Oh @Thax, if you're so desperate to improve your position in life I'm sure you can find a method other than sleeping your way to the top. Besides, what would I tell Kalikai?
Oh @Thax, if you're so desperate to improve your position in life I'm sure you can find a method other than sleeping your way to the top. Besides, what would I tell Kalikai?
@Thax: at least she recognises that you're starting at the bottom and working your way up
Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
I have a backlog of questions to answer, and I'm doing that now. I just wanted to tease all of you mortals by saying that this thread inspired Us to pepper @Estarra with lore questions, too. She's sitting here in Havens, answering all of our burning curiosities. Q&A time with Estarra is my favorite time, and it's so rare. It almost always translates into future cool ideas for you, too!
If your Divine was still a teenager sat on their bed in their room with headphones on and spotify loaded up, what song would they be listening to?
We are not going into my teenage years. That way lies embarrassment. However, I can toss you the artists off my current Spotify playlist that I generally run when I'm coding or doing anything really:
The Dead Tongues, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mendel, The Mountain Goats, The Fall of Every Season, The Morningside, The Receiving End of Sirens, Saosin, Circa Survive, Ne Obliviscaris, Be'lakor, The Protomen, Alexisonfire, Tristania, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar, Eurythmics, Hozier, The Crüxshadows, Arkona, Korpiklaani, Agalloch, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Ruby the Hatchet, Astrix, Infected Mushroom, Parov Stelar, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck, Motion City Soundtrack, The Offspring, Soundgarden, Visigoth, Gloryhammer, Jedi Mind Tricks, Aesop Rock, NYM, Alligatoah, Ministry, And One, KMFDM, Electric Six, and I honestly give up transcribing because I'm only about halfway down the playlist.
Since I feel like they're being left out, and I've seen at least one of them in the AMA:
@Jadice and @Manteekan: how much lore has been written up but not released about you two together? Do you have any sort of plans to make an event or two about this?
Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
-- I once did this amazing roleplay with @Everiine and someone else. Similarly to @Hoaracle, I troll the forest for RP interest. If people are doing something interesting, I'll generally give an assist. Everiine was talking about wanting to do a vision quest with Wolverine, and so I gave them this entirely unscripted scene where the Wolverine spirit was truly there, beckoning from beyond the veil. It was scary and intense, and I loved every second of it.
I've also had some pretty intense interactions with @Gabriella. One time, @Nocht and I were caught up in a little Divine interaction of our own and Gabriella and her soon-to-be ex-husband were stuck in the middle. You see, the ex had been dallying with Nocht's order, which was horrifying to Gabriella, who was a staunch @Maylea worshipper. I vowed to protect Gabriella because of her acute interest in helping the Lisae, so when Nocht tried to harm her by possessing her ex-husband, I possessed Gabriella. Then this extraordinary and dramatic scene unfolded, where Nocht and I basically battled each other through the mortal bodies. In the end, there were no winners, because both mortals felt violated -- as if they were merely puppets in some grand design. Dun dun dun.
Also, Nocht, I'll get you back for that.
-- Interacting with Lisaera is always a mixed bag. She's incredibly close to Her order, even going so far as to reach out to them from [redacted] through Her new order items. Generally, a prayer works. If you aren't in Her order and attempt an interaction, be prepared for a potent answer...that may not be what you hoped for.
-- If I woke up mortal, I'd probably spend the rest of my demidivine life hanging out on the Ethereal Plane, rolling my eyes whenever Maeve went crazy.
-- I try really hard to get my fellow gods to play with me, but none of them will. Jk. We cook up all kinds of behind-the-scenes drama when we feel like we need to shake things up, but echoing @czixi, we try to make sure it follows the right patterns. Lisaera wouldn't suddenly rampage against @Isune, the same way She would never give @thax a highfive.
