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BattleMaster => Locals => Far East Island => Topic started by: Tom on September 06, 2012, 09:10:57 AM
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As I write this, the final 15% are still uploading, but in a few minutes you should be able to go to http://youtu.be/ZzAUjkonbys and see the time-lapse video of the FEI there, just like for all the other islands.
When watching the video, I noticed just how dynamic FEI is. Wow. I think it has seen more changes than any other island, maybe excluding BT.
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Yay! I've been waiting for this one ever since the first video was posted.
Wow, I had forgotten how weak Soliferum was at one point. It became the largest realm on the island and then collapsed in a remarkably short space of time. And Arcaea was reduced to one region! I thought the smallest it had ever been was three regions. Have no idea how we recovered from that.
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That is fantastic. I dont remember some of that earlier stuff all that well, but as it went on a lot of it started looking mighty familiar.
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I'm glad I got to see what happened while I wasn't playing. It surprised me how quickly Nighthelm fell.
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LasanarLasanarLasanar POOF
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Had forgotten that Zonasa was down to one region at one point (and I should have remembered! That war was what made me ruler the first time around!), too.
Nice to see what happened while I was gone.
That is pretty cool, much more dynamic than I expected. For all people complain about the peace and how nothing changes . . . wow, when things happen on the FEI, they actually happen!
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And Arcaea was reduced to one region! I thought the smallest it had ever been was three regions. Have no idea how we recovered from that.
A prevailing island-wide preference for not destroying realms (which Conan and Jenred between them got rid of) and a desperate peace treaty. Although that was before my time, so I'm only remembering what I heard from even older timers.
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A prevailing island-wide preference for not destroying realms (which Conan and Jenred between them got rid of) and a desperate peace treaty. Although that was before my time, so I'm only remembering what I heard from even older timers.
That's a good part of what saved Zonasa from the same situation, so it seems likely. Unfortunately Arcaea's bout with one region status was after I had left the game, so I'm not sure of the specifics.
(The rest of what saved Zonasa was that our founder, the father-in-law of the ruler of the realm we were at war with, was killed in one of the final battles [actually probably the final, I think I used the death to get us a ceasefire], and from there it was the pleading of his daughter and my negotiating).
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After having to go away for a while due to a crazy job, watching this was amazing. Personally, I loved watching Toupellon bloom out of nothing the best, but I might be biased :P
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I've stickied this, because it's something everyone who loves the Far East as I do should see. :)
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Yay! I've been waiting for this one ever since the first video was posted.
Wow, I had forgotten how weak Soliferum was at one point. It became the largest realm on the island and then collapsed in a remarkably short space of time. And Arcaea was reduced to one region! I thought the smallest it had ever been was three regions. Have no idea how we recovered from that.
No after the great war with: Sartania/Lasanar VS Arcachon/Arcea we managed to take Nocaneb and then force Arcaea to one region. However quickly after that Lasanar fell and we lost:( That was also the end to my glorious reign as Pontifex hehe
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Sartania didn't lose because Lasanar fell - Cathay and Aenilia were running that war, and Orphen had a policy of never killing off realms. Galiard didn't, but Jenred convinced both of them to not only spare Arcaea but to help restore part of it if a new government were put in place and certain changes made.
Lasanar was already circling the drain by then and wasn't going to be able to do much about it one way or the other.
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Sartania didn't lose because Lasanar fell - Cathay and Aenilia were running that war, and Orphen had a policy of never killing off realms. Galiard didn't, but Jenred convinced both of them to not only spare Arcaea but to help restore part of it if a new government were put in place and certain changes made.
Lasanar was already circling the drain by then and wasn't going to be able to do much about it one way or the other.
The hilarious thing is that Jenred wasn't even angling for that. He was actually just trying to arrange a safe refuge for himself and Edara under the cover of negotiating. He was...Quite surprised the cover worked out that way.
