Danny

To be honest, if one of the primary issues with the current map is stagnant rp, option A (whilst it will be unpopular) does seem the most rational way to go. It ensures a concentration of roleplay which is currently too far dispersed into a smaller area which enables it to be much easier to find, frankly forcing people to engage with one another. I know too little about the current map set up and rp hubs to say much more.

With regards to the coming map, I appreciate this is not a thread for discussing this, but please learn from the mistakes of previous maps and ensure it is a concentrated roleplay environment, not too large, with minimal large cities (ideally one per race, however unpopular) and these cities and any arterial roads being the only the regioned areas. Regardless of how some will resist this, we know from the past that it's the most efficient way to encourage roleplay and enable interactivity with the world. Combined with effective GM efforts it also does not have any issues with griefing or land scarring which are the main concerns with it. Concentrate roleplay forcibly via a basic, non-eccentric and non-artificial map design and a free build policy coupled with a review of server policy and plugins. 

4 minutes ago, Sporadic said:

 But there's a trend with and admins wanting simplicity ... But then turning around to implement labyrinthine new lore or PvP rules (that one isn't as much you danny as it was viper but OK). If you keep directing all the "it must be simples" at the techs and give all the other teams a pass it makes the techs feel so isolated, almost as if you dont actually want simplicity, just want tech influence scaled back to zero.

 

But all blatantly uncalled for and thoroughly ungrounded tinfoil hattery aside: I love Danny's core message. Lotc has become much too complex across the board and could use some polishong across all areas. I almost wish the devs did run the server so they could finally enforce the cleanup that is so direly needed and reshape the server in their image.

 

100% with you here, pop a read at the post I made literally seconds before you there. I think the server as a whole needs a complete reviw, from new player experience up to plugin development, to identify it's major failings and take action to resolve them. Sadly, none of the successive admin teams have managed to organise themselves in a manner which has enabled this to be done and I still feel skeptical it will ever be done (I include myself in that successive failure). The whole thing needs to be relooked at in a way led by the administration (who if not willing or capable should step down) and aided by staff and players - a collaborative approach to correct the server's ills and bring it back to growth.

3 minutes ago, Sporadic said:

 Can't help but notice Danny advocates for simple and succinct in the most garrulous posts imaginable. Whatever happened to Practice what you preach? ;)

 

Sorry. Better remove tongue from cheek before I offend someone.

 

I approve of this. I've always had issues with expressing myself in a succinct manner. I did add a tl;dr to my initial post!

13 hours ago, Telanir said:

 

-snip-

0

Thanks for taking the time to respond Tel. 

I stand by the original point I made re dev leadership in server development as that is the way it was. Vaq did exercise the most control over plugins but he did not work on anything without approval of GM/Admin team and if they refused it, that's how it was. Reag and Alec likewise only worked on projects approved by the Gm/Admin team and whilst they did come up with their own (as all dev's did) again, they did not have final say. Nor did you when you became a dev (coder at the time, iirc - before all of these new ranks!). By far, you were the most motivated we'd had in terms of developing and toying with new ideas but they were still under the final say of GM & Admin scrutiny which is why we had such long discussions over Nexus, etc. If we'd decided to go against it, it wouldn't be on the server and a number of changes were made as a result of those discussions - I can easily find the threads re this as they're now in the public Misc archive. The simple fact of the matter is that right up until, I guess Sporadic's time(?), whilst development and ideas did lie in the remit of the developers the final decision making and overall direction lay directly in the hands of the GM and Admin teams and that's exactly how it needs to be.

I know you very passionately believe that plugin and mechanic development should lie in the remit of the development team but I simply can't accept this, and if I'd remained an admin I wouldn't have accepted it. If the administration team isn't willing to put their full attention onto matters (e.g. plugins) that are instrumental to the server experience then they shouldn't be in their positions and they should be replaced by someone with the willingness to focus on directing plugin development in full connection with server development. I 100% stand by the fact that developers should have the freedom to exercise their ideas and to promote their ideas (e.g. your mammoth Nexus 1.0 document you created before Nexus and how you showed it on the dev server prior to any meaningful progress for admin and GM review) but the final say and the full guidance should come from the top-layer of server management without exception - it's a point where we have failed, it's a point where we continue to fail and it's a point that we aren't going to stop failing on until it's recognised. 

