SoulReapingWolf

The official chef of clan Eirikson approves the declaration of his chieftain as he prepares his signature spaghetti taco.

Looking for the Roots

The Search for the Aureons

[!]

A Red-Tailed Hawk would deliver scrolls containing the following information to the Aureons living in the woodlands around the realm

“Brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of the Ikurnamon, I seek your wisdom. I wish to know more about my roots. I carry the name and blood of my father but I know not of what it means to be an Aureon. I wish to bring honor to our seed and respect the traditions of our forefathers. 

If you are out there I wish to invite you to the Vale of Nevaehlen. I wish to present you with the opportunity of setting down roots, bringing our seed to a new home, a home where we will grow strong. As strong as the Ironwood whose secrets were mastered by our ancestors.

It would be my honor to learn The Way of a true Aureon. I pray to Cernunnos this message will find you and bring you to our new home.

-Thordir Aureon”

OOC:

Howdy, evil WT manager here. Overall you raise some valid points in your feedback post but some of them I won't be able to address until an update for what World Team has been doing in the last few... years I guess. I will make sure I go over every section of the post and if I can address it I will do my best to answer those questions, if I can't I'll say so. 
 

12 hours ago, Lomiei said:

Where is world team? What are they doing?

Where is World Team?
The team currently is in bad shape, despite all of the effort Carol & myself had put into it, it's no secret.

What are we doing?
We are preparing for a new chapter

12 hours ago, Lomiei said:

Map art: Putting pictures on maps and giving it to players for an extra layer of decoration and scenery to a place. Obviously it doesn't have to all be typed out how much this improves the immersion and rp of a building’s interior, or even just makes individual blocks look 1000 times cooler. It also removes the need for 3 or 4 ugly ass signs to be placed in front of the very thing we're supposed to be looking at. But I digress.

What's happening to Map Art?
The process of getting map art into the server has been painful since it was first created by Basket, at first it required an entire group of staff that volunteered to act as reviewers for incoming map art, but it became tedious since it meant I had to bug admins or senior techs to upload files into the server. However after much time complaining and asking for another way to get World team a way to handle both Map art & pastes we were able to get a tool that allows us to upload files into the server. This tool however is only accessible by Admins, Senior Techs, Carol & myself. The software to produce said map art is a bit janky, uploading files into the server is also not something you do lightly, for this reason I took the responsability of handling these types of requests mostly on my own, to make sure any file I was uploading was 'safe'. 

Before winter break (christmass or whatever you want to call it) I was handling all requests in a weekly basis, waiting a week to get all the requests possible before giving people their map art (usually on sundays)

Ok thats cool & all Soul but why do we not have map art now?
Recently however we were asked to put a temporary stop to this service, it will be handled through a different process. 
 

12 hours ago, Lomiei said:

SoulStone Pillars: Of course this is going to be a BIG part of the rp and travel around the large map of almaris, so being able to answer questions about these things is equally as important to the people that use the pillars as it is to the ROs and PROs that have to manage them.

What about Soulstone Pillars?
Honestly, I feel like this one is on players. Soulstone pillars (unless of the emerald variation) are 100% able to be handled by players on their own. There is a shop that sells Soulweaving Tomes on Cloud Temple, you can make 3 redstone blocks put them one on top of each other and run the following instructions.

Run the following command while holding the soulweaving tome & looking at the redstone pillar. 
/ss imbue (insert name for pillar here)
If you wish to add more slots to another pillar you simply purchase a new soulweaving tome (different to the one you've already used) and run the following command while holding the soulweaving tome & looking at the redstone pillar.*
/ss study

*I believe you must be the pillar owner to do this but I might be misremembering. 

If you wish I can write down a simple guide on Soulstone Pillars and post it on the forums.

12 hours ago, Lomiei said:

Region greetings: You all know these, they are what you see when you walk onto a tile/region and see the large paragraph in the bottom left, and theyre ******* awesome.They are very useful for setting a scene and enhancing some aspects of rp that wouldnt be otherwise mentioned. Some people ignore them or read them once and never pay attention again, but the fact is, theyre cool and should be everywhere that PROs and ROs can pay for.

Region Greetings, allowed or not allowed?
I'll talk a bit more about this in the coming update but the short answer is that they are not allowed.
Why are they not allowed if some people have them?

