Poll: Which modern Achaean House is the best and why?

Cooper

They originally came in cause I had the audacity to touch one of their relics how dare I!

Melodie

Looks like a short clip of a fairly extended conversation from an OOC clan we're in, yes.

Also while I think the off-rail conversation is interesting to hash out, I thought this thread was more about what modern Houses you like and why, rather than a discussion of raids, their role in the cities and the consequences of dealing with them!

Jhui

Cooper said:

They originally came in cause I had the audacity to touch one of their relics how dare I!

You're learning 

Qirua

Melodie said:

Looks like a short clip of a fairly extended conversation from an OOC clan we're in, yes.

Also while I think the off-rail conversation is interesting to hash out, I thought this thread was more about what modern Houses you like and why, rather than a discussion of raids, their role in the cities and the consequences of dealing with them!

Yes, I want to know why people like the Targossian houses so much.

Aodfionn

I joined the Harbingers because @Draqoom tried to pull the "WE ARE SO DARK AND MYSTERIOUS" card when I tried to join the Luminai. Have never regretted it. 

I like the Harbingers; outside of the Occultists or Naga, they're probably my favorite house. It's very much like the Sylvans were (which I loved), just without all the clique-ish bullshit and uselessness (which I hated). They have a small but awesome group of active people (Torinn/Elipise/Aralaya/Daeir/Carmell/Greys/Micaelis/Reymi/others) who do a lot of work to help make the game more fun for other people, which is rad. 

We also get the loosest rules on fraternization (in practice), which means we also get the opportunity to RP with people from other factions on a fairly regular basis beyond just raiding them. I like that. 

Kafziel

Ahmet said:

Cyrenians are also restricted by law from participating in defense elsewhere (which I think is a little silly myself, but maybe that's just me).

Were you not Cyrenian all the times Cyrene got raided because Exelethril and Shirszae defended Eleusis?

Exelethril

Being a former Cyrenian Duke/high ranking knight wasn't fun for keeping a low profile while defending the "then" underdogs, got lots of PK in though

Bann

@Kiskan - I don't really see Jhui doing anything bad, except being a dick to people who are usually dicks. Nobody's forcing those guys to come defend totems. That's a choice THEY made. Could've just gagged that shit and kept on keeping on doing whatever it was they were doing.

Aegoth

Bann said:

@Kiskan - I don't really see Jhui doing anything bad, except being a dick to people who are usually dicks. Nobody's forcing those guys to come defend totems. That's a choice THEY made. Could've just gagged that shit and kept on keeping on doing whatever it was they were doing.

Uhh, we did just that. But then you went and decided to guard bash because you guys threw a hissy fit that we were ignoring you. I mean, make up whatever imaginary excuses you want, but you guys were being basic bitches

Kiskan

I'm still not actually sure why people aren't using the "flush" button either (i.e. at some point, you just refuse to engage).  But they know that better than I do.  People say the guard costs shouldn't be too crushing (which I think is probably true, actually), and in a game like Achaea, some favour hound is almost always happy to fix totems, so that leaves... I really am not sure.  It's something people who have been stuck defending a lot more than they'd like could probably answer if they thought about it.   

But it's the end that gets my attention even more than what was apparently the Director's Cut of raiding.  It's like, not only am I going to raid as long as I damned well please (which I always do, by the sound of it), but isn't it funny how these idiots keep saying what a great guy I am.

The end, more than anything, is the sort of mask slip you'll rarely see from someone who is really really really good at getting away with murder.

Jhui

When you start to overanalayze the game like this it becomes a lot less fun. Let us griefers be griefers and you non coms bash up the gold to restore your guards

Melodie

We already let that shit go, yo. Y'all are the ones holding on and bringing it back up again.

Kyrra

Totems are super fun. The more that get damaged, the more there is to fix. The more that are taken, the more time that gets spent bonding new ones into the ground.

I'm not a fan of Houses. I wish I didn't have to be in one right now because unnecessary petty drama means I'd rather be spending time on alts than devoting time to house requirements that keep getting rejected because nobody will tell me why.

The first House I ever joined was the Merchants and that was just shortly before Ashtan's Renaissance, so relatively speaking my time with them was really brief. I enjoyed it though and I learned quite a bit about how to merchant properly (as opposed to just giving everything away) and how there's something of an artform to constructing well written market ads and the like. For someone that enjoys having a lot of trade skills and running a shop, the Merchant was the best first House experience I could have had. It removed a lot of the anxiety and bitterness I'd had left over from the guild days.

Getting to found the Vanguard was a really big honour and I loved my time with them. For being one of Ashtan's biggest nomcoms (I'll help defend but that's about it really), being considered for HL and having something to offer to what is essentially Ashtan's combat house was pretty cool. I love administration roles and updating scrolls and projects, I got to handle the stocking of the House shop, and I loved being an aide. And I have to say that the requirements that are laid out for the Antagony path are some of the coolest and most interactive tasks I've seen, and people really seem to enjoy doing them. For all the shit that @Jinsun gets sometimes, he really went above and beyond to create something that only he really envisioned, and the result is just amazing. I love getting to watch people progress and the enthusiasm they show to want to get involved in a part of the game that a lot of people feel takes too much work, or that there's a pay gap from because of artifacts. 