Turning to GUI interfaces, as a matter of fact I really do like the current chat engine. It's exactly the kind of compromise that I'd personally like to have seen implemented for all mechanics rather than any of the inventory-esque, GUI schemes. It's an example of the kind of mechanic that you guys realise the potential of and do a fantastic job of implementing. Regardless, the inventory-esque GUI systems remain in place for some things (e.g. /me) which when in the chat window didn't give you a tsunami of text as it was a 5/6 line max well formatted window which had commands (now has the potential for hover & click) to allow navigation and changes and that's the way it should be. 

I will happily stand here and recognise that there has been a clear shift in development style from the 2013/4 era where 'flashy' did seem to be the main focus, whether intended or not. Plugins now are better, but it's still not good enough. With the launch of a new map, the plugins and server mechanics need to be completely re-addressed before a map is launched with mechanics that still fail it, and then all you're destined for is another map.

That's exactly why full Admin & GM oversight of the development team is a necessity and needs to be in place, so a fully neutral review of server plugins can recognise where we're going wrong and where we're going good before another map launch is screwed as a result of the server's rules, mechanics and systems not working for it.

With regards to new players, I can't help but feel as though that also requires a total review of how we approach them and not just from your corner Tel. Even looking at the forum is a terrifying thing because it doesn't come across as particularly welcoming in the first place. In the status updates you have a bunch of trolling, moronic comments re staff, people bitching about stupid things. On the front page you have a very nicely designed home-page but not one that is a welcoming, inviting and simple landing pages. Our external presence is essentially non-existant, we don't even rank on Google searches for 'Minecraft roleplay' (a server called bloody HelloMiners ranks above us). Again, a completely neutral review of the new player experience incorporating the perspectives of new players, staff and old-players alike seems necessary to identify where the server has continuously failed to attract new players. This group needs to identify how to recover our unique Lord of the Ring's appeal (despite not being a LotR server...) and pull people in and enable them to enjoy the unique experience the server offers. 

I'm glad you seem focused on improving what issues exist and I'm glad you recognise that there are issues. But, it seems a difficult thing to achieve when frankly the presence of other very important members of staff on issues such as this is non-existent. We've seen threads like these before, an example being Ever's, but no action ended up being taken as a result - it's discussed, promises made, then ignored. I accept I hold no authority on the server anymore, but I think the community deserves action to be taken properly for once. I don't address this solely to you, on the contrary, you remain one of the best members of the current staff team simply due to your dedication and interactions, but to the team as a whole. The server needs to develop listening to these concerns and directly involve the players in making these decisions, particularly when it comes to plugins and new player experience - screw official staff positions, make a small group who have experience from all areas and tackle it head on before the new map comes. If it isn't tackled, it fails. It's as simple as that.

I like agreeing with you on most counts Tel, it makes a nice change, ahaha.

2 hours ago, Kowaman said:

 

FYI forums used to show user count online in the last 24 hours, now it is active members only.

0

 

Regardless, I think it's fairly self-evident that playercount and active player count is at around an all time low. It would be rather disingenuous to suggest otherwise.

12 hours ago, Telanir said:

 

I would like this highlighted.

 

Development on the mega-scale (i.e. magic, professions, crafting) begins when developers have a rough combination of a supernova of personal motivation; several months supply of free-time™; active community interest & appreciation; appropriate skill-set and expertise; and staff support. Requirements which are rarely met, and cannot be forced or ignored.

 

Negative reinforcement or complaint butchers not the developers, but their motivation to do anything new or big.

 

My most well-received work as a developer occurs following a message of appreciation or thanks. Often it is from people who I don't know, who are new and are not yet filled in on the behaviour ingrained towards developers here.

