Best Of
Re: Lusternian AMA
Ein said:In the vein of Lisaera's third question, what authors or works influence your writing style or aesthetic for your character/manse/designs?
I just mimic stuff I think is neat, really, or more precisely I just try to "textify" it as best I can. Most of the stuff I've made came from some source image or another, with modifications that either make it more properly lusternian or dance around a given design element I just can't quite grapple with otherwise. Some are even just things I loosely remember from years past and tried to recreate as a flight of fancy, with no resource beyond my own memory. Probably why there's so few unifying factors I what I do.
Jolanthe
1
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
1. I intentionally didn't want a large release event where a huge deal was made of Ein or him being back. There's a lot of behind the scenes reasons for this, but ultimately it comes down to my own vision for Gaudiguch and the Ein role itself, and what is best for both. It did backfire a bit in that a lot of people didn't even realise Ein was released until months afterward, but that's a temporary problem that fixed itself with time.Ayisdra said:1. Why did you choose the release event that you did? Did you have any other ideas that you decided against for your release?2. What is your favorite way to describe a voice?3. Is there something you regret not doing as a mortal before you became an admin?4. What is something that surprised you when you first moved over to the admin side (that you can share)? What is something that still surprises you about being an admin (that you can share)?
2. Trembling. Or quivering perhaps. I don't get to use these quite as often as I'd like.
3. Nothing. I did everything I set out as a personal goal.
4. The biggest surprise I had when I first came up is how nice and helpful everybody is in the Havens; I truly expected them all to be the Baba Yaga given textual flesh, and nobody came close. There is plenty that still surprises me, but the one thing I will point to is how much that still exists that I don't know about, or knew about at one point and just forgot - there's been an insane amount of content released for Lusternia, not all of it obvious, and it is very easy to miss a lot of it. An easy example to point to is Grand Junction, a room whose description I only read for the first time last night: the verbose (long) description of the room is quite enlightening as to the original intention for the purpose of the room, and in the almost 18 years Lusternia has existed I cannot recall a time I have ever seen or heard of it being used for this purpose, and please do correct me if I am missing something.
4. It's hard to pick one, but if I had to do so, it would probably be Bandrui, Serenwilde's executioner. Mugwumps have long since been my favorite Lusternian race and Bandrui is an exquisite example of one done well and evocatively.Luce said:
4. What's your favorite room/mob/item description that you've seen?
6. If You were given a monument, idol, or gift by Your Order, what would it be?
6. Roleplay hooks. Trauma, ideally.
1. There are two answers to this: it's an outlet, and we're fairly close-knit as a group. I work a very stressful and mentally-draining job outside of Lusternia that, these days, requires less creativity and more analysis and management, so being able to write and roleplay here gives me an outlet to create. As well, and I'm sure it's no surprise to hear this, a lot of us in the Havens are friends with each other and do form the friendships in ephhood and beyond, to the point that we even share some non-Lusternia hobbies, and this is a really lovely and valuable connection to have.Uzriel said:Another couple of questions here!
1. What is it you enjoy most about being godadmin? Ie, what got you through ephhood/keeps you logging in still?
2. What's something you've found unexpectedly difficult (could be behind the scenes in general, transitioning to ephhood from mortal, or transition from eph to godmin)?
3. Maybe too close to Ayisdra's question but what's something that really caught you off guard but couldn't help but laugh about (that you're allowed to share). I'm thinking along the lines of weird bugs, events going off rails, etc.
2. The paradigm shift from mortal to ephemeral/godhood was the big one for me. As a mortal, my question was always "what sounds cool?" and "what will leave the biggest impression?". This immediately had to shift as an ephemeral to "how does this interact with the story?" and "what place does it have in the world?" Both my writing and acting backgrounds are in improvisation, so this was a difficult shift for me.
3. I will not give specifics here, but nothing ever goes right no matter how much you test it ahead of time. Sometimes this is because we know how it works and can't think to test every option, and others it is purely because you all, as Terentia, Lisaera, and Malmydia have pointed out, talk amongst yourselves and end up drawing conclusions through games of telephone that skip left field and seem to just spawn in from thin air. As frustrating as it can be, it is also very fun to watch and something I enjoy.
