Kholibrii

"Is she to be cut down on sight or brought before the church for penance?" Philippa of Alstion mumbled to herself as she held the two missives side by side.

Every time someone makes one of these posts, the average IQ of the server drops by 5 points. I can recognize where people's distaste for the Empire of Man comes from. It's a challenge to the status quo of the past few years, and the conflict-driven roleplay is probably still a shock to people who haven't lived through prior empires. It is destructive, chaotic, destabilizing, and brutal. JUST LIKE MEDIEVAL SOCIETY. It's okay to not like the roleplay and storylines being produced by this empire; not everyone has to enjoy the same things. But it's a different thing to insinuate that the RP this empire is producing is inherently bad for the server, just because you don't like it. This is one of those moments where you have to put your big boy pants on and accept that roleplay doesn't always go your way, and you may not get to tell the story you want to tell exactly how you want it told. If people want change, then maybe it's time to lock in and tell a good story rather than complaining on the forums every other week?

Philippa of Alstion sat upon a padded window seat within one of the high towers of Castle Glasgon, her feet tucked beneath her as she peered down into the courtyard below. There, a gathering of knights and bright-eyed recruits spurred their mounts toward one another, lances splintering as cheers boomed from the gathering onlookers. "You must confess." She mused, her voice echoing through the private chamber without once turning from the spectacle below. "Their skill is most impressive." At such, she inclined her head toward Pontia of Man @ncarr, who reclined within a plush chair nearby, her silver needle weaving in and out of rich velvet, gaze set upon her careful embroidery. "Though I wonder, does courage guide them to battle, or might some seek something greater?"

In the dead of night, deep within the archives of the Court of Glasgon, a lone Alstion wandered the long and ordered rows of scrolls, a single candle borne aloft in her hand, its trembling light dancing across the darkened vault. Philippa of Alstion finally came to a section marked Ashford de Rouen. There she lingered, unbinding scroll after scroll, her eyes passing over accounts of Roger’s coming to the lands of Alba, of his marriage to Rosceline within the Alban Cathedral, and of the many grave missives born of Saint Lucien’s War. Finally, her hand found a scroll tucked far back from the rest. Drawing it free and loosening the cord wound tight about it, she discovered not words, but a painting, one of Elizabeth and Rosceline rendered together amid the gardens of Morvelyn Castle. @amyselia@brujera

The upper floors of Castle Glasgon rang with the bustle of Ladies in Wait, governesses, and Grooms of the Stool, all intent upon the care of the Alstionite Princes and the young Duke of Furnestock. Yet only the faintest echoes of that industry reached the quiet, almost oppressive, chambers of Philippa of Alstion. There, the lady sat alone, poring over a missive marked with her house’s seal. No attendants lingered at the side of the aging daughter, no soft footfalls nor murmured counsel, naught but the sharp cry of a squawking parrot to keep her company.

At the end of the day, this was someone maliciously trying to ruin this raid. There are a million ways people can use loopholes in mechanics to try to ruin someone else's experience. If the tech team spent all their time fixing every little loophole, nothing else would ever get done. A better solution would be a transparent discussion between moderation & the playerbase on how issues like this will be handled and a set of rules/basis for future rulings. In what situation does something like this make a raid void VS just not allowing captures? Someone will always try to ruin the fun. It is better to have a transparent method of handling these problems rather than wasting time trying to solve them after the fact.

Philippa of Furnestock peered over her brother’s crib with a beaming grin. Gently, she reached down to brush her hand across the babe’s soft head. "One day, you shall rule over the greatest realm mankind has ever known." @kuerbis

Whether or not you like it, PvP is a part of the server that has always been here and is never going away. As someone who isn't a PvPer, I find 1.9 PvP to be a lot more enjoyable than 1.8. I can recognize that 1.9 takes longer for non-PvPers(like myself) to get used to and understand, but I believe it created more interesting combat scenarios than 1.8 has this map. Expecting players to take a few hours to practice 1.9 PvP to get the gist is not that big of a burden. As someone who isn't a big PvPer, being able to see your improvement(and reap the rewards it) as you practice with 1.9 encourages more people to learn to PvP on the server. 1.8 PvP doesn't really encourage people outside of PvP groups to practice because whether or not you get some practice before a war makes very little difference in your overall performance. Encouraging people to practice PvP more could promote some form of PvP Stratification on LOTC rather than just having PvPers and PvP-Noobs with very little in between(what we have RN).

