which gods/orgs are the most active and most fun?

Kaijin

Make your case here

Kresslack

It's a matter entirely based on preference and subjectivity in regards to most fun. I'd say all of them are fun, whether aligned with your faction/interests or not. As far as most active, that can't really be said as the activity of all fade in and out periodically.

Kaijin

Perhaps I should state more of what I am looking for.  

I envision my guy as a mystic.  Like a wandering philosopher, desert prophet, or warrior poet like thufir hawat perhaps if you know Dune.  This sort of rp combined with either magi or monk.  Will work on transcending the body for enlightenment.  What city, house, order, clans, etc would you recommend or see as problematic?

Silas

'Make your case', lol. Go join Hashan.

Klendathu

Kaijin said:

Perhaps I should state more of what I am looking for.  

I envision my guy as a mystic.  Like a wandering philosopher, desert prophet, or warrior poet like thufir hawat perhaps if you know Dune.  This sort of rp combined with either magi or monk.  Will work on transcending the body for enlightenment.  What city, house, order, clans, etc would you recommend or see as problematic?

Sounds to me like you're trying to find your place in the Sky... /forum-recruitment

Skye

Well, @Klendathu has something going. Say what I like about those Vastarians ICly, I can't hate the God. Even if I muster up some animosity, I look at the abs and forget what I was thinking five minutes ago. >_>

Ruth

Kaijin said:

Perhaps I should state more of what I am looking for.  

I envision my guy as a mystic.  Like a wandering philosopher, desert prophet, or warrior poet like thufir hawat perhaps if you know Dune.  This sort of rp combined with either magi or monk.  Will work on transcending the body for enlightenment.  What city, house, order, clans, etc would you recommend or see as problematic?

I could very well see the tenets of Vaster to be in line with what you're looking for. You can totally spin the concept of freedom into the characteristics of a wandering philosopher searching for enlightenment.

Eleusis may fit the characteristics of a desert prophet. I mean.. The desert is still a natural part of nature right, and I don't think anyone in the game has actually based their character's life around the desert.

Based on your thoughts, you should avoid Mhaldor and Targossas, because these are two extremely-aligned organizations. You should also avoid Houses and Gods aligned to them.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Kyrra

Can't get more fun than @Pandora. The toad duels at NoNT are just ridiculous

Kayeil

Hashan or Ashtan for sure. I'd suggest trying out Twilight, Lorielan, or Vastar.

Trey

Before the man behind the curtain retired from the role, the last Phaestus we had was the absolute best, hands down.

Achimrst

I think some of these are terrible ideas, that said. You can be a desert wanderer just about anywhere and your character RP will mostly depend on what your philosophy actually is. 'Transcending self' is extremely vague to me, you could fit anywhere. What is Transcendence to you?

Kaijin

Regarding vastar, would I have to be an avariel?  Is there any place I can read more about the orgs suggested thus far besides help files, or perhaps people I could try interacting with in game?  which suggestions are terrible?  I know sometimes people give "ironic" suggestions to these sorts of topics.  

I think of him as someone who seeks to atone for his past, but not based on grief, but service to those around him.  A smooth small ripple of calm and mental peace in the whirlwind.  He fights giving up all action as a gift.  I would like the chance to eventually get closer to a divine and have prophetic dreams inspired by the person that affect his personal mysticism.  

By transcending the self I mean letting go of identity.  Can inhabit the minds of others easily to build the universal mind in order to come closer to God.

Kaijin

6 characters

Klendathu

Kaijin said:

Regarding vastar, would I have to be an avariel?  Is there any place I can read more about the orgs suggested thus far besides help files, or perhaps people I could try interacting with in game?  which suggestions are terrible?  I know sometimes people give "ironic" suggestions to these sorts of topics.  

I think of him as someone who seeks to atone for his past, but not based on grief, but service to those around him.  A smooth small ripple of calm and mental peace in the whirlwind.  He fights giving up all action as a gift.  I would like the chance to eventually get closer to a divine and have prophetic dreams inspired by the person that affect his personal mysticism.  

By transcending the self I mean letting go of identity.  Can inhabit the minds of others easily to build the universal mind in order to come closer to God.

If by avariel you mean atavian, then no. Vastar's mortal Order head is a xoran, there is no requirement whatsoever to be atavian. As for finding out more, seek out the various temples, try to speak to members of the orders, etc.

