The Bal'met event

Rean

Forgive me if this seems too critical. I felt like Selene's death was far too forced. I don't think Bal'met was allowed anything other than the pre-determined emotes, which evokes more a sense of OOC helplessness than IC helplessness. Makes me wonder what the purpose is to actually showing up to the event if I'm really just getting a real-time log rather than a copy/pasted one. I like the concept of the event, I just wish we were able to do something. Don't get me wrong, the event has been amazing storytelling, it just seems like every player is irrelevant, which is a crappy feeling. Would be nice if that changed soon.

(also wtf @ divvying up order credits, I'm so jealous of you guys it's unbelievable I'm just hoping to get one Order book back from the library that (accidentally?) got deleted.)

Tagg

This is ultimately a battle between the Divine.

Our characters should feel helpless, scared, and worried. Bal'met is an unknowable and, obviously, quite dominant force. His presence would be cheapened if he could just be assaulted, driven off, or even just affected by randoms at all. The fact that people are even feeling these things at all, even if it's partly accompanied by OOC frustration at seeing your divine killed, is something that has not existed before. That is an accomplishment alone that makes this all worthwhile.

OOCly, it's obvious that the administration have a rather distinct plan set up for the outcome here, at least in regards to which (if any) Divine stick around. If there was some illusion of potential effort put in, these complaints would simply shift over in that regard.

Because this is the first large-scale event that has happened in god knows how long, it's realistic that some disappointment may exist due to the lack of 'player choice' displayed so far. But the fact we're even getting an event like this is an enormous plus that far outweighs any complaints I've seen levied at it. Just trust your administration.

Trilliana

Rean said:

Forgive me if this seems too critical. I felt like Selene's death was far too forced. I don't think Bal'met was allowed anything other than the pre-determined emotes, which evokes more a sense of OOC helplessness than IC helplessness. Makes me wonder what the purpose is to actually showing up to the event if I'm really just getting a real-time log rather than a copy/pasted one. I like the concept of the event, I just wish we were able to do something. Don't get me wrong, the event has been amazing storytelling, it just seems like every player is irrelevant, which is a crappy feeling. Would be nice if that changed soon.

(also wtf @ divvying up order credits, I'm so jealous of you guys it's unbelievable I'm just hoping to get one Order book back from the library that (accidentally?) got deleted.)

Our library immediately got deleted when the Order was dissolved. If I had KNOWN that you wanted it back, I'd have gotten it for you. Traelor has copies of everything that was there though.

Vasool

edit:grammar fix

So, what's the popular idea on what'll happen next?

Here's mine:

There will come a point where the players are given a key to destroying/quelling down the power of Bal'met. This is when player interaction will actually matter and in fact, be vital.

In the process of destroying/weakening Bal'met, it will release enough power to raise a divine from the dead, breathing new life into one of our fallen idols. The catch? Only ONE divine will be able to be resurrected, and the Achaean playerbase will have to work together and decide which one it will be.

Not everyone will agree or want to work together, as each person has their own idea on who deserves life over the others. It's a gambit, one that will wrench the hearts of so many as they struggle to convince everyone else why their patron should return.

That's my take, what's yours?

Kyrra

Regarding Selene's ocredits, they were left over from the 500 credits that I donated in Y602 for the lottery that the Beloved held.

They were pretty evenly distributed between the active order members, which is pretty cool.

Edit: A week or so ago, I was discussing events with Kayeil, and I asked her what she'd be willing to sacrifice out of love. I knew exactly how Selene was going to be going out, and I think it was rather fitting, so far as circumstances go. Watching that actually play out, though, was terribly emotional for me. Kyrra was just 23 when she joined Selene's order, and that's like almost a decade of interaction with the same player. Selene and the Order were very much a part of Kyrra's life.

Ruth

When you say the library was deleted, was it like, when you probe the bookcase it shows no books or is the bookcase entirely gone?

Vayne

Oooh, I see what @Ruth's getting at. If that is the case they might still be there just inaccessible because you are no longer members of the order thus having access.

Kyrra

The library in Selene's temple was accessible to everyone. It was a public room. Unless the deletion of the Order somehow messed with visibility settings or something? I don't have experience with bookcases and nobody will let me waste the gold on one

Xith

Beya said:

If you thought this was the last of the Gods to fall, you have another thing coming.

As to Bal'met, he'll absorb so many Divine that he'll explode, like a tick swollen with blood.

Or Krabby Patties.

Arador

Iocun said:

I couldn't care less about the lost gold and such. What sucks though are the beautiful advancement reqs I worked on which nobody ever got the chance of going through

You put lots of essays in, didn't you? That's why they killed her!