So many of Jenred's so-called great plans were like that, incidentally, that he was firmly and completely convinced he was favoured by the Aenil, because surely that was the only reason so many lost causes of his actually ended up working. And, as that only started happening after he got engaged to Edara, he interpreted it as a divine blessing for being with her. Odd man, Jenred.
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So... when did the Lasanar breakup occur anyway?
Joseph joined FEI in October 2008 and he has never heard of it. It was already ancient history then, he's never heard of it other than through Galliard's rants. He's positively old now (10/2008 was only three months after Jenred became King!).
I always figured Galliard liked to speak of Lasanar because he's like 700 years old, not that it was a recent occurence.
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It was 2008, I believe. Check out the history video; that will tell you exactly.
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It was 2008, I believe. Check out the history video; that will tell you exactly.
Yes, early 2008, you're right.
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So... when did the Lasanar breakup occur anyway?
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I always figured Galliard liked to speak of Lasanar because he's like 700 years old, not that it was a recent occurence.
You're not wrong. Galiard arrived in the Far East in 2005, and by that point Lasanar had already been around for a while. It was the big power in the North with five Duchies (Sasrhas, Ozrat, Ossaet, Akanos, and Colasan) and a close alliance with neighboring Ethiala (Topenah, Talex, Lasop) - the two realms together were a big power bloc and Arcaea was fighting a losing war with them at the time. If I remember correctly -- and I don't know this part for sure since it was before my time -- Lasanar was the first Republic in the game, ruled by Tom's character back when Tom told people who his characters were until coming to the conclusion that this was a Bad Idea and then his character, Lasanar's (first?) PM, was never heard from again.
When I arrived it was run by Milan von Krondor. There are still a couple players in the Far East who were already in power of some kind then - I think the Equar family had the Duke of Colasan. The 'big bad guy' was Nighthelm in the South and/or the '~V~' guild, neither of which I had much familiarity with because as difficult as it may be to imagine now, Galiard was quiet and did what he was told without asking too many questions.
Milan anointed Aethius Kain as his successor and Galiard as Judge, and they were partners for a long time - that's when Galiard got his first notoriety, for executing two rebellious Dukes of Colasan. Aethius stepped down but Galiard didn't want the job and so became Duke of Ossaet and then General right around the time of what I would say was Lasanar's last golden age, though I credit an ensemble cast much more than Galiard individually: there were maybe seven or eight really good players at the time, players who could play out differing political views without being reduced to vulgarity and death duels, and through a lot of churn and bustle Lasanar topped off at (I think?) about 27,000 CS. It still took us a bloody long time to beat Antoza because of the geography, but it was pretty exciting stuff. That would've been in 2007, so in late 2007 you had two things that really hit Lasanar: brain drain from the formation of Cathay and then the departure of many good players (and also myself) from both Cathay and Lasanar when a lot of unfortunate bugs conspired to make almost the entire continent starve, and after a long effing war nobody had any juice left to do what used to be required to very slowly restore a region. It's much easier now.
Most of what I know of Lasanar after Cathay's creation is secondhand. Milan was still there and he tried to patch things up, but he had disregarded advice Galiard had given a long time ago and not done anything to remove Vulpes de Zorro from power - Vulpes wasn't a bad guy but he was your classic 'can't be bothered' player who sat on ducal and sometimes ruler positions and didn't react until the place was on fire. Lasanar attracted malcontents from other realms and turned on Ethiala, and even though they didn't end up winning anything in the war they managed to kill the ruler in a skirmish (Galiard's more popular cousin, Septimus). Septimus' successor was a Leonidas and I don't have to tell you how that turned out.
Without strong governance, Lasanar went the way of most Republics and became a collection of miniature Duke-Kings with a weak PM. This was also the point when Arcaea was going downhill and Cathay and Aenilia were filling the vacuum. You probably arrived right when Ohnar was created, and Galiard holds the view that Ohnar at its best days was on par with Lasanar during its mediocre days. Not necessarily because of any one ruler but because the realm was set up as a sort of maintenance mode for autonomous Dukes (like Taylin) and never had either a strong identity or much of a central government. Kind of like 11-12th century France but without the red wine.
