monkeypoacher

1 minute ago, ErikAzog said:

farewell charoolder

farewell erik azog...

I have upheld my contractual obligations to beamon 4, LLC, and will now be distancing myself to pursue other creative endeavors

I feel like this copypasta sums up my lotc experience better than I could

seeing as "hey we have to fade to black but wanna take this to skype?" was what got me into contact with the several weird adults who made my mid-to-late teens into a bizarre online psychosexual ordeal, yeah, I think it's worth looking in to doing something like this

the issue is that "fade to black" is a euphemism, banning it doesn't address what you actually want to forbid. Are two characters sharing a kiss allowed? what about sleeping together, entering a bath, etc. 

I guess you would want a rule against implied nudity / sexual activity and then explicitly state that anything more than a pat on the shoulder or (insert acceptably pg-13 gesture) is verboten

Paul de Montfort-Joannes starts a new cadet branch of the Joannes family

"hey do you guys want to join my cool noble family," he asks

The biggest roadblock has to be that a functional democracy would not have a PRO (all powerful executive figure who can disappear ppl at will). Even republics struggle with this OOC mechanic - moderation will not recognize your nation's constitutional limitations on PRO power, at best they will throw things into a ponderous "internal conflicts" war run by ferrymen

PRO held by an unusable alt account and region owners (irply stewards, officials, government men) elected by the local council could be an interesting system though. 

"All of this after she demanded reform from the Church? I smell something papish about the whole thing..." conjectures Hadadrimmon Harrenid

Paul gasps- In sheer delight that someone had finally come to render this important service, even more that he might know what is in store for him!

do your own events

im rping all sorts of weird dumb shit having a blast

Paulie S. wrings his hands at the news. Fortunately for him, he wasn't married, and if he was, he probably wouldn't try to kill anyone, and if he did, he would probably succeed, but nevertheless...

FRANCISCAN ARTICLES OF ADRIA

I. LANDS AND TITLES BEHOLDEN TO THE DUCAL CORONET

The following titles are hereby tied to the Ducal Coronet of Adria in perpetuity.

• Duke of Adria

• Count of Velec (consisting of the town of Velec)

• Protector of the Aaunic South

• Defender of the Eastfleet Trade

The following properties are hereby tied to the Ducal Coronet of Adria in perpetuity.

• The City of Velec and Little Raev

• The Castle of Emalinhrad

Let no lawful claim be made to the preceding titles or properties be made without first claiming and holding the Duchy of Adria.

II. ELIGIBILITY FOR THE DUCAL CORONET

The elected candidate for the Ducal Coronet must…

• be of the age of majority.

• be a faithful member of the Church of the Canon.

• be in good standing with the courts of the Duchy of Adria.

• be of an established noble lineage.

• claim descent through Exalted Sigismund.

III. THE FRANCISCAN ARTICLES

Upon the assumption of the Ducal Coronet, each Duke is required to sign the Franciscan Articles, named after the first Duke of Adria, Franz Vladov. These articles act as an agreement between the Duchy (i.e the electors) and the Duke.

• The Duke of Adria is to be chosen by the Ducal Electors in a just and fair election, and his children hold no right of inheritance to the Ducal Coronet of Adria.

• The Duke of Adria is required to convene a Duma, a meeting between lords sworn the duchy every two years.

• The Duke has no right to create new feudal or municipal taxes without the approval of the Duma.

• The Duke has no right to declare war or peace without the approval of the Duma.

• The Duke is required to provide for the standing ducal army.

• If the Duke was to transgress on the law or privileges of the nobility, the Articles authorize the nobility to refuse the Duke’s orders and act against him.

IV. PROTOCOL FOR THE PASSING OF THE DUCAL CORONET

Upon the passing of the Duke, the Ducal Coronet of Adria is handed over to the Primate of Adria, the Bishop of Vilavia. The Bishop is required to call for an election in a period of no less than one year and shall serve as interdux for that period. Upon the lawful election of one of the candidates for Duke, he is crowned with the Ducal Coronet by the Bishop.