 

A cycle of bad communication or poor performance ends never with a topic about how pathetic or useless is the team in question.

0

 

I think we have to be very careful here to distinguish between recognition of legitimate and serious issues with the current dev-staff team set-up and the idiots who post "pathetic or useless" and argue against the team simply as a result of a member of their clique leaving / arguing against it. The later is something that all staff experience, and isn't simply limited to dev's, and is indeed something that I wholeheartedly agree with you on. The constant complaints, comments and sarcastic posts do take it out of you and are extremely disheartening, but the simple fact is that it's part of having a position of responsibility within an online community. You're always going to have critics who fail to build real arguments or provide a basis for their opposition but instead simply bicker and slam you for some of the most ridiculous things imaginable - hence why we see irrelevant and joking Skype logs brought up, clearly sarcastic comments used in a serious way as evidence. But at the same time, these kind of players need to realise that nobody is paid for this server, everybody does it out of good-will and the wish to see it become a better community for everyone to enjoy - we all have different views on how to achieve that, but the simple fact is that we all share at least that common goal. If people want to be listened to and consulted on matters then they have to be willing to listen to the staff team's views as well and hold a rational, sensible discussion on topics - something 'Your View' is providing successfully as I type this on the new map transition thread and others.

But, the former type of criticism under which heading my previous post lies is that of legitimate criticism and concern with the current system. You're perfectly aware Telanir of my long-standing opposition to systems like Nexus, GUI interfaces and what I see as other very cool, very nifty but completely distracting and detrimental plugins. This isn't a criticism borne out of a grudge or to try and discourage your work, in fact I think we're extremely lucky as a community to have had so many fantastic developers, artists and writers work with us which is how we have such good graphics, fantastic lore and plugins that other servers may well envy, but rather it is a criticism that stems from the a) user-friendliness of our server and b) appeal to outside members. I'm not being funny, but last time I logged in and saw the GUI interface I've never been so irritated in my life with having to hover over each button to find out what it was rather than being able to simply do what Minecraft is designed for and just hit '/me' and getting the old-style character card up.

I think the work the dev team does is great, but it can't be directed by them. The administration should hold the sole responsibility for directing everything about the server. The dev team should be there to act upon the instructions of administrators rather than being responsible for consulting and deciding on these ideas. This ties, very clearly, into the other serious issue with the current server, that of a complete lack of clear leadership. The admin team traditionally made their decisions in collaboration with the (old-style) GM team, with administrators having the final say, before passing that onto the developer(s) to produce. Developers were of course communicated with during the process, particularly with regards to the feasibility of the projects, but the decision did not lie in their hands. 

What this allows is a clear decision making process that enables an administration who has the decision-making powers for all aspects of the server - a new map, rule changes, mechanics, plugins, lore, storyline - and means that these can all be tied together nicely and ensures that the mechanics and plugins introduced are actually beneficial to the community rather than just being made because a developers has thought they're a nice idea and that it'd be cool to add it in. The key focus of LotC's plugin development has sadly turned away from the central tenant of only producing what is 1) beneficial for roleplay and 2) does not require much adaptation from new players. Sadly now the server has plugins which are not only not beneficial for roleplay but that require new players to adapt to an entirely new kind of game from Minecraft which is NOT what they come to LotC looking for.

LotC's old success lay in its simplicity, in its in-keeping with traditional Minecraft but in a way that did offer some unique mechanics, but those that were simple and benefited roleplay. The main appeal lay in the unique community we had: one where you could come along as a brand new Minecraft player, or an experience one and as a brand new roleplayer or a D&D-pro and you'd still be welcomed with open arms into a server that you instantly knew how to play. 

And it's for exactly that reason that LotC is now at its lowest point ever in terms of the grand scheme of things. Different measures of course apply, but in terms of external penetration Google Trends illustrates the story quite clearly (for comparison, Minecraft itself has not experienced such a clear decline and neither has the search term 'Minecraft roleplay' itself). Likewise, there's currently 35 members on the forums right now - there used to be times when we had 10x that during off-peak UK time.