Policies in World Team have been very 'in the air', initially there was nothing set in stone regarding region greetins so a few of us did them for different places. In the last six or so months admins told us they'd prefer if we kept those things to more special locations. This is why they are not used today outside of nation capitals, settlements or event sites.  

12 hours ago, Lomiei said:

Roads: Self Explanatory, connecting one building or town to another.

I honestly don't know what to tell you regarding this. World Team does roads when asked. I did one yesterday. If it's not something like connect Mother Circle with Fenn plz, I'm sure someone would be willing to handle it. I think we have not gotten a ticket regarding roads in months.

12 hours ago, Lomiei said:

Pasting Builds: This one is a sore spot for the community’s interaction with the world team. Never has anyone said that WT is ever pleasant or punctual when it comes to pasting in builds. And while that is not the fault of WT members, it always fascinates us how long some pastes can take to get finished, and how ghostly some of the WTs seem to be as soon as we need them. [As a full disclaimer, I have never had to deal with a WT for a paste, but I have been on the council of ~5 different settlement/nation leaders and have been there for the firsthand accounts.]

What's wrong with pastes?

The team has gotten a lot of flack for this, while some of it is understandable people like to complain way too much. A year ago pastes were few and far between, could take several months to get handled. Nowadays we have pastes that are handled in a period of time between hours and a week. The team gets fingers pointed at them and told they are at fault but the process of pasting in a build is not a process handled only by one person.

If you want I'll tell you the steps.
1. Player makes Wreq requesting a paste.
2. World Team Member takes req, if player is offline they start to handle the ticket by telling player to PM them through discord. (Depending on how long player takes to approach WT it can affect the time it takes for a paste to be completed)
3. WT asks player for schem file, PRO or RO approval. (Again, if player doesn't have these the process takes longer.)
4. WT sends file to a specific channel in staff discord where Carol or myself upload the file to the server. (I try to check this channel every other day but sometimes I miss the notification)
5. WT checks the build for the price, gives the cost to the player and waits for player to say they are able to pay & that they can be around for the paste to happen. (Sometimes players take hours, days, weeks or months to get back to the WT handling their paste after hearing the price.)*
6. Build needs to get pasted in, but first WT must make sure there is nothing on the way, making a region that encompasses the area and evicting it to make sure people don't lose their pixels.

*In this step a WT might notice that a build that's getting pasted is not really up to standard, or that it changes drastically the land around it or that it doesn't fit the terrain, making this process a lot longer.
 

So I ask you. Why do pastes take time?
My answer would be something along the lines of "Because it requires at least three players that might be anywhere in the world to interact. If everything goes well they will be able to do so in a matter of hours, if not then it could take months."

I've been trying my best to handle pastes as fast as possible for people lately. Think I've managed to handle the lasts ones in under a week. 

12 hours ago, Lomiei said:

Next Map: Self Explanatory, building the next map. And of course building the ET event sites or improving the natural world we already have.

This will be addressed in the update post.

12 hours ago, Lomiei said:

Thirdly, this is not about the things we cant have, as cool as they’d be. Its about the fact that world team does not talk to us. They are just as important as any other team for the longevity and short term beauty of the server, and yet they are the ones who get shit on most by the community, and the ones who get the least attention.

In a few words, if we are not getting back to you is because someone else is not getting back to us. It's impossible for us to sit there and give you all the answers because Carol & I do not have the authority or power to make certain calls. I understand the frustration its been one of my main qualms with Staff ever since I returned to LoTC. I even joined Community Team back then to become the bridge between staff and players, open a communication channel that would allow players to see things happening. However I soon realized that if staff doesn't tell things to players it's not because they want to keep stuff from them, most of the time it's because they don't know themselves. 

12 hours ago, Lomiei said:

But this, this is the final nail in the coffin for me. 

Some time ago, a young and dumb lomiei_ decided to join WT, to see if he could address some of these issues, to maybe produce some of these benefits to the community, to try and support the team in the lesser important roles so that the main hitters could focus on the big stuff, but most of all, to be a conduit for the community to talk to and see what was going on with the team, since there was not any public figues that answered questions about what was going on with WT.
BUT! ALAS! My app was, for lack of a better term, ignored. A response in a few hours would be impossible, in a few days would be unreasonable… but a week? A week seemed like it wouldnt be too bad for a team that didnt seem to be doing much else. And as such, when 7 days passed, I excitedly pinged the world team… this is what I got.

