Sanguis Astroism

[Stabbity]

Because you would crush us out like a bug if we were more vocal. Asylon cannot fight off all of SA and their allies. We barely survived our fight with Kabrinskia, Astrum and Corsanctum. We cannot be relevant because if we were a crusade would be called and it would stamp us out. The rest of Dwilight chooses to side with the victors, if we are the losers at least we will go down as free men!

We haven't even got our !@#$ together to declare a crusade on OA, the BoC would have to practically murder the Holy Prophet for SA to take action.

[dustole]

We haven't even got our !@#$ together to declare a crusade on OA, the BoC would have to practically murder the Holy Prophet for SA to take action.

not for lack of trying.  You all are just too worried about what the Prophet thinks or says. 

[Stabbity]

not for lack of trying.  You all are just too worried about what the Prophet thinks or says.

Most of us could really care less.

[Kwanstein]

SA is only successful in that it makes those realms that adopt it popular. It doesn't get them results. In practicable terms, the only realms currently capable of achieving anything are Asylon, Aurvandil, Barca, Luria Nova and the Falkirkian Freestate. All other realms are gridlocked, and manned by small numbers of complacent nobility, who are often unable even to maintain their land.

Forming gridlocks and being popular is good for nothing. It's detrimental, even. It poses, to the characters, an existential crisis -- what are they there for? What are they meant to achieve, in an environment where they cannot lose. An environment where they cannot win. Many come to realise that the answer is nothing, and so they leave. One year from now Iashalur will have lost several of it's regions, despite having zero external threats. Same goes for Corsanctum and the Libero Empire. The nobles will just trickle out, at the same steady pace that they always have, and those who remain will be left weaker. But even that is meaningless, because, with or without the decline, the environment for that remainder is exactly the same. There is no one who is even going to bother preying on them, that is how futile their existence is. Fat lot of good popularity did them.

Morek Empire and Astrum are just a step above that. They are lucky enough to be on the fringes of the popularity zone, so that they can keep up the pretence of having an objective by engaging those outside of the bubble. But that is only a pretence. Sending 5 characters, each, to wage a war on the other side of the map is the entirety of their purpose. That may be enough 'excitement' to barter an existence of minimum sustainability from it's characters, but that is all. They will remain popular realms, without practicable value.

And so it is to Asylon, Aurvandil, Barca, etc. that characters will flock. It is there that they will stay. And it is those places which will maintain a raison d'etre. One year from now those places will be as exciting as ever, while the popular realms will be, well, popular.

[MediumTedium]

SA is only successful in that it makes those realms that adopt it popular. It doesn't get them results. In practicable terms, the only realms currently capable of achieving anything are Asylon, Aurvandil, Barca, Luria Nova and the Falkirkian Freestate. All other realms are gridlocked, and manned by small numbers of complacent nobility, who are often unable even to maintain their land.

Forming gridlocks and being popular is good for nothing. It's detrimental, even. It poses, to the characters, an existential crisis -- what are they there for? What are they meant to achieve, in an environment where they cannot lose. An environment where they cannot win. Many come to realise that the answer is nothing, and so they leave. One year from now Iashalur will have lost several of it's regions, despite having zero external threats. Same goes for Corsanctum and the Libero Empire. The nobles will just trickle out, at the same steady pace that they always have, and those who remain will be left weaker. But even that is meaningless, because, with or without the decline, the environment for that remainder is exactly the same. There is no one who is even going to bother preying on them, that is how futile their existence is. Fat lot of good popularity did them.

Morek Empire and Astrum are just a step above that. They are lucky enough to be on the fringes of the popularity zone, so that they can keep up the pretence of having an objective by engaging those outside of the bubble. But that is only a pretence. Sending 5 characters, each, to wage a war on the other side of the map is the entirety of their purpose. That may be enough 'excitement' to barter an existence of minimum sustainability from it's characters, but that is all. They will remain popular realms, without practicable value.

And so it is to Asylon, Aurvandil, Barca, etc. that characters will flock. It is there that they will stay. And it is those places which will maintain a raison d'etre. One year from now those places will be as exciting as ever, while the popular realms will be, well, popular.

Agreed, you can see from realm statistics of active players per realm that more players are going "inactive" in SA realms while other realms are slowly gaining more people. Aurvandil sits at 62, Luria Nova 46, and Asylon at 33 while Morek and Astrum went from 45 to 32/33, even Barca is climbing from 13 to 20 so far. SA might be more popular but southern realms are a lot more fun to be in.

[Sacha]

Keep in mind that both Morek and Astrum sent a bunch of their nobles to Swordfell and Iashalur, respectively. And I'm guessing the Farronite Republic took in a few nobles from around the SA realms too. It's not that those players got bored, they just went elsewhere.