Clearly, we're not appealing players as we once did and nor are we catering for players like we once did. Why? I'm very confident the answer lies in the complete dismissal of the server's original message and original ambitions and a movement towards something which is much more of a hard-RP and 'separate from Minecraft' server. I'm not satisfied with that decline, I'm sure many other's aren't, and it's been ignored for way too long now. I may not be as active on the server anymore, but the same problems that existed when I first became an administrator exist now.

It may be disheartening to hear people criticise your hard work - it's the same for everyone who has ever held any position of authority on LotC, I used to spend 8-9 hours a day replying to Skype, PMs, forum posts and still get told that I was inactive - but there's a clear line between people being dicks and legitimate complaints and I think it's about time the severity of the issues with the server were actually recognised and acted upon, rather than being dismissed as the development team being described as "pathetic or useless". 

But despite all that, please do keep up the work that your team does - the server literally couldn't function without the types of developers that it has and I think we all have to recognise and show our gratitude for that. This is far from a criticism of your capacities or abilities but rather a question of how the server need be structured and directed for it to actually turn its continuous decline on its head. Whilst you may not recognise the issues, the people that matter most - the playerbase who you cater for - do. Keep up the work and let's have a sensible, rational and reasoned discussion as this is obviously an issue the community is extremely concerned about but that many don't seem willing to articulate their concern about in a decent way.

5 hours ago, Kowaman said:

Creative Control

 

Our control is not limitless, but we have the final say. Our work determines the final product on the server, but we don’t have free reign. For some time now, administrators have deferred judgement for server mechanics to the development team. We act on feedback, we listen to concerns. We consult with the teams that relate to our projects.

 

In all honesty, this is exactly where the administration has been off-track for the last four years. The administration team is the team that should be directing plugin direction exclusively with developers there to implement the decisions made - administration used to exist to direct overall server direction from rules on the ground-level, plugin ideas being approved for future maps and to be the team responsible for making these decisions.

I may not be particularly active on the server anymore - rarely do I log-in - but I do watch closely to what's going on and it seems strange that we still haven't learned from this mistake. You guys do fantastic work, there's little doubt about that, but you shouldn't be here to make executive decisions: that is the role, the responsibility and the very place of the administration team so that such decisions can be made in connection with wider server changes. Neither should the developer team turned into a moderation team with the capacity to ban or make judgments on players - that should be the sole remit of the moderation and admin teams. 

I also think one of the serious problems that having a developer team making decisions leaves us with, is an inundation of unnecessary plugins that whilst aimed with the best of intentions are in-fact detrimental to server roleplay. I say this conscious of the fact that it sounds as though I am belittling you're decision making capabilities, but trust me I'm not. I simply know from experience that there are problems, specifically those above, that arise when you allow a coding / developer team to make the decisions on mechanics and they're issues that have existed for a long time. 

I raised these concerns when Nexus was very first proposed by Telanir, in fact I was very vocal in staff chats with my opposition to it - yes, mechanics are lovely but we're here to play Minecraft and roleplay, not to play a different game. This is one of the reasons 3.0 / 4.0 didn't succeed in their aims of 'returning past glories' - we developed maps directed at free Minecraft roleplay but then had mechanics that morphed the very nature of LotC down a different route. 

I can easily point us towards some of the 4.0 development threads that are now in a public archive to show that despite us aiming for this Minecraft roleplay server we moved away in the final product. Here's a thread on the mechanics for 4.0 that on a number of points we reversed. Even more importantly, here's my 'Twelve Steps to Success' that we held a public and staff vote on that agreed with the removal of 'flashy plugins' for the very reason that whilst they're cool, they're a distraction. And again, here's another staff thread where we specifically discussed moving away from the corporate-esque approach to the playerbase and a movement towards simply focusing on roleplay.