-- I really, really wanted to play this role, funnily. There was a time when I had a big question mark on that file, where we pitch our god roles to Estarra, but it quickly changed to Lisaera when some of my colleagues started talking her up. I was just super intimidated because of how big of a character she has (I, too, pondered Malmydia for a few days, however...and @Drocilla).
-- Hmm. I really don't know. None of us would win any of the combat-oriented challenges, that's for sure. We're all way too attached to our zap buttons to really bother with fighting. I also just recently asked @Ianir for more godcurses, so look out, world.
Man, I guess I'd want to just find out IC, but how close are @Czixi and Kalikai? It seems like very close to me.
@Ianir if you ever decided to stop being the Anomaly, would you be allowed to take on a RP-god role (like, say, Valtreth or something).
@Lisaera Do you favour one of your triune forms more than the other? Or do you try to embody all at once? How about past Lisaeras? It seems like these days all I see is Crone, with only inklings of Maiden and Mother. That might just be because I'm an ignorant citydweller, though.
All: Fain just hasn't been touched in so long. Has there ever been any serious interest (like as a 2nd choice) among the ephemerals to become him? Same for Auseklis, Charune, Kalikai.
I know the Lost Divinities section of HELP GODS is supposed to be definitively, forever not going to be seen again. Is it really, 100% a permanent death? Do the current players of each God all have the authority to kill off their role permanently?
-- All of Lisaera's different forms (there are more than 3!) always come with a title change, so you should always see Who She is. Theoretically, without giving too much away, Her shifting form is really just a measurement of Her current temperament. The Silver Trinity (the Maiden, Mother, and Crone) is always present, regardless of whether you can see Them. When She is simply the Goddess of Silver, it's safe to assume She is unreadable on purpose - or is channeling the whole trinity at once. When She's the Crone, She might be trying to make a point of saying "You've done it now -- now pay the consequences," and so on. Also, I almost always have a very specific purpose for shifting forms around, so it's safe to assume that it's tied to any kind of current event, obvious or otherwise.
And for the record, I haven't been the Crone in several months now!
-- Lost Divinities are full death, hard stop, for one reason or another. We like to say "never say never," but I'm fairly certain those roles are, forevermore, off the table. But who knows!
Avatar by the lovely Esei!
2
EveriineWise Old Swordsbird / BrontaurIndianapolis, IN, USA
@Lisaera All of my Wolverine spirit interactions have been amazing, so thank you! You seem to have a propensity for terrifying RPs (such as making Ev believe She would vaporize him on the spot as he told his story about the Maeve).
Everiine is a man, and is very manly. This MAN before you is so manly you might as well just gender bend right now, cause he's the manliest man that you ever did see. His manly shape has spurned many women and girlyer men to boughs of fainting. He stands before you in a manly manerific typical man-like outfit which is covered in his manly motto: "I am a man!"
Daraius said: You gotta risk it for the biscuit.
Pony power all the way, yo. The more Brontaurs the better.
@Shaddus There is quite a bit of Jadice/Manteekan lore that is written but as-yet unreleased. Some tidbits are known only to my most trusted order members. And yes, more will be forthcoming at some point, but perhaps not publicly.
@Lisaera All of my Wolverine spirit interactions have been amazing, so thank you! You seem to have a propensity for terrifying RPs (such as making Ev believe She would vaporize him on the spot as he told his story about the Maeve).
I wish all of the amazing Wolverine interactions were me! The one with smoke and a lot of nightmare elements was me, and I think it may have been the first. It was all smoke and visions from the fire, IIRC.
Truthfully, @Hoaracle, myself, and other Serenwilde administrators have a pretty good handle on certain mobs, so we typically gravitate toward them, but that isn't to say we don't ever overlap. I'm glad you like what we've come up with so far, though!
@Ianir, does that extend to @Roark? I've always had the impression that he's basically a coder and not an RP god in any real way, but I've also always kind of hoped to be wrong.
I guess Roark question if he's paying attention: Do you ever do RP god things, or are you basically an anomaly with a different title?
