Character limit changes

[Medron Pryde]

And in our view it will do more harm than good.

[Zakilevo]

And in our view it will do more harm than good.

Very unfortunate.

[Anaris]

Your view, so far as I can tell, is based on "I have two characters, and I know they're both positive contributions, therefore most double-characters must be positive contributions!"

Our view, on the other hand, is based on a decade of observation of the behaviour of doublets in general, and their effects on certain parts of the game in particular.

[Sacha]

People who manage to play two fleshed-out characters on the same island are sadly not the norm. It's not even that people willingly end up having a secondary drone, it just usually ends up like that, especially when they're in the same realm. In most cases it would make no difference at all if the primary character just assumed all the titles of the secondary. Some people always argue that they need to get that second character to fill up holes in the hierarchy, but as others have said before, that's just propping up a realm that basically fails at keeping enough people together to function properly. Those realms will - and should - be the first to perish under the new rules.

It will be chaos for some time, for sure. But from chaos, order can be made again. Consider it a chance to prove that your secondaries aren't just meek followers, but individuals with their own ambitions.

[Ketchum]

Sound like those who cannot bear to part with their second character on same island, either pause or send them off to other islands  where they can spice things up. When more players involved in a realm, we will see participation and activity level go up(more individual players with many different aims and working style, rather than pushing button) hopefully. Hmmm, now what should I do with my second character? Send him back to FEI where he first came from? And look like FEI island is spicing up, just in time... So in short, if we lose many secondary characters in the realm, we need create something that can spark player's interest to join us. Am I right? Very soon you all will see many forum posts asking which island is interesting to join, and even which realm.

[JDodger]

I have two characters on the same continent that are equally important to me personally and have equal influence in changing the continent for the better.

I see so many posts here making silly assumptions about how people use their second chars. "Well they must be zombies!" "Well they must be exploiting something!"

How about no, the potentialities for second characters are far more than that. And zombie characters at least improve the ability to win an offensive siege which is all too difficult nowadays.

Address the game mechanic issues relating to sieges before you make this massive game changing mistake, please.

Also since only infiltrators and traitors can be executed I find a lot of this discussion silly... I don't see anyone hiding their second characters behind walls, so this is a silly argument.

[GundamMerc]

I have two characters on the same continent that are equally important to me personally and have equal influence in changing the continent for the better.

I see so many posts here making silly assumptions about how people use their second chars. "Well they must be zombies!" "Well they must be exploiting something!"

How about no, the potentialities for second characters are far more than that. And zombie characters at least improve the ability to win an offensive siege which is all too difficult nowadays.

Address the game mechanic issues relating to sieges before you make this massive game changing mistake, please.

Also since only infiltrators and traitors can be executed I find a lot of this discussion silly... I don't see anyone hiding their second characters behind walls, so this is a silly argument.

Except we've been observing this phenomenon of second character drones for ages now. it isn't an assumption, it is an observable fact.

You're just in denial about the whole thing. I would bet that if this were happening the other way around, and Battlemaster had always been one character per continent, you'd be equally up at arms because it is a change from your status quo.

[Zakilevo]

Sorry to tell you this but a single case doesn't represent everything.

As GundamMerc said, this decision is not coming out of nowhere. This has been discussed for YEARS. At least for the past 5 years.

They even dedicated a whole continent to test this - Dwilight. While AT was stuck in a political deadlock for a decade, Dwilight changed drastically even during its shorter lifespan.

Like many said before, YOU may not use your second character as a drone, title holder, or a spy, that doesn't mean others don't. There were way too many people abusing their second character to consolidate their first character's power and influence.

The negatives far outweighed the positives and now it is time to fix it.

[Gabanus family]

I have two characters on the same continent that are equally important to me personally and have equal influence in changing the continent for the better.

Same here, but I also agree with the devs on this one that most dual chars aren't so great. Also quick question, would your chars ever work against each other's interest? Those who actually do play in different realms often find themselves not willing to damage the other char's interest. See EC for instance, or AT even worse.

I see so many posts here making silly assumptions about how people use their second chars. "Well they must be zombies!" "Well they must be exploiting something!"

How about no, the potentialities for second characters are far more than that. And zombie characters at least improve the ability to win an offensive siege which is all too difficult nowadays.

Address the game mechanic issues relating to sieges before you make this massive game changing mistake, please.

I know they're thinking about making sieges easier as well. But the problem there is balance. I think a change to militia is where that discussion will be going. Would make me lose Oligarch, but I agree something needs to change there also.

Also since only infiltrators and traitors can be executed I find a lot of this discussion silly... I don't see anyone hiding their second characters behind walls, so this is a silly argument.

I'm pretty sure that was based on the dicussion of introducing mortality to 2nd chars.

[Indirik]

You're just in denial about the whole thing. I would bet that if this were happening the other way around, and Battlemaster had always been one character per continent, you'd be equally up at arms because it is a change from your status quo.

Yep. Remember when we switched from three characters per island, to two? The world didn't end that time, and it won't end this time.

(I don't remember it either. It was before my time...)

[Anaris]

Yep. Remember when we switched from three characters per island, to two? The world didn't end that time, and it won't end this time.

(I don't remember it either. It was before my time...)

I do!

And there was exactly the same kind of wailing and moaning and insistence that this would be a terrible, terrible thing.

[jaune]

Ofcourse now thing is  a bit diffrent. Back then it was because playerbase was growing fast and new island were introduced and needed characters. I'm still thinking this is good thing to do and should have done years ago (even thought i would have prolly be against it back then ).

-Jaune

[Lorgan]

I was around and I was one of the people moaning.
Or sympathyzing with the moaners anyway.

But well, doing something is better than doing nothing. I'm more looking forward to code changes coming at us though.

[Spearhawk]

I was around when the limit went from three to two. It did not hurt the game one bit. At first I was against dropping the limit down to one. But the more I think about it the more I think it is a good idea. I have played characters against each other in the past. Was going to even execute one of my own characters. Unfortunately did not get the chance as the war ended. Lately I have played the second character as a drone only to keep a realm alive. In my case the change would be a good one. Hopefully we would get more people in the realm willing to hold titles.

[Derek]

Dear Dev Team,

Clearly you have made up your minds on the one character per island, so pick a day to implement the changes and be done with it; courtesy would dictate at least a few weeks to prepare for the actual change.  Of course, this change will grind to a halt, for a time, all of the recent diplomatic and military activity on some of the "stale" islands (like Atamara), but hey, why let that get in the way?

Why you are at it, you should make a change that would actually have a larger effect on stagnation, and put in a natural death code to prevent all of those 100+ year old characters who occupy realm council and Duke positions.  There is nothing meaningful left to accomplish RP-wise with characters of that age, and it would actually give new players a chance to rise to positions or power, especially the coveted Duke/Duchess position, where they can split to form new realms.  And yes, I know of at least one Dev who had a 99 year old Duchess, but I am sure they were the exception to the "nothing meaningful left to RP" crowd.  In my experience since joining the game almost 10 years ago, these old characters are just as likely, if not more so, than a second character on an island, to be a "drone."  Combine this with the one player per island, and a player's own "replacement" can't be groomed from their character list.

While I am not a fan of the character limit change, mostly given the timing related to the recent events on Atamara, if it is inevitable, then announce the change and be consistent in taking steps to reduce stagnation and promote the enjoyment of new players by having a mass plague on all the islands that kills characters who are, at a minimum, over 100, with 85 probably being a better cut off.