Ask Socucius Ergalla why he is making me fill out a Buzzfeed personality quiz on my census form when I have a dead general to mantle and a god to kill, then go steal the platter on the shelf to my right for spending money.Kalliope said:"While in town the baker gives you a sweetroll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy, only to be intercepted by a gang of three kids your age. The leader demands the sweetroll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it."
- Act like you're going to give him the sweetroll, but at the last minute throw it in the air, hoping that they'll pay attention to it long enough for you to get a shot in on the leader?
- Give him the sweetroll now without argument, knowing that later this afternoon you will have all your friends with you and can come and take whatever he owes you?
- Drop the sweetroll and step on it, then get ready for the fight?
1. The moment when a player figured out the secret.Esei said:What's your favorite memory of being a god, so far? Can be crushing a particularly pesky bug, rp with your order (or org, or even a totally random person you didn't expect to show up in your fulcrux, etc), rp you got while possessing a mob, or anything you can think of. Feel free to redact if need be!Alternatively, what's your godrole's favorite beverage?
2. Probably water.
1. <redacted>Kalliope said:1. What's your damage?2. What's in the box?3. Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?4. Kill anyone today?5. What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss?
2. Hope.
3. No. Two left feet.
4. Who's asking?
5. Nothing. I don't lose.
Ein
7
Re: Lusternian AMA
If I have to be honest it's gotta be a lot of comic books, nostalgia pinup, a few different spheres of french aesthetic. As far as writing styles, I don't really know. I write pretty chaotically I think.
Kalliope
2
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
Luce said:The False Gods are back, but this time they are impersonating rather than replacing Elders.
1. Who do you think would do the best job pretending to be You?
2. What 'tell' gives away the game to Your (dis)Order?
3. What trophy do You take from Your doppelganger?
Unrelated to that scenario,
4. What's your favorite room/mob/item description that you've seen?
5. Was there a quest or area whose documentation you saw after taking on the Godrole that made you go "Oh, that makes more sense now."? (no need to say which if its spoilers, but I'm also asking about quests where the solution makes more sense now, or if there was a connection that we can see that you didn't know about beforehand.)
6. If You were given a monument, idol, or gift by Your Order, what would it be?
1. I am afraid that I'm not the most qualified on the False Gods, so I'll guess Frei because she'd probably be able to be both as heartless and as aloof as Malmydia.
2. The strangeness of Her smell.
3. Why, her blood of course! No one else needs it 
4. Because I am overly devoted to my mother, Jacintha is likely my favourite, but I will also give a surprising answer and say that I really enjoy Elytho Serole's design as well. I do love looking at all the gorgeous appearances that exit the Havens these days, but I am a particularly big fan of the designs for items, npcs, clothing, etc. that go out by the Seren team - Lisaera and Maylea have such a gorgeous set to work with and they really make the most of it at all times!
5. Not so much in a way that was confusion, but I particularly enjoyed when I took on my admin position that I got to learn how some of my favourite area/mechanics worked so I could attempt to better recreate them in the future.
6. While I've yet to open my order to the public, I think an assumed portrait of what the Siblings looked like at a younger age (done respectfully, of course) would be the sweetest gift that could be given to Malmydia. Of course, She would never tell you that, and may just kill you over it anyway.
1. This will sound cheesy, perhaps, but I adore seeing logs shared and player reactions. Something about strangers interacting with something you poured effort into and gushing about it really gives your ego a needed boost on the hard days where imposter syndrome runs the worst - even just reactions in discord will stumble me at times, seeing the sheer number of people who saw something and know that they're watching (and hopefully waiting) for what else might come. My work is as much for you all as it is for me, and seeing you enjoy it keeps the fire burning bright.Uzriel said:Another couple of questions here!
1. What is it you enjoy most about being godadmin? Ie, what got you through ephhood/keeps you logging in still?
2. What's something you've found unexpectedly difficult (could be behind the scenes in general, transitioning to ephhood from mortal, or transition from eph to godmin)?
