Wulfery

One time back in Atlas I tried to have a democracy in a settlement. Not a majot nation even, just a smaller settlement. You know, trying to set up some cool roleplay idea, make it fun for people, make it feel like a nice tribal thing. On the very first attempt, my opponent in elections instantly started calling in outside people to vote in their favour, to the point where I was contacted by an outside person who told me exactly about it. I mean, it was so absurd to the point, where there were more votes than people in the settlement. And when I called that person out, it turned into a massive drama and they were denying everything. Ever since that day I've realised that democracy is inherently gonna be abused because it opens way too many doors to gain advantage over the other side in really unfair ways. Making a fool proof system will not be a good idea either, because every time a vote is called in, one side has to lose, and apparently no one likes losing, so it turns into a massive drama and oftentimes will cause a split in the community. Generally speaking 2/10, not recommend. Absoloute Monarchy ftw.

Vistulian Clan Gathering ᛜᛝᛜᛥᛜᛝᛜ Travelling through the snow covered valleys of Norland, cladded in a wolven fur figure rested a tarnished banner upon his arm. As wind came down it fluttered vehemently, exposing what hid on the fabric. With two antlers aimed at one another, with two sabres crossed below, it was naught long ago nothing more than a memory for those who lived in the time of Radaghastian glory, but now it stood as a mark for those who didn’t forget, for those whose hearts still yearned for the strong ambition of once lost culture. He stopped close by the centre of a small village. Some flickering lights in the windows showed that the resilient kin was not yet lost. Despite having their home be destroyed by powers that felt of the most ungodly type, losing so many brothers and sisters with whom they shared their memories, they still survived. And even after all those years they managed to gather back, pushed by the patriotic spirit and strong devotion. Clan Kos saw the very beginning of all that was Vistulian, and even after witnessing the fall of sacred Isles, they didn’t let the Clandom end. In their heart it survived. In their memories it lived. In their ambition it was reborn. Merely a flicker of a small light among the frozen north. But not yet gone. And it was them who called upon the clans to reunite once again in a small village of Varelia. So did the figure strike down the banner in the village centre. Clan Vilchyc shall answer the call. ᛜᛥᛜ

McFishing it

Gods have mercy upon you.

In general I will speak out of my own experience as a settlement leader. Gates are difficult as hell. Gate duty is a boring choir. Oftentimes it boils down to repeating the same sentence over and over again. During events it removes the given person from active roleplay and it defeats the purpose of the server. It brings safety to others, but if no one volunteers, you are forced to actually deny someone with the fun experience. People saying "deal with bandits in roleplay" forget that it is not as simple. Even if you defeat them once, twice, thrice, they can come back again and again. It is a battle with windmills until one side gets bored. Removing citizen doors is a fun idea, sure, but then some communities will be bullied into dying out, as they are too small to hold an active big guard force, or bandits come at times when the activity isn't at its peak. Keep in mind, bandits who come to raid towns don't come as 2-3 people. At least 4 people usually come, and to have 5+ active guards is a hard task even for a nation. And the crp lock won't help when guards need 15 or 20 minutes to gather in bulk usually. Forcing someone to spend x hours at the gate is not a good idea. The fact that if the gate is mechanically opened, people can run through it without any rp is not a good thing either for the idea of removing citizen doors. In general I personally push for keeping gates as often open as possible, but by gods at times there is no other way but to keep them closed for an entire day.

Casimir prepares himself properly, making sure to bring as many of his kinsmen as possible.

In general Based take. Truth be told is that most of the time I feel like I have to create the RolePlay for others to make the given time interesting for many. It's a difficult task for anyone to just spark up the roleplay and to make it flow naturally, but if you manage to do so, people will flow to it as well. Roleplay is not just a - take and no give - thing. You have to think about ambition of your character, about reasons and use those to strike up conversations. Getting on blindly to the server and just hopping around hoping for something major to happen so you have a character development is usually how you end up bored and leave the group/nation/server. I'm always happy to have some folks come up and strike a conversation with me out of blue. For example @Emp_palpatineis a blessed guy who always invites me over for a cup of tea, and by gods, that small bit of RP sparks joy for me. I also try to push onto people who live within the Clandom to be a hospitable bunch, so if some random person comes over, they are greeted with the RP. Invited to enter the tavern, invited for a drink, being presented with an opportunity to try and get some Role Play. And that part above is something that I found always to utterly annoying in many of the nations and settlements I would visit - people just stick to their group and don't have any curiosity about the foreigners. They just run past another player unless spoken to. You don't have to speak with everyone, you don't have to be so wild and outgoing, but at least saying a hello to someone, and greeting them to the place they visited always gives some reason to speak back.