The biggest reason you didn't hear about it is probably because most of the players from its high point ('06/'07) aren't around anymore, but as you can see from the video, it was around for quite a while.
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I remember Septimius' death; it happened shortly after I joined the game. I really regret my old account's vanishing during my period of absence, or I'd still have a character around to talk about those days. Septimius was a fun martyr figure.
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The 'big bad guy' was Nighthelm in the South and/or the '~V~' guild, neither of which I had much familiarity with because as difficult as it may be to imagine now, Galiard was quiet and did what he was told without asking too many questions.
I can attest to some of that since my first Far East character, Cid, arrived in 2005 as well. I remember Nighthelm being the realm everyone was out to get (at least in Soliferum) and arguments broke out between people who supported or were members of ~V~ and their detractors constantly. I remember a few duels being fought over the issue.
My only real memory of Nighthelm was a short stay in their dungeons and associating them we some very shady people. Wasn't there some bit about their ruler potentially being host to a demonic possession or something of that nature or am I mixing that up with something else?
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I am always sad about how much of the history of the FEI I missed during my long break from BM.
Lasanar was still going strong when I left, I recall they had recently destroyed a realm in the north that I had a character in, and that character then fled to Nighthelm.
Morgan and Nighthelm didn't get along, I can't recall if it cam to actual war before I left or not . . . I recall a lot of arguments on the ruler channel, though. But then I got wounded and lost rulership, and then I got very sick in RL and stopped playing, and ended up not coming back for a couple years. And everything had changed. . . .
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The biggest reason you didn't hear about it is probably because most of the players from its high point ('06/'07) aren't around anymore, but as you can see from the video, it was around for quite a while.
That's quite right, of all the names you cite de Zorro is the only one that rings a bell. When I started in Ohnar West the big honchos were Louis Lious, Cornelius Hsieh, Balthazar Bathgate and Hamilton Vita. I got quickly involved in the Akadian League, and no one referred at all to Lasanar then.
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Louis Lious, Cornelius Hsieh, Balthazar Bathgate and Hamilton Vita
Only Bathgate was around when Lasanar was (or had anything to do with it, anyway) and he was more involved with Sartania.
Never heard of those other guys.
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I can attest to some of that since my first Far East character, Cid, arrived in 2005 as well. I remember Nighthelm being the realm everyone was out to get (at least in Soliferum) and arguments broke out between people who supported or were members of ~V~ and their detractors constantly. I remember a few duels being fought over the issue.
My only real memory of Nighthelm was a short stay in their dungeons and associating them we some very shady people. Wasn't there some bit about their ruler potentially being host to a demonic possession or something of that nature or am I mixing that up with something else?
Nighthelm was the power house for a very long time. ~V~ was slightly associated with Nighthelm, but a major RP component from ~V~ was the nature of demons and hunting for those from a shadier guild (which I can't recall the name of, however its proponents were wide spread over the island and it focused on creating wars and chaos to fuel . . .well something to do). It turned out that some of the more influential members from Soliferum were part of the Guild (as were secretly Nighthelm) so Nighthelm and ~V~ were out to destroy Soliferum, and the other way around as well.
It created a lot of very good wars - the death of Paladin King Gul'Dan brought about huge changes in Nighthelm and eventually led to its decline as the next few rulers fought with the Dukes, ~V~, and the Order of the Elders all which had strong influences in Nighthelm. However it was all IC - as many of the infuential players in Nighthelm were friends (as were those in Soliferum). We effectively destroyed Nighthelm ourselves with IC rivalries. The united Soliferum didn't help, and their ability to negotiate quite well with other realms. The fact that Nighthelm always viewed Soliferum as a snake. . :D Good times.
FEI probably is the island I had the most fun on playing in Nighthelm; the politics, intrigue, and sheer hate between neighbouring Realms always kept us at the brink of war and kept people active. Sadly I haven't felt the same about playing on FEI since.