3. Maybe too close to Ayisdra's question but what's something that really caught you off guard but couldn't help but laugh about (that you're allowed to share). I'm thinking along the lines of weird bugs, events going off rails, etc.
2. I will answer this slightly differently: while being hidden from mortal perception in the extreme manner Malmydia was (We made sure you couldn't honours her, find her accidentally, etc.) I was unable to hear the city aether at first, and a few of our god backend systems needed tweaking so we weren't hiding me from ourselves.
3. You got on the anchor, looked around. I went into my notepad to pull out the god-mote. I alt+tab back in and hit paste and enter, a second after you boarded the ship again and took off. I was laughing, crying, and "looking" at Drocilla going, 'WAIT WHAT NOW?!'
- Violence is always an acceptable option: choice one.Kalliope said:"While in town the baker gives you a sweetroll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy, only to be intercepted by a gang of three kids your age. The leader demands the sweetroll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it."
- Act like you're going to give him the sweetroll, but at the last minute throw it in the air, hoping that they'll pay attention to it long enough for you to get a shot in on the leader?
- Give him the sweetroll now without argument, knowing that later this afternoon you will have all your friends with you and can come and take whatever he owes you?
- Drop the sweetroll and step on it, then get ready for the fight?
The sheer drama of the moment when Malmydia's sibling relations were revealed was only met by seeing Drocilla lift away the curtain in-character during my release event and seeing it all come together. The lore nerds in the audience were rapt with attention and reacted exactly as I hoped they would when learning Malmydia/Ein/Mugowumpois were crechmates. *chefskiss*Esei said:What's your favorite memory of being a god, so far? Can be crushing a particularly pesky bug, rp with your order (or org, or even a totally random person you didn't expect to show up in your fulcrux, etc), rp you got while possessing a mob, or anything you can think of. Feel free to redact if need be!Alternatively, what's your godrole's favorite beverage?
malmydia
4
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
What's your favorite memory of being a god, so far? Can be crushing a particularly pesky bug, rp with your order (or org, or even a totally random person you didn't expect to show up in your fulcrux, etc), rp you got while possessing a mob, or anything you can think of. Feel free to redact if need be!
Alternatively, what's your godrole's favorite beverage?
Esei
2
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
I'm currently unstudied on the False Gods, so I am going to let better informed admin answer those questions!Luce said:The False Gods are back, but this time they are impersonating rather than replacing Elders.
1. Who do you think would do the best job pretending to be You?
2. What 'tell' gives away the game to Your (dis)Order?
3. What trophy do You take from Your doppelganger?
Unrelated to that scenario,
4. What's your favorite room/mob/item description that you've seen?
5. Was there a quest or area whose documentation you saw after taking on the Godrole that made you go "Oh, that makes more sense now."? (no need to say which if its spoilers, but I'm also asking about quests where the solution makes more sense now, or if there was a connection that we can see that you didn't know about beforehand.)
6. If You were given a monument, idol, or gift by Your Order, what would it be?
4. I just love Sparrow Longfellow, the Sowers guild tutor. I also really love the newest rooms recently introduced to Serenwilde.
5. I wasn't huge into questing as a player, so I don't have any quests that made more sense after coming up. There are some really neat tricks to tracking and organizing quests, though, that make the general structure of our quests make a whole lot more sense!
6. The hearts of twelve very particular gods. It wouldn't kill them, I'm pretty sure. Not forever.
1. Seeing player reactions to the things that I've created, both in character and out of character!Uzriel said:Another couple of questions here!
1. What is it you enjoy most about being godadmin? Ie, what got you through ephhood/keeps you logging in still?
2. What's something you've found unexpectedly difficult (could be behind the scenes in general, transitioning to ephhood from mortal, or transition from eph to godmin)?
3. Maybe too close to Ayisdra's question but what's something that really caught you off guard but couldn't help but laugh about (that you're allowed to share). I'm thinking along the lines of weird bugs, events going off rails, etc.
