15 [COST POINT] mina to the per player cost per Warclaim. Attackers and allies of either side must draw their Warpath from a Core Tile. Defenders do not need a Warpath. 

 

A Warpath may not start from an Exclave.

 

 

RISKS

 

 

Joining a War as an Ally

 

If you involve yourself in a War, you risk reprisal from the main Attacker or Defender -- they may choose to alter their Warpath and attack you. 

 

Interception - Risk of Travelling Armies

 

If your Warpath passes through the Tile of another Realm without that Realm’s permission, that Realm may try to ‘Intercept’ you - this means you will need to fight that Realm in a 1v1 Warclaim to pass through their Tile. A Realm declares their intention to Intercept by posting on the Warclaim Post within 48 hours after you post your Warpath. It does not matter if the Realm is uninvolved in the War until that point.

 

If you win an Interception Warclaim, you can pass through that Tile. If you lose an Interception Warclaim, you will face the following consequences:

 

• You will have to redraw & resubmit your Warpath in such a way that it no longer passes through the Tile you were successfully Intercepted on. 
• Your travel costs are recalculated based on the Warpath, in addition to the costs you incurred by travelling to the Tile you were successfully Intercepted on.
• If you cannot draw a Warpath without passing through the Tile you were successfully Intercepted on, you cannot participate in the Warclaim because you cannot reach the battlefield.
• If a Realm that has successfully Intercepted you participates in the subsequent main Warclaim and posts a Warpath, they are no longer in a position to Intercept because their army has left their territory. This is only true after the first Warclaim of a War.
  • If the Intercepting Realm does not participate in the main Warclaim and does not post a Warpath, they may attempt to Intercept other Realms indefinitely. 

 

WARGOALS

 

 

When a Realm declares a War, they must specify what the aim of the War is.

 

 

Annexation

 

Annexation is where you, as the Attacker, seek to conquer a Tile and directly absorb it into your own Realm.

 

An Annexation Warclaim has an increased base cost of [COST POINT] [HIGHER COST] per player (as opposed to the standard 25). If you win an Annexation Warclaim, you may post a 7-day Eviction Notice on any or all builds and vassals on the Annexed Tile. 

 

 

Razing

 

Razing is where you, as the Attacker, seek to ‘destroy’ a Tile without conquering it or absorbing it into your own Realm.

 

A Razed Tile becomes unclaimed, and any builds on the Tile can be destroyed or turned into ruins by Staff. The defeated Realm cannot repurchase the Razed Tile for a minimum of 4-weeks. 

 

 

A Razing Warclaim has the standard base cost of 25 mina [COST POINT] per player. Upon winning a Razing Warclaim, all builds and vassals on the Razed Tile are given a 7-day Eviction Notice before the Tile becomes unclaimed. 

 

 

Pillaging

 

Pillaging is where you, as the Attacker, seek to claim the resources and treasures of an enemy for yourself. A Pillage Warclaim is where you, as the Attacker, seek to plunder the resources of an enemy Realm without conquering any territory.

 

Upon winning a Pillage War, you steal 10% of the losing Realm’s Treasury as of the date of the Warclaim. The Defending Realm will not be permitted to unreasonably dissipate their Treasury in advance of the Warclaim. 

 

 

A Pillage Warclaim has a reduced cost of [COST POINT] [LOWER COST] per player (as opposed to the standard 25). After losing a Pillage War, a Realm cannot be Pillage Warclaimed (by anyone) for a period of 4 weeks. 

 

 

Subjugation 

 

Subjugation is where you, as the Attacker, seek to forcibly take over an entire enemy Realm and make them your vassal. Subjugation Warclaims occur on a Capital Tile, and only after an enemy Realm has been beaten in a series of Warclaims and the Attacker meets the requirement for Warclaiming a Capital Tile -- that being that all Tiles surrounding the Capital Tile have been Annexed. 

 

Upon Subjugation, the losing Realm becomes a vassal to you, the Attacker. For a period of 1-month, you cannot add or remove citizens or leaders from Tiles. After this 1-month period, you can either keep the Subjugated Realm as a vassal with their own Realm Status or outright incorporate them into your Realm (meaning the Subjugated Realm will lose their Realm Status and all accompanying privileges, and instead become your direct territories). 

 

 

During the 1-month period, the Subjugated Realm cannot rebel or revolt against you.

 

 

A Subjugation Warclaim has an increased cost of [COST POINT] [HIGHEST COST] per player (as opposed to the standard 25).

 

 

TIDE OF WAR

 

If you, as the Attacker, win a Warclaim, you can continue the War by posting a follow-up Warclaim within 48-hours after your victory. Warpaths for you and allies of both sides must be resubmitted; remember that armies are ‘stationed’ around the Tile where the last Warclaim was fought, and do not restart at their territory. 