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Nighthelm was the power house for a very long time. ~V~ was slightly associated with Nighthelm, but a major RP component from ~V~ was the nature of demons and hunting for those from a shadier guild (which I can't recall the name of, however its proponents were wide spread over the island and it focused on creating wars and chaos to fuel . . .well something to do).
Chaos Requiem.
I wish Nighthelm was still around.
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Chaos Requiem.
I wish Nighthelm was still around.
Yea, those were good times.
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Yea, those were good times.
Indeed. Never a dull moment.
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Indeed. Never a dull moment.
Colored blocks, rubber chickens, devouring Einar's cookies, hunting the Chaos Requiem, bashing pirates, hating Soliferum and even the occasional duel over a woman. Nighthelm had it all.
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~V~ actually stretched across the entire continent...but the South is where it was strongest.
http://wiki.battlemaster.org/wiki/Hall_of_Blood_and_Battle
It has been revived with a hall in Mnalor of Coralynth and another in the south but can not recall which region. BUT so far it has been a lack luster attempt to revive it. Part of the problem is RL time... I just cant delicate the time to making it a living and acting guild. Back when it was first founded I had my character travel across the entire continent announcing the guild and inviting those with a true warriors spirit to join.
Eventually it will grow again but not until it has an enemy to fight and other players who are interested in taking it where it needs to go.
Those were the good ole days. When the Grand Lodge broke free from Soliferum and ~V~ had enough pull to talk its nations into war just to allow the ~V~ warriors to fight. Then the Chaos Requiem and its evil that needed to be crushed... Sanctum of Casshern...
I miss that Far East Island...
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Lasanar attracted malcontents from other realms and turned on Ethiala, and even though they didn't end up winning anything in the war they managed to kill the ruler in a skirmish (Galiard's more popular cousin, Septimus). Septimus' successor was a Leonidas and I don't have to tell you how that turned out.
Let it go already that was well over 5 years ago, or did the recent attempt at regime change in the "Democratic People's Republic of Cathay" just happen to make that all come crashing back?
To be fair I only inherited what you created, you allowed that Duke in Lasop who could barely speak English to think he could turn the duchy into a "special economic zone" or whatever he called it. I did manage to follow him to Dwilight and get the whole of Madina to oust him as ruler for his screwing around(not hard). I had a nice run till it became a daily political intrigue to just log in, we had Arcaea pulling its magnum opus along with the other realms politically reshuffling. It was a lot of fun.
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To be fair I only inherited what you created, y
Septimus had the Duke of Lasop well in hand (Dieter de Blanc). But he hated you, so the moment you took over, it was over.
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Scarlett tells the history of FEI from around 2005/2006 with Lasanar and all...
Good times indeed, Scarlett :) I was sad to see Lasanar was all gone when I came back to the game. I see on the video that it sure happend fast. Total collapse is what it looks like.
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Wait, are you the same Kain from before? Aethius Kain? That's a name I haven't heard in a long time!
It'd be awesome to try and re-start Lasanar once we're done killing Sorraine. The FEI needs a big, meaty Republic again.
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Wait, are you the same Kain from before? Aethius Kain? That's a name I haven't heard in a long time!
It'd be awesome to try and re-start Lasanar once we're done killing Sorraine. The FEI needs a big, meaty Republic again.
You are funny. It has only began, but so far Cathay is getting their butt kicked without much evidence showing that won't continue.
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You will never kill Sorraine! You heathens!
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Oh I agree it's pretty unlikely that we'll kill the Empire. But Sorraine, they're already halfway through the 'not dead yet' Monty Python sketch. I don't get credit for that.
"I'm feeling better!"
*club*
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I feel like going for a walk.
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Oh, Thain can go about yelling "Bring out yer dead!"
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Wait, are you the same Kain from before? Aethius Kain? That's a name I haven't heard in a long time!
