Seafaring PVE

Tahquil

In the iconic words of Jim Jeffries "FUCK YOU, DON'T TOUCH MY NE-NE".

From talking with Sarapis and Tecton the player behind Neraeos simply got to the point in their life where RL became the priority. I think there was a tear the guys eyes reminiscing on how much work the player behind Neraeos did, wrote, contributed as his godly incarnation and various others. They also mentioned that if he was ever taken over it would take an amazing person willing to spend a lot of time and hard work to even be considered for the role and that chances they would find a person awesome enough to fill the ocean sized boots were very slim.

I adore studying lore, however I'm not so great with the grammar/spelling requirement. I would kill to give it a crack but as a triton ambassador to the landwalkers so some gaps in memory can be excused.

Kayeil

I would say as a member of an Order where the God has been played by more than one Celani, and that the current one behind my God played a previous God that is now gone from start to finish... and after hearing the numerous changes that have gone on in Pandora's Order through the different people who have played Her... there is always a chance something significant about that God and their Order will change, and I think people who've been in Lady Pandora's Order way longer than me could attest to that in how greatly her order has evolved from volunteer to volunteer. Some of it had to be explained away with just not remembering after something happening, and a change of heart in having a new focus and a new direction. And you know what? Despite all that, She's still really popular. I regularly get people contacting me out of the blue looking to join or even people who use to be in the Order a long time ago who want to come back despite all that has changed. I really think if there is a new Neraeos (or any other God role that needs to be filled) that you do need to be forgiving and understanding and not expect everything to be followed exactly. You can also help them along and remind them of things nicely, but to expect a new volunteer to be a copycat of the original just isn't going to happen. They need to be allowed to add in some of their own flavour and uniqueness because it is now their role and it should be fun for them, too.

Tahquil

See, that's your God who you just admitted is nothing like the Neraeos situation.

Kayeil

I never once tried to say they were the same, but Pandora isn't the first and likely not the last to go through certain changes and a change in some direction when a new volunteer takes over, and I doubt Neraeos would be an exception to at least some degree. Especially since the person behind the god is human and will create different ideas that maybe the previous volunteer hadn't, and will form different relationships with those who remained in the Order, and especially with all the new people who would be trying to join. I'm sure it sucks for people to think of any of it changing when they're used to a God being a certain way and I'm sure I would've had a hard time if Selene stayed as a living God but with someone else taking over and changing things, but I also would've been forgiving and understanding and open minded to whatever new things may come. I'm guessing Aurora and Deucalion aren't quite the same as they used to be, but I don't see anyone really complaining. As far as I can tell from forums, the Targossans generally love their interactions with them.

Kayeil

I'd also like to add that in a way it's selfish to set such insanely high standards. You have to be open to some level of change, or else the role might never get filled just because a handful of old players are being hardcore about details and ends up scaring off any volunteer who might be interested but fear being treated poorly or disappointing because they don't fit the old Neraeos to a T. If it were me I wouldn't even attempt it just to avoid the drama of people being upset over things not being the same. Be accepting and understanding of any volunteer who is brave enough to take on the task, and don't scare them away because there's a lot of people who've never experienced any Neraeos and would love to, and having an active Order is a big difference to not having an active one ever.

Sarapis

Kyrra said:

Puzzle pirates so much fun.

Three Rings (the company that made it) was founded/run by my oldest friend in the games industry. He started in MUDs too.

Sarapis

Kayeil said:

I'd also like to add that in a way it's selfish to set such insanely high standards. You have to be open to some level of change, or else the role might never get filled just because a handful of old players are being hardcore about details and ends up scaring off any volunteer who might be interested but fear being treated poorly or disappointing because they don't fit the old Neraeos to a T. If it were me I wouldn't even attempt it just to avoid the drama of people being upset over things not being the same. Be accepting and understanding of any volunteer who is brave enough to take on the task, and don't scare them away because there's a lot of people who've never experienced any Neraeos and would love to, and having an active Order is a big difference to not having an active one ever.

This is the best post on this topic in this thread, with all due respect to everyone else who contributed. I'm not making a comment on whether something is selfish or not, but you are absolutely correct in your assessment of volunteer motivations. We've had multiple Gods the last few years lose interest or quit entirely or partly because they found dealing with the playerbase too unpleasant. Why would we even let someone new take over Neraeos (not that anyone has expressed interest to my knowledge) knowing that people are just going to rip the volunteer to shreds because they don't like how the new person is playing the role? It's like throwing away a volunteer. And conversely, why would anyone want to take over the role knowing that if they don't play it as a handful of players wish, they'll be on the receiving end of hate from said players? These are people giving up their mortal characters and their time in order to help players enjoy Achaea more. 