Whilst right now I'm sure that I do sound terribly outdated, linking threads from 2013, the points still stand and are still being ignored. There is a reason why the server has a smaller playbase than it used to and why many people no longer enjoy it. It's not simply Minecraft's general decline after the 2011-2013(ish) boom, but it's the fact that our distinct presence no longer exists and hasn't for so long. The idea of LotC is to provide a platform on MINECRAFT for people to roleplay on. I'm all for features that improve that experience, but sadly when you add plugins that morph the game you often find that instead you are providing distractions from that purpose. Keep the plugins that are beneficial, stop messing about with ones that are just cool and flashy - this is Minecraft, not LotC-craft.

Here's another another thread that I posted once I'd left the admin team but this time slightly newer (2014). There is little by means of controversial suggestions in this thread, but it's fairly clear from the response that it wasn't simply the view of a disillusioned few. The server needs to learn and to adapt, to realise why it isn't what it once was and to take corrective action to reinspire the community.

I finish with one more point. Ditch the secrecy over the coming map. Why do you think every other one has failed? The admin / mod / dev team holing up and making decisions themselves results in decisions being made that are detrimental to the community. Sit down, work with the community and design a map that has LotC's values at its roots. A collaboration of the community as a whole that looks to re-instill our original position as a unique roleplay server that functions on Minecraft's original systems with our own roleplay-beneficial mechanics. And get the message out to the wider Minecraft community that that is what we offer. To be honest, if I was a newbie right now looking at LotC, I'd not even give it a second look - all that it comes across as is an exclusive and frankly scary place to apply to if you're not experienced in roleplay, with an entirely new game to learn once you're in.

LotC's purpose was once to embrace inexperienced roleplayers, people who hadn't roleplayed before, and give them a place to learn and develop as part of a wider community - it's failed that purpose, and we've failed every single time we've tried to achieve it. Learn from our god damn mistakes, stop with the 'we know best' attitude and work together to make the server succeed. 

For clarity, I don't suggest a complete reversal to vanilla Minecraft. What I suggest it a movement away from pointless mechanics that provide nothing in terms of benefit to roleplay but rather provide a distraction for new players who are then put off of enjoying the server i.e. the GUI interface Nexus introduced that I continue to detest to this day. How can we expect new players, many of whom have little experience in roleplay (who in the past have turned into some of our best roleplayers) to actually engage with such a system? They won't, they don't and that's our fault. Keep things that are beneficial: stats systems, character cards, salvaging and live by the idea that just because something is possible to code, doesn't make it good to code.

tl:dr - old guy who is barely around moans about the golden old days

peace

Good decision my friend. It's easy to hold on and not pass the mantle to someone else and I know perfectly well how difficult it is to make this decision. Makes your life a hell of a lot easier though. Real life always has to come first and sadly sitting in the red chair often gets in the way of it. 

Best of luck to you. Six years is insane. 2011 was clearly the year to join. 

On 6/18/2016 at 6:04 AM, Bunny :) said:

 

These words have struck some odd feelings of nostalgia with me, thank you.

 

After reading this, I just thought back to before I had even heard of LoTC I was a moderator on a GMod Dark RP server, the server had run out of donations after a competitor had strangled it out, furthermore I wasn't satisfied with the quality of RP, I did a simple google search "Minecraft RP server" BAM! Lord of the Craft came up, I sent in my first application, Guz a serial killer Wood Elf, I had to go on a vacation the next day without WiFi for a WEEK! I didn't know if my application was accepted or not! When I finally returned? DENIED! Treshure denied my app for forgetting my physical description! I applied again, and was accepted the next day, but I hadn't been implemented for hours!