2. Related to the above, it's a little hard sometimes to not be able to point at something and say 'I made that!'
3. Besides the surprise you always feel when something that has been perfectly tested, for some reason you cannot fathom, decides to not work when it's live - I'm not sure I can think of anything that's caught me off guard in a negative way. I'm always VERY pleasantly surprised when players opt not to spam the thing I had anticipated them spamming, but roleplay instead. It can sometimes catch me off guard and require some quick thinking and maybe quick building on my feet, but don't be discouraged if you're roleplaying something we'd initially planned to be simpler interactions and are getting a few long pauses - we're probably flying to adjust our plans because we love it!
Maiden answers 1, Mother answers 2, Crone absolutely answers 3.Kalliope said:"While in town the baker gives you a sweetroll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy, only to be intercepted by a gang of three kids your age. The leader demands the sweetroll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it."
- Act like you're going to give him the sweetroll, but at the last minute throw it in the air, hoping that they'll pay attention to it long enough for you to get a shot in on the leader?
- Give him the sweetroll now without argument, knowing that later this afternoon you will have all your friends with you and can come and take whatever he owes you?
- Drop the sweetroll and step on it, then get ready for the fight?
Lisaera
5
Update on Nexus 3.0
The Iron Realms team has been hard at work on Nexus 3.0. Shortly after our last newsletter, we started a small closed beta test in order to garner feedback as we prepare for an open beta.
The feedback has been tremendous. We realized we needed to adjust our goals and feature list for release. The testing team has been crucial to the development of the new client.
This has led to delays, but the delays will be worth it. We absolutely do not want to release a disappointing product.
Consulting with our beta testers, led to significant improvements to the main play screen. The screen is much more user-friendly. Users can create a personalized layout quickly by just dragging and dropping elements. If you're interested, you can view a video of the client, and those improvements here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-D6SElFu58
Here is a screenshot of a custom layout that took seconds to make. Just drag and drop windows how you like them.
Another issue arose during beta testing that needs to be well communicated before release. This revolves primarily around migrating your current triggers and aliases to Nexus 3. Some scripts are going to be difficult to move and will require updating. Transferring your current settings is fairly automatic, but there are problems with scripts that were created beyond the scope of what we intended with Nexus 2.
We are working with the beta team to improve this migration process and address the compatibility issues. Please note that Iron Realms has no plans to drop Nexus 2. IRE will not do new development for Nexus 2, but it will remain on the game websites. In order words, if you're happy with the current Nexus, you do not need to migrate.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at jeremy@ironrealms.com.
Iashe
2
Library Rework Brainstorming
So on discord the topic of how currently subjects and assigning subjects to books is not incredibly helpful - in part due to how arbitrary they are, and how they can potentially create a backlog and as a result, many libraries simply ignore assigning subjects altogether. I'm putting this thread to brainstorm some for potential coding changes.
The goal of any changes in my mind would be: Making subjects a meaningful way to help people browsing for books on a particular subject, but without making it overly difficult to manage.
One proposal that I have is to create what I'm calling "Universal Subjects" - these are a list of subjects that are standardized in every library. Much like the design system where there are set categories or commodities, there are set subjects that are designated in this rework (not going to lie, this would be a MASSIVE undertaking just from just a sorting and consolidating perspective, ignoring any code involved.) When new books are added to the library for submission, the librarian (or aide) would set what Universal Subjects they are assigning to the book, and once published they would automatically be put into that universal subject across all libraries. Once published, a book cannot have its universal subject changed except by republishing it as a second edition, similar to how books cannot be edited without republishing.
For organizations that want to further fine-tune subjects with additional niches, I would suggest annex/library-wide subjects which would work as the current subject system works. Librarians may arbitrary create new subjects and assign books to them for their own library/annex. They may be freely changed but only exist in their own library (similar to how subjects currently are). Personally, I would not utilize this feature, but it allows those that want it additional fine-tuning.
An unrelated addition that somebody else suggested on discord, I'm going to include here: letting us add blurbs to books. This would be a field that a librarian can optionally set before publishing (possibly limited to 255 characters to keep it from getting out of hand), which would then show in the book when somebody checks LIBRARY INFO. You could think of it as being like the back or inside flap of a book that gives a high-level summary of what it is about. If possible, letting us search for books by text in the blurb would be especially amazing.
