Messages

631

Other Games / Re: Lords of Creation, a message board RPG. Now recruiting.

« on: June 10, 2011, 10:22:59 PM »

I'd like to join in on this, although I would need to get the hang of it first. I swear I won't make dirty jokes or painful remarks about the Greek economy.


My God that offers you his application;

• Name: Zbartivlast, The Insane
  Played By: Fleugs
  Symbol: A Kingfisher.
  Home: The Void
  Domains: madness, fear
  Favored Weapon: mace
  Divine Powers: Warrior, Divine Intervention
  Artifact: bane

While Zbartivlast mumbles his own title as "The Emperor", all Gods know that he has gone insane. His insanity is guided, though. His favourite activity is luring others into insanity. Next to that he tends to exploit his own madness to scare off his enemies, either in battle or before. As a self-punitive decision, he has spent many of his years blindfolded. This gave him better hearing and improved his other senses, but he has a weak sight when he is in a bright area.

Zbartivlast is a dark personality, wearing scruffy black-leather clothes and dragging his bloodied mace with him wherever he goes. Some say that Zbartivlast is more than one person, all inside one body...

632

Background / Re: Religious freedom?

« on: June 10, 2011, 09:50:15 PM »

Using the term religious freedom in a medieval setting is like talking about a Roman chariot racer using a Ferrari in ancient Rome. The term does not work in the setting. With this I would like to tackle the initial title of the topic. You have to be very careful when you use terms that you are used to today, when you apply them to a different time setting. Time and reasoning go hand in hand and only by trying to "adopt" medieval reasoning, you can truly try to "act" as a medieval person. Drop modern day concepts such as "religious freedom", "equality", "racism", "slavery", .... We have all formed clear and defined concepts about those words in or head that differ much from a medieval setting, if they even existed.

I see that people are trying to use "examples" of religious freedom during the middle ages here, in an attempt to prove that it existed back then. It didn't. The absolute maximum "freedom" one could have (linking it to the modern day term) is "tolerance". You might be tolerated for having another religion. This toleration, which was indeed more common for muslim societies than christian ones, was not funded upon the idea of a free mind or whatever French Revolution idea comes to our mind nowadays. The most plausible explanation for a religion being tolerated was that its members (NOT the religion) contributed something to the society (Jews, anyone? They were tolerated, but not at all liked. They just had the bling.) that the leaders did not want to have removed (instantly).

When push comes to shove though, most players of Battlemaster will look for the "exception" and try to "be" that in the game as well. It is how we humans are made to think in the modern day society: we want something unique, out of the ordinary. If you want to hang on to the absurd idea of religious freedom in your realm, then please feel free to do so. I won't, I'm in it for the medieval experience. That means a full on religious domination by one authoritarian Church that pretty much decides everything in your day-to-day life.

I could go on about how many modern day concepts that are more or less not home in the medieval setting of Battlemaster, but that might overload the forum. So I'll do it gradually.

633

BM General Discussion / Re: Worth an OOC ban?

« on: June 10, 2011, 09:11:07 PM »

Makarians are Vikings, so they eat horses instead of riding them--so their cavalry ride goats, or peasants. Sobriety is outlawed, and bathing is a sign of madness.

That doesn't sound like Vikings... that sounds like some out of control fantasy stories vaguely based on Vikings.

634

Beluaterra / Re: the conflict looming

« on: June 10, 2011, 06:18:07 PM »

Now that would be a nice goal.....and there is a conclave of the Order of the Golden Feather this weekend. I suspect this goal might pop up there.

I shiver at the name of that religion and what it stands for! 

635

Beluaterra / Re: the conflict looming

« on: June 10, 2011, 05:06:16 PM »

i disagree, if any place then its beluaterra that needs centralism, a single religion or realm that binds all in a common goal to fight the invaders.

Melhed has changed, alot of 'imperialists' or 'centralists'  have taken over and that is also exactly why Melhed survived the invasion.
Without that small revolution that happened and all the fuss it created, Melhed (and talmarkin)would have been destroyed by the undead.

so yeah i think they will easily make such decision now.

The common goal used to be the "survival of mankind", and I think it somewhere still is. A large religion that would convert practically all of Beluaterra would be interesting, but it would not exclude conflicts. It is not because you share a faith, that you can't fight for land or whatnot. Faith will glue these realms together against a common enemy, but when there's lack of a common enemy, they will not hesitate to jump on one another.

I'm still sceptical about Melhed. Even if they get into a war, do they remember how to march their armies against humans?