 

If you, as the Attacker, lose a Warclaim, the victorious Defenders seize the initiative and may post a Warclaim on you within 48-hours after their victory. Alternatively, Defenders may choose to avail of a 1-week cooldown, which prevents them from being Warclaimed for another week. After this week, initiative reverts to the Attackers (except for when Defenders win a Siege on a Cored Tile; another Field Battle must follow, see ‘Tile Types’ below).

 

 

If Attackers are attempting to conquer a Core Tile, they must win a Field Battle and a Siege consecutively. If they win the Field Battle but lose the Siege, the Tide of War reverts back to the Field Battle. Only after winning the Field Battle can Defenders attack the Attackers elsewhere. 

 

 

TILE TYPES

 

 

Exterior/Uncored Tiles

 

 

An Exterior/Uncored Tile is a Tile that a Realm has not upgraded/Cored and does not have any vassals, forts, or major builds on it. An Uncored Tile can be Annexed/Razed/Pillaged if the Attackers win one Field Battle. 

 

 

Active Vassal Core Tiles

 

A Core Tile is a Tile that a Realm has upgraded/Cored and likely contains vassals, forts, or major builds. A Core Tile can be Annexed/Razed/Pillaged if the Attackers win one Field Battle and one Siege. The Attackers must win both Warclaims consecutively; if you win the Field Battle but lose the Siege, the War reverts back to the Field Battle until the Defenders either defeat you or you win the Siege, or either side gives up. 

 

If there are multiple vassals or fortifications on a Cored Tile, the Defenders may choose which one they wish to defend in a Siege. If, for some reason, there is no vassal or fortifications on a Core Tile, then only one Field Battle is required. 

 

 

Capital Tiles

 

All Core Tiles surrounding the Capital Tile must be Warclaimed in order to Siege the Capital Tile.

 

A Capital Tile is the heart of a Realm and can only be Warclaimed when all surrounding Tiles have been Annexed by you, or an allied Realm. A Warclaim on a Capital Tile follows the same requirements of a Core Tile - Attackers must win both a Field Battle and a Siege. The Siege must be on the Realm’s capital city and not another vassal or fort on the same tile. 

 

 

If a Capital Tile is Annexed rather than Subjugated, the losing Realm may relocate their Capital Tile to any other remaining Tile. If there are no other Tiles, then the Capital Tile can only be Warclaimed via Pillage or Subjugation.

 

 

Unconnected Land Tiles/Exclaves

 

A Tile that is not connected to the rest of a Realm’s Tiles is called an Exclave. Tiles may become Exclaves when surrounding Tiles are Annexed, Razed, etc. An Exclave may be Cored and follows normal Warclaim requirements to be Annexed/Pillaged/Razed etc. 

 

UPGRADING TILES DURING WAR

 

You cannot upgrade/Core an Uncored Tile during an active War (i.e., once a Warclaim is posted). Even if that particular Tile is not the target of a Warclaim, it still cannot be upgraded until the War is considered over. You also cannot purchase any new Tiles during an active War. 

 

This is true for both Attackers, Defenders, and allies of either side. This is because the course of War could shift to any of their territories based on how the War progresses. 

 

 

ELIGIBILITY

 

In order to be eligible to participate in a Warclaim, every player needs to meet the following requirements:

1. You must have at least 20-hours of playtime within the last 30-days.
2. You must be a member of a Realm participating in the War for at least 14-days before the first Warclaim.
3. You must have reasonable roleplay activity; Moderation may, at their discretion, check players to see how many pages of roleplay logs they have within the last 30-days and, if minimal, can exercise discretion to bar them from the Warclaim. This is to prevent ‘shadow rallies’, PvP alts, and off-server recruits. 

 

Dynamic factors such as potential alts or participants with no roleplay basis for fighting may result in denial.

 

 

III: INTERNAL CONFLICT

 

 

INTERNAL WARS

 

 

An ‘Internal War’ is a War that happens within one Realm, such as a rebellion or civil war. These Wars are not subject to any base or movement costs, excluding those for allies.

 

 

INTERNAL WAR FEATURES

 

 

Costs

 

There are no costs for either party involved in an Internal War. 

 

Allies 

 

As the name indicates, outside Realms cannot directly join an Internal War (they may however assist in raids or with supplies). 

 

Eligibility

 

In order to participate in an Internal War (on either side), your character must be a member of the relevant Realm for at least 14-days before the Internal War breaks out. 

 

TYPES OF INTERNAL WARS

 

 

Rebellion

 

A ‘Rebellion’ is where vassals within a Realm declare independence from that Realm.

