Messages

1

BM General Discussion / Re: Trader Religion: Capitalism, the game!

« on: August 06, 2015, 11:53:19 AM »

I took a hiatus from the game before I could really explain further or even attempt it, but looking back my explanation was horrible. Simply put, its a worship of the circulation of gold.

Followers join and pay a routine fee. The full members (who attain membership by recruiting a few followers) don't pay a fee and split half of all incoming fees from the followers. The elders/founder decide some semi-random game (like guess the number) and all regular followers play. The winner of the game gets the other half of the fees paid into it. So roughly, followers (referred to as traders) are at the bottom and have a chance to win big; full members (referred to as brokers) get extra income dependent on the ratio of traders/brokers; and the elder/s (Arbiters) would need to decide what game to play and pour some of their own money into the game like benevolent game masters.

RP wise, it should be kosher cause it would be the worship of the great and powerful Auz (Au as in gold, Oz as in a sham...which I thought was clever at the time). It would function like a cross between a gambling den and a pyramid scheme, and would only really require a few convenient temples and generally to hell with the peasantry (cause they don't have gold).

So now I just need to find a place where this might work, entirely rebuild my characters to the point where they can create a religion, and/or find a sugar daddy for this.

2

BM General Discussion / Re: Returning Player

« on: August 02, 2015, 02:02:24 PM »

+1 returning Appalachian

3

Dwilight / Re: How to help Dwilight.

« on: November 28, 2014, 05:10:37 PM »

Since Dwilight is an RP island, I'd rather see something in-game influence island-wide events. Something akin to "Whatever army can battle their way to the Zuma decides" or some such. I think one of the problems with the monster invasion was the abruptness of it and the lack of ceremony. A great quest for all players, some island-wide RP events that tell a story...that would be neat. Something like that may not balance the game as well as omnipotent dev-touch, but it would at least give players control and the feeling of autonomy.

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BM General Discussion / Trader Religion: Capitalism, the game!

« on: November 24, 2014, 12:01:03 AM »

I'm wanting to build a priest and thought of a little game that could be played with the religion mechanic. It could make good RP as well as act as a kind of mini-game within BM.

A merchant religion based around a gold idol god “Auz”. Beyond that, I'm still fleshing out the flavor. Essentially it would be a recruitment/tribute scheme built around "traders" at the bottom paying slight tithes for "brokers at the top", with an elected "arbiter" at the top controlling the game.

Traders are non-members, paying into the game. Traders can become brokers with the advocacy of a new member to the game. With various levels of brokerage for advocacy, each broker takes an allotted piece of the pot, but leaving at least half the pot for the lottery. The highest authority (the Arbiter) is tasked with the melting down of excess gold and redistributing it among the traders through lots. The Arbiter chooses an arbitrary number and traders who guess the closest are granted payouts.

Thoughts, suggestions, or interest in helping with the idea?

5

BM General Discussion / Re: Cliques - a problem? and how to deal with them?

« on: August 24, 2014, 07:53:46 AM »

Cliques happen in almost any social hierarchy. It sucks, but most human behavior tends toward easy 'suck' approaches. That doesn't mean the game is ruined, or that new players can't find fun....just the old cliques need to be ousted.

The best that can happen is the 'old guard' approach new players to expand their ranks....or for several dissidents organize and remove the old guard. Creation of new realms, rebellions, and inclusive 'council' message groups for specific purposes can keep new players engaged beyond the order drone mentality....but it does require effort from those with the tools.

So far, BM has enough mechanics to balance this (assuming people unite with similar ideas). It is just a matter of those new folk who are dissatisfied being included into the hodge-podge that are some realms....or being approached by older (mentor) dissidents for regime change.

A few extra tools would help people organize...but it still falls victim to human lazyness/nepotism/greed. Overcoming human nature is a big task....but I do like to see a discussion on it (for the betterment of BM).

6

Dwilight / Re: Is Morek dying?

« on: August 17, 2014, 09:19:33 AM »

If you're no longer playing BattleMaster, then I'm going to have to ask you to stop posting consistently negative, bordeline-trollish comments on purely BattleMaster-related threads. If you continue to do so, they will be moderated.