V. BYLAWS OF THE DUCAL ELECTION

The Electors of the Duchy of Adria are hereby defined as those vassals sworn directly to the current Duke of Adria. In the case of an interregnum, they are defined as those sworn directly to the previous Duke.

There must be a minimum of three ducal electors present for an election to be deemed legitimate. Whence an elector’s lineage becomes extinct and his lands and titles default to the Duke, if there are less than three electors the Duke is required to raise a person to the electorship by bestowing them lands and titles.

Whence an election for the Duke of Adria is called, the electors are summoned at the Primate’s behest without arms or soldiers. In the case of an elector being too ill to travel, a kinsman of their dynasty may serve at their behest.

Once an election is assembled, the electors are forbidden to conclude without the election of a Duke. During the election, the gates must be closed shut and no person may enter the assembled place other than the presiding Bishop and electors.

In order for an election to be deemed legitimate and conclude, the electors must achieve a majority amongst themselves. In the case of failure to reach majority, the electors must continue to vote until a consensus is achieved.

In the case of an election concluding without a chosen elector, it is required that another election to be called within a years time. Status quo shall maintain until a Duke is elected.

VI. DEFINING THE DUMA

The Duma shall henceforth be defined as the assembly of the estates within the Duchy of Adria. The Duma is tasked with carrying out judgment on matters pertaining the Duchy and shall have the final say on matters pertaining to laws, wars, alliances, and treaties.

• The Duma is assembled upon the request of the Duke, and as due by the Franciscan Articles is required to be assembled once every two years.

• The estates and their representatives are henceforth defined as thus.

  • From the Duchy, the Chancellor acts as the Duke’s representative and heads the Duma in the Duke’s name.

  • From the nobility, two representatives from every demesne within the Duchy are called forth.

  • From the burghers, four representatives from the City of Velec are called forth.

• The representatives from the estates must represent a majority of the population of Adria.

• In order for a motion to pass, it must have a clear majority.

VII. PRIVILEGES OF THE NOBILITY

The Nobility of the Duchy of Adria are hereby denoted as the individuals maintaining a noble title and their progeny to the third degree. Those being, the great-grandchildren of a titled noble. Those of noble families with less than fifty-percent noble blood may not be styled as nobles. With this denotation, the nobles of Adria and its entities are hereby granted the following privileges. Those raised to gentry and affirmed by the Duke of Adria also claim these privileges.

• Any man of noble stock has the right to hold land in his name in which it will stay for the coming generations.

• Any man of noble stock has the right to be trialed by his peers.

  • May no one lay judgment onto a noble unless of the same rank and privilege.

  • May no one claim the life of a noble unless of the same rank and privilege.

• Any man of noble stock has the right to duel.

  • May no man of lower blood challenge another of noble stock.

• Any man of noble stock has the right to settle his trial by combat.

  • May the opponent of the trial be of the same rank and privilege as the accused, lest the accused waive his right.

• Any man of noble stock has the right to hunt within the Ducal Forest and Properties.

  • May no one hunt the Duke’s game unlawfully, lest they be branded a poacher.

  • May these hunts occur not too frequently and with moderation, to allow the forest to thrive.

• Any man of noble stock has the right to carry out Private Law against another man.

  • May neither the State nor the Church intervene in a matter of Private Law.

  • May the matter of Private Law stay between two individuals, and not their families lest it become public.

VIII. PRIVILEGES OF THE CITY OF VELEC

Upon the passing of the Gradic Rights in the Year Nineteen Oh-Four by the Duke Heinrik, the City was granted law in the form of privileges. The privileges apply to the populace of the City of Velec as a whole, and thus apply to the individual landholders within the City itself.

The Gradic Rights of the City of Felsen, c.1557

• Hitherto the populace of this town shall be referred to as any legal landholder within municipal authority.