  Reveal hidden contents

[This was taken just now from the public help channel in the main discord, so I hope none of the people here mind being shown.] The last question in the screenshot was left unanswered.

 

Why are they not adding new members? I have no idea. This is quite confusing, considering the fact that the above issues could be addressed by some new blood that has the time and energy to provide aid. And yet, ‘their hands are tied’.

 

Ive been rambling for too damn long so lemme conclude.

Im not asking for map art and region greetings or for builds to be pasted in on time (although those things would be cool).

I'm just asking that the world team makes it easier to discuss things with them, to have open lines of discussion where we can get more than 1 sentence responses to our questions.
That's all, it's completely understood that staff is a volunteer service, and that it's all meant to be a fun and beneficial group for the community, so if anything good comes from this post, lets just… y'know… talk to each other.
Please?
<3
(:
CX

I can't say much regarding this final nail in the coffin, things will become clearer with time, I'm sorry I can't give any more details. 

15 hours ago, ThumperJack said:

A bearded mali'ame scans over the contents of the missive, lifting his head to stare into the eyes of onlookers with a vaguely confused expression.

A proud mali warrior wonders if the Wild Chief is really surprised about something like this happening in the Silver City. He shrugs, not really the biggest fan of reading or politics before returning to his duties. Apparently there might be some white elves seeking asylum in his home if that was true, the spears would need to get sharpened for that would provide an opportunity for a nice hunt.

 

It was at that moment that a dwarf, lover of sweets & pastries, follower of the Sunlit Lord, felt hope, the flame in his heart burning once more. He looked around his kitchen, flour, jams, egg shells and all kinds of berries. Dunheim's kitchen was a mess. The dwarf turned towards the windows of the kitchen as the sun rose from the east, filling the Urguani mountains with light. 

"A better make sure Meester Clean loikes t'e next batc' o' pies..." he would clean the sweat from his forehead and go back to baking. 

Lair application completed. It will be sorted according and a World Team member will contact you on it's status.

Magni would randomly find the ebonstone in the library at Sunbreak. Thinking it was a bit gloomy & dark he would try to draw a smiley dwarf face with his brand new crayons. 

MC Name:

         SoulReapingWolf

Character's Name:

         Ordar Irongrinder

Character's Age:

         274

Character's Race:

         Dwarf

What magic(s) will you be learning?

         Translocation

Teacher's MC Name:

         King_Kunuk

Teacher's RP Name:

         Maehr'ir Dovian

Do you have a magic(s) you are dropping due to this app? If so, link it:

         N.A

Do you agree to keep Story updated on the status of your magic app?:

         I agree

Are you aware that if this magic is shelved, that you may no longer use it in character?

         I am aware

Hey there, thank you for submitting your lair application. We've began reviewing & voting your application. Be on the lookout for a friend request in discord from Soul#9694

-SoulReapingWolf, World Team Manager
Settlement Team Lead

Lair application completed. It will be sorted according and a World Team member will contact you on it's status.

Lair application completed. It will be sorted according and a World Team member will contact you on it's status.

Interesting concept. Feel like metagaming might be a problem where people will actively avoid seals  even if they have no clue how they work tho.

I'm disappointed I was expecting only Musin could use these.

Lair application completed. It will be sorted according and a World Team member will contact you on it's status.

Today is truly a sad day. I'm glad I was able to stand by your side in some of your projects and I know we might have different opinions from time to time but I truly believe you were the future of craftsmanship and core aspects of dwarven culture. 

Aside from that I hope we will stay in touch and game together.

LoTC won't be the same without you.

I just hope STs realize how their actions keep harming an entire playerbase and offer a hand to those interested in traveling down the path you've started.

Stay Gold Dory boy

Magni Irongut uses his crayolas to draw Kjellos (on his signature red and white outfit for the holidays) over the missive he recieved before sending it back to the sender.

You really are untiring friend. I hope all your effort and hard work will pay out. You've been a beast, working hard to make craftsmanship and quality roleplay an insignia of dwarven roleplay. I have my fingers crossed and hope this lore piece is the first of many to come to bring back a major part of dwarven culture and history. 

It genuinely saddens me to see that your experience has gone from an amazing first month to this. I really hope that if you do decide to come back your experiences will be more akin to those you lived during that first month. 

Please know that if you ever need anything my DMs are open. 