Achimrst

Honestly, from what you added @Kaijin you sound like you would fit in with Targossas the most.

Kresslack

At the end it really takes getting in the game and seeking out the various Order members or books regarding the theology, and developing an informed opinion for yourself. While many may try to guide you objectively, without bias, if you take their advice and end up with a bad experience, you may be inclined to blame them for it.

Take some time to ask around in game. Many Order members are happy to answer questions from the genuinely curious.

Silas

Klendathu said:
Vastar's mortal Order head is a xorean

This is kind of disappointing. Show some pride and buy a dagger.

Rangor

[INSERT LOTS OF FANCIFUL DESCRIPTIONS AND HEARTFELT FORUMS PROPAGANDA HERE]
Eleusis and Artemis.
[FANCY ENDING THAT WILL HELP CONVINCE YOU THAT WE ARE THE BEST ORGs IN THE GAME]

Kresslack

Don't listen to @Rangor, they're not even a real city! Back to your mud and twig hut, you heathen!

Rangor

Kresslack said:

Don't listen to @Rangor, they're not even a real city! Back to your mud and twig hut, you heathen!

Our wooden paradise will never be attainable for your tiny mind.

Kresslack

Rangor said:

Kresslack said:

Don't listen to @Rangor, they're not even a real city! Back to your mud and twig hut, you heathen!

Our wooden paradise will never be attainable for your tiny mind.

I've a fancy new tinderbox that says otherwise! -insert evil laugh here-

#ForumRP

Skye

Silas said:

Klendathu said:
Vastar's mortal Order head is a xorean

This is kind of disappointing. Show some pride and buy a dagger.

^

One thing I've loved about Neroes and Deuc is how they imposed certain things on their members to keep strongly with the belief and cultures of the Order. It was a grand day when Maeander finally said something about the Atavians in the Order and forced them to reincarnate. No more birdies! 

It's really amazing how many people will actually chafe at having to give up something so cosmetic though. I mean, you'd fight, kill, murder and die for your God but you hesitate when he tells you to do something like cut your hair or not be a certain race because it's offensive to him. Really. 

Kyrra

Skye said:

One thing I've loved about Neroes and Deuc is how they imposed certain things on their members to keep strongly with the belief and cultures of the Order. It was a grand day when Maeander finally said something about the Atavians in the Order and forced them to reincarnate. No more birdies! 

It's really amazing how many people will actually chafe at having to give up something so cosmetic though. I mean, you'd fight, kill, murder and die for your God but you hesitate when he tells you to do something like cut your hair or not be a certain race because it's offensive to him. Really. 

From what I've heard, Neraeos was so restrictive with his order that people can't do anything for themselves and basically sit around twiddling their thumbs without any sort of direction while he's dormant. Which is probably why so many people have left >.>

Vastar's Order is so very much about being self-motivated and achieving goals for yourself. He guides and gives advice if you ask for it, but he won't give you orders. It's not an Order for the lazy and those who lack ambition, it's about a continuation of learning, self-improvement, and aspiring for great things. Those that aren't willing to do things for themselves, or complete things without needing to be prompted (and nagged) probably won't go very far because we've no use for those sorts of people.

One of the things I probably love best about Vastar's Order is that there is a positive environment and a lot of the teachings reflect around positive reinforcements. If you want to do something, you do it. If you have restrictions, remove them. If you aren't happy with your situation, change it, because it's very much within your power to do so. As someone that needs to keep busy and likes having things to work on, it's very easy to embrace and incorporate the teachings into my character's life because there's as much importance placed doing things for yourself, which helps the Order too.

Something like race might be a cosmetic thing for some, but when I think of my character, she started atavian and has never reincarnated in all of her 350 something years of existing. As far as I'm concerned, she was born atavian and forcing her to give up part of what gives her identity is a really huge thing to ask, let alone ever be demanded. For someone like @Klendathu, a lot of his own character history revolves around being a Xoran and asking him to give that up just seems like whimsy because race makes absolutely no difference to how devoted someone can be. There's no special perks to being an atavian and following Vastar, there's no disadvantages to being any other race and following Vastar. 

Bronislav

To be completely honest, this has been a huge - a HUGE - A HUGE - point of consternation for my character. For a good chunk of his early life, he avoided the Gods like the plague - before the Flame, his backstory in Shallam had him suspicious of any being who was capable of such world-shaking power.