• Hitherto does the populace of this town have the right to waive feudal privilege and govern itself.

  • Hence the town has the right to waive feudal tithe and pay in coin.

  • Hence the town has the right to choose a leader from amongst its own.

  • Hence the town has the right to produce and publish laws and rights regarding itself.

• Hitherto does the populace of this town have an exemption from serfdom.

• Hitherto does the populace of this town have the right to freedom of travel.

• Hitherto does the populace of this town have the right to collect tax, tolls, and impose fees.

• Hitherto does the populace of this town have the right to freedom of trade.

• Hitherto does the populace of this town have the right to a trial by judge.

• Hitherto does the populace of this town have the right to petition its lord.

Originally penned by Barnabas Basarab, Ph.D J.D of the Imperial Institute at Johannesburg

Edited and corrected by His Excellency, Sigismond Varoche, Lord Chancellor of Adria, year 1904

Signed and affirmed by His Grace, Heinrik Sarkozic, Duke of Adria, A.D. 1907

Revised and reaffirmed by the Grand Duma of Adria, 11th of Tobias' Bounty, A.D. 1907

AMENDMENT, A.D. 1907

To ARTICLE II., "ELIGIBILITY FOR THE DUCAL CORONET"

It has been resolved by the Grand Duma that in order to shield the Ducal Coronet from threat of foreign pretense in an election for Dux, and to ensure merit carries forth the best man for the ducal election, the noble candidates must have served the Duchy of Adria for no less than five years.

The text of ARTICLE II shall henceforth read: 

II. ELIGIBILITY FOR THE DUCAL CORONET

The elected candidate for the Ducal Coronet must…

be of the age of majority.

have spent no less than five years in service of the Duchy as a member of the army or the civil administration.

be a faithful member of the Church of the Canon.

be in good standing with the courts of the Duchy of Adria.

be of an established noble lineage.

claim descent through Exalted Sigismund.

RESOLVED, by unanimous vote

of the 1st Adrian Grand Duma,

11th of Tobias' Bounty, A.D. 1907

THE PRECEDING HAS BEEN AFFIRMED, NOTARIZED, ORGANIZED, SYSTEMATIZED, AND COLLATED

BY PAUL SARKOZIC, SENESCHAL OF THE COURTS OF ADRIA
6th of Sun's Smile, A.D. 1907

On 1/7/2023 at 8:43 AM, Xarkly said:

(since, as you've seen, the OOC plotting is a ridiculously slippy slope that can point fingers at all community leaders)

 

Paul brings a white handkerchief to his forehead to wick off the sweat. "This can't be good!" He says.

i think the ban has more or less served its purpose. when you're dealing with conflicts it is more important to set the precedent that these kinds of OOCly hostile/conspiratorial actions will lead to bans than it is to "reform" players, whatever that means. (the opposite is true about prisons, but this is a video game) 

it should be enough of a deterrent to bad behavior that you will be banned and separated from the thing you want (whether that's pixel power, ooc validation, or something else) if you take conflicts out of character like this person did. this server moves fast enough that a month or two of distance is enough. particularly noxious or repeat offenses could go for longer, and people who continue to harass community members or otherwise negatively influence the server during bans should be perma'd.

the only thing that changes attitude is time, keeping someone banned indefinitely is not going to make a difference. take it from me, guy who has been indefinitely banned 3 times. the person you are dangling an appeal over is more likely than not going to learn the words you want to hear them say, say them back to you, and go back to doing whatever it is they were doing.

so really there's no point reading into the (admittedly lame) apology or whether Twinny has "changed" or will avoid minecraft power politics in the future. the certainty that they will be banned again if they try scheming again is enough.

as king of telemar my favorite thing about being a nation leader was having a cool castle and crown and scepter. my least favorite thing was not having players to see my cool castle and crown and scepter

the mint green text really sold me

On 12/26/2022 at 12:32 AM, Esterlen said:

This is a terrible system that not only resulted in so much of the map going unused, but also deprived nations of the choice to use it even if they wanted to. Instead, everything was crammed into a single tile, leading some areas of the map to have incredibly concentrated landscars and others to be perpetually empty and desolate. I want to see vast states with a number of different ecosystems and towns, not an urban agglomeration crowded into a single tile. The Helena-Rubern-Reza-Palatinate-Owynsburg-Avalain-Morsgrad megapolis was one of the ugliest, most immersion-breaking features I’ve ever seen on this server. Yes, nations having so many empty tiles is not ideal, but it’s infinitely better than the alternative. If you can’t come up with a fair mechanic to incentivise them to develop outlying tiles (And no, I don’t think increasing the bar for acquisition will necessarily help this), the status quo is preferable to reverting to last map’s kleinstaaterei.
 

City-States are the default mode of government since time immemorial. From the beginning of human civilization until now, the most stable arrangement of human habitation has been a group of interdependent settlements sharing a watershed, and in light of this Arcas's dense urban areas were probably the most immersive feature of any LoTC map. You can find this exact arrangement everywhere from the Rhine-Ruhr cities (the population center of the IRL state which inspired the Holy Orenian Empire), throughout the geography of Western Europe from the Netherlands to the Loire to the Po Valley, and all the way back through history to the Indus Valley civilization and forward to the industrial megalopoli of the Pearl River Delta.

Besides, at least in the Greater Helena Metropolitan area you had a decent chance of finding another player and striking up a conversation. At least Helena was a realistic and decently-populated city. At least the placements of these "megalopoli" made some sort of sense, as they were all intentionally built where players would naturally convene and close enough to each other that trade and conflict could arise spontaneously.

It also bears mentioning that all of the current nations originated as city-states, even the very old ones like the Orenian Empire - their development just happened in Aegis. I always felt like I've missed out on 

This takes us to the current ridiculous arrangement of land on Almaris. Why do any of these states exist? 

What bothers me about this map isn't the enormous megablobs of uninhabited land claimed seemingly out of a fetish for boreal forest or tundra or mountains. The arbitrary tile borders cutting through different altitudes and biomes. The exclaves and settlements connected to neither civilization nor fresh water. Or that the third power in humanity is stuck in the middle of the desert on another continent because all of the mainland has been claimed by perpetually-AFKing OOC despots. What bothers me is the map is so big you have to get to every city through a magic portal.

There is too much land, yet all of it is too precious to build anything new. Too much space in every city, yet an insistence that even the wealthiest citizens live as rentoids in impoverished Messy Medieval hovels or squalid Sutican tenements. Every single settlement is governed from the top down, by people on Discord, so it doesn't make any sense to join one unless you're already in with the ruling clique. This has created a map that is simultaneously empty and cramped, where building is tightly regulated and still hideous, where it is impossible for a man to have an acre of land and a half-dead mule without first having an in with the inexplicable floating Versailles of his nation's central government authority.

I won't belabor the preposterous dynasties created out of thin air from Augustus Horen's's nephew's grandson or Sigismund Carrion's senior agnate's first-cousin-17x-removed. But why would any sane person, understanding the childish politics of "EATO," think that the current brainmelted internecine conflict is worth fighting for? Why would my character die for someone's lawful claim to be Junior Prom Royalty at the Haense Prikaz? If Almaris was real, it would be consumed in a vast mutinous communist revolution. Impeccably-groomed streets, where the punishment for setting up an apple cart is eviction, would run deep red with Alstion-Morovar blood. 

All of this has happened because instead of paying any attention to realism we decided everything goes by Civ 6 rules - where we fight for "tiles" of land instead of actual resources or settlements or players - and these rules supersede anything that happens in roleplay. It's a rancid, ugly, awkward system that has created the most stillborn political situation in Descendant history. Return to Freebuild.

