KBR

This is another good point, there's not really an incentive to the grind. I've heard that the current times have been compared to Nexus, but there was actually a reward to the nexus grind. At the moment all you get is more %rng chances of crafting something of better quality. Right now all you get for being the dedicated grinder is a pat on the back.

A dwarf/orc player needs at least 2h30m of pure grinding for a single full kit, while an Empire player needs 1h50m. I will lay out the data, included below will be the HTML calculator I had claude host, and the excel sheet. Feel free to DM me if you need help using the sheet. For this specific analysis, I used two types of players. These times are for solo runs, it will take longer for groups. Empire Miner = Koyo, Idunia, Caroust, Norland, and Empire mines. (This run takes 30m solo, speed-running) Dwarf/Orc Miner = Dwarf and Orc mines. (I am told this run takes 15-20m) I had intended to include unaffiliated players who would use only wild nodes, but I couldn’t find enough information. If anyone has good yields/routes (time) to share, I will update this post to include them. I have also not included leather into these calculations, as I am unsure of how feasible it is for the average player to have a barn. Please note that I have not included leather or arrows in these kits; they make it exponentially worse. Also, these kits are very barebones, as many of these items, like lances, have low durability; therefore, you would likely need at least three for a full, large-scale fight. Kit Definitions: Essential = Netherite Armor, Longsword, Crossbow, Pike, Shield Cav = Iron Armor, Longsword, Javelin, Shortbow, Pike, Lance, Shield, Saddle Full Kit = Netherite Armor, Iron Armor, Longsword, Crossbow, Longbow, Jav, Pike, Lance, Shield This is the total amount of time it would take a player to make each of these kits. It is worth noting that because mine cooldowns last six hours, these grind times are spread across days for most players. Can most players be expected to hit three, or even two, cooldowns in a day? Mining Runs Per Kit Resources: Gear Calculator - Here is an HTML version of the gear calculator, it is functional and includes leather and arrows. Play with some numbers, you will quickly see how unreasonably high the costs become, both materially and time-wise. For example, five base kits with sixteen arrows each. 440 netherite would take ten mining runs alone. Excel File - Hosted on google sheets, download as .xlsk or just make a copy of the sheet. I am unsure of its functionality as a google sheet, it is intended to be used in excel but it might work fine. Conclusion Currently, the state of grinding is broken; what you are rewarded with for this monumental time input is completely lackluster. Assuming the average player is on the server for 10 hours a week, that would be 20% of their playtime grinding (2 hours avg), 10% if they play 20 hours. This is all for a kit that you have a chance of losing in your first fight. This creates gear-fear, which leads pvp-inclined players to go after easy targets in the midnight hours in order to circumvent this grind. If the grind was lesser, they would be less incentivized to do this, and instead fight other players who want to pvp. Please also consider that the new war rules state: As a “roleplayer”, these problems may seem inconsequential to you; however, with no CBs required, it could become your problem too.

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.