He has valid points, despite his tone. Dwilight lost almost 4 realms worth of characters. I think it'll be something that pays off in the long run, despite the initial loss, but that doesn't help the folks leaving right now.

Morek dying/shrinking is one of the effects of the freeze that will help make things better. Specifically killing realms isn't the devs responsibility....it is the players. Morek bleeding out nobles is just the slow way we could have done it. Mostly the player-created diplomacy/ties kept quicker ways from occurring.

7

Dwilight / Re: Is Morek dying?

« on: August 16, 2014, 08:54:10 PM »

Morek always seem to play the most safe/bland path, which never really gets anyone invested in the realm. I've not seen any other realm in the game with such a disparity between 'characters' and 'active characters'. Morek keeps locking itself away with land/militia, leaving them nothing to do.

The only characters I know to have joined were going to bank some gold, train an infiltrator, or were desperate for a lordship for some RP reason. Then they typically leave. There are 40 characters north of the Divides...150+ southwards. Morek has become fly-over country, where everyone assumes the locals are overly friendly with sheep.

8

South Island / Re: Mortality/Wounding working correctly?

« on: August 10, 2014, 07:30:39 AM »

In the mean time I'm trying to encourage everyone to up those chances by being heroes.

No room for diplomats or traders, and cavaliers miss all the good loot. I don't think anyone is going to have time to develop an infiltrator...so I think hero is about all a person can really be.

9

Dwilight / Re: The relentless monster hordes

« on: August 06, 2014, 11:16:49 PM »

There's no chance of reclaiming the regions, and probably won't be for a long-long time. West-Dwilight has the constantly respawning doomstacks of monsters on steroids, so even if you managed to do a takeover and get a region you would lose it eventually due to the never-ending waves of beasts.

From what I recall during Enoch's brief clairvoyance, the monsters/undead seem highest in cities and townslands. Some places (badlands or low-end rurals) were entirely empty a month or so back. Too bad I never got to try "Enoch the Rogue Mystics' Info Brokering Service".

10

BM General Discussion / Re: What is your playstyle as a general/marshal?

« on: August 05, 2014, 12:08:43 AM »

Depends on the character. Enoch would micromanage everything for maximum benifit, Eoric would just keep orders updated (and look for leadership from General/council)....Orobos and Emeric haven't had a chance to shine their particular shines.

11

East Island / Re: Just end the war with Perdan.

« on: August 03, 2014, 02:23:36 AM »

On a more relevant note in regards to Bescannon: Ha!

12

Dwilight / Re: The relentless monster hordes

« on: July 30, 2014, 11:20:54 PM »

Kind of in the same vein that it's not impossible to survive the failure of your parachute when jumping from 10,000 feet, but it's not very likely.

I think in both instances it depends on where you land.

13

East Island / Re: Just end the war with Perdan.

« on: July 29, 2014, 11:25:46 PM »

Losing is part of the game. At any one time, odds are there are almost as many losers as there are winners.

I would disagree with this point. Gang-bangs seem to happen often enough to create a disparity at any given time. Although, having so many 'winners' typically makes winning cheap...but if a smaller group/realm can overcome insurmountable odds, their glorious win has some meaning.

14

Feature Requests / Re: Hunting

« on: July 26, 2014, 10:44:06 PM »

I'm not so sure about permanent H/P gains, but maybe a kind of 'unique item' that nobles can farm for? "Pelt of the White Boar" or "Golden Stag Antlers" and all that. You can have a Honor or Prestige boost that isn't overpowered, might even integrate into the advy game of barter, and gives people the all-too desired 'achievement/medal/whatever'.

Additional thought: It would be kind of neat if you could 'organize a hunt' like a tournament announcement. Some region owner pays gold depending on how many takers you think there would be, folks join, whoever gets 'the kill' ends up with an item. More prestige for bigger hunts, chance of complete failure, a convenient message group for folks to RP, etc.

My main problem with the feature request is that it doesn't create character interaction. We need more features that bring people together, not stat-grinds that keep people from talking.

15

BM General Discussion / Re: True BattleMaster Confessions

« on: July 25, 2014, 03:57:21 AM »

I create simplistic totems of parts of my internal psyche as literary extensions of who I am.

Also, I BM while inebriated quite often. Cheers!