4 hours ago, Orlanth said:

 A: Planet side 2 style. Hexagons that roughly conform to map shape. Tiles should be made of the same count of hexagons to ensure relatively equal size.

i'm going to have a stroke

Please just get rid of "mechanics" (tiles, vortex nodes, fast travels, et cetera) if they cannot easily be interacted with via Minecraft mechanics/plugins or role-play. The formula of "it's just Minecraft but you roleplay a character" is really good. Minecraft itself is a great roleplay platform. Adding unnecessary MMORPG / strategy gaming complications does not improve anything by default. Those complications ruin roleplay when you have to spend OOC time asking staff to help you with them. A good "systems"/"mechanics" update would be to make all of the LoTC stuff - nations, tile & region management, warclaims, etc. feel fully automatic - they can flow directly from roleplay with the click of a menu option or the syntax of a command.

See, nobody likes playing Calvinball with the staff, it's the #1 role-play killer. But this is exactly what wars and building are like now. You have to ask someone in the phone tree to do anything - and when you think you know how something simple works, and you've read the rules, you get deflected with an "ackshually rule Y was changed in modmag Z so now you can't do A-W. sorry." Basic server rules receive ******* League of Legends balance updates and it creates a messy, chaotic, and unfulfilling system for everyone. 

This map was shipped with an entire bill of promises for a fully fleshed-out resource / economy and war system. It's been two years and no one has been able to so much as agree for rules on how these "systems" might be implemented in the future. "Systems" like tile improvements, which were supposed to be a basic menu of stuff you could buy from the World Team to make your land better, but fell apart when the guy who was This has completely hamstrung any semblance of an economy and made everyone reliant on staff pasting in builds to so much as build a house. This isn't even touching on war, which is such an absurd hodgepodge of compromises, precedents, and overcomplicated 1000 IQ grand strategy mechanics that people barely even bother with it!

We've done this before. If a game mechanic you're thinking of is really cool, but requires a dedicated staff member to oversee it indefinitely, it's going to break when that staff member goes back to school, gets sick, gets in a fight with another staff member, gets bored of the game, or whatever. The golden rule should be don't make work for people in the future, and if you do, make it as easy as possible - simple, with abundant documentation.

Tiles are incompatible with Minecraft broadly and the idea of a role-play server specifically. The entire idea of Minecraft is that you punch trees and mine ore and set pigs on fire to get stuff you need to explore the world. When you lock people out of touching 99% of the map, and break that gameplay loop, it gets confusing for people. Tiles are also impossible for the average player to interact with either through mechanics or role-play (there isn't even an easy "join this nation" or "join this tile" option if you want to build somewhere!) and part of me suspects they were insidiously designed this way.

And by that I mean tiles are literally the dictates of oppressive, tyrannical warlords and unaccountable feudal nobility writ into gameplay- How the hell did we decide that this was a good way to make the game work? Help???? Please for the love of god can you make it remotely tolerable to play a peasant, an artisan, literally ANYTHING but Horen/Carrion cadet #8178471 or Horen/Carrion cadet's personal valet/bannerman. I used to be a big fan of medieval/early modern European history and costume dramas and part of me wonders if I died back then and this server is my eternal ironic punishment

This is a bug -- Tythus Ltd. pls fix. The mechanics and the design language of LoTC subtly pervert new and old players into reinforcing the same tired hierarchy and repeating the same kinds of tired political plotlines over and over, without awareness, just eternally rolling a boulder up the hill of the Orenian Empire/Kingdom of Gladewynn/Westerlands/Vanderguan . 

TL;DR get this civcraft shit out of my premium roleplay server. Also I am losing it THIS IS A CRY FOR HELP
Thanks for reading.