Two things shook him from this: the Bal'met crisis and the pure empathy of Lord @Phaestus and Lord @Scarlatti. The former, with Gods vital to the world dying off like flies in a calamity that shook the world, gave Bron a new respect for the Divine. The latter, with the Patrons of Cyrene (Phaestus) and its Houses (Scarlatti), they treated the people under their purview with a certain sort of...Dignity. You were not a cog in the wheel of some grand design when it came to them - if you worked to improve the state of your House and your City, you were worthy of their esteem, and they made sure you knew it. Some people really frowned at that sort of love between Patron and mortals, and understandably so, but it definitely had Bron fighting even harder to be worthy of such approval.

So far, every time Bron's considered joining an Order, his options just seem kind of 'Meh'. The ones that he would consider have Divine who've gone dormant, while those who are particularly active aren't exactly Bron's cup of tea. Not sure if there's even a good way of going about it.  

Melodie

Kyrra said:

Skye said:

One thing I've loved about Neroes and Deuc is how they imposed certain things on their members to keep strongly with the belief and cultures of the Order. It was a grand day when Maeander finally said something about the Atavians in the Order and forced them to reincarnate. No more birdies! 

It's really amazing how many people will actually chafe at having to give up something so cosmetic though. I mean, you'd fight, kill, murder and die for your God but you hesitate when he tells you to do something like cut your hair or not be a certain race because it's offensive to him. Really. 

From what I've heard, Neraeos was so restrictive with his order that people can't do anything for themselves and basically sit around twiddling their thumbs without any sort of direction while he's dormant. Which is probably why so many people have left >.>

Not true. Other than orders to not be aggressive to other Order members (and this could be bypassed when necessary, and of course duels don't count), and no defiling, the rules were pretty easygoing. I never ran into big problems.

That said, of course an Order is not going to have much direction without a God present... that's the nature of all Orders, and while it sucks, there's no real solution to it other than the God returning. So of course people will leave to free up allowing themselves, with a good conscience, to follow another God who has more attention to give.

Its just natural.

Kyrra

I'd have stayed in Selene's Order regardless of how active she was if she didn't get nuked because I cared more for what the Order was about and I didn't care for progression or attention. However, I've never been in an Order that was focused on progression and required a lot of divine attention and interaction, and guidance in order to do.. well, anything at all. I can see why people would jump ship and faction hop a lot in order to fulfil their needs, but I personally would question the commitment of someone who keeps flitting between different organisations just for attention. A few people come to mind who does that frequently as well.

I just go off what I was told by former members, some of whom were high ranking and I take those words at face value. The current members don't really go around saying how awesome things are so you only get left with the one impression.

Nakari

A downside to Vastar is that his order is pretty much restricted to Ashtan these days, I believe, so he's a pretty factional god, too. Ashtan's less restrictive then Mhaldor or Targossas, of course, but it is a limitation.

Skye

It wasn't that Nerry controlled us with an iron fist or anything of the sort. It's more because the Order itself was steeped in very deep lore that was very nearly Order exclusive before the advent of ships. What we enjoyed the most was very much having a whole other world and culture to ourselves. Unfortunately, because a lot of it was so denizen and god-based, as and when Nerry dropped in and out of activity (and now into dormancy), the biggest allure of the Order was lost ( those were some really cool storylines )

Vastarians have had the advantage of having virtually a clean reboot of his lore/order. Given that before this, there hasn't been a committed Vastar for any stretch longer than 6 months, they haven't enjoyed as strong or consistent a lore as the Nereians have had. Some of us still continue to work with what we have, but I think as an older player having experienced 'god handovers' before, I'm of course worried that the handover will result in a mishandling of the existing lore and storylines. A reboot won't be as clean or neat because Nerry's been handling this for as many years as I've played. 

Melodie

Going to be nuts no matter what happens from this point. All we can do is hope for the best and a very dedicated and understanding volunteer.

Silas

Nereian lore always looked like the coolest thing ever, but I can't imagine how anybody could pick up from where Nerry left off. It's one of those god roles that I wouldn't ever really want to see filled by a new guy, because so much of that role was about the player behind it being just so awesome, rather than any inherent appeal of the Sea, and I just don't think it's worth risking it.

Unless Asara wanted to do it or something, I guess.

Aodfionn

@ the OP:

I can only speak from my limited personal experience, but I would recommend @Artemis, @Lorielan or @Aurora for a mixture of being both acting and awesome. Two of those are faction-aligned, but Lori's realm seems p interesting.