Too much peace too much for Dwilight

[Vaylon Kenadell]

Attempts to decrease server strain and the "too much peace" mechanic seem to be at cross-purposes.

He did more than threaten. At least four, maybe five rulers got bolted for that.

That's far too heavy-handed, in my opinion, and it's certainly contrary to the spirit of roleplaying, as far as Dwilight would be concerned in such a situation.

[Indirik]

Attempts to decrease server strain and the "too much peace" mechanic seem to be at cross-purposes.

The two are completely unrelated. The server issues have nothing to do with BattleMaster itself.

That's far too heavy-handed, in my opinion, and it's certainly contrary to the spirit of roleplaying, as far as Dwilight would be concerned in such a situation.

The situation on EC at the time was nothing at all like the current situation on Dwilight. There were rumors that certain players were actively working through OOC channels, to keep the island at peace. I don't really know any of the details. I had only been playing the game for maybe a year or so, and was not playing in any of the realms involved.

[Sacha]

EC had seen a whole year - or thereabouts - of uninterrupted peace. No wars, virtually no battles other than a few monster mop-ups which are hardly worth the effort. That might be fun for those with top positions so they can kick back and siphon off tons of gold to their families or to train their characters, but for the vast majority of people who have no positions at all and a mediocre or small income, it's incredibly boring. Tom first said "Start some wars." That didn't help, so he said "Start some wars or else." That /still/ didn't help, so he threatened to bolt those who were chiefly responsible for the boredom: the rulers. And I guess they thought he was bluffing, because not too long after that a few rulers got fried. And wouldn't you know, wars started within a week or two. I wouldn't call that heavy-handed. If anything, I think Tom should've started threatening people much, much sooner. As far as I'm concerned, that was an entirely wasted year. This game is called BattleMaster, the fighting aspect is just as important as the RP aspect.

[Vaylon Kenadell]

Tom first said "Start some wars." That didn't help, so he said "Start some wars or else." That /still/ didn't help, so he threatened to bolt those who were chiefly responsible for the boredom: the rulers. And I guess they thought he was bluffing, because not too long after that a few rulers got fried. And wouldn't you know, wars started within a week or two. I wouldn't call that heavy-handed. If anything, I think Tom should've started threatening people much, much sooner. As far as I'm concerned, that was an entirely wasted year. This game is called BattleMaster, the fighting aspect is just as important as the RP aspect.

That's called railroading, and good GMs don't have to do it.

[Anaris]

That's called railroading, and good GMs don't have to do it.

This isn't a campaign with a preset story.  This is a massively multiplayer game, and a small number of people were conspiring to make it deadly boring for a much larger number.

[Vaylon Kenadell]

This is a massively multiplayer game, and a small number of people were conspiring to make it deadly boring for a much larger number.

Did player count on EC go back up after they were bolted?

[Anaris]

Did player count on EC go back up after they were bolted?

I have no idea; I wasn't paying attention, and wasn't even a dev at the time.

However, this was years before the start of the steady player decline we now see.

[Sacha]

Does it matter? BM is Tom's game, if he says there has to be war, then that's how it's gotta be. The social contract says every player has a responsibility to keep the game fun, not just for themselves but for others too. A year-long peace is NOT fun for the majority of people.

[Indirik]

Did player count on EC go back up after they were bolted?

Yes. Once the wars started, people started coming back to the island they had left because it was, you know, no longer boring.

[Chenier]

They won't, unless... There is a power bloc out there that isn't among the realms named. Just saying. 

I don't see any power bloc as having both the interest and capacity to support the destruction of Aurvandil. And I consider Madina to be a pretty fragile realm to prey upon if so they insist. The way I see it, if Madina decides to go to war, both southern realms will die and everyone in the south will pay for it.

Though I'll be glad they'd have freed us from Too much peace, it's not something I want to see happening.

[Vellos]

SA intervening to help Madina, a realm that declared war on SA, against (among those realms) Terran and D'Hara, two southern realms relatively open to Astroism?

Seems unlikely.

Lurian intervention?

Reasonably possible.

[Bedwyr]

Even if Luria were interested, the main interest would be "ooh, look, a nice big island with lots of farmland...Mmmmmmm...Want..."

[Sacha]

How exactly would LN/PeL pay for Madina's downfall? It's not like we've ever depended on them in the slightest.

[Chenier]

How exactly would LN/PeL pay for Madina's downfall? It's not like we've ever depended on them in the slightest.

Madina's downfall? The question was about protecting Madina if they destroy Aurvandil, as "on their own", without the help of "another power bloc", they would not be able to resist the wrath of the southern coalition. If they break the truce and attack Aurvandil, though, I guess you are free to join in the party in Madina.

[Sacha]

Even if Luria were interested, the main interest would be "ooh, look, a nice big island with lots of farmland...Mmmmmmm...Want..."

We'd have to let it air out for a long time to get rid of the foul stench of failure, though...