Any sufficiently advanced pun is indistinguishable from comedy.
@AllGods: Counterpart to Karlach's question, what's your character's theme song and why?
Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
IC, Hoaracle has some preference for traditionally un-Seren races. I've established that he has an affinity for Orclach (with some semi-released lore about Hoaracle interviewing Orclachmar back in the day), and he has a fink priest (which might have because I really enjoyed the tribal, witch doctor-y feel of them after reviewing their lore). He has some vague affinity to the various -woods (especially Wildewoods) because of the future timeline past nonsense, but that hasn't been played up much.
OOC, I really like gnomes, and ever since last year's plotline, aslarans (again #Jojobo4Lyfe). I also really enjoy mugwumps because Bandrui is my fave.
@Lavinya Yes, I still plan on being around for Mag. I just won't be the social butterfly that Dro and Morg are.
@Shaddus My second (first?) choice was Jadice (there was a lot of buzz around her at the time, but Elostian convinced me away from her). My third was Manteekan (but I'm glad I didn't go that route, the current Manteekan is amazing with the character in a way that I wouldn't have been). I generally like the darker and more serious concepts. Never tried to create a role though, there were plenty of characters in the histories that had a lot of potential.
@Ayisdra My first thought is Jadice. She would make a cool lucidian spec race once sharded.
@Czixi Plenty of Machine to go around if @Kalikai wants in.
@Karlach
I don't have a good image formed of Thax before the elixir, but I imagine him
just trying to fit in with the cool kids and listening to whatever the
other guys were listening to (KoRn and Limp Bizkit???)
@Drauzgot More to come on sipping on Morgfyre's essence! I would like to do a cool realm quest about it at some point.
@Maligorn
The previous Fain tried to convince me to take over for him when I was
graduating ephemeralhood but I didn't think (and I still don't think!)
that I could fill his shoes. Estarra also tried to convince me to take
on Charune but I've never really felt a strong connection to
Serenwilde's RP and, at the time, Serenwilde had a very nasty reputation
for chewing up and spitting out their admin volunteers. I know when
Elostian left we had left open the idea that someone else could take up
the role, but I think at this point he is probably truly gone much like
the rest of the Lost Divinities group.
@Drauzgot OOCly I really like lucidians and loboshigaru. They just have a cool flavour for some reason.
@Fyler My DMs with Hoaracle are essentially the Havens Burn Book.
@Lisaera How much of your character has been shaped by the RP identity/needs of Serenwilde, if any?
@thax Whoa. I've never really thought about that. I will say that so, so much of Lisaera's progress has taken the back seat to Serenwilde's needs, which I suppose is the double-edged sword of patroning. I do what I can to make sure that I still interject some of Lisaera's plotlines into different active events, but I'm much more careful now to withhold Her from the spotlight nowadays after a few not-so-kind messages from players who said they were, more or less, tired of seeing Lisaera around. I guess, in sum, it's a balancing act. My order gets to see a lot of my development, and frankly, if they're the ones who sign up for it, I'm willing to give them my all. The rest of Serenwilde...well. I still interact with them through mobs and events, and I suppose that's enough.
@Maligorn: Yes, of course! Hallifax as a whole has really made my experience so amazing as Isune.
@Drauzgot: I tend to like the races we have which are unique to the game (not the standard elf, human, etc...). Not that I have or would play them, but I think having the unique identity is what sets us apart. Personal favourites though, I'd have to say, lucidians, viscanti, faelings and trill.
Is @Drocilla the only Elder able to transform into other Elders? Who is to say that someone like @Lisaera is Lisaera and not some Elder in disguise? From that, is there any sure fire way to prove an Elder is who they say they are?
2
SylandraJoin Queue for Mafia GamesThe Last Mafia Game
Is @Drocilla the only Elder able to transform into other Elders? Who is to say that someone like @Lisaera is Lisaera and not some Elder in disguise? From that, is there any sure fire way to prove an Elder is who they say they are?