The Consortium would have been my first House of choice if I hadn't helped with the founding of the Vanguard, so when I returned to Ashtan, I was really excited about the prospect of getting to join and be a part of what I feel would have been a much better fit for me. I love to help people, I love having almost all the trade skills, I've always placed a lot of importance on ensuring that Ashtan is always supplied after that super long period where you couldn't even get enchantments in the city, let alone a full set of tuns with curatives. It's important to me that the city is able to provide for itself and now it's in a much better place, which makes me happy. Sadly, being in the Consortium involves dealing with a Head of Novices that completely ignores any attempts at communications for unknown reasons and after a couple of irl months, it's really hard not to see why the Consortium is at the bottom of the House Influence list. I'm already tired of having to jump through hoops just to submit tasks which are pretty much binned right away and I only find this out after asking the HL to chase them up for me. It's a poor way to run a house and it's a pretty disappointing experience for me, and it's pretty much exactly why I never wanted to join a House in Ashtan prior to the Renaissance.

So given my limited experience with Houses, I'd probably have to say that the best House in Ashtan is definitely the Vanguard because of just how fun everything is, but I'd have to say the Merchants overall from Kyrra's perspective. They are a really helpful and encouraging bunch of people, and I'm sad that I didn't get to spend more time with them.

Farrah

Melodie said:

We already let that shit go, yo. Y'all are the ones holding on and bringing it back up again.

Who is this "Y'all" even referring to? As far as I know, the only one bringing it up is Kiskan, who doesn't actually play this game (afaik).

Kiskan

Farrah said:

Melodie said:

We already let that shit go, yo. Y'all are the ones holding on and bringing it back up again.

Who is this "Y'all" even referring to? As far as I know, the only one bringing it up is Kiskan, who doesn't actually play this game (afaik).

I was mainly footstomping Skye's point one page back.  I was sort of afraid people would miss that somehow and think it just came up out of the blue even though I referred to her post in mine and it is just one page ago

Melodie

Farrah said:

Melodie said:

We already let that shit go, yo. Y'all are the ones holding on and bringing it back up again.

Who is this "Y'all" even referring to? As far as I know, the only one bringing it up is Kiskan, who doesn't actually play this game (afaik).

Mostly Kiskan and Daeir.

Senoske

None! Because Houses aren't fun imo.

#bringguildsback

Blujixapug

Senoske said:

#bringguildsback

*pounce* *romp* *lick* Hello, my name is Something Tolkienesque, and I'll be interviewing you for the Druids today. Congratulations on making it this far! *nuzzle* *naturelove* Just a few short questions to see if you're qualified to advance from novice to guild rank 1.

If a tree falls in the forest and there was nobody around to hear it, who is to blame?

If a hunter kills a rabbit to feed his family, meaning a fox goes hungry, how can you best balance the cycle of Nature?

Please rank the following in order of importance: guild, family, Nature, Eleusis, Oakstone, Lupus, Gaia, the literal ton of gold you're gonna make from harvesting if you get this right. Remember, there are no wrong answers, except for every answer bar the right one.

Sena

Blujixapug said:

Please rank the following in order of importance: guild, family, Nature, Eleusis, Oakstone, Lupus, Gaia, the literal ton of gold you're gonna make from harvesting if you get this right. Remember, there are no wrong answers, except for every answer bar the right one and you're also wrong if you give the right answer but can't explain it well. Failure means you're permanently barred from joining the guild forever.

Kafziel

I'm pretty sure that's verbatim stolen from sentinel guild novice test

Nazihk

Blujixapug said:
 Remember, there are no wrong answers, except for every answer bar the right one, and that if you even hint you want to learn Harvesting one day we'll assume you're an alt and you'll never get in.

Blujixapug

Kafziel said:

I'm pretty sure that's verbatim stolen from sentinel guild novice test

I once eavesdropped on a conversation where a Sentinel novice had summoned a fox or something - whatever the lowest-level animal was in Woodlore, it was something you learned along the way to Barksin - and another novice in Minia had aggroed it and died to it. It was Against The Rules to summon any animals as a novice, even though it was one of your skills and what kind of human with a pulse could resist summoning a cute cuddly fierce animal companion in any MMO, so they were kicking her out. Because of the agreement between the three forestal guilds (IIRC) I believe this meant she was also barred from joining the Druids or Sylvans - not 100% sure on that part though, maybe my memory is inventing it.