As someone who isn't a PvPer, but frequently interacts with the PvP plugin(if you can even call it that) on LOTC, I would honestly prefer a system akin to Nexus. Having professions and skills that affect the efficiency of a player's grinding and the quality of the items they produce would have an extremely positive impact on LOTC. The server would actually be able to have a thriving economy and shops where players are able to specialize in specific skills that align with the character. It makes no sense that a 13 year old noble child and a blacksmith with 30 years experience are producing the exact same quality items. I know a lot of people bemoan at the mention of having these RPG-esque elements on LOTC due to how much time they may consume. HOWEVER, players are already putting so much time into grinding resources, wouldn't it be better to have a fully fledged system with rewards for that time put in and some sort of progression rather than just mindless grinding? If it takes you 1-2 hours to grind the resources for a full PvP kit, wouldn't it be better if it was a unique and well designed system instead of what we currently have? If staff isn't willing to go the route of creating a well designed system for grinding resources then they need to go back to basic iron kits that are easily accessible and basically just vanilla MC. Anything in-between is never going to work and honestly an insult to the playerbase.

I'm going to have to agree with @Velkuzat that banning all homophobic RP is an odd move. While there are people who have experienced RP homophobia based on someone's OOC beliefs, I feel like it would be a much better policy to police OOC motivated homophobic RP rather than outright ban all instances of the RP. As a Gay man, I believe there is a lot of enjoyment to be had and though provoking experiences earned from homophobic role-play. Stories exploring the guilt, shame, disgust, alienation, etc felt by queer people as they processed their identity has been a staple of queer media for decades and can help deconstruct the emotions queer people have felt in their own lives. While I can see why this decision was made, I feel that the admins should reconsider and focus on removing OOCly homophobic people from LOTC rather than removing a tool for queer people to process complex emotions.

Name: Luciana Marie Halcourt Affiliation: Duchy of Alba Relevant Titles or Aliases: Baroness of Artois

I think the second part of this strikes the core of the problem. People are too attached to their projects on LOTC. I get it; we are putting hundreds if not thousands of hours into our nations, families, etc., and it is painful to watch them disappear. But a project coming to an end is not a failure; it's a chance to tell a new story. Players view conflict that harms their projects as a personal OOC attack, but that isn't always true, and that mindset degrades not only your enjoyment on the server but everyone around you as well. Being upset or angry when your project is attacked is a normal human response. It's idiotic for someone to say, "Just don't get mad". What isn't normal is letting that anger take over and influence how you treat people OOCly and bleed into your roleplay. Your emotions may be valid, but acting on them isn't. As a server, we need to work on pushing back against the OOC toxicity and OOC-RP bleed by calling people out when they do it. Some advice for everyone involved in this conflict: next time you get angry or upset, step away from the keyboard and clear your mind so those emotions don't degrade your roleplay.

Luciana Marie knelt before the altar in the Abbey of St. Catherine, offering a short prayer for the deceased Baron of Placentia and his family. "LORD, may you guide the House of Varchoe through these troubled times. Grant them the strength to endure this loss and rise up to execute your will." Before departing the Abbey, she would move to light a candle for the future of House Varcohe.

Luciana Marie leaned against the hearth of the Bleeding Heart Tavern as she read over the missive, pausing as she reached the accusations of assassination. "I know no Olivier de Rouen." She huffed, looking back at the missive, then toward the others gathered in the tavern. "Do any of you know an Olivier de Rouen?"

An elderly d'Arkent would rejoice from some far flung corner of the seven skies. "Balance is returning to the world!"