It'd be awesome to try and re-start Lasanar once we're done killing Sorraine. The FEI needs a big, meaty Republic again.
Haha yes, one and the same. I was surprised you remembered the names so well. I had almost forgotten about Milan Von Krondor :-[ but now when I am reminded it feels like yesterday.
It is fun to see that Galiard is still breathing. I'm afraid Aethius stopped doing so a long time ago.
It would indeed be fun with a meaty (love the choice of word) republic. There is certainly room for one if Sorraine dies ;)
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The irony is that Galiard was so set upon making Cathay a Kingdom (rather than another Republic) because he was so tired of the political conflicts in Lasanar - but those conflicts kept the place lively. Cathay has stagnated a couple times, once when Galiard was there (though not King) and once while I was away from BM, and suffered badly for it. Lasanar had its fractious moments but it was never dull.
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Lasanar had its fractious moments but it was never dull.
It sounds a bit like Luria
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The irony is that Galiard was so set upon making Cathay a Kingdom (rather than another Republic) because he was so tired of the political conflicts in Lasanar - but those conflicts kept the place lively. Cathay has stagnated a couple times, once when Galiard was there (though not King) and once while I was away from BM, and suffered badly for it. Lasanar had its fractious moments but it was never dull.
Yeah, I think I personally enjoy the elections and the liveliness. It keeps those in power on their toes a little since they can just be voted out if they're inactive and a bright personality comes along. Now when I think of it, I do believe my chars have been nothing but Prime Ministers other than for very short times (like dictator of Summerdale for a few days and dictator of Oligarch but reformed it instantly to a republic).
I kinda miss it. Almost every realm is a monarchy these days (at least on some islands). But of course, a monarchy can be very much like a republic or a democracy too now since you can customize it in a way you couldn't do before.
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Almost every realm is a monarchy these days (at least on some islands). But of course, a monarchy can be very much like a republic or a democracy too now since you can customize it in a way you couldn't do before.
Kindara is a Monarchy, though the Ruler is elected monthly and the Judge quarterly. It adds the edge of a Republic without us actually calling it a republic.
Of course, Edmund has always run unopposed, as did Tissaphernes before him, so I'm not sure how well the monthly system is working as intended.
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Kindara is a Monarchy, though the Ruler is elected monthly and the Judge quarterly. It adds the edge of a Republic without us actually calling it a republic.
Of course, Edmund has always run unopposed, as did Tissaphernes before him, so I'm not sure how well the monthly system is working as intended.
That is a good example. So what is left of being a monarchy? Probably harder to protest the ruler (and council) out of office? The council members might be able to hold several titles at once? I know at least that there were restrictions on that in republics and democracies before.
Regarding the unopposed in elections. It is the same in republics/democracies. Few will stand for election if they know their chances of winning are minimal. But that probably also means that there is no one in the realm "the people" trusts would do a better job (at least no one that wants to have these positions).
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So what is left of being a monarchy? Probably harder to protest the ruler (and council) out of office? The council members might be able to hold several titles at once? I know at least that there were restrictions on that in republics and democracies before.
As far as mechanics go, I'm honestly not sure. Our original rule was that no council member could hold landed titles and then that changed when we needed active bodies in regions. We were also going to prevent council members from being Dukes, but that changed too out of necessity. Edmund has never held a landed title, so the ruler is still expected to not hold titles so far.
It's been a long time since I played in a republic to it's hard to compare. Most of what we use to distinguish ourselves from a republic is pretty much roleplay. Republic is something of a dirty word in Kindara and Kindarans tend to see it as beneath them even while we vote for positions.
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I've thought about doing that for Cathay - a regularly electable Monarch. It is sort of a 'best of both worlds.' Probably a decision for Galiard's successor to make, though.
Cathay also has an informal rule whereby the King cannot hold any land except for regions added to the realm under his reign. So Galiard could not become Duke of Anacan, but because Cathay expanded under his rule (er, until recently) he could take Haul.