The Golden Oak Grows: Round Table Chronicles I ‡ The Krak des Châtaigne Dawn broke above the mountains that loomed over Alba, its light climbing toward the Krak des Châtaigne where Sir Lothar d’Amaury, Count of Metz, stood upon the battlements. His gaze rose from the squire, ward, and men-at-arms that ran their morning laps and to the streets of Little Lorraine below whose businesses began to bustle with activity even in the early hours. The Dragon-Knight smiled, for he had come from nothing to this. Yet still he yearned for more From the Chronicles of Lorraine, as recorded by Count Lothar d'Amaury Those who knew me as a squire understood ambition. Those who stood beside me as a Knight of the Dragon learned its cost. Those who stand with me now as Count of Metz know that this – all of this – is only the beginning. When my brothers and I landed in Grense, we had nothing but each other, and the years ahead of us as we gave our blood and sweat to the Militarum. Launfal and Morgause came first, believing in this vision of mine. They stood at my side when I confronted my cousin, Elis d'Amaury, then Countess of Rhoswood, and declared that I would be the future of House d'Amaury. It was not what I possessed that decided my victory, but the future I would build. Years of service followed , marches, musters, the quiet work of proving ourselves where the Empire needed us most. For that service, the Crown granted me the Krak des Chantaigne while I yet remained a Knight. A meager keep, fit for a captain and his retinue, but stone enough to build upon. At the Round Table, I told the Châtillons – a family of chevalliers, warriors to their core – what I will tell any who ask: I will not build a Lorraine of feasts and pomposity, nor one that forgets what forged it. Our people are warriors; they will remain warriors. The Golden Oak will rise to the standards once set by the Golden Spur. When they heard this, Rafael and his brothers did not hesitate. They swore themselves to a Knight with nothing but vision and a borrowed keep - not to promises of comfort, but to a standard worth upholding. The Pour House's Effect Though my banners rose, a realm cannot be made of warriors alone. Victory secures land; it does not make it live. I met Gennad var Vigo during his hunt for eggs and learned to see past the mustache and eccentricities to the passion beneath. Where Gennad dreams, his brother Jannis ensures we can afford them. Together, the var Vigo brothers became Lorraine's economic engine, breathing life back into the Capital's neglected quarters. For this – the bannermen who swore themselves, the coin that began to flow, the proof that a vision could take root – Emperor Hadrian granted me the County of Metz. Lady Cassia Mareno arrived at my table as an advisor. She remained as my betrothed. Where I saw vision, she saw structure. Where I pushed forward, she ensured we did not overextend. The Mareno name carries weight in this Empire, but it was her mind - sharp, calculating, unflinching - that earned her place at the Round Table. As the future Consort of Lorraine, she does not simply stand beside me. She shapes what Lorraine will become. The Krak was a beginning. Little Lorraine, a foundation. But foundations are meant to be built upon. New lands await, places where the Lothringian people may plant roots that cannot be uprooted. When that time comes, Lorraine will rise not as a county, but as something greater: a realm built by those who bled for it, a shield for the Empire, a home for those who refuse to settle for survival when they could claim legacy. I do not need men who kneel. I need men who build. Lorraine offers no easy path. There will be no idle feasts, no titles handed out like festival favors. What I offer instead is this: a place to forge something that outlasts us. Recognition earned through deed, not purchased through bloodline. A seat at a table where your voice carries weight if you have proven it worthy of being heard. I sit among my men, not above them. I have bled beside them, eaten beside them, planned beside them. This is not charity, it is the price of building something real. In return, I require action over words. Loyalty proven through sweat and steel, not promised in flowery oaths that evaporate when tested. Ambition will find fertile ground here, I reward those who earn it, but ambition without discipline builds nothing but ruin. Dawn had given way to morning when Lothar turned from the battlements. Below, the work continued, hammers on stone, voices in the marketplace, steel ringing in the training yard. Little Lorraine lived, and with it the promise of something greater. The Golden Oak grows. Its roots run deep, its branches reach toward the sky. Lorraine rises – not in isolation, but as part of something larger. A shield for the Empire. A home for those who refuse to settle. The question is not whether Lorraine will rise. The question is who will rise with it.

☨ The Count of Metz lounged at the head of his round table, his sharp features illuminated only by the flickering candlelight. The room was empty except for the dozen or so renowned Knights of yore that The Golden Oak paid homage to, tonight it was he alone that bore their judgement. Only hours earlier had his reflection before The Emperor been met with promise of a future that he had long chased, his life's ambition was within reach, a dream held and lost by many generations prior. Still as fast as a cloudless day might turn to shower, so too had his mind clouded. No longer was Lothar the youthful squire of Grense, but a fully fledged Lord who carried the will of his people forth. Each thing he had placed his sights upon, he had achieved; each situation, he had found a solution. And thus, when met once again with a problem he could not quite solve, his frustration grew. “How do you keep a wave upon the sand?”

The Count of Metz sat in his cigar-smoke filled office as he read the studies of his ward. "Yes, an apt analysis young Valentin." he smiled the sun's smile with his reinforced thoughts that they were the good guys.

Iskander Basrid smiled the sun's smile in the Seven Skies.

An ancient Orenian soldier brooded within an Imperial tavern, his cowl drawl high to ward off more than the cold. It had been many decades since he last allowed his thoughts to stray back to the days of the Fourth Brigade. A faint smile touched his lips. He had served under Empress Anne long enough to recognize her hand in the words that survived her, unadorned, unflinching, and painfully honest. He remembered her not as the figure preserved in the annals, but as the sovereign who stood before the Titan without trembling, who bore witness to the Pact's reinstatement. The Journal's discovery stirred embers he had thought long dead. If her words had endured, perhaps her intent had as well.

Sir Lothar d'Amaury strolled through the streets of Little Lorraine, schematics in hand as he glanced about the construction of the suburb. "Sebastien you have done well, I wish your business great success."

✠ Full Legal Name: Sir Lothar d'Amaury. ✠ Age: 2(something) ✠ Residence: Dragon-Knight Keep / Little Lorraine ✠ I cast my vote in favor of: Gennad var Vigo.

Sir Lothar smile's the suns smile. The ghost of the man he had already killed must've haunted the dwarves.

The Count of Metz handed his blooded lance to his ward Valentin Burgundy. "Young Valentin, it is a good thing you've got to experience fighting some people of your own size. Striking down three dwarves is an accomplishment, you've learned well." @Nectorist

The Count of Metz polished the ebony plate of his armor, his gaze settling across the round table upon his brother, Hughes. "Sir Kildrakken was a fine warrior." Lothar spoke at last "It is a bitter thing that his mettle was tested against descendant rather than beast." The Dragon-Knight rose and paced the table's edge, resting a hand upon the shoulder of the Knight-Errant. "You may grieve that your master chose wrongly. That is natural. But do not allow his failing to darken your judgement." he straightened, his words carried great conviction "All that we are, all that we are permitted to stand upon is bound in oath. We do not choose when it is convenient to believe. We are afforded our place because we endure. The Emperor sees father than any one man, he has not erred."

