[Poll] Theme Clarity

[Kinaed]

I've had some commentary that some of our theme help files are lacking. I'm wondering what the average player thinks of that. It will tell me how large of a priority this is.

[Voxumo]

You know personally I think the helpfiles are ok. I mean the magic helpfiles definitly need a good overhaulin, but other than them most are alright.

[Onyxsoulle]

To be honest, I have found it's not the theme or the helpfiles that usually stretch theme; It's the players that want to do what they want to do. I mean how many people have rolled a gentry member so they can have all of the benefits, but wind up playing them like a freeman? Then there is the mount talk on ooc last night. The topic was trying to figure out which animals that weren't horses could be used as mounts. So not necessarily the theme that is hard to understand, but watching as it's being allowed to be stretched.

[Leech]

With only the Knights helpfiles that I've focused on I've found several contradictions (all stated in the relative threads on the Knight's forums). Within religious helpfiles, the amount of contradictory theme has been cut down a -lot-. Personally, I think it would help to reference the new Erra Pater more so people might read it (it's a great book that is a superb foundation for religious RP), and there are still a few contradictory pieces that people have pointed out in the past. Not in game right now and I'm no longer in a place to search through them, but you might poke Carmen or Olivias' players.

That said, it's certainly not super bad! I'm just used to really detailed backgrounds and really organized guilds, as you know. I've voiced my opinion a lot about the subject, and have several threads laying about dedicated to filling in more of the blanks I'm seeing. I feel that detailed backgrounds, things like geography, climate, flora, fauna, trade exports/imports, ceremonies, rituals, histories (including detailed narratives centered on wars!), go a long way in filling out a world. It's certainly a comprehensive list, and not one that staff need do on their own. In fact, staff do a grand job of supporting players who come up with their own geography, import/exports, etc for nobility - and they've also done a wonderful job doing the same thing for guilds, as far as ceremonies, etc go.

The problem is is that another player can come along and completely change it - and while that is a great level of freedom to grant players, it also causes a startling lack of continuity that leads (and has lead to) more OOC interaction in a scene than IC. It's deprived people of talking about these things because they don't know for certain if it is one way, or the other - and their character -should- know. It makes it extremely hard to maintain a suspension of belief.

In short: it would be nice if staff would take player suggestions, knock out the ones they don't want in the nicest way possible, and say 'this is what we're sticking with' when it comes to theme, including noble houses, guild lore, and even guild requirements (which is another subject that's been hashed out back and forth both in OOC chats, THE ooc chat, and forums).