Closing Islands ?

[Geronus]

I didn't mean blight, cut off or remove regions. Just start merging some of them if and when noble density gets too low on a closed off island. The island remains the same size even if the region divisions are larger. Sort of a bit like how the East Island and Far East are essentially identical except the Far East has bigger regions. Ideally though whichever island gets closed of remains intact as it is now for a good long while. I would guess that the noble count would decline only slowly but if any realm should collapse or fall, at least the players are doing it themselves. To my mind that is far better than having a GM or AI push you into the sea with massive hordes.

I see. This would probably have to involve both map changes and changes in the DB (for example, which regions border which would change). You're also probably going to end up picking winners and losers to an extent in the process. What stats does the merged region have? Which lord gets to keep his title? Which regions get merged? Seems messy, but maybe less heavy handed than many of the other suggested alternatives.

[trying]

I just thought of an insane idea!
Have the daimons carve out a corner in the continent you want to sink then
Unban every multi cheater
and let them make as many accounts they want in that daimon realm.
That way Tom doesn't need to 'make the Blight' it'll just be masses of alts.

[Revan]

I see. This would probably have to involve both map changes and changes in the DB (for example, which regions border which would change). You're also probably going to end up picking winners and losers to an extent in the process. What stats does the merged region have? Which lord gets to keep his title? Which regions get merged? Seems messy, but maybe less heavy handed than many of the other suggested alternatives.

Fair point about region changes being little labour intensive. Though it could take months or it could take years for the number of nobles to drop off to an unsustainable level on a closed off continent. There might not be any need for intervention or if there is, not for a long while. In fact that's probably the biggest weakness of this method even if it feels gentler than some others. Closing off a continent to new characters might be helpful to character density elsewhere in BattleMaster in the long term, but it doesn't solve the problem today.

[Indirik]

I just thought of an insane idea!

You get points for an off-the-wall idea. :p

[Geronus]

You get points for an off-the-wall idea. :p

He has a good point. Anyone who chooses to play a dozen or more accounts probably has the time and ability to be a GM. Mendicant would probably make a fantastic GM; say what you will about him, he wrote a lot of pretty good RPs and he had a real knack for making everyone either love or hate him. Mostly hate, but hey that's what you want in a bad guy, right? 

[Indirik]

I am still looking for comments on which approaches would be more acceptable and which ones less, and there are many valuable comments so far.

I am not sure that a decision to arbitrarily close any island would be received all that well. Even the players who recognize that it could eventually be a good thing for the game are unlikely to able to take it without a fight. I can't even imagine the resulting fight over which island gets closed.

I'm sorry, but the only way that I see it happening without an uproar from the affected players is by somehow allowing the players on the candidate islands to fight it out IC/IG for the survival of their island. Telling people "We're closing Kepler Island, you have 30 days to leave" will piss people off, and you'll probably lose a bunch. Giving them some way to fight to save their island is much more likely to be well-received, and less likely to cause players to ragequit.

Can anyone think of some way to do that *without* some kind of invasion?

[trying]

I am not sure that a decision to arbitrarily close any island would be received all that well. Even the players who recognize that it could eventually be a good thing for the game are unlikely to able to take it without a fight. I can't even imagine the resulting fight over which island gets closed.

I'm sorry, but the only way that I see it happening without an uproar from the affected players is by somehow allowing the players on the candidate islands to fight it out IC/IG for the survival of their island. Telling people "We're closing Kepler Island, you have 30 days to leave" will piss people off, and you'll probably lose a bunch. Giving them some way to fight to save their island is much more likely to be well-received, and less likely to cause players to ragequit.

Can anyone think of some way to do that *without* some kind of invasion?

Well then you'd have to make some sort of "victory condition". Perhaps like in Age of Empires if your realm builds a wonder and holds it for a month you win.

[Vita`]

I echo Indirik's statements wholeheartedly. People are very attached to their islands and will not appreciate their arbitrary loss. The bickering between which island gets deleted will result in a large increase of OOC toxicity and player loss. While I wouldn't outright quit, I know that I myself would feel quite frustrated with the loss of certain islands; I can only imagine how others will feel.

[Indirik]

Well then you'd have to make some sort of "victory condition". Perhaps like in Age of Empires if your realm builds a wonder and holds it for a month you win.

Some kind of non-invasion contest would be interesting. What kind of competition could you have? Building something, if the cost is gold or soldiers, or soldiers killed, etc., is all highly subject to character density, island stats, etc.

[Sacha]

Crank up monster/undead spawn rates to ludicrous levels across the island and see who manages to survive? Basically an invasion without actual GMs/NPCs leading hordes.

[Alpha]

Crank up monster/undead spawn rates to ludicrous levels across the island and see who manages to survive? Basically an invasion without actual GMs/NPCs leading hordes.

From what I've read, this seems to be the most reasonable suggestion.

[Geronus]

Crank up monster/undead spawn rates to ludicrous levels across the island and see who manages to survive? Basically an invasion without actual GMs/NPCs leading hordes.

Combine this with the "blight any rogue region surrounded by rogue regions" idea, and you may be on to something.

[Alpha]

Combine this with the "blight any rogue region surrounded by rogue regions" idea, and you may be on to something.

Yep. I might be alone in thinking this, but having monsters actually pose a threat would improve the game, in addition to blighting some land. I remember the early days of dwilight had huge monster hordes roaming, and those were some of the most fun times I've had in BM.

[Deytheur]

Maybe I am in the minority and maybe it's because I am feeling a bit disenchanted with the game as a whole at the moment but I think it would be a very good idea to close a continent and I wouldn't really complain if the best way of doing that was just closing an island without any fancy tricks or merges. If it makes the game better it's worth it.

[Geronus]

Maybe I am in the minority and maybe it's because I am feeling a bit disenchanted with the game as a whole at the moment but I think it would be a very good idea to close a continent and I wouldn't really complain if the best way of doing that was just closing an island without any fancy tricks or merges. If it makes the game better it's worth it.

I agree with this in principle, but I strongly suspect that we would lose a lot of players if we did this. There are some players who've been around a while that only play on one island; close their island and they would just be gone, and then that only exacerbates the problem doesn't it?