We are working on making building resources something easier to get. The idea is that every tile will have 2 sets of natural resources. Additionally we are also reworking the tile improvement system to allow nations to get a whole lot of options for more resources. 

MC Name:

         IdleSoul

Character's Name:

         Svartalf

Character's Age:

         360

Character's Race:

         Dark Elf

What magic(s) will you be learning?

         Shamanism: Farseer

Teacher's MC Name:

         Astrophysical

Teacher's RP Name:

         Motsham Fizzard'Raguk

Do you have a magic(s) you are dropping due to this app? If so, link it:

         N.A

Do you agree to keep Story updated on the status of your magic app?:

         I agree

Are you aware that if this magic is shelved, that you may no longer use it in character?

         I am aware

Epic, looking forward to seeing these in action 😃

2 hours ago, Dry Crackers said:

More short distance fast travels (especially boats) would go a long way.  Create a strong network of routes between nations that don’t rely on CT and the warps — they’re one of the weakest parts of the map. 
 

A related feature I’d like to see is teleports to at-sea versions of boats for RP purposes.  Iirc this used to be done with the boat in a pocket dimension to avoid people using the system for travel, but any way to “set sail” without staff involvement would be great. 

Different systems that intend to expand travel in the world are currently being worked on. I will be announcing something soon regarding that. 

I like the idea you propose about a pocket dimension with boats at sea for RP purposes. However I feel like planning it to be 100% free of staff involvement is impossible unless we had an independent world with a plot for each boat in the map and a warp to it. (Something that would take forever)

Currently I offer to make copies of player boats in the middle of the ocean to people who wish to do player events. I know it requires some form of staff involvement but it's a solution while we can come up with something else. 

Dopeee, where the picture?

Magni Irongut, waterboy for the Miners would hear rumors about the Foxes spiking the drinks of their foes and would start working on a mug he could lock. A few days of development & smithing by his father side later he'd offer the team a brand new set of dwarven steel thermos, that could keep whiskey & ale cold for days, as well as inspikeable. 

While I recognize the map has had its ups and downs and the World Team has written down the issues brought up in different feedback posts by the community and is looking forward to making some changes once the development of next map takes place. However maybe contrary to some of the comments above I feel like I've had some amazing & memorable moments in Almaris. 

I've been able to participate in a couple of large events like the ones that took place in the south hunting down a dragon with Paladins & Norland, I was also there for a part of the Ando Alur floating city event and the siege of Elvenesse by Azdromoth and his minions.

There were a few smaller events I’ve been a part of like hunts held in Hefrumm or a random encounter with a massive lunarite bird that resulted in loosing a leg & completing my final trial.

But even though I had a lot of fun in those events, the things I seem to remember the most are moments in which I had some very spontaneous roleplay sessions with my friends, where we didn’t need a greentag to provide us with an entire eventline. I’ll mention some of them bellow.

I often remember fondly the time my paladin character Magni Irongut went fishing with his father Falk. I also like to think about that time he learned a new skill from one of his adoptive fathers Dorimnur, starting his own jewelry business and starting his ambitious path as a ruthless merchant. How could I forget that time his other adoptive father Aer’dir taught him many magical skills & lessons, among them how to vandalize the paladin keep with a hammer made of pure light? Or any of the moments that he has spent with Rhaelanthur were despite not being his own son he has taken him in and taken care of him as if he were his own.

I also got to join a wonderful new community, meeting some new friends, and going out of my dwarven comfort zone to play a different character. In Nevaehlen I’ve been able to develop my character Thordir from the lone wolf aspectist that lived in the edge of the forest into a loyal guardian and member of the Vale. It all started with the simplest of encounters, including trying to get the sand out of a beachfront house, roleplay crab fights, fishing for lobsters with the character that would become the mother of his daughter & the most important person in his life. I got to watch Miven being Miven & the opportunity of Thordir learning from challenges Nenar gave him.

I’ve gotten to learn golemancy from a great friend
I’ve gone on mining parties with the High Prophet
I got to join my friend’s mages guild, slowly finding myself diving head in into the depths of voidal magic & everything it offers.

Most of my other characters I could sit here and write a paragraph on, but overall, I feel like despite not having this huge world eventline everyone keeps asking about my characters have gotten some nice development. Something I can’t say they got in Arcas with all the big eventlines & stuff.