 

When this happens, the Realm must post a Warclaim to contest the Rebellion within 14-days, which will be a Siege on the rebelling vassal. If the Realm makes no moves to subjugate the Rebellion after this time, it automatically succeeds. 

 

 

If the Realm defeats the Rebellion, they may instantly evict the defeated rebel vassal. If the Rebellion is successful, the rebelling Tile becomes independent. It may either become its own Realm, or join another. 

 

 

A Rebellion cannot occur on a Capital Tile. 

 

 

Revolution 

 

A ‘Revolution’ is a civil war to usurp control over an entire Realm. 

 

A Revolution must be launched from a vassal on a Core Tile against the wider Realm. In order to win the Revolution, the instigators must win a Siege on the Realm’s Capital Tile. If there are any Tiles between the starting Core Tile and the Capital Tile, these Tiles must first be Warclaimed -- the Defenders of the Tile may choose whether to fight in a Field Battle, or a Siege. 

 

 

A Tile does not need to be Warclaimed if all vassals on that Tile declare their support for the Revolution. 

 

 

If the Revolution is victorious, the leader of the Revolution becomes Realm Leader. If the Revolution is defeated, any vassals who fought for the Revolution may be evicted.

 

IV: LAIRS

 

‘Lairs’ are hidden communities of Magic Users or Creatures regulated by the Story Team. 

 

 

If a Lair is on a Realm-owned Tile, then they may be Warclaimed by the Realm free-of-cost for both sides. A Realm may attempt to Warclaim a Lair located within a Tile owned by another Realm. However, this must be treated as a ‘normal’ Warclaim on the Realm containing the Lair with all usual costs (i.e. a Raze Warclaim).

 

 

Allies are permitted for both sides, though usual base-costs and travel-costs apply. Warclaims against Lairs consist of a Siege on the Lair’s primary build. 

 

 

If the Realm is victorious, the Lair is evicted from the Tile. If the Lair is victorious, it becomes immune from being Warclaimed for a period of 2-months. 

 

 

Note that, given Lairs are meant to be hidden communities, they may elect to abandon the Lair in advance of a Warclaim. The Story Team may, at their discretion, grant a new Lair to these fleeing players. 

 

V: WAR MECHANICS

 

BUILDING

 

Defences and fortifications should be made before a War occurs, not only after one is declared. As a result, once a War is declared, participating Realms can only make minor and temporary modifications to any of their builds, which must be submitted for approval to the Moderation Team 48-hours before a Warclaim. 

 

Sieges - Defenders

 

Once a Warclaim is posted, Defenders in a Siege may only make minor changes to a keep or fortification, such as wooden hoardings, palisade walls, or earthen ramparts. Substantial additions like new walls, towers, or gates are not allowed. In particular, new mechanical doors and gates & lifts created via the Craftbook plugin are only allowed leading to new platforms for siege weapons. 

 

Inappropriate Defences 

 

 

Anti-Laddering: Stairs, buttons, etc. are allowed to frustrate laddering, but must be well-done, non-excessive, and integrated into the build. Sign-spam is not allowed.

 

 

Gates: In order to preserve the original layout of the build, and to encourage players to build their defences with the existing layout in mind, gates are not permitted to be added or removed. 

 

 

Moats: New moats may be created around builds within reason.

 

 

Traps: Traps are permitted, so long as they are not insta-kill traps and must be escapable. Lift-sign traps are not allowed. 

 

 

Berry Bushes: Berry bushes are permitted, but not in excess (such as dense rows). 

 

 

Field Battle Fortifications

 

In a Field Battle, Defenders may build minor fortifications such as wooden walls, but they may not consist of any doors or Craftbook gates & lifts.

 

Attackers may not construct anything.

 

 

Sieges - Attackers

 

When besieging an enemy castle, Attackers can build siege camps with minor fortifications to contain and protect their siege weapons. 

 

These forts must be reasonably-sized and should consist only of wooden palisade walls and earthen ramparts. Excessive defences such as pancake-layering are not allowed, and mechanical doors and Craftbook gates & lifts cannot be used in a siege camp - they are allowed a single Craftbook gate at their entrance. 

 

 

Inappropriate Siege Camps

 

 

Pancake-Layering: Siege camps should be limited to wooden walls with platforms for siege weapons. Excessive layering - both up and across - are not permitted. 

 

 

Anti-Laddering: Stairs, buttons, etc. are allowed to frustrate laddering, but must be well-done, non-excessive, and integrated into the build. Sign-spam is not allowed.

 

 

Moats & Traps: These are not permitted for siege camps. 

 

 

Berry Bushes: These are allowed, when not-spammed, on the exterior of a fort. 

 

 

Gates: Siege camps are allowed a single Craftbook gate at their entrance. 