 

When I logged on for the first time in my steampunk Elf skin, I had no ******* clue where to go lol, I pleaded for help in OOC I think some guy named Overland replied, and he said that he couldn't tell me because it would be metagaming! (**** you, I wandered around for about 2 hours looking for it.) but eventually I made it to the city, it was called Lin'Ame and it was underneath the High Elf city, I was just a poor noob, I didn't know what to do, and so some guy named Phaedrus let me into the city, and he explained that only Wood Elves could live in the city and so we talked for a bit, then suddenly! BAM! some Raevir gliders or aircraft guys, don't realllyyyy remember, but they crashed inside the city, and they were quickly dispatched by the Elven guard, I think they were called the Elberu'Cinhir or something but I had to go.

 

It's a fond memory of mine, and I wish I could make more like that, but sadly I haven't really been able to since Thales. . . my experience has been rapidly degrading since then, and I blame it on Nexus professions, I had so much more fun when it didn't exist, everything was just vanilla besides the persona and chat plugins, and it was fine, annnyyyywaaayys, just nostalgia, Thank you.

At the end of the day, that's exactly it, and that's what it's always been. It's a Minecraft server you roleplay on; not another game. Vanilla, with chat, regions, persona and LWC did it fine without extending things to become something entirely different with interfaces and plugins. No disrespect to the coding team, they're brilliant, but well-made plugins don't equate to what's best for the server, and just because something's had a lot of work put into it doesn't make it best for the server. Learn from the mistakes. Stop treating it like a new game: it is Minecraft.

But again it spins around to the players too. Staff ain't gonna manage to learn from their mistakes when player feedback is constantly just berating, insults and complaints with little constructive responses. Remember the staff are players too, and remember your opinion is not fact.

The only fact involved is the mission of the server, which beyond the ridiculous mission statement (another prime example of this OTT attitude instead of just being a normal server) is to provide the playerbase with a Minecraft server (not a brand new game) which they can roleplay on. LotC is past its heyday, but that's far from an excuse to abandon its real mission in favour of trying to create a new game experience: if you want to do that, LotC is not the place for it. That's exactly where LotC has collapsed before, and where it's still collapsing now.

12 minutes ago, Lark said:

 

something something relevant about mitto

 

This server is a husk of what it once was. Stagnation, ignorance, and dumbassery have led to the creation of something that is a clusterfuck of ideas gone south. Let it rest in peace and do something more meaningful with your lives than overcomplicate a Minecraft Roleplay server. Roleplaying doesn't take much. You need imagination, and a guy to moderate the story and rules sometimes. That's all. You can add dice. You can add some numbers and make some cool mechanics. You can add a medium like a videogame or forum. Make it even cooler.

 

This isn't roleplay anymore. This is a documentary of a ******* junkie.

 

The junkie being the server, the drug dealers being the staff and players force feeding it all these dumb plugins, protocols, and bullshit in attempts to change things.

 

You can't change what's already broken. It's too late to fix it either.

Analogy doesn't work. Not easy to fix, but perfectly possible. First step is literally chilling and stopping the pretentious bull**** and getting back to basics. Focus on exactly what you started with there, the roleplay. Cut the unnecessary plugins, keep the beneficial ones. Make sure staff engage in roleplay and with players. And key, be a group of players together not a business and customers. Not easy, but a foot in the right direction rather than continuing in the wrong one we've been going down since 2012 or whatever.

Edit: And abandoning a pleasure is hardly a solution to the problem. If people find enjoyment in the server, and think they can again, the focus should be on providing said enjoyment rather than screwing the system even more. Just throwing it out there.

Just a view from the outside. LotC first began losing its way when we got hung up on protocol and trying to treat it like an actual business and we began to turn the tide on that back in 2014 but now things seem to have just spun about again. Cut the crap, focus on the actual job of providing a roleplay platform. At the end of the day, staff are players who run the server, listen to the follow players. And just cut all this protocol crap, chill, that's how you get an interactive and effective staff team that a playerbase will actually like and respect and work with. There's no need for this department initiative or ridiculous over-formality with posts and internal documents, just relax and be human, this isn't Blizzard or ArenaNet, it's LotC...