In summary, there are so many books in the library that finding things on a given topic can be quite difficult. The arbitrary nature of subjects at current makes it difficult to manage, and with no standardization across libraries, it creates a large amount of work on a single librarian to even attempt to manage, leaving most of us to just not bother. Some code changes could really help with that burden, and while I acknowledge the difficulty of dealing with the existing backlog of books to be brought into any sort of system - can at least start brainstorming ideas here.
The goal of any changes in my mind would be: Making subjects a meaningful way to help people browsing for books on a particular subject, but without making it overly difficult to manage.
One proposal that I have is to create what I'm calling "Universal Subjects" - these are a list of subjects that are standardized in every library. Much like the design system where there are set categories or commodities, there are set subjects that are designated in this rework (not going to lie, this would be a MASSIVE undertaking just from just a sorting and consolidating perspective, ignoring any code involved.) When new books are added to the library for submission, the librarian (or aide) would set what Universal Subjects they are assigning to the book, and once published they would automatically be put into that universal subject across all libraries. Once published, a book cannot have its universal subject changed except by republishing it as a second edition, similar to how books cannot be edited without republishing.
For organizations that want to further fine-tune subjects with additional niches, I would suggest annex/library-wide subjects which would work as the current subject system works. Librarians may arbitrary create new subjects and assign books to them for their own library/annex. They may be freely changed but only exist in their own library (similar to how subjects currently are). Personally, I would not utilize this feature, but it allows those that want it additional fine-tuning.
An unrelated addition that somebody else suggested on discord, I'm going to include here: letting us add blurbs to books. This would be a field that a librarian can optionally set before publishing (possibly limited to 255 characters to keep it from getting out of hand), which would then show in the book when somebody checks LIBRARY INFO. You could think of it as being like the back or inside flap of a book that gives a high-level summary of what it is about. If possible, letting us search for books by text in the blurb would be especially amazing.
In summary, there are so many books in the library that finding things on a given topic can be quite difficult. The arbitrary nature of subjects at current makes it difficult to manage, and with no standardization across libraries, it creates a large amount of work on a single librarian to even attempt to manage, leaving most of us to just not bother. Some code changes could really help with that burden, and while I acknowledge the difficulty of dealing with the existing backlog of books to be brought into any sort of system - can at least start brainstorming ideas here.
Uzriel
6
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
Ayisdra said:1. Why did you choose the release event that you did? Did you have any other ideas that you decided against for your release?2. What is your favorite way to describe a voice?3. Is there something you regret not doing as a mortal before you became an admin?4. What is something that surprised you when you first moved over to the admin side (that you can share)? What is something that still surprises you about being an admin (that you can share)?
1. Death and undeath mean a lot to Magnagora, especially. With the release of a healer goddess who would be aligned with the city, I thought it would be much more fun to have them examine it from a more scientific and medical perspective (in-universe) and get to experience a little bit of a murder mystery. What other ideas I may have had are documented for potential future use, so I'm afraid mum's the word on that.
2. Voices are a little difficult for my role, as Malmydia is historically described as a plain, unassuming Goddess. I use the measure of her voice, how fast/slow she speaks and reacts to things to indicate what her soft, measured voice may otherwise hide.
3. Much like Malmydia, I, the player behind her, have no regrets on past actions, accomplished or otherwise.
4. How wildly different colour configs are between people! I didn't realise some people changed say and emote colours. More in line with the present, something that surprises me (which I love to include) is what question a player will ask when given an opportunity to ask anything. The panic and freedom combining usually result in some very interesting combinations.
malmydia
6
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
Most obvious choice: Illuminati.Esei said:If your godrole had to pick any mortal class to play as, which would it be? Would it be the most obvious choice, or something else?
1. It was 100% <spoiler redacted> that made me pick up the role. It's such a cool idea.Uzriel said:For all the newer Godmin.
1. What was it about the role that made you decide to pick it?
2. Do you have a favorite easter egg that you can share (could be a description, mob response, etc)?
2. Not that I can share yet.
Curiosity.Kalliope said:Lemme ask you Guys an easy one..You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?
Ein
5
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