Vague Fantasy: Pre-Consolidation

[Geras]

I don't think a plague of PKs is holding us back. If anything we've seen the number of PKs drastically drop as mage numbers have declined. I'm not familiar with AE so I can't comment as to their strengths and weaknesses (sorry AE, I dislike cyberpunk as a genre), but this strikes me as a misdiagnosis. I do think there's some validity to people being given better ways to avoid unwanted character death... but I guess I'm saying we can address that without completely gutting the theme.

[BlackSoul566]

I don't think a plague of PKs is holding us back. If anything we've seen the number of PKs drastically drop as mage numbers have declined. I'm not familiar with AE so I can't comment as to their strengths and weaknesses (sorry AE, I dislike cyberpunk as a genre), but this strikes me as a misdiagnosis. I do think there's some validity to people being given better ways to avoid unwanted character death... but I guess I'm saying we can address that without completely gutting the theme.

I'm not of the opinion that this is something that has to be done in a way that strips the game of its theme. Just modify the way we approach it, on a lesser version. Not a complete replacement for the game, just a sub version of it.

[Kuzco]

Guys,

The game is called The Inquisition. Without Davism there's no mage-order conflict. And without said conflict we're just one of a billion generic fantasy MUDs out there.

There are also IC reasons for staff to want to avoid more than, say, a brief ST set in the distant past. There are some things that ought to be kept historically blurry. Blurry and buried.

[BlackSoul566]

Guys,

The game is called The Inquisition. Without Davism there's no mage-order conflict. And without said conflict we're just one of a billion generic fantasy MUDs out there.

There are also IC reasons for staff to want to avoid more than, say, a brief ST set in the distant past. There are some things that ought to be kept historically blurry. Blurry and buried.

I take it you know a billion fantasy MUDs that have demon sieged cities as a side aspect of their game?

You can name the game whatever you'd like. Although I'm not here suggesting a completely new game. I'm not suggesting we strip away the core aspects of the theme we know and love. I'm not here suggesting we abandon ship on what we've built already, with the player driven history and the stories and events we've worked together over the duration of the game.

Admittedly, by the title of this post though, this is 100% a fantasy of mine. But see the core aspect of what a fantasy is, is the ability for it to be whatever you please. It's the same reason magic and demons all exist within the game in the first place; Because it is a fantasy.

As for... Spoilers, and so forth like you've suggested... You can absolutely manage a far distant past, with a timeline that is well beyond the Consolidation to the point where all of that blurry and buried aspects still exist. Because it wouldn't matter anyway with how ancient it is.

[galaxgal]

Seconding Geras, no one is really doing a serious amount of PK here. There is merit to thinking about who is being targeted by PK and why it is discouraging many kinds of game activity and code interaction, but making this game more "AE but fantasy" isn't really the right approach to me

[Satoshi]

Anti-mage sentiments is literally part of the INTEGRAL THEME of the game.

If you have an issue with the fact that mages are vilified, you need to either:

Interact with other mages for friendly mage RP and come to terms with the fact that most non-mages will have negative predispositions towards magery...

Or play a different game. There are plenty of games where magic is fun and everyone loves mages.

Anti-mage religious themes are the main core of the setting of TI. Already there have been plenty of situations where mage support has been reluctantly or begrudgingly accepted. It DOES happen. Especially if you don't give the other party the option to say "no".

[BlackSoul566]

I can't think of how many different ways I can post identifying that the idea isn't to change the theme...

[Satoshi]

The theme: mages bad

You: what if maybe mages aren't bad?

[BlackSoul566]

The theme: mages bad

You: what if maybe mages aren't bad?

The theme: Evil exists but is vague in definition.

Me: Let's have people fight evil in a separate part of the game, with no effect and no impact on the main game and main theme.

Fixed it for you.

[Satoshi]

Did... you read the Erra Pater at all? The source of all evil is demons, and they spread their Taint to mages. By virtue of their magic they are irredeemably Tainted with evil and spread that Taint to everyone and everything around them.

There is no "good magic". Even if it's used to do a good thing in the world, it's very existence causes all "evil". Every bad thing ever--misfortune, abusive husbands, thieves, murder, sadness--that is all the fault of the Taint. If all mages were dead and all demons trapped in the abyss, per Davism (the core religious theme of the game) the Urth would be a paradise.

And a non-canon mini universe is sorta against the whole "RPI" thing. It sounds like you just want a different game to play alongside TI.

Edit; also there are TOTALLY instances where mages and non-mages have worked together in universe. Just because it's not happening this instance doesn't mean it never has and never will.