 

 

SIEGE EQUIPMENT

 

You may craft siege weapons and ammo through an in-game voucher at a Smithing Table, and bring these to the War Server. Siege weapons are destroyed at the end of a Warclaim, but unused ammo is refunded.

 

 

Now something you may have noticed is that I have basically put [Placeholder] for all the war costs. I will explain why the placeholder is there currently. This is the major contention we are currently having with the admin approved copy of the rules is we personally do not agree with the numbers and need to negotiate them. So for the time being I will just omit them as putting anything there would not be final and I know it will cause people to freak out even if I say that they are not final another 15 times in this post.
 

Why scaling costs for wargoals?

 

I know out of this whole post this is most likely going to be the most contentious part so allow me to answer. With 9.0 we were introduced to what we like to refer to as the “death wars” where every single war last map was with the sole purpose of complete either annexation or destruction of the realm. There were no wars that were fought over a tile or two. Every single war ended with one side losing a capital. 

I see this as one of two issues, perhaps it is both. The first being that there was no reason to attempt any other war goal when the option to just erase the problem was right in front of you. To combat this my idea is if we make it a little more expensive to delete a realm, and a little cheaper for the less consequential war goals perhaps we will see more dynamic wars?

The second issue this could be is just that “death wars” are what the players only want and that this cost idea is going to change nothing in the end. If that is true then it will go down as an attempt that did not work and the concept can be looked back upon in the future. I want to at least give it a shot though whether it crashes horribly or does add some variety.

Another note to add here for clarification is that the cost will be per war goal and not per warclaim in this system. If that is confusing I will explain, say you bring 100 soldiers to the field battle, and then on the subsequent siege you bring 150. Costs will only be calculated for the 150 soldier max you hit. Not for the 250 total soldiers. 

 

Does this mean war is live?

 

At the moment of me typing this no. I know this is the answer that most likely half of you didn’t want to see, and perhaps the other half of you do want to see. For as much as I am here to be open and honest. The decision to greenlight wars is not one that I solely have the ability to make so I apologize for the slight false hope I most likely have created.

 

Conclusion:

 

Here is my personal shot at transparency. This post and everything here was written by solely me with no consultation from anybody else. If there are any issues or anything please direct them solely at me and not the rest of the team or even the administration at large I ask. I also warn that since this is my own post if the replies start to get hostile towards one another I will be moderating my own thread.

Thank you for taking the time to read,

        ~ Spoopy

 

[Dyl 2088]

wow!

[wowj 9747]

thanks Spoopy_Duck, Moderation Manager!

[monkeypoacher 8055]

There were no wars fought over a tile because nobody cares about tiles. Maybe this is less true now because you can go to war to secure strategic resources, but there are no strategic tiles really because the map is so decentralized. 

[craneia 232]

-1 why no war

 

[Ramon 5186]

very nice 2 have some staff transparency on this topic regardless of whether war is immediately gnna be back on or no 

[PolarLoLs 984]

yippie

[Werew0lf 24180]

plz just put the last part at the top so players don’t have to read all of that just to hear wars are still turned off

 

thx for transparency 

[TaraJess 2848]

Thank you for trying to do something about death wars!

[wolfdwg 2677]

Wars are not on, this is disappointing. That is all.

[Sandman_Plays 659]

@Xarkly

[NotEvilAtAll 10906]

34 minutes ago, Spoopy_Duck said:

 

Pancake-Layering: Siege camps should be limited to wooden walls with platforms for siege weapons. Excessive layering - both up and across - are not permitted. 

seems like the era of bookcase siege forts is over

[Tentoa 3160]

Thanks for being transparent and putting work into this. Looks fine.

[KBR 2046]

Eighty year old Sir Lothar looked upon his liege Emperor Hadrian who lived was forced to live through his blood disease to the ripe age of ninety. Perhaps he might’ve rested sooner if not for his pure spite for the the sky gods ban on war. 

[Crevel 7557]

I don't really have any strong opinions on the rules. I think we all know that regardless of whether we like them at any given moment, holes with inevitably be poked in them when they're put to the test later on. My only request is to get rid of a contradictory statement and reword it to what the intended wording should be.

 

39 minutes ago, Spoopy_Duck said:

JUSTIFICATIONS FOR WAR

 

War is often cruel and arbitrary. Realms may declare War freely at their own peril. 

 

40 minutes ago, Spoopy_Duck said:

WARGOALS

 

 

When a Realm declares a War, they must specify what the aim of the War is.

 

If it is required to have a specified wargoal, it's clear that you cannot declare war freely because you must obviously adhere to the scope of the wargoal. I think it would be much better to reword it along the lines of "War is often cruel and unpredictable. Realms may declare War arbitrarily, even at their own peril."

 

@Spoopy_Duck