THE FIRST NÁRODNI DUMA OF VELEC
or THE ADRIAN PEOPLE’S COUNCIL

WITH a new settlement comes new questions. Our ranks swell with faces new and old. A secret spring brings forth new life to the ruins of the Lower Petra, our grapes ripen, and our cows graze on fertile pastures. Is it not as natural then as the coming of autumn and the harvest,  that we should be tasked to settle quarrels, hear debate, and reassure ourselves of friendship and fraternity?

SO, let dry wood be heaped on the great Veletsa fire, and our voices mingle with the smoke! Let the Duma Dice be cast and the Assembling Horn be blown. The people of Camp Baltas, Velec, and the surrounding environs are summoned to speak at the first Národni Duma:

Tentatively: 5 EST, Friday Dec 16.

OATHS OF CONFRATERNITY:

• Once all members of the free and open assembly are seated, Knȇz Heinrik will call an inaugural Oath of Confraternity. The Assembling Horn will be plugged and wine and spirits poured in. All those who drink heartily from it will be known thenceforth as friends and brothers of the Adrian People’s Duma, entitled to a vote and an audience. 

OPEN COUNCIL: 

1. The Adrian people will elect a Speaker of the Duma from among themselves by a plurality of votes. He will sit besides Knȇz Heinrik and share in the responsibility of hearing petitions.
2. Any friend is entitled to bring an issue to the attention of the Speaker, and propose a resolution to be discussed.
3. Once the discussion on an issue has been concluded, the speaker will call those involved to stand. Any friend is entitled to raise his head or hand in favor of a resolution. Any friend is entitled to abstain, remaining seated, or abhor, facing away.  
4. The resolution will be decided by the standing majority, and recorded by the speaker in public view. In the event of a tie, the Speaker of the Duma is charged with finding an alternative means to decide the issue, to be agreed by the majority. If a majority cannot agree, then the resolution will be decided by the Duma Dice, as is our tradition.
5. A two-thirds’ majority may conclude the session.

FESTIVITIES:

1. After the council has concluded, those still present will be invited to festivities and games organized by Stefan Euler and Knèginja Austina.
2. A grand meal will be served by Camp Chef Pâte de la Baltas and Camp Sous-Chef Croûte de la Baltas. A celebration of our year’s agricultural success and our peoples’ prowess at the hunt, all are invited to share!
3. The Knȇz and Knèginja will publicly reaffirm their marital vows, followed by any lawful couple who wishes to do the same, and any pair who swear brotherhood or friendship. We will then return to our lives and labors, reminded of the bonds uniting our people.

WITH GREAT ANTICIPATION,
Heinrik Sarkožić iz Velec,
Leader of the Adrians, Count of Velec, et cetera
Sigismond Varoche,
Chancellor of the Adrians,
Paul Sarkožić iz Velec,
scrivener of Heinrik.
 

waldo the waldenian wakes to the whistle of the walrus

built from scratch or pasted is fine. planning and schematics are well and good, convenience is nice, but making the price of entry for a build be your own personal build server and 1 gorillion minas is evil.

personally lean towards the former just because I miss there being some sense of continuity to the world, and places not being so disposable. and more than 2 people participating in a build was fun too, because sometimes your citizens would add little details you'd never think of from the top down

your mother and I are worried about you you're up in your room all day playing that minecraft game

Paul Sarkozic prepares for merriment! 

adria

Minecraft IGN(s):

MonkeyPoacher, InvasiveCarp

Discord:

carp#1818

Ban Selection

In-Game Ban

Ban Reason

self-requested permaban

What circumstances led to this ban?

I was off my medication (literally)

Are there aspects of the ban you agree and/or disagree with?

I think the whole idea behind requesting a ban was to avoid getting sucked back into what I see as an unhealthy relationship with this server. But I already don't log on as much as I used to, I am capable of exercising my own willpower, and I still want to be able to contribute to friends' roleplay even if I really, really don't want to be a full-time player.

What motivates you to return to LOTC?

beamon4 <3

Attach other relevant information.

n/a