Author Topic: The War  (Read 102052 times)

Eduardo Almighty

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Re: The War
« Reply #105: November 10, 2017, 10:21:56 AM »
Quote
Lordship shouldn't be a primary way of motivating or rewarding knights

Nothing against this mentality, that's very true mainly when I began the game in 2006 when was harder to get positions. But if I had stuck with it, I would not have conquered so many titles nor would I have had such a fun ride through the years. Even when BM is not a game you can win, you will hardly convince the majority to continue as Knights indefinitely. It's human nature to want more, at least of my nature.
Now with the Skovgaard Family... and it's gone.
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Gabanus family

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Re: The War
« Reply #106: November 10, 2017, 10:27:42 AM »
It depends on the way you do it, there are other options than Lordships. Government titles, or even special tasks and duties. Oligarch at its hight had what, 4 regions and 23 nobles and nobody was complaining. They only started to leave/complain when the entire north bashed us in and forced us back into Oligarch City only, making some people give up. But there are other ways to inspire people than Lordships if you make things fun. And then in time you can still grow into power.
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CryptCypher

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Re: The War
« Reply #107: November 10, 2017, 10:34:32 AM »
Precisely.

And oh, can it be so incredibly boring to be an landless knight (or minor lord) beneath the unforgiving heel of stagnant nobility. Even worse if the realm's not exactly a hotbed of RP, or the RP's exclude players who aren't part of a certain clique/faith/guild/faction.

Game might be called BattleMaster, but most players ain't here for the battles. They're neither deep nor dynamic enough to offer much entertainment outside of grandiose genocide of the intercontinental multi-national clusterfluke variety, and only then for the political schism, profitable looting, and the homicidal glee of conquering armies the world over. Especially so when PvE. For example, I keep a meticulous tally of every noble injured in battle, and take great pride in putting bureaucrats out of commission to the misfortune of the affected realms. ;)

As the not so unspoken rule dictates, everything offered is an opportunity to generate a story. Roleplay. Interaction. A legacy worthy of memory.

Hell, I feel that religion, guilds, adventurers, gov't titles, artifacts, assassinations, gloriously heroic battlefield deaths, and other such facets add far more enjoyment and continuity to BM.

Rising through the ranks from nobody to demi-god, clawing our way up the ladder of power and prestige, throwing the weight of our influence around like a set of brass balls hanging proudly before our necks, and eventually hanging from those very same balls like some improvised noose dipped in liquid irony... This game's more Master than Battle, and that's what breathes life into the community. At its core, BM caters to the oh-so-Human seed of unchecked ambition whose fruit we can't exactly harvest in real life. ;) !@#$, where else can I be a Sumerian Death-Cultist?


...Though giving knights something else to do beside the repetitious massacre of expensive units always proves a worthwhile incentive.

Jus' sayin'
Apsu@Legends. BM: Yxevarii Auru'in, Grandmistress [Ruler;Priestess-Inquisitor] (Obia'Syela-BT); Sigrid Gudrun Auru'in, Avenging Exile of Xavax, Countess of Slimbar (Redhaven-EC);  Masalu Auru'in, Linguistically-Challenged Sumerian Death-Cultist (D'hara-DW)

Eduardo Almighty

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Re: The War
« Reply #108: November 10, 2017, 10:52:57 AM »
Little glories turn into great disappointments when you lead a charge to victory, but find out later you're only doing it because they want you to be target of 1574 damn archers.
Now with the Skovgaard Family... and it's gone.
Serpentis again!

CryptCypher

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Re: The War
« Reply #109: November 10, 2017, 11:23:40 AM »
Or, as Masalu just learned the hard way, getting gangbanged by a wall of monsters and losing your entire unit in a single turn. :P Though that one was his own damn fault for wanting to lead and not staying in the rearguard. Hey, good inspiration for his first public RP at least.
Apsu@Legends. BM: Yxevarii Auru'in, Grandmistress [Ruler;Priestess-Inquisitor] (Obia'Syela-BT); Sigrid Gudrun Auru'in, Avenging Exile of Xavax, Countess of Slimbar (Redhaven-EC);  Masalu Auru'in, Linguistically-Challenged Sumerian Death-Cultist (D'hara-DW)

Gabanus family

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Re: The War
« Reply #110: November 10, 2017, 11:24:21 AM »
Little glories turn into great disappointments when you lead a charge to victory, but find out later you're only doing it because they want you to be target of 1574 damn archers.

Well I can only speak for myself (not sure how others do it, you know how the north does it) but everyone knows before they volunteer that they'll prob end up wounded and lose their men, talking about this specific measure.