And Jesus Christ, players, stop acting as if you've got a bunch of complete arses hellbent on destroying your fun and the server as a staff team. Until you're in a situation where you're actually in a management position, just stick to the constructive feedback rather than acting like the admin and GM team are a bunch of tyrannical maniacs. Get a grip. They want the server to thrive just as much as you do, and their opinions are equally as valid as yours. Plus, key point, they were players too and still are... 

People have different perspectives, the key is balancing them - at the end of the day everyone's purpose is the same: it's Minecraft, it's a roleplay server, stop treating it like something different. Admittedly, during my tenure, I never managed to understand this and regretfully it's only now that it sinks in when you look from the outside.

I stick my head in regularly to check out the forums and it's actually embarrassing looking in and seeing some of this crap happening and if it's embarrassing for an ex-player, something makes me think it's gonna be killing that new-player vibe. 

tl;dr: staff & players, it's Minecraft, you're here to roleplay whether staff or player, stop overthinking it and just get to the basics of roleplaying and playing Minecraft rather than overthought complete remakings of the game and OTT extensions to vanilla

In any case, please yourself, take what I'm saying with a pinch of salt or take some heed of it. I'm an ignorant, ex-player just giving two cents at something that has not changed since I joined in 2011... I'm back off to real life, ciao.

1 hour ago, Rom said:

Ayyy, just need to summon the rest of the squad and we'll be on.

Sounds a plan. #BroseusRepresent

On 3/20/2016 at 11:01 PM, Rom said:

 

'And the rest?' U wot m8?

(On a level Danny, you've even drawn me back in with this thread, and that takes some doing, my old lad). 

 

(Broseus Crew, let's go out and get shitfaced together, that'll be a right laugh).

What an absolute **** I am! I was sitting trying to sift through names.. Pint on me?

I'm telling you - an email campaign to all registered forum members about some special in-game event revolving around this and boom, you're gonna get a fair number of people back in play just to check things out.

And why not? I'm pretty sure I can make it down to Leeds.

On 3/15/2016 at 1:01 AM, Eoin :/ said:

june 2011 was aegis ago

Niceeee!

4 hours ago, nppeck said:

Becoming a staff member was a very new experience and in some ways I enjoyed it far more than any RP I did. Under Danny, I was an AT member and then a GM. To be perfectly frank, doing modreqs was not the most interesting part of being a GM. The level of intrigue was what I loved.  At this time, there was a lot of sentiment against staff members such as SerenityOnyx of Mori fame, Respiren, Mogroka. Availer even returned for a while which was quite an crapshow. LOTC has been such a large part of my life so I'd like to thank all the people I can think of that made it such a special experience.

 

5 hours ago, Princeton said:

I remember getting accepted by @Dannyto the Application Team as my first staff position ;) I hardly remember much of Aegis as a wee 13 year old, but have met many friends along the way in LotC and have really enjoyed it. 

I picked a pretty good team, eh? ;) AT > VAT. 

1 minute ago, Free The Hobbits said:

God, I have wasted nearly 3-4 years of my life. Everybody used to be so shite at roleplay. Look at us now!!

I don't think crap is even the word.. The newbies now don't even compare! 

24 minutes ago, KarmaDelta said:

What of me, glorious Sloth King?

Do you remember our fun times here on the forum while I was a wee lad?

 

 

One of my favorite moments as a kid on here was the whole learning magic with Ambros and teaching others. Was fun though short for me.

I was a wee lad myself! One of the first people I spoke to cause we were both so obsessed with the forum! 

11 minutes ago, Aislin said:

remember when you killed @Sultan Mogroka? that was funny

I don't think it'd be possible to forget that one buddy..

2 minutes ago, K said:

You're right, I'm an Asulon baby

Best memory of Asulon? Shoot.

4 minutes ago, K said:

Danny, you're a good person

#Represent.

That ain't a memory of your time here though! No getting out of replying!

1 minute ago, Silent™ said:

I'd have to say I most fondly remember living in my quaint little house at Winterfell in Aegis, and going over to Snowy fields to fight the Undead whenever I had the time.