Valkyn

It'd be kind of neat to have two Gods of the sea... one who was followed by the pirates and some tritons, one the Nerai/mariners/other tritons.

Greys

@Valkyn I keep trying to get @Aurora and @Deucalion onto boats. Saltwater is more terrifying than Bal'met.

Sarapis

Daeir said:

The only recourse you have then is to introduce new Divine with their own fields and realms, honestly. Can't leave things as they are now.

I'm not sure why you think there are people waiting to take on God roles that aren't currently Gods or aren't currently in the Celani/Demi program!

Kresslack

If anything I'd like to see surviving roles in the Pantheon revitalized if it's an option over creating new realms or gods which open the potential for those to then become inactive. I only know the one person to have played Lupus, who was gravely wounded in the whole Bal'met Saga, and I don't know if that was due to behind the scene reasons involving their personal life or part of the story ending, but it begs the question of 'When will he be back?"

I think that part of the dilemma is that gods disappear, sometimes for very long periods of time, and players don't understand why. They have to speculate that either the volunteer had to move on willingly, or something happened that forced them out of the position. 

On the one hand, not knowing the details behind the scenes keeps the integrity of the roles intact for the most part. It's really no one's business why a volunteer vacated a role, and the past has shown that sometimes peeking behind the curtain and knowing such details affects things in the game, which shouldn't be the case.

So it seems to come down to a delicate balancing act of maintaining the illusion of an ever present if but busy (they're away doing important god stuff and therefore can't meddle in mortal affairs right now) pantheon in a massive world like Achaea, and making people understand the difficulties that come with maintaining such an environment.

It's a very demanding part of the game, and to be honest, the playerbase has a lot of potential to make it a lot less difficult if they'd consider the needs of the game over the wants of their own self. If you would rather a potentially great position remain unfilled simply because you don't think it can live up to the expectations of the past, you're only looking out for your own interests, which does nothing to cultivate an environment where the community wins at large.

Bronislav

I dunno' - my desire to take the Celani plunge waxes and wanes. Not that I'd be picked out for it or anything, but the first step is the application. When it comes to the notion of giving up the only character I play here, and all mortal ambitions, and (more importantly) all of the mortal friendships and rivalries and ties...Yeah, I waffle more than IHOP on that point. :frown: 

Sarapis

Bronislav said:

I dunno' - my desire to take the Celani plunge waxes and wanes. Not that I'd be picked out for it or anything, but the first step is the application. When it comes to the notion of giving up the only character I play here, and all mortal ambitions, and (more importantly) all of the mortal friendships and rivalries and ties...Yeah, I waffle more than IHOP on that point. :frown: 

Understandably!

Szanthax

Sarapis said:

Daeir said:

The only recourse you have then is to introduce new Divine with their own fields and realms, honestly. Can't leave things as they are now.

I'm not sure why you think there are people waiting to take on God roles that aren't currently Gods or aren't currently in the Celani/Demi program!

A...

God's are scary...

Kresslack

I know the perfect candidate to fill such a prominent role, and their name is...

　 JO
　　　 O
　　　　 O
　　　　　o
　　　　　 o
　　　　　o
　　　　 。
　　　 。
　　　.
　　　.
　　　 .
　　　　HN CENA!!!

Lorielan

ANNOUNCE NEWS #4502                                     (01/18/2016 at 20:43) 
From   : Tecton the Terraformer
To     : Everyone
Subject: Seamonsters ahoy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alongside the happenings in EVENTS #520, we're pleased to announce the latest in our updates to ships and seafaring: A massive overhaul of seamonsters!

Seamonsters and denizen-controlled ships will now be randomly encountered on the high seas. Certain regions of the seas have been designated as locations for these encounters, and the seamonsters have potential to appear on your map as you move through these zones.

Seamonsters will show up as a bright magenta "M" on your map. You can view more information about seamonsters close to your ship with the SPYGLASS ability in Seafaring. INFO <direction> will show you any seamonsters in that direction. INFO <direction> <seamonster> will show you detailed information about a specific seamonster.

