Cracker

I will agree that any firearm RP would need an intense moderation or even soft techlock process to trial. I’m not interested in seeing the existing bandit communities being tied with firearms – but my standing issue is that players are actively banned for tastefully roleplaying these things within their own communities. Part of what makes LotC great is its lack of standard. Unlike the countless pretenders – we don’t have any meaningful server canon to base off of. If we were a Lord of the Rings server, a Game of Thrones server, a Berserk server, or a Warhammer Fantasy server, we would have died out ages ago, as our mechanics aren’t interesting enough to justify being trapped within an IP. Our success comes from our open creative platform. A player on LotC can take anything from the world they find fascinating, and flesh out their own vision of it on the server, to test it and see if its creatively successful. Up until maybe 2014, this was an immensely liberal standard. I remember roleplay a 12th century knight and 14th century Slavic boyar against the Warhammer 40k-esque Teutonic Order, complete with death spires, power armor, chainsaws, and weapons of mass destruction. As much as those conflicts were OOCly aligned as well as RPly – I’d never had wanted those players banned for attempting a standard different from my own. If you disagreed with a standard, you came up with a roleplay reason why to distance yourself from it, not demand bans and staff investigation. It was immensely more fun, nuanced, and original than the Dreadlander conflicts I roleplayed post tech-lock, where the same cycle of medieval bandits/pagans invade in coalition with the same reference images for years on end. I want to capture that spirit of innovation again, and I would want to see it done thoughtfully and tastefully, and above all else, not punishable by staff mandate, because I think anything less is insulting to what LotC is fundamentally about.

The creative atmosphere is inherently hampered by restricting blunderbusses, flintlocks, and so forth – all staples in both the late medieval period as well as many fantasy environments such as Warhammer, Final Fantasy, and so forth. I do not ever care or intend to force firearm roleplay on those unwilling – but to ban pistol duels, consensual firearm salutes, cannon roleplay, is inherently restricting and unfair. These weapons should exist for flavor purposes and allow people to cultivate the fantasy environment they seek. No one has a creative monopoly on LotC’s “theme” and its ridiculous to assume otherwise. If someone does not like the environment that firearm RP produces – you can easily go to a settlement or nation where that is not the case. Our sandbox allows for multiple types of RP to flourish in an interconnected way. Given that there is no mechanical difference from being apprehended with a crossbow and a flintlock, there should be no reason to ban one but condone the other.

Some of the best video content I’ve seen come out of LotC. Fantastic work! We could get some easy traction promoting this on YouTube.

Great for gambling in a crowded setting. +1, thanks Llir!

Treaty O F NEW MAGARA’LIN 1760 Issued and confirmed on the 6th of Godfrey’s Welcome, 1760 ARTICLE I - Renelia shall withdraw from the Alliance of Independent States and issues a condemnation to those responsible for the death of innocents throughout the conflict. ARTICLE II - Renelia shall recognize His Imperial Majesty, Peter III as Holy Orenian Emperor, master of his domain, and acknowledges all associated titles relevant to his styling, most notably his reign over the provinces of Helena, Haense, Kaedrin, Curon, and the province-in-rebellion of Warwick. ARTICLE III -The signatories agree to full cessation of hostilities as of the promulgation of this document. Signed, HIS IMPERIAL EXCELLENCY, Sir Simon Basrid KCS, Imperial Archchancellor Signed, Mortal Prince-Regent Ailmar Velulaei’onn of the Kingdom of Renelia

P E A C E O F T A L O N S G R O T T O 1759 Issued and confirmed on the 18th of Sigismund’s End, 1759 ARTICLE I - Talon’s Grotto shall withdraw from the Alliance of Independent States and affirms its condemnations on those responsible for the death of innocents throughout the conflict. ARTICLE II -The signatories agree to full cessation of hostilities as of the promulgation of this document. ARTICLE III -The signatories agree to a pact of non-aggression. Should an instance emerge that violates the standing peace established, both parties are expected a five month window to seek redress. Signed, HIS IMPERIAL EXCELLENCY, Sir Simon Basrid KCS, Imperial Archchancellor Signed, His Majesty, Nathaniel Valorum Goldblight, Sovereign of the Depths, Sovereign of Talons Grotto

Treaty O F AL-FAIZ 1759 Issued and confirmed on the 12th of Sun’s Smile, 1759 ARTICLE I - Al-Faiz shall withdraw from the Alliance of Independent States and affirms its condemnations on those responsible for the death of innocents throughout the conflict. ARTICLE II -The signatories agree to full cessation of hostilities as of the promulgation of this document. ARTICLE III -The signatories agree to a pact of non-aggression. Should an instance emerge that violates the standing peace established, both parties are expected a five month window to seek redress. ARTICLE IV -The signatories agree to allow open trade with one another. Signed, HIS IMPERIAL EXCELLENCY, Sir Simon Basrid KCS, Imperial Archchancellor Signed, SAYYID, Ameen Al-Nabeel, Grand Wazir and Wazir Al-Maaliah

Glad to see these reforms pushed out. Hope we can clean up dead charters and in turn begin letting existing communities expand to allow for a wider world that is still interconnected.

OOC: Through that whole arc you found the person you loved... that’s powerful. Lorina Carrion will always to be to me the last of the Carrions and a spectacular final chapter of that lineage. You did an awesome job chronicling both the growth of your character and the changing political atmospheres. Kudos and congratulations on the wedding.

Between great affairs of state, Simon Basrid indulged in his ancestral hobby. ((mcname: dibbo9)) ((discord: dibbo#3625)) Name: Simon Basrid Age: 49 Relevant Experience: The tradition is maintained among all aristocrats of my homeland. I am eager to practice among colleagues.

I love to see this kind of energy on the craft, +1 Julius, thanks for showing some love to the community and I hope you receive it back in spades.

I enjoy a mystical and reclusive Cloud Temple – one that feels more as a crypt or ruin to reflect in before embarking on a journey. Beyond the utility of getting players out into the world at large quickly, it connects to what the space symbolizes of death and rebirth and that ominous process. I’d love to see it be one-way into multiple spawn points and find ways to inject CT item stalls into the economy or nations directly.

I can unequivocally respect the spirit of this ruling on the basis that it is executed with the intent of improving community standards. At the moment, new players that join, between our IG OOC, discord, and forums, are barraged with a litany of toxicity that stem from wholly irrelevant discussions on politics, race, religion, culture, etc. – do we expect them to wade through that sewage to find roleplay? If we want this community to grow, we need to hold it a higher standard and prove it is a hospitable place for communal story-telling. I can recognize concerns that this may be used to target players, but in truth, if you are using LotC mediums as your personal soapbox to push controversial political beliefs, you might not be playing for the right reasons.

+1 nice dev diary ddrgrool!

Dr fate is my friend