Oh I know this one! Dro stole Carakhan's pearl, right? Which is why she could disguise herself in the first place. But since Carakhan got the pearl back, I'd assume that all is well on the Divine imposter front.
"Oh yeah, you're a naughty mayor, aren't you? Misfile that Form MA631-D. Comptroller Shevat's got a nice gemstone disc for you, but yer gonna have to beg for it."
but I'm much more careful now to withhold Her from the spotlight nowadays after a few not-so-kind messages from players who said they were, more or less, tired of seeing Lisaera around.
...what. That's rude as heck
Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
After a follow-up conversation about your question, I'll say this -- for almost 2 years, in different capacities, I was the only administrator working in Serenwilde. When I debuted as Lisaera, I initially considered focusing Her character on the various forms of magic found in the Serenwilde lore. She would be a devoted witch, a shaman, a worshipper of the Moon, a soothsayer, a voodoo priestess, all wrapped up into one big ball of a more feral Serenwilde. That all sort of changed when immediately, the players told me they wanted their strength back. I then spent all of my effort devoted to building up that idea, in literally all of my events and building endeavors, until Lisaera became this "bigger than life" persona that used very Mysrai-esque mystique to embolden players. I think it worked! For a while, Serenwilde was on top, and I got to perch on the shoulders of the war heroes, guiding when they asked for guidance and pushing when they were teetering. I was very present, because that seemed to be what the players wanted: a very visible god, because they hadn't had one in a few RL years.
So I guess, upon further reflection, a lot of Serenwilde's unique needs, at that time, shaped who Lisaera became. 2 more RL years later, I'm just now going back to the original drawing board. Again, this is because I've decided to put a lot of distance between my IC persona and the playerbase, akin to @Hoaracle's approach, which gives me more time to focus on my order and other building/planning. The players don't seem to want visibility from me anymore, which is fine! It's a balancing act.
Is @Drocilla the only Elder able to transform into other Elders? Who is to say that someone like @Lisaera is Lisaera and not some Elder in disguise? From that, is there any sure fire way to prove an Elder is who they say they are?
All I'm imagining right now is a Kethuru-tentacle wearing a Lisaera-costume like a finger puppet. Thank you for that imagery.
Comments
If your Divine was still a teenager sat on their bed in their room with headphones on and spotify loaded up, what song would they be listening to?
The divine voice of Avechna, the Avenger reverberates powerfully, "Congratulations, Morkarion, you are the Bringer of Death indeed."
You see Estarra the Eternal shout, "Morkarion is no more! Mourn the mortal! But welcome True Ascendant Karlach, of the Realm of Death!
Mysrai has an aspect for every event, They win them all
The Dead Tongues, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mendel, The Mountain Goats, The Fall of Every Season, The Morningside, The Receiving End of Sirens, Saosin, Circa Survive, Ne Obliviscaris, Be'lakor, The Protomen, Alexisonfire, Tristania, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar, Eurythmics, Hozier, The Crüxshadows, Arkona, Korpiklaani, Agalloch, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Ruby the Hatchet, Astrix, Infected Mushroom, Parov Stelar, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck, Motion City Soundtrack, The Offspring, Soundgarden, Visigoth, Gloryhammer, Jedi Mind Tricks, Aesop Rock, NYM, Alligatoah, Ministry, And One, KMFDM, Electric Six, and I honestly give up transcribing because I'm only about halfway down the playlist.
@Jadice and @Manteekan: how much lore has been written up but not released about you two together? Do you have any sort of plans to make an event or two about this?
-- I once did this amazing roleplay with @Everiine and someone else. Similarly to @Hoaracle, I troll the forest for RP interest. If people are doing something interesting, I'll generally give an assist. Everiine was talking about wanting to do a vision quest with Wolverine, and so I gave them this entirely unscripted scene where the Wolverine spirit was truly there, beckoning from beyond the veil. It was scary and intense, and I loved every second of it.