But there are a great many possibilities in some realms while others provide none, that is true, some realms are harsh for new nobles to join which is sad, but others are great and provide activity/RP/opportunities beyond just lordships.
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Eduardo Almighty

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Re: The War
« Reply #111: November 10, 2017, 11:38:53 AM »
I was caught off-guard because I wasn't around when they started doing this... I was expecting something more like throwing myself at the infantry like in the past. A glorious sacrifice, not a stupid one. Hrafn learned his lesson and will not do it again until some fat old rich man of Sirion offers himself for such a mission.

Now with the Skovgaard Family... and it's gone.
Serpentis again!

CryptCypher

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Re: The War
« Reply #112: November 10, 2017, 11:40:17 AM »
Ha! Good luck with that!
Apsu@Legends. BM: Yxevarii Auru'in, Grandmistress [Ruler;Priestess-Inquisitor] (Obia'Syela-BT); Sigrid Gudrun Auru'in, Avenging Exile of Xavax, Countess of Slimbar (Redhaven-EC);  Masalu Auru'in, Linguistically-Challenged Sumerian Death-Cultist (D'hara-DW)

Gabanus family

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Re: The War
« Reply #113: November 10, 2017, 11:44:26 AM »
I was caught off-guard because I wasn't around when they started doing this... I was expecting something more like throwing myself at the infantry like in the past. A glorious sacrifice, not a stupid one. Hrafn learned his lesson and will not do it again until some fat old rich man of Sirion offers himself for such a mission.

I can imagine that. I feel as that they should have told you what you're volunteering for personally, but that's me.
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Eduardo Almighty

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Re: The War
« Reply #114: November 10, 2017, 11:55:17 AM »


Relax, I'm just old and grumpy, so this is my only role in Sirion
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Gabanus family

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Re: The War
« Reply #115: November 10, 2017, 11:57:16 AM »
A young Erik  8) I wonder how big they'll crack down on you now you don't have a city
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Chenier

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Re: The War
« Reply #116: November 10, 2017, 06:25:37 PM »
Wouldn't need estates if you could provide a region for every noble.

Maybe later, you can add more regional titles for knights just like how you can appoint a steward.

When everyone has lordships, though, there ceases to be any incentive to invade neighbors. Plus the more titles people have, the more conservative they become. Add to this that tax tolerance decreases, fixed expenses increase, and the increased lordly burdens occupy people, the lower the noble:region ratio, the less a realm will be both willing and able to wage war on another realm. Which then stiffles interaction, and leads to internal decay.

If any change is to be promoted, it's probably to increase the ease or incentives for players to ditch boring realms and join more dynamic ones.

Players need better tools to find out what the active realms are, and not only at character creation. Perhaps an intra-colonial emigration mechanic, where a noble in a coastal city can pay a ferry and be brought back to the realm selection page (after a few days on hold, to avoid abuses should the judge want to ban them for whatever reason, perhaps burrowing from the tournament mechanics). Maybe tournaments can be made more profitable so that people will hold more of them, it's hard to even just break even with the decreasing player base, and they are a great occasion to make players from all over meet, interact, and potentially switch allegiance.

I'm sure others can think of other tools. Point is, no outside mechanic can make a realm that sucks stop sucking. We've tried so many things, and the odds ones that have had an impact were barely noticeable, and they all come with trade-offs. As much as I think we've gone too far, in general, towards the individualism culture in BM at the behest of the group culture, I also think that people staying in terrible realms that would deserve do die aren't making anyone favors.
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Antonine

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Re: The War
« Reply #117: November 12, 2017, 11:04:22 AM »
When everyone has lordships, though, there ceases to be any incentive to invade neighbors. Plus the more titles people have, the more conservative they become. Add to this that tax tolerance decreases, fixed expenses increase, and the increased lordly burdens occupy people, the lower the noble:region ratio, the less a realm will be both willing and able to wage war on another realm. Which then stiffles interaction, and leads to internal decay.

This. The best realms have a significant body of knights who want lordships or other riches/titles/glory. Their pushing to make something of themselves is what usually drives internal conflict in the realm or what drives them to go to war (because having an enemy to fight keeps the knights from getting rowdy).

Anderfhstim

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Re: The War
« Reply #118: November 13, 2017, 06:24:42 AM »
ROFL Duke of perdan switched his realm again.

DeVerci

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Re: The War
« Reply #119: November 13, 2017, 06:38:13 AM »
It's a happy ending! The Perdan nobles made amends and reunited their realm, mostly. Mulhouse and Bescanon are quite nice though  ;)