You can fire ship weapons at a seamonster with FIRE <weapon> AT <seamonster>. All seamonsters and denizen-controlled ships can be fired on with the keyword "seamonster". If there are multiple seamonsters within range of your ship and you wish to target a specific one, you must use the INFO command from the Spyglass ability to determine the type of seamonster, or the seamonster's numeric ID.

Ship ammo will have the following effects on seamonsters:

- Ballista darts and war discs will do damage to the seamonster.
- Chainshot will slow the seamonster's movement speed for a short time.
- Starshot will slow the seamonster's attack speed for a short time.
- Flares will prevent the seamonster from moving for a very short time.
- Spidershot will decrease the damage of the seamonster's next attack.

Seamonsters will chase your ship around in an attempt to get close to your ship and attack it. Most seamonsters also have some ranged attacks that allow them to hit your ship even if they are not adjacent to it. Moving very far from the seamonster's designated "home" will cause the seamonster to sink back to the depths from whence it came.

Seamonster attacks can damage the hull of your ship, damage the sails of your ship, damage the health of players on the ship, or set rooms on the ship aflame. They can also tangle the sails or a weapon on the ship, which must then be cleared as if they had been hit by spidershot or chainshot. The monsters can also attack with a starshot-like attack which will disrupt figurehead melding and must also be cleared before the figurehead can be used again.

Killing a seamonster will reward the ship that lands the killing blow with a trophy that will be placed on the deck of the ship. The trophy can be handed in to Casov, the mariner, in Sea Lion Cove for a gold reward. All crewmembers on the killing ship who participated in the fight by either firing a weapon at the monster, executing a navigational command, or invoking a useful seaspell will receive some experience for killing the monster. Denizen crewmembers will also receive experience and increased morale. In addition, a portion of the ammo used against the seamonster will be retrieved from the corpse and placed on the ship's deck.

Interested in getting started? There's over a dozen of these areas scattered across the seas (with varying levels of seamonster difficulty), but you may want to try looking in the Sapphire Sea, the Scyrian Reaches, or in the Bay of Dardanos.

Penned by My hand on the 25th of Phaestian, in the year 703 AF.

Greys

Tried it and enjoyed it so far! Its a lot of fun and a decent challenge with some colourful descriptions. Only issue is the 5k gold reward is a bit underwhelming for how much time is involved especially the tougher beasties.  It would be cool if there was also some things they dropped that weren't automatically cashed out but could be traded (working perhaps similar to the rare minerals but different functionality).

Lorielan

@Greys The gold rewards increase with the difficulty of the monster slain. (You were playing in what we idly dub the kiddie pool.)

Annwyl

It looks like the value of a windcutter has just bottomed out since they're incapable of dealing with monsters effectively. Flares stun momentarily, but wardiscs don't do anything, apparently. Maybe, once all the areas where the monsters may be found are identified, sailing a cutter won't be too bad, but the fun is reserved for the big, expensive ships.

Lorielan

@Annwyl

- Ballista darts and war discs will do damage to the seamonster.

Skye

Deathsights for sinkings just look like regular sinkings. Any chance we can get deathsights that at least indicate what seabeast ate them? 

Kinilan

Skye said:

Deathsights for sinkings just look like regular sinkings. Any chance we can get deathsights that at least indicate what seabeast ate them? 

Wait, you mean all this time I've been sinking PEOPLE?!

Oh God! I'm such a monster!

Shirszae

So, is there a way the monster rage could be incremented just a tiny bit. I understand they are not mean to be herded away from their areas, but as it is right now you risk losing them with the slightest maneouvres to put some distance between you and them.

Or, if not, some kind of warning that you are sailing away from their range? Could even be a differently worded attack like, "A sea hag bats at you mildly as she starts to lose interest'

Gamden

Shirszae said:

 "A sea hag bats at you mildly as she starts to lose interest'

lol ..
but yeah..totally agree with this request

Kayeil

Anyone taking note of the sea monsters and their descriptions? I think it'd be cool to add a wiki article for information's sake, and maybe for the crafters to use to introduce more seafaring themed items into the game. Or even just posting it on a thread for someone who knows how to make an article would be neat, too.