[Anaris]

Why would SA declare a crusade on CoB, or on Asylon for that matter? There's no reason to. It was already decided when the religion was founded that it wasn't evil, nor heretical, nor a threat. And these days it's Rabisu who has the authority to declare Crusades or not, Rabisu who ate Bloodmoon Fruit with the rest of them in Asylon and was there when the Cult was founded. So, honestly, stop worrying and be as relevant as you like!

But...but...his persecution complex!!!

[Glaumring the Fox]

Keep in mind that both Morek and Astrum sent a bunch of their nobles to Swordfell and Iashalur, respectively. And I'm guessing the Farronite Republic took in a few nobles from around the SA realms too. It's not that those players got bored, they just went elsewhere.

They sent them out or they left to found more exciting realms?

[Sacha]

No, they just signed up for the respective colony efforts. Mostly people sticking with their duchy and thus moving to the new realm.

[Solari]

Like any thread, this one has salient points and trollbait. As someone who previously sneered at SA as a soul-crushing force of fun-killing communists, I can relate to many of the perceptions being voiced here. When I decided to join SA with Malus, it was partly to confirm what I suspected that I already knew. Well, I was wrong. Any institution or force in BM of this size has its challenges. It's perfectly fine to philosophically disagree with regard to one vs. many religions. These are all matters of preference. However, it's worth clarifying for people who are intrigued that many of these comments are made out of (forgivable) ignorance or because they've been on the wrong side of an interaction. SA is no more the caricature that has come to define it than CE is.

[Vellos]

Like any thread, this one has salient points and trollbait. As someone who previously sneered at SA as a soul-crushing force of fun-killing communists, I can relate to many of the perceptions being voiced here. When I decided to join SA with Malus, it was partly to confirm what I suspected that I already knew. Well, I was wrong. Any institution or force in BM of this size has its challenges. It's perfectly fine to philosophically disagree with regard to one vs. many religions. These are all matters of preference. However, it's worth clarifying for people who are intrigued that many of these comments are made out of (forgivable) ignorance or because they've been on the wrong side of an interaction. SA is no more the caricature that has come to define it than CE is.

+1

Heck, I even helped FOUND a competing religion, Triunism. We pretty well kept SA as an irrelevance in Terran for a long time, and locked it out of Maroccidens.

Then I realized Triunism was completely boring, nothing more than a little local flavor with no significance. I joined SA, and realized that I had never really played the religion game in BM until then.

You too can experience this wonderfulness if you join SA today! The Prophet Mathurin wants you!

[Glaumring the Fox]

BoC has been fun on a different level. Though I did enjoy SA , mainly I had done what I wanted and then wanted change. SA provided comfort, I find though that instead of seeking comfort I will instead choose even a detrimental path merely to add drama and develop my character a different way. BoC is very geared towards missionary work, we constantly try to preach wherever we can because ultimately we believe that unlike other religions ours has tangible results and faith is apparent upon eating the sacred fruit. We believe that SA is hindered by its mere belief in the stars, by eating the sacred fruit you could travel to them, speak with them and bypass the prophet altogether. Our faith resides in the fruit, just as a catholic will drink wine and bread as a symbol, in order to have more fun we add in some lunacy and hallucinations.

I have some more ideas regarding the way I want it to go and play on the 'drug addiction' side, the fall of man and the mind and body and hopefully move out of the stage of light and enlightenment and move towards darkness and neurosis. There cannot be redemption without a fall.

[Penchant]

Like any thread, this one has salient points and trollbait. As someone who previously sneered at SA as a soul-crushing force of fun-killing communists, I can relate to many of the perceptions being voiced here. When I decided to join SA with Malus, it was partly to confirm what I suspected that I already knew. Well, I was wrong. Any institution or force in BM of this size has its challenges. It's perfectly fine to philosophically disagree with regard to one vs. many religions. These are all matters of preference. However, it's worth clarifying for people who are intrigued that many of these comments are made out of (forgivable) ignorance or because they've been on the wrong side of an interaction. SA is no more the caricature that has come to define it than CE is.

+1. What I hate are people that post things like Kwanstein and MediumTedium. It's alway they are perfect, and that SA, in this example, sucks instead of just accepting that they are both fun in their own way.

[Chenier]

+1

Heck, I even helped FOUND a competing religion, Triunism. We pretty well kept SA as an irrelevance in Terran for a long time, and locked it out of Maroccidens.

Then I realized Triunism was completely boring, nothing more than a little local flavor with no significance. I joined SA, and realized that I had never really played the religion game in BM until then.

You too can experience this wonderfulness if you join SA today! The Prophet Mathurin wants you!

I pretty much agree, but I haven't found the resolve to do the leap myself... thus far. And I doubt I will, unless Aurvandil pushes us too far.

[Glaumring the Fox]

I pretty much agree, but I haven't found the resolve to do the leap myself... thus far. And I doubt I will, unless Aurvandil pushes us too far.

Only when convenient eh Chenier?