In general I refrained from writing on the topic until I saw through most of other opinions, being rather hard opinioned myself at the start. I was and somewhat sill am a staunch supporter of the road RP, seeing that most of my LOTC experience from the past was based around the military - having patrols, doing gate duty, being outgoing to make sure everyone is safe and secure, yadde yadde. But after having a moment to think, in all honesty - I understand the reasoning behind the concept that FT may be more fitting. It will remove the opportunities for the random encounters and will definitely halt any further chances for a proper road RP, but at the same time well... it makes sense to have the Fast Travel system more than forcing players to walk from hub A to hub B for XX amount of minutes, or be forced to always have a horse on you. RP wise its a terrible decision in my honest opinion - but LOTC wise it is the best decision. This server is about activity grind as proven through the years. Settlements and nations that can bring the most activity to their region have the biggest chance to survive. Seeing, that no one wants to lose their hours, days, weeks, months of effort they've put into building up their place, it is only a natural thing that they will give up RP opportunities for the sake of ensuring survival of their hard work. Any road RP was already dying out, any taverns on the roads are a useless addition that don't work much to help the regional activity at the moment. In this case though, I would at the very least suggest thinking of something that will not cut the road out entirely, instead just make things a bit simpler. For example - Having fast travel only reach a tavern further outside of the settlement or nation - It's a loose idea, which would need far more of thought than just a quick throwaway like I did here, but if done properly, it could perhaps promote at least some chance to both help the activity and at the same time not make the map feel smaller to the point of being absurdly cramped. If you add the Fast Travel, it will make roads mostly obsolete and additionally it will make the map feel far smaller. It is both good and bad. Using Travel Hubs was a great way to make the map not feel as big and troublesome as they currently are. Perhaps another way the issue could be solved is - Make sub-traveling hubs - Giving out a loose example on the below image. IN A LOOSE EXPLENATION People warp from Center Hub to South Hub. In the South Hub there will be Two-Three Carts leading to Active Regions - Not actually direct settlements or nations, but a center point around given region that would be closer to different Active Nations and Settlements. BELOW IS JUST AN EXAMPLE In Point 1 we have Balians, old groove, Freeport. In point 2 we have some A and B settlements that are active and present for at least a month or two. In Point 3 we have Vistulia. Few groups/settlements can apply for a nearby Sub-Travel Hub after being proven active for more than XY weeks. Those Hubs would not have a big no-aggression safety zone, only a more-less big enough one to encompass the sub-hub and 15-25 blocks in every direction. This way, those hubs will still leave the ability to feel the size of the map, not remove entirely the need to travel to places, but also make those walking paths shorter and more managable. If given sub-hubs settlements/nations lose their status due to inactivity, the sub-hub will be removed on RP basis of being abandoned and cart owners going out of business. There @Ark. You got my reply as you asked >:C

[OOC] IGN: WulferyName: Casimir VilchycCrew Name: Yurr MatkaCrew Members: Far1ca

Hit me

Casimir smiles wide, having another reason to celebrate this blessed day. Seeing his friends grow stronger was a truly amazing sight.