Jarrod

This is what myself and Skye found earlier:

Adjusting your spyglass for greater detail, you see:

Olive scales greater in size than the burliest of warhorses cover this gargantuan creature. With slab-like teeth it gnashes at the surrounding waters, churning it into eddies and whirlpools effortlessly. Its length rises and dips into the water at various points, creating huge hills of olive in the foam-flecked torrents. Raised out of the water, the creatures tail ends in a dripping barb, oozing caustic venom from its sharp point. At the other, a head rivalling a windcutter in size, is filled to the brim with countless fangs.

A monstrous ketea appears to be near death.

Adjusting your spyglass for greater detail, you see:

Almost a league in true length, the serpentine motions of this great sea snake hide half of its sinuous coils beneath the surface of the waves. Iridescent fins frill along the undulating body, enabling propulsion through the deep waters of the ocean and churning up pallid seafoam with their passage above and beneath the surf. Akin to its landbound cousins, but much multiplied in size, the monster's head is that of the classic snake's in shape, but larger than a troll. Black eyes stare dully out from the blue mottled scaling, and a great forked tongue tastes the tidal spray, flickering from between a terrifying set of fangs.

A foam-wreathed sea serpent appears to be brimming with health.

Adjusting your spyglass for greater detail, you see:

A single, monstrous eye emerges from the centre of this sea creature's gigantic forehead. The skin is creased and deeply wrinkled around the oculus, indicating the great age of the monstrous picaroon. Scars are visible zig-zagging across the monster's face, extending over a pair of massive shoulders and fading into the rest of its thick-skinned body. A pair of prodigious hands hang to either side of the beast's mammoth trunk, each one clad in a golden bracer that extends from his great forearms to caress each of the monstrous picaroon's battered knuckles.

A monstrous picaroon appears to be brimming with health.

Adjusting your spyglass for greater detail, you see:

Little more than a flat black glob of slime, the distinguishing feature of this tentacled creature is a patch of crimson surrounding two beady eyes. Seven serpentine tentacles twitch beneath the shapeless body, curling and twisting as it searches constantly for prey.

A red-faced septacean appears to be brimming with health.




We saw a leviathan that sank Shirszae, but decided to continue sailing away before taking another pass to check its description.

Kayeil

@Jarrod - Thanks so much for sharing. That's awesome!

Kayeil

@Elowin - would you mind sharing yours as well?

Elowin

A Sea Hag:

The enormous face of a beautiful and impassive woman rests at the heart

of a swirling mass of thick green-black tentacles rising high above the

waves. Its cold eyes watch serenely as the seas around it are churned by

the passage of its gargantuan body. The obscene bulk of the sea hag is

vast beyond measurement, receding down beneath the dark waters of the

ocean in a monstrous black shape that has no visible end. Many-fanged

mouths gape open all along its flanks, interspersed between massive

black tentacles as thick as trees and as long as three ships ranked

bow-to-stern. The delicate mouth of the hag's siren face slips open at

periodic intervals, and the otherworldly, multi-tonal howling that

sweeps out from between those ruby-red lips echoes with a wild frenzy

that would put the most violent storm to shame.

A Red-Faced Septacean:

Little more than a flat black glob of slime, the distinguishing feature

of this tentacled creature is a patch of crimson surrounding two beady

eyes. Seven serpentine tentacles twitch beneath the shapeless body,

curling and twisting as it searches constantly for prey.

Chronos 8th, 703 AF:

A mudback septacean:

Covered with a mottled pattern of dark brown shades, the back of this

creature appears to be covered in mud. Seven fleshy tentacles protrude

from its underbelly, flashing yellow and green as they writhe around its

form. A pair of beady black eyes is set near the base of the glob-like

body, and a sharp, beak-like mouth periodically emits a shrill,

punctuated shriek.

Chronos 11th, 703 AF:

A foam-wreathed sea serpent:

Adjusting your spyglass for greater detail, you see:

Almost a league in true length, the serpentine motions of this great sea

snake hide half of its sinuous coils beneath the surface of the waves.

Iridescent fins frill along the undulating body, enabling propulsion

through the deep waters of the ocean and churning up pallid seafoam with

their passage above and beneath the surf. Akin to its landbound cousins,

but much multiplied in size, the monster's head is that of the classic

snake's in shape, but larger than a troll. Black eyes stare dully out

from the blue mottled scaling, and a great forked tongue tastes the

tidal spray, flickering from between a terrifying set of fangs.

Skye

Jarrod said:

We saw a leviathan that sank Shirszae, but decided to continue sailing away before taking another pass to check its description.

Like that, except more hysterically. >_>