 

Ah yes, the overwhelming power that the Undead had and the sheer exhilaration fighting against an enemy that you could never truly defeat. Good times.

I remember actually being psychically terrified of them.. That's not right for a bloody Minecraft server! The Undead really were a brilliant feature, and you're right, knowing you could never even win was so strangely entertaining.

Just now, iMattyz said:

 

:J The teamspeak banter will never be forgotten.

I miss you man.

11 minutes ago, trap_queen3 said:

Danny why you gotta drop that nostalgia bomb on me. I may be an Asulon baby, but still just ahhhhh!

 

I will probably talk good memories after my final today.

Whoops! 

9 minutes ago, iMattyz said:

Asulon Orc and Anthosian Sariant days were the best.

Damn, I forgot to mention the brilliant staff team that I worked with over the time. Matt, @Geo, @Freya , @Ever and @Gemmylou to mention a few. Even bloody staff meetings and the constant buzzing of the GM Skype chat sticks out as a memory... 

1 minute ago, Sythan said:

Waking up at 3am (Cos Australia) for my first warclaim when I was a new player in Anthos.

Going to meet up point to find out nobody was there

Get PM'd the coordinates of warclaim and run over on foot. It is now 4am. 

Had no idea if we were attacking or defending. End up walking up to enemy fort asking to be let in.

They tell me to **** off.

I head back over to my guys and fall in a spider web trap along the way.

I die.
 

 

I'm not being sarcastic in saying this but, it is the moment I remember the most, and one of the most enjoyable somehow. And even though for someone else that would've been horrible, it was fun. I miss the good ol days of being new and having no damn clue what I was doing.

 

 

I don't think I ever had a clue what I was doing.. Hahaha! 

10 minutes ago, Mithradites said:

 

Try Medieval II, man. It's prettier, but old enough to have that .txt you can easily edit to unlock all factions.

It's on Steam now I think.

I thought about it a while back just never bought it. Might have to give it a go.

Hope this ain't too late but I noticed you didn't have much luck. I've not done much Medieval warfare but I've just flicked through the recommended reading for my Medieval History module and there's a few that might be handy. Don't know if your institution has subscription access for the eBooks of them but hopefully you can find at least a few of them. They might be useless or they might be useful, haven't checked any out but just a few pointers anyway.

• Hewitt, Herbert James, The Organization of War Under Edward III, 1338-62 (Manchester, 1966) - available ACLS Humanities if you can get onto it, handy for the process of war?
• Simpkin, David The English aristocracy at war: from the Welsh wras of Edward I to the Battle of Bannockburn (Woodbridge, 2008) - on DawsonEra - maybe handy for looking at leadership, etc?
• Matthew, Donald The Norman Conquest (London, 1966), maybe good for a generic look at the example of the Norman Conquest
• E.M.C. van Houts The Norman Conquest through European Eyes (article) in The English Historical Review, Volume 110, Issue 438, pp. 832-853 - on jstor if you have access
• K.B. McFarlane, War, the Economy and Social Change: England and the Hundred Years War in Past and Present, Volume 22, Issue 2, pp. 3-18 - on jstor also, handy for effects of medieval warfare?

Like I say I've never read them so they might be totally useless but then again they might give a few ideas. The articles are fairly short so are probably the best bet instead of hunting an entire book.. Hope it helped a bit!

Edit: Did a bit more digging and this looks quite good for looking at the practice of medieval warfare, hopefully you can get to it. It's on as an eBook, the print book is about £70 from my uni bookshop.. Gah!

Keen, Maurice Hugh Medieval warfare: a history (New York, 1999)

First Total War experience was Rome, fell in love. To this day it's still one of my favourite games. I literally never play anything anymore but I go through little stages of a week or so where I play one game and it tends to be it. I liked Empire & Napoleon a lot, but Rome II just was the biggest disappointment for me ever, it was just awful. Not looking forward to or buying Warhammer - not my cup of tea, I'll stick to the first Rome.