I've also had some pretty intense interactions with @Gabriella. One time, @Nocht and I were caught up in a little Divine interaction of our own and Gabriella and her soon-to-be ex-husband were stuck in the middle. You see, the ex had been dallying with Nocht's order, which was horrifying to Gabriella, who was a staunch @Maylea worshipper. I vowed to protect Gabriella because of her acute interest in helping the Lisae, so when Nocht tried to harm her by possessing her ex-husband, I possessed Gabriella. Then this extraordinary and dramatic scene unfolded, where Nocht and I basically battled each other through the mortal bodies. In the end, there were no winners, because both mortals felt violated -- as if they were merely puppets in some grand design. Dun dun dun.
Also, Nocht, I'll get you back for that.
-- Interacting with Lisaera is always a mixed bag. She's incredibly close to Her order, even going so far as to reach out to them from [redacted] through Her new order items. Generally, a prayer works. If you aren't in Her order and attempt an interaction, be prepared for a potent answer...that may not be what you hoped for.
-- If I woke up mortal, I'd probably spend the rest of my demidivine life hanging out on the Ethereal Plane, rolling my eyes whenever Maeve went crazy.
@rhi
-- I try really hard to get my fellow gods to play with me, but none of them will. Jk. We cook up all kinds of behind-the-scenes drama when we feel like we need to shake things up, but echoing @czixi, we try to make sure it follows the right patterns. Lisaera wouldn't suddenly rampage against @Isune, the same way She would never give @thax a highfive.
@shaddus
-- I really, really wanted to play this role, funnily. There was a time when I had a big question mark on that file, where we pitch our god roles to Estarra, but it quickly changed to Lisaera when some of my colleagues started talking her up. I was just super intimidated because of how big of a character she has (I, too, pondered Malmydia for a few days, however...and @Drocilla).
@karlach
-- If Lisaera were a teenager, I imagine She'd be jamming out to Alanis Morisette and Evanescence.
@falmiis
-- Hmm. I really don't know. None of us would win any of the combat-oriented challenges, that's for sure. We're all way too attached to our zap buttons to really bother with fighting. I also just recently asked @Ianir for more godcurses, so look out, world.
@Ianir if you ever decided to stop being the Anomaly, would you be allowed to take on a RP-god role (like, say, Valtreth or something).
@Lisaera Do you favour one of your triune forms more than the other? Or do you try to embody all at once? How about past Lisaeras? It seems like these days all I see is Crone, with only inklings of Maiden and Mother. That might just be because I'm an ignorant citydweller, though.
@Isune Do you like me, y/n.
All: Fain just hasn't been touched in so long. Has there ever been any serious interest (like as a 2nd choice) among the ephemerals to become him? Same for Auseklis, Charune, Kalikai.
I know the Lost Divinities section of HELP GODS is supposed to be definitively, forever not going to be seen again. Is it really, 100% a permanent death? Do the current players of each God all have the authority to kill off their role permanently?
-- All of Lisaera's different forms (there are more than 3!) always come with a title change, so you should always see Who She is. Theoretically, without giving too much away, Her shifting form is really just a measurement of Her current temperament. The Silver Trinity (the Maiden, Mother, and Crone) is always present, regardless of whether you can see Them. When She is simply the Goddess of Silver, it's safe to assume She is unreadable on purpose - or is channeling the whole trinity at once. When She's the Crone, She might be trying to make a point of saying "You've done it now -- now pay the consequences," and so on. Also, I almost always have a very specific purpose for shifting forms around, so it's safe to assume that it's tied to any kind of current event, obvious or otherwise.
And for the record, I haven't been the Crone in several months now!
-- Lost Divinities are full death, hard stop, for one reason or another. We like to say "never say never," but I'm fairly certain those roles are, forevermore, off the table. But who knows!