Sir Lothar d'Amaury sighed and began to update the Knight's Atlas. "More paperwork... though, this is a step in the right direction for Alba."

Real we had quite the run until they wrote us out of the Lore. F Enjoy your peace but I expect you to be a lingering shadow entity, it is the way.

The Count of Metz sat before the Round Table of the Golden Oak. From the surrounding walls, the portraits of knights long dead watched as he wrote, each one a man. "Since my brothers' and my landing in Grense, it has become clear to me that the ways of this world have changed. While many men linger over wine and play at verse, there are women who stand in arms not only within the Order of the Red Dragon. I make no claim to be a framer of law, nor a scholar of its making. Yet is is plain to me in this age that merit, not birth alone, is what allows one to stand apart; for rule is a charge, proven in sacrifice." Sir Lothar looked upon the parchment for a long time, uncertain of his own words. Eventually, he rolled it up and sent it off to the Lady Mareno.

Reserved for more clips and my opinion when I return from Krugsmas party

Letters are sent outward by courier doves from the high walls of the Krak des Châtaigne, the beat of wings echoing out across the mountains that rest beneath the keep. The letters were carried wide across the realm to their prospective parties and intended recipients. The notes themselves were bound flaxen parchments stained with a deep mauve ink. Upon the closed envelope would be the wax stamped sigil of d’Amaury and a depiction of the van Aert hound upon the front. It thereafter read upon being opened: You are cordially invited to the blessed union of d’Amaury and van Aert beneath the Lorraine Cross. The pairing of His Lordship Hughes Augustus d’Amaury and Her Highness Lady Romhilda van Aert shall occur within the Imperial Capital at the Church of St. Raguel just beyond the Imperial Walls and Little Lorraine where the vows of matrimony shall be exchanged. Through this blessed ceremony will the noble houses of d’Amaury and van Aert be unified forevermore beneath the Imperial Crown. All those affiliated with the respective households are welcomed to attend. Household staff, retainers, soldiery, and all else who share the company of the van Aert and d’Amaury are welcomed within the halls of the Church to celebrate the betrothed. Thereafter, a celebration shall occur at the Krak des Châtaigne with drinks, song, and celebration. The following personal invitations were sent out to the following individuals and their households: From the Groom: ☨ His Imperial Majesty, Hadrian I, Emperor of Man ☨ His Imperial Highness, Prince Johannes Marius ☨ His Imperial Highness, Crown Prince Marcus Tiberias ☨ His Imperial Highness, Prince Titus Alexander ☨ Sir Arn Honeywine, Grand Knight of the Order of the Red Dragon ☨ Sir Zubayr, The Sandstorm ☨ Sir Severin, The Daring ☨ Sir Redgar Kildrakken, The Flamefed ☨ Sir Khaleed, The Sunspear ☨ Sir Leofric, The Dagger ☨ Sir Darius, The Bulwark ☨ Sir Carl, the Blackfish ☨ The Lady Anne Margery ☨ The Lady Sussana Augusta ☨ Clan Father Rhorgvar Frostbeard and Clan Frostbeard ☨ The Lady Andromede, Imperial Physician From the Bride: ♰ His Royal Majesty, Haraldr, King of Norland ♰ Her Highness, Ilse, Princess of Norland ♰ Her Highness, Adeline Alstion-Mareno ♰ Her Highness, Circe Mareno ♰ Her Ladyship, Konstanze von Augusten ♰ The Faithful, Sister Frederica of Reinmar ♰ The Faithful, Abbot Anton of Reinmar ♰ Dragomir Rauðrdrakar, Son of the Thegn of Norland ♰ Rodrigo Tupaq Leomonte ♰ Klunk the Warrior ♰ Ark of Horen OOC:

Sir Lothar d'Amaury, Count of Metz smiled the sun's smile. A moment of celebration was spent with his levymen before his gaze turned once more to the road ahead. There was much to be done, the job was not finished.

I think that this idea can be cool, I won't comment much on PVP buffs and whatnot because we'd need more examples for that. My only hope with the development of this plugin (alongside fixing foodbags) is that it respects player time. Mining for example has been changed into something that undoubtedly DOES NOT. Eight hour wait timers so that I can grind again was something that was fine when I was thirteen or fourteen years old, but myself and the server have clearly aged up since then. I don't think that anyone appreciates MORE grind time to get to activities that they want to do be it RP or PVP. Arguing that introduced systems don't negatively impact RP is disingenuous and clearly ignores the fact that there is a large community of people who would like to partake in both, and that LoTC has a rooted history in a mix of these as well. TLDR: It's cool to add interesting plugins. Please though consider that they should add fun without being at the expense of people who want to play the server normally with their friends as opposed to solo grinding.