636

Beluaterra / Re: Looking for Heathens (or Religion in Beluaterra)

« on: June 10, 2011, 04:59:22 PM »

Should I start sending missionaries to Old Grehk to try and entice her back to her original and true faith of Estahsism? ;-)

Is that still alive? I created that with Lorgan a very long time ago. We had like over 200 gods, managed to convert pretty much all of OG, inspired OG to go into some religious wars... then it went down hill.

637

Beluaterra / Re: next invasion

« on: June 10, 2011, 04:58:10 PM »

I don't think whining about invasions on BT are justified. Wasn't it clear, from the beginning (it used to be the "New World") that it would be a temporary continent? As much as I hated that idea I kept that in my mind: eventually it would sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Which is a shame, because for a very long time I found BT to be the most fun continent of BM.

638

Other Games / Re: Wii U

« on: June 10, 2011, 04:55:35 PM »

Consoles are really overrated in my opinion. PCs (including laptops) are so much better. They tend to last a little longer, PCs are upgradeable and you can play virtually any kind of game on it (including strategy games - try playing that on a console). Why people buy consoles, I still don't really understand. But whatever makes you enjoy your spare time, I guess. 

639

Beluaterra / Re: the conflict looming

« on: June 10, 2011, 04:48:23 PM »

Will Melhed every go to a war? I mean, they're like a modern-day democracy. They excel in discussing matters but they fail in making concrete decisions that actually leads them to do stuff. They haven't, as far as I know, been in a war for the past... heck, for as long as I know Melhed was around (and I was there when we founded Old Grehk). Maybe their last war was against Ar Agyr? Varyama Nolvo? Some shady realm probably, that either everyone hated or was so weak they could squash it in a week.

Beluaterra might be a nice place to see some more 1-city states, like Thalmarkin. TM seems to be flourishing and I hope it will encourage other people (read: dukes) to try to achieve the same. In the end, what BT needs is not giant empires (frankly, no continent needs that) but a scattered map with tons of realm fighting over small bits and pieces of the map.

640

BM General Discussion / Re: Open Mic Thread: How do you manage refugees?

« on: June 08, 2011, 08:34:50 PM »

I've always found the idea of reviving dead realms to be extremely distasteful, in no small part due to Tuchanon and its dozen or so incarnations.

It's battlemaster. All reasons to make a war are good reasons!

641

BM General Discussion / Re: Sharing lords gold, whats up with that?

« on: June 08, 2011, 08:31:16 PM »

Stupid Fleugs, don't say it out loud. People can NOT ignore OOC when deciding IC decisions. Its a fact. My past proves that.

But in general I agree.

The question is then, which part of what I say here, or on IRC, is really true? I have known some before, that took what I said OOCly ingame, and were shamed to find out that what I said OOC was not my character's plan. More people should do it; eventually everyone will be careful about what they believe or not.

Nevertheless, the mere fact that, as a player, you would use OOC information, makes you a cheater.

642

BM General Discussion / Re: Sharing lords gold, whats up with that?

« on: June 07, 2011, 10:48:15 AM »

In Riombara they bluntly told me that this realm was "different", and now we have communist-ish system running that taxes all lords and dukes 25% (totally ignore the game saying that such taxing is considered punishment).

My new goal: destroying Riombara, one way or another. I hate these anti-medieval ideas in a medieval setting. It's not because a realm is a republic or a democracy, that it is a modern day version of that.

643

Dwilight / Re: Dwilight IC and OOC updates and news!

« on: June 06, 2011, 02:35:25 PM »

If Tom says all religions should be like in medieval times, there's really only one religion to base all religions upon: Christianity. Although there were other religions ("pagan practices" as we know them) the one and only major religion in medieval Europe was Catholicism. So, drawing that line further, all religions in BM would be pretty much the same (monotheistic).

644

Feature Requests / Re: Peer-judging messages: too involved

« on: June 06, 2011, 01:59:23 PM »

You can be too involved if it's part of a discussion, or if your character simply hates that character. Assuming people can be "neutral" all the time is wrong.

645

Other Games / Re: Hearts of Iron 3

« on: June 06, 2011, 11:04:36 AM »

I play HoI2, recently. I have played HoI3 in the past and it is a disappointment. Having to use AI all too often takes away your tactical and strategical part of the game and makes it just another strategy game in which you recruit units and move them around. In HoI1 (a brilliant game, too) and HoI2 you really have to micro your attacks to be successful.

Which reminds me; if anyone is up for some multiplaying... I hang around on irc or might find my way back to this post.