Truthfully, @Hoaracle, myself, and other Serenwilde administrators have a pretty good handle on certain mobs, so we typically gravitate toward them, but that isn't to say we don't ever overlap. I'm glad you like what we've come up with so far, though!
I guess Roark question if he's paying attention: Do you ever do RP god things, or are you basically an anomaly with a different title?
@AllGods, are there any races that you are particularly fond of, either IC or OOC? Any race. Not just limited to the ones we players can play.
IC, Hoaracle has some preference for traditionally un-Seren races. I've established that he has an affinity for Orclach (with some semi-released lore about Hoaracle interviewing Orclachmar back in the day), and he has a fink priest (which might have because I really enjoyed the tribal, witch doctor-y feel of them after reviewing their lore). He has some vague affinity to the various -woods (especially Wildewoods) because of the future timeline past nonsense, but that hasn't been played up much.
OOC, I really like gnomes, and ever since last year's plotline, aslarans (again #Jojobo4Lyfe). I also really enjoy mugwumps because Bandrui is my fave.
@Shaddus My second (first?) choice was Jadice (there was a lot of buzz around her at the time, but Elostian convinced me away from her). My third was Manteekan (but I'm glad I didn't go that route, the current Manteekan is amazing with the character in a way that I wouldn't have been). I generally like the darker and more serious concepts. Never tried to create a role though, there were plenty of characters in the histories that had a lot of potential.
@Ayisdra My first thought is Jadice. She would make a cool lucidian spec race once sharded.
@Czixi Plenty of Machine to go around if @Kalikai wants in.
@Karlach I don't have a good image formed of Thax before the elixir, but I imagine him just trying to fit in with the cool kids and listening to whatever the other guys were listening to (KoRn and Limp Bizkit???)
@Drauzgot More to come on sipping on Morgfyre's essence! I would like to do a cool realm quest about it at some point.
@Maligorn The previous Fain tried to convince me to take over for him when I was graduating ephemeralhood but I didn't think (and I still don't think!) that I could fill his shoes. Estarra also tried to convince me to take on Charune but I've never really felt a strong connection to Serenwilde's RP and, at the time, Serenwilde had a very nasty reputation for chewing up and spitting out their admin volunteers. I know when Elostian left we had left open the idea that someone else could take up the role, but I think at this point he is probably truly gone much like the rest of the Lost Divinities group.
@Drauzgot OOCly I really like lucidians and loboshigaru. They just have a cool flavour for some reason.
@Fyler My DMs with Hoaracle are essentially the Havens Burn Book.
@Lisaera How much of your character has been shaped by the RP identity/needs of Serenwilde, if any?
Ixion tells you, "// I don't think anyone else had a clue, amazing form."
After a follow-up conversation about your question, I'll say this -- for almost 2 years, in different capacities, I was the only administrator working in Serenwilde. When I debuted as Lisaera, I initially considered focusing Her character on the various forms of magic found in the Serenwilde lore. She would be a devoted witch, a shaman, a worshipper of the Moon, a soothsayer, a voodoo priestess, all wrapped up into one big ball of a more feral Serenwilde. That all sort of changed when immediately, the players told me they wanted their strength back. I then spent all of my effort devoted to building up that idea, in literally all of my events and building endeavors, until Lisaera became this "bigger than life" persona that used very Mysrai-esque mystique to embolden players. I think it worked! For a while, Serenwilde was on top, and I got to perch on the shoulders of the war heroes, guiding when they asked for guidance and pushing when they were teetering. I was very present, because that seemed to be what the players wanted: a very visible god, because they hadn't had one in a few RL years.
So I guess, upon further reflection, a lot of Serenwilde's unique needs, at that time, shaped who Lisaera became. 2 more RL years later, I'm just now going back to the original drawing board. Again, this is because I've decided to put a lot of distance between my IC persona and the playerbase, akin to @Hoaracle's approach, which gives me more time to focus on my order and other building/planning. The players don't seem to want visibility from me anymore, which is fine! It's a balancing act.