The novice approached this conversation with rationality and emotion, at first desperately apologising, admitting her mistake, accepting responsibility, saying she'd never do it again. "Rules are rules." Then you could see the wheels turning in her head as she shifted to 'maybe this is my supervillain origin story' and started talking about joining Mhaldor. Then she swung around and started thinking aloud, 'Well maybe I'll just suicide and make a new character and join the Sentinels all over again! How could you ever know that it was me?' I was like, damn, girl, you're better than this guild. You could tell her heart wasn't really in it any more, though, having glimpsed behind the curtain and been exposed to rules without reason. I don't know what ended up happening to her. I hope she's happy, somewhere...

On the other hand I paid for my seastrider almost entirely by selling irid moss, and I couldn't have done that if the forestals hadn't protected their herb-harvesting monopoly for so long ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Krypton

Blujixapug said:

Because of the agreement between the three forestal guilds (IIRC) I believe this meant she was also barred from joining the Druids or Sylvans - not 100% sure on that part though, maybe my memory is inventing it.

This was a real thing.

Liyane

Blujixapug said:

Kafziel said:

I'm pretty sure that's verbatim stolen from sentinel guild novice test

 It was Against The Rules to summon any animals as a novice, even though it was one of your skills and what kind of human with a pulse could resist summoning a cute cuddly fierce animal companion in any MMO, so they were kicking her out. 

Stuff like this was why I disliked Guilds. Can't have a falcon until X Can't have a Grove until Y. Who cares that you have the ability, we're going to restrict your usage of your class skills. If they should have been restricted to full members than they should have been the third skill not one of your two primary skills >.<

Cooper

Sena said:

Blujixapug said:

Please rank the following in order of importance: guild, family, Nature, Eleusis, Oakstone, Lupus, Gaia, the literal ton of gold you're gonna make from harvesting if you get this right. Remember, there are no wrong answers, except for every answer bar the right one and you're also wrong if you give the right answer but can't explain it well. Failure means you're permanently barred from joining the guild forever.

And also by the way this is only the first of 150 questions that is going to take at least 5 hours of your time, and if you have to leave in the middle, you're banned forever.

Nazihk

Cooper said:

Sena said:

Blujixapug said:

Please rank the following in order of importance: guild, family, Nature, Eleusis, Oakstone, Lupus, Gaia, the literal ton of gold you're gonna make from harvesting if you get this right. Remember, there are no wrong answers, except for every answer bar the right one and you're also wrong if you give the right answer but can't explain it well. Failure means you're permanently barred from joining the guild forever.

And also by the way this is only the first of 150 questions that is going to take at least 5 hours of your time, and if you have to leave in the middle, you're banned forever.

And you can only get the interview after you've bashed to level 40 with novice skills, been a novice for an RL week, and written two essays and a letter of introduction.

Jonathin

My time in guilds can be summed up with the following:

I don't like your name, bye.
You are breathing my air, bye.
You took 8 miliseconds to answer a question, bye.
You did not repeat the answer verbatim, bye.
You repeated the answer verbatim, bye.

Pharial

I am a veteran of IRE games, but this is the first time I've managed to play a character in Achaea for any length of time.

My last attempt was some years ago, back when guilds were still a thing. I joined the Sentinels. Bad choice. I am European and often play at odd hours when it's quiet (even in Achaea), so finding nobody around to give me the Super Helpful Novice Intro I was apparently supposed to have, I shrugged - situation normal - and went to learn the basic stuff from an NPC tutor.

Imagine my surprise to find, about ten minutes later, that the GM logged on, noticed that my character was (GASP) learning her own skills, and flew into a rage about it. Imagine my horror when my poor little newbie was instantly chucked out of the guild, because: "We don't want people who can't follow rules". 

... seriously? I suicided said character on the spot, and ... that was about ten years ago.

So I finally, tentatively, came back, and poked cautiously at a few Houses over a few alts. I found that, while they are a vast improvement over the kind of nonsense described above, they still aren't great. I still keep running face-first into that same "rules are rules are rules are RULES" attitude. The ones that don't go so far with that still go in for the "RP = RL months of slogging through essentially dull requirements" approach, and... I have a job already. One that pays me to suffer through the dull stuff.

So I'm happy it's now possible to stay House-free, because I can finally enjoy the cool things about this game without being driven nuts by House/Guild weirdness. I am still utterly mystified as to why anybody thinks any of that is fun.

If there is a modern House that's managed to transcend all of this, I'd be interested to hear about it. 

Jonathin

Hi, the Academy would like to hear from you.

Melaina

Pharial said:

If there is a modern House that's managed to transcend all of this, I'd be interested to hear about it. 

The Academy might be for you, if your character enjoys exploration, experimentation, research or ritual.

Our only rules are essentially to be respectful and to take every opportunity to learn that you can.

The requirements are extremely flexible, so if you never want to write an essay or give a lecture, which is completely understandable, you don't have to. You can lead an excursion, or quiz the House on something you know loads about (I love quizzes!). Alternatively, if you want to fill our library with new books or perform an exciting ritual or experiment, we'd love that too.

It's all about freedom. As long as you're learning something or teaching somebody else something, that's what the Academy is about. The method is up to you. It's a game, after all; we want you to have fun.