Reihaneh

I so did not see Selene's death coming. That was a huge shock.

Tvistor

Bal'met wins, every dies, Tecton and Sarapis elope with our credits.

Tahquil

-Is sitting impatiently on a lecture to give, but doesn't want it to be interrupted by god things-

Tvistor

Hold on a minute. Does that mean it's theoretically possible for Cooper Harry Potter to exist with Selene's help?

Trilliana

Just to verify.. the bookcase is -gone- Or it was when I went around the temple

Edit: Yep, it's completely gone. There's nothing in the room now except the monolith and totem

Sarapis

Rean said:

Forgive me if this seems too critical. I felt like Selene's death was far too forced. I don't think Bal'met was allowed anything other than the pre-determined emotes, which evokes more a sense of OOC helplessness than IC helplessness. Makes me wonder what the purpose is to actually showing up to the event if I'm really just getting a real-time log rather than a copy/pasted one. I like the concept of the event, I just wish we were able to do something. Don't get me wrong, the event has been amazing storytelling, it just seems like every player is irrelevant, which is a crappy feeling. Would be nice if that changed soon.

I'll be happy to talk about that after the event is over. Summary for now though: This is a very difficult event for us to pull off as it is.

Kresslack

Kind of seems like the divine will be, in a sense, eradicated in the end. As if this is all leading up to a large battle where both sides lose to heavily to recover, and we perhaps face a time of godlessness. Until time passes and perhaps new ones ascend. All speculation, of course.

Nellaundra

Bal'met is going to eat all the divine essence and overstuff himself.  And then he'll explode and release new gods into the world.

Arador

Yeah, Bal'met is collecting Divine Embers and @Veldrin has shown us all how hoarding works out for your health.

Rean

Sarapis said:

I'll be happy to talk about that after the event is over. Summary for now though: This is a very difficult event for us to pull off as it is.

@Sarapis : I'm sure it is, and I appreciate the scope and the effort that has been put into it. I really don't want to seem ungrateful, that is not my intention at all. That was how I felt with that one sliver of the event, it would be unfair to expand that to the entire event, especially when it isn't even over yet. I'm sure you guys have something epic planned, the death of gods people have worshiped ig for centuries is a pretty huge buildup.

@Trilliana : I meant one of my books from Matsuhama's bookcase, sorry!

Shahai

For the first time, a Divine falls after an attack of Bal'Met, and not after attacking Bal'Met (and friends). I do not know if many people noticed it.

Jurixe

Wholeheartedly agree with @Tagg (what are you doing, continuing to be the voice of reason!) and I think that it really does reinforce that these are gods, all-powerful beings that can change the universe as we know it on a mere whim. To them, really, we're little more than ants that are amusing to play with sometimes but ultimately mostly irrelevant in actual conflict of that scale.

It's seemed to me in recent times that the gulf that should exist between god and mortal has slowly begun to narrow, and though I completely sympathise with the frustration of having to stand by while your god is destroyed and not being able to do anything, as hard as it is OOCly, I think it makes complete IC sense. 

There have been little touches where the players have been able to help -  pre-scripted or not, for example, the part where Pentharian gained extra power from the prayers of Shallamese adventurers and was able to kill Apollyon (*shakefist*) was a really nice touch. Now everyone there at that time will be able to say 'I helped my god kill one of the Twin Lords' and it'll forever be a 'real' lesson in the power of faith.

Tvistor

I've been thinking, that can't really be Tagg. I just watched Star Trek for the first time, and I'm thinking Tanris has assimilated Tagg.

Azor

Just realized that Penth killed me during the Aetolian Saga with the same sword he used to bisect Apollyon. Woooo.

Silas

Have to agree with the people saying that, by and large, the feeling of helplessness at the god vs god level of the current conflict adds rather than detracts from the event and the atmosphere it's cultivating. There are quibbles with the event, of course, but that's really all they are - quibbles - and I'm sure they'll be addressed, discussed and built upon whenever the dust finally settles from Bal'met destroying the world.

Vasool

I, for one, will fully support the administration allowing Silas to ascend into godhood, assuming his divine form perfectly replicates his forum avatar.

I'm going to stockpile cigars just in case.

Xith

I think it's possible that new gods ascend later on (depending on how many more they remove). But on the other hand, part of the mass deicide is to make the existing pantheon more filled out I think, due to our previous problem of not seeing enough god activity or enough active gods. So if anything they may be wanting to keep a fully staffed pantheon at all times and are currently making that easier.

Tanris

Resistance is futile.

Arilles

So... If we do get new gods, what do you think they'll be like?

Iocun

Like the old ones, perhaps a bit taller and slimmer, but the power supplies have changed so you need to buy new ones.