One thing that Lasanar never did was to have individual reigon lordships be electable. I've seen this tried elsewhere and it never seems to work well. You get election fatigue and the people voting don't have much of a stake in the outcome. In Lasanar we could get people interested in voting for Judge and Ruler once a month but probably not more than that.
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I've thought about doing that for Cathay - a regularly electable Monarch. It is sort of a 'best of both worlds.' Probably a decision for Galiard's successor to make, though.
Cathay also has an informal rule whereby the King cannot hold any land except for regions added to the realm under his reign. So Galiard could not become Duke of Anacan, but because Cathay expanded under his rule (er, until recently) he could take Haul.
One thing that Lasanar never did was to have individual reigon lordships be electable. I've seen this tried elsewhere and it never seems to work well. You get election fatigue and the people voting don't have much of a stake in the outcome. In Lasanar we could get people interested in voting for Judge and Ruler once a month but probably not more than that.
Interesting rule. Like a special reward for the monarch for expanding :D
Indeed, I agree. Election fatigue is not good. Lordships should probably stay appointed. You can also have less often concerning some of the council, i.e ruler and judge election every month, general and banker every three months.
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You get election fatigue and the people voting don't have much of a stake in the outcome.
Yeah, I've never seen lordship elections actually work since half the time you end with no one actually running. Kindara appoints every lordship position no matter what it is.
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Regular, especially monthly, elections are a nasty piece of work, with one exception: realms with a very high noble density, leading to competition. Otherwise they are not just pointless, but detrimental to the system.
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Regular, especially monthly, elections are a nasty piece of work, with one exception: realms with a very high noble density, leading to competition. Otherwise they are not just pointless, but detrimental to the system.
They've been ineffective for us. I've considered having Edmund bring up the idea of changing them to quarterly in the past, or dropping them altogether, but I always get distracted by something else whenever I do think of it. In the middle of all the mess happening now doesn't seem the best time either.
I'm not sure I've seen monthly elections held anywhere else I've played.
Are there any realms left in FEI that elect the ruler? I know Ohnar West did at one point, though I don't remember seeing notifications for them in a while.
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They've been ineffective for us. I've considered having Edmund bring up the idea of changing them to quarterly in the past, or dropping them altogether, but I always get distracted by something else whenever I do think of it. In the middle of all the mess happening now doesn't seem the best time either.
When I added monthly elections for High Lord, we had something like 40-50 players, some playing multiple characters, in Kindara. There is about half that number now, I don't think we'd lose anything by going to quarterly elections.
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That map is a really interesting thing to watch. Despite the constant changes it is nice to see some things remained constant. That said the Akadian League (there for about three months?) was the first realm I had a major hand in trying to establish and run along with Vita. Von Genf too. Sad we were so hopelessly divided because of our own bickering, had a good thing going. Except for the constant turnover over leaders.
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We had fun. That was what mattered.
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We kicked Ohnar West in the shins like drunk toddlers. That was what mattered.
All day every day.
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Are there any realms left in FEI that elect the ruler? I know Ohnar West did at one point, though I don't remember seeing notifications for them in a while.
That was how I was elected ruler of Coralynth.
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Well, that post was from more than a year ago, but I think he was referring to rulerships that are up for election on a monthly basis.
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Whoops, didn't realize I was replying to such an old conversation. I think electing your ruler monthly sounds like a recipe for a schizophrenic realm.
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Whoops, didn't realize I was replying to such an old conversation. I think electing your ruler monthly sounds like a recipe for a schizophrenic realm.
I don't see monthly as a great idea but quarterly seems fine especially in republics and democracies where rulers hold less power on policy.
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Quarterly provides a good mix of change-by-election and medium-term-stability. Monthly elections quickly turn into election fatigue, because you spend darn near 20% of your time having elections. It's even worse when someone occasionally loses an office, and you have to elect someone else. All those constant elections quickly become more irritating than beneficial.
Quarterly FTW!