I will go here on a bit of a longer talk I think. First of all - MAP SIZE - The current map size for an experienced player should be great, especially thanks to the fact that we can use the hubs which in turn make the map feel smaller than it truly is. I feel like there are 4 subregions to which I travel. Sure I can get from one to another without using the hubs, but at the same time there is no point. With it comes the fact which I remember from Arcas - we tried to settle any spot on the map using an actual settlement 'booklet' that was used back then. There were only 2 spots we could really use, and both of them turned out to be unusable because other settlement was close enough that it would block us out. That was really disencouraging, especially that it was still a few months before the end of the map. Right now I still find a lot of great spots that could be used if needed and would hate to feel the same way as back then - stuck and discenouraged from making anything. So I'm in favour of keeping the map size in a same note as it is right now, or only a bit smaller, adjusting the unhabitable terrain accordingly to the needs. Second - HUBS - They are a great addition in my honest opinion. Having a reason to TP back to CT every now and then, travel from centralised spots and only there spread out to all the different spots brought to me more encounters on the roads than it did back in the day. It made everything be that bit much closer, so every trip doesn't feel as tidieous as it did back in the day. Additionally, players know now better where to focus if they plan to do any bandit actions, but at the same time, the roads become more active with people so it comes with a greater risk. Third - UNUSUABLE TERRAIN - Having it is fun. Using it is not, because there are not as many world focused events as there used to be I believe. Whether it is the ETs fault or not, I'm not here to judge, there are a handful of players, and it is understandable that they need to focus on bigger groups too. But in general, the terrain except for being an eye candy, doesn't bring much of fruition to RP. Perhaps having some objects of importance akin to mines would bring more interest to it, but in general I think that unless those lands are more used for events, they don't bring much to the RP itself. Fourth - PERSONALLY PREFERED BIOMES - I would love to have some well prepared valleys in mountain regions which would be pre-made into not being accesible from the sides to get into. Having an actual town in a mountain valley would be great, but right now the minecraft benefit of it stands near at 0, seeing that people usually use mechanics to jump into settlements, forcing leaders to raise ugly or overly sizeable walls. Except for that? Perhaps a big forest of giant spruce trees, akin to the image here -> Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk!

Casimir waves his wooden pipe from a balcony in the palace. Why? Because he is not allowed to have a firestarter, so he can't light the pipe up. But at least they treated him nice even during the capture.

Let's try?

As Casimir was working in the smithy, he would soon hear of the news from the Wob himself. And in his mind came only one thing... "I wonderr if any of them will brring cheese... they make dobre cheese..."

Let's give this a try.

Having retrieved the body from the town of Kivdrona, Casimir stood in front of the burning pyer. Few came to bid their last farewell to the hero of Daeland-Vistulia, whose deeds and words were a paragon of what a true Highlander should be. It was a loss like no other. One that struck deep at Casimirs heart, knowing that even the mightiest may fall one day. He bid his farewell to the honorable Cingedoz, standing tall, knowing that he will now judge his deeds from lands beyond the worlds of living. Even more than ever before, Casimir felt finally attuned with his deities. More than ever did he see this world in a way that seemed so distant to him before. Speaking so often of gods, and yet not understanding anything. Now at the very least he knew. He saw the Kivdrona town as lair to evil, one which he will not be able to defeat alone. In memory of the greatest hero of the reborn Clandom of Daealnd-Vistulia a runestone shall be raised, mightier than any before. With soon decision coming to whom will Cingedoz clan eldership befall, Casimir knew that they will need more than ever a place to remember what it means to be a Cingedoz. Hvala Daeland. Hvala Vistulia. Hvala Gaisorix hal'Iskraduron, bravest of warriors, wisest of elders. May his journies in the world beyond be even more awe inspiring. May his legacy lead those who seek their path ahead.

Casimir would be seen smoking some odd herbal mixture from a wooden pipe while overlooking his beloved horizont. Seeing all sort of different castles, forts, towns so near to Daeland, he felt like at least he had done something good to help his allies - both of them.

Casimir stood calmly atop of the hill on the central Daelish Isle. He would watch over the men and women of Clandom, as they worked hard, cutting through wood, breaking stones apart, setting up buildings frames. With Yelena by his side, he felt content. "Many opportunities kohana. But just as many things to take carre of. We have a lot coming forr us." With that, Casimir smiled and looked to the horizon. A new beginning for him and his people. One that will first need to be claimed by force. "Hvala Daeland. Hvala Vistulia. Hvala Horde."

Early medieval for my taste just strikes different, strikes better. Adds more unique feeling to all and everything, more diversity and ability to choose different things in a bigger area.

