I had assumed that was the point from the beginning.
I just think it's kind of lame to have the agent of maintaining that disorder on an SMA continent to be arbitrary and ultimately quite uninteresting daimons who have no discernible plot despite, literally, years of living alongside them.
How much have you tried interacting with them? The Zuma could say the same about Terran. Also, who has said that the Zuma are there to maintain disorder? (please do read this response as a whole and not take individual comments on their own as they do relate to other points later on as well)
Dwilight becoming settled would be fine with me. Dwilight being returned to a state of comparative disorder and many realms being destroyed, even Terran, would be fine by me. Having the Zuma around in an active way or a passive way is fine by me.
I just find the Zuma as they are spectacularly boring. They operate on a plotline entirely separate from the rest of Dwilight, and don't even substantively interact with those plotlines. They seem profoundly Gygaxian in their operation (spontaneous massive hordes arrive with little warning or explanation, responding massively to events which seem minor to the rest of the continent and in all of previous BM precedent). They add nothing to the plot and create stagnation in interesting plots.
There is always a reason why the Zuma have done what they have done - it is not spontaneous. As to how they respond to things, you do need to remember that they are not human, are not noble. Why should they be behaving as if they are?
Honestly, I'm just bored with the Zuma by now. So they freak out and burn a region or two. Whatever. There's nothing we can do about it. So they want some items occasionally. Whatever. Not very interesting. Sure, destroy Terran if you feel like it; we can't really stop you if you really want to. Dealing with the Zuma is not rewarding as a player and not very interesting.
Dealing with the Zuma is not going to be easy. Enough hints have been given over the years and some players certainly have understood and have gained through their interactions. Please do not make sweeping statements just because things have not gone how you wanted them to.
Especially when you message Haktoo and get the reply summoning you to Nightscree to talk, and, when you arrive, Haktoo still says practically nothing. It's just a frustrating waste of time.
You weren't summoned, you were told if you wanted to speak you would have to do so in person. Then, when you did get there, you'd clearly already decided it was a waste of your time, had a couple of messages then went into an OOC rant because you didn't like the responses, then left. Seriously, you never even tried to do anything. The whole torture thing was to attempt to get the characters to think about having to torture one of their own for no reason but to appease someone else. Moral conflict and all that. Instead, you did nothing until the day before the deadline when you then decided to complain and talk about meta gaming. If you'd tried interaction at the start, you might have actually got somewhere. Their does need to be some effort on the part of the players you know.
And, in the meantime, it means that conflicts brewing between realms are put on hold. Terran hasn't had such conflict-free foreign policy in months. We're reaching out and making new friends all over the place, and internal conflict is a minimum as we're all in "Hunker down and survive" mode. And every time Hireshmont tries to go and stir something up, the Zuma have another tantrum, and he has to put everything on hold and play peacemaker again.
Whatever the objective of the Zuma is, right now they're accomplishing the result of pushing humanity around them to cooperate, colonize, avoid conflict, and keep politics to a minimum. If the goal of the Zuma is to create pacifist-master, they're close to achieving it in the lands around them.
I agree. I wouldn't mind seeing some realms die; and I honestly don't care which realms. I just would like them to die in some interesting, worthwhile conflict; like how Caerwyn died, maybe. Sudden death by arbitrary Zuma whim doesn't sound very interesting, nor the slow agony of monster spawns. Let human realms solidify, and we will tear each other apart.
As I have said many times, everything the Zuma do is based upon interaction with characters. Nothing has been done on a 'whim'. Your attitude, and shouting it loudly to get everyone else to listen, gets people to make views on the Zuma based on speculation and inaccuracy.
Some players successfully understand them, as is demonstrated by some things that are currently going on (and no, I won't go into any of that as it is all IC things that people will become aware of if they find out about it in game). You clearly don't understand them, and because they haven't done things the way you want them to, have gone into a big negativity campaign.
It's not Beluaterra, I'm not there to just wipe out the players, but I am there. Some people get it, others, such as yourself, so far don't.