Southern Summit of the 77th year, Second Age On the 77th year of the Second Age, Clandom of Daeland-Vistulia called for the southern Nations to come to the first Summit. Called to it were the leaders from the Grand Duchy of Balian, Freeport of Akueli and Duchy of Redclyf, all present when the day came. During the Summit hosted by Reig Llewelyn ap Fawr and Piast Casimir Kovaceski, Southern leaders were able to discuss a number of current matters that were of major importance. All reached a unified stance on the topics after intense discussions, ensuring a true feeling of unity in the harsh continent. On the topic of Hyspian presence in the south After a long debate, having mixed opinions on the topic of Hyspian intrusion in the southern realms with clear intention of settling land that was not theirs to begin with. Despite the fact that Savoy lands were no longer under unified rule of a single title, Clandom of Daeland-Vistulia and Duchy of Redclyf took it upon themselves to ensure safety of the now abandoned lands, seeking to settle them with people who will equally strive to bring unity and greatness. With wise words from John Casimir, representing Grand Duchy of Balian as their leader, and a powerful stance from both the Duchy of Redclyf and Clandom of Daeland-Vistulia, unified decision was made where Hyspians will be summoned to a meeting in Balian, where all the nations of South will be present. They will be granted a right to represent themselves, show their stance and plans, and make right of all the wrongs that were done in the past. If they will not attend the meeting, they shall be claimed as outlaws and enemies to the Southern Regions, expected to be brought to justice before the Clandom of Daeland-Vistulia, with other nations present. Decision was approved by every leader of the Southern Nations and an invitation to the meeting was delegated by the Balian Grand Duke. On the topic of Southern Continent Seeing unity within the four representing nations, a decision was made in regards to the Southern Continent. With issues that occurred by the Hyspian matters, Piast Casimir Kovaceski suggested a notion to which all Southern Leaders agreed without any discussion. Anyone who wishes to settle the Southern Continent will be required to have approval from all of the nations present during the summit. With their unified stance on matters of cooperation, any threat to the wellbeing of Southerners needs to be quelled in its early stage. Failure to do so and further settling will be met with hostility and forceful return of the lands across the canal. Those that will find approval by either vassalization or full agreement from the four nations will be granted the right to take part in further summits as well. On the topic of Southern Claims It was requested that all of the nations prepare their claims accordingly for the next Summits in future, as to present them and contest if required. Unity in the protection of land is required to ensure that no border conflicts occur as time goes by, and all claims can be settled by peace instead of a sword. With that, the first Summit of the Southern Leaders was finished, expecting the next one to take place in due time, choosing another nation as a host to ensure proper building of positive relations among all of the present and their people.

Hey bud! As others have mentioned, so I will as well give a bit of advice from myself. Oddly enough I suffer from similar issue even after many years, though most of the people that know me would never think like that I believe. My honest opinion here is going to be as followed: Join some nations ACTIVE military. I did so when I first joined the LOTC, and did the same for the next few years whenever I returned back to play for a longer time. Proper military RP gives you a lot of chances to RP, where you will have people to talk with based on the matters of simply even asking "Is everything alright?", or doing gate duty, where you can actively meet new people, and then have a reason to engage in a conversation afterwards like "How are you enjoying the town so far?". There will be also a lot of recognition from the nation itself. People who actively work in guard force, engaging in RP on everyday basis, even as simple as saluting to the passing general, or talking with citizens to ensure they are feeling okay, will receive a lot of attention and good chances to be engaged in RP, instead of having to engage by themselves. If you would like any more suggestions, hit me up in DMs and I can try to help you figure out something that will work for you!

[Hey, this applies both to already active Musin in LOTC and as well to those that may be interested in making one!] [!] Radaghastians messengers would be seen travelling the Almaris continent, looking for any Musins to deliver to them a special letter with Vilkomirs Banner seal on it. Additionally some posters could be found pinned to the side of common roads. An Offer to all Musins in Almaris ᛜᛝᛜᛥᛜᛝᛜ Brave Musin, I have met a few of your kind through my journeys on Almaris. Each and every one was a great example of what we as all descendants should strive to be. There was without a doubt more pride and honour in every Musin that I have met, than in many of those I had the misfortune to fight against in my past. This I write both as a Vojvodz of Daeland, and as a soon to be Piast of Radaghastian people. I would like to offer you a home with my kin. Help your race grow and establish itself in this world, no longer as merely a folklore tale told to children, but as an important part of our society, one that will be able to we could live with in symbiosis. With time come, we would gladly see your race grow within our land, no longer as divided units in all of Almaris, but as a centralised and self-sustaining society. When you arrive in Daeland, you will be able to choose a job of your preference, provided with a home or room, depending on your preference, and given full rights that our citizens possess. Vojvodz of Daelish Isles and Vilkomirs Banner [Discord Link and a map to reach Daeland can be found below]