General Overview of the Cities

Rhyssin

What's the general state of affairs for all the current cities? Are there any that have really standout roleplay or interesting goals? Any that have a lower or higher than normal population? Any that require/discourage PvP?

Frederich

Cyrene discourages PVP like it's the plague (but defending will happen once every 50 years.)  They've a house for teaching combat, but it's dying out.
Targossas requires you to defend the city.  Doesn't require you to go on the offense.  Good idea to still learn what the shit you should do though.  If you want to go up, in rank, in the city.  Pretty much required to be a minister, aide to a ministry, or be a soldier.

Ahmet

Frederich said:

Cyrene discourages PVP like it's the plague (but defending will happen once every 50 years.)  They've a house for teaching combat, but it's dying out.
Targossas requires you to defend the city.  Doesn't require you to go on the offense.  Good idea to still learn what the shit you should do though.  If you want to go up, in rank, in the city.  Pretty much required to be a minister, aide to a ministry, or be a soldier.

Cyrene doesn't actively discourage pvp, it just doesn't have very many opportunities for organized group combat (i.e. raids). There's always Marks, Dauntless, arena events, treacherous planes/areas, duels, etc. You pretty much only lose out on raids, but that's what people seem to enjoy most when it comes to combat, so to each their own.

Xaden

Targossas: Saving the world one murdered heretic at a time.

Mhaldor: Taking over the world one murdered heretic at a time.

Ashtan: Destroying the world one murdered anyone at a time.

Eleusis: Preserving nature one murdered civilised person at a time. 

Hashan: Doing things, possibly involving the world maybe involving heretics, but at least we know they exist now.

Cyrene: Doing nothing for the world one cup of tea and bad mudsex session at a time.

Asmodron

oh god, I laughed so hard at @Daeir 's post. Bravo bravo

Magenta

This is one of the best things I've read this week. Thanks, @Daeir!

Scae

Why Cyrene is so passive? What do they do all the time?

Vesios

Scae said:

Why Cyrene is so passive? What do they do all the time?

Historically, Cyrene was founded on the premise of "the entire world is fucking insane and murdering each other, let's gtfo and hide in the mountains so we don't die". That eventually involved into an isolationist city obsessed with maintaining their neutrality and refusing to take sides in conflicts - there's a law, for example, that prohibits any citizen from defending a non-Cyrenese in a raid or conflict. This law is part of a much larger, all-encompassing set of laws that can be summarized as "Don't bring conflict to Cyrene". Cyrene's goal is to provide shelter and a home for those individuals who aren't religious zealots keen on murdering everyone with an opposing worldview, those cast out from their former homes and looking for a fresh start, etc.

Cyrene's ideology culminated in them unenemying literally everybody and opening their doors to all citizens of all cities, whether they be Mhaldorian or Targossian, as long as they don't start trouble within the city walls. The city's citizenry is varied and on the whole, they all have varied views, beliefs and motives. The majority (but not all) of Cyrene's players are fans of "slice-of-life" roleplay: managing businesses, putting on plays and trading, with the occasional explorer or three using the city as a home base of sorts.

All of this has both positive and negative side effects: the city's non-combatant population is quite large and extensive, their shops are always well-stocked and you can easily find people to roleplay with, but the combatant population has been declining for a while now, due to the Shield being unable to find fights (because they're prohibited from starting them, and also because nobody raids Cyrene anymore).

They're essentially the Achaean equivalent of the pre-World War 1 United States: we don't care about your problems, we're not part of it, leave us alone.

Ahmet

Until you pearl harbor us and we blow you the fuck up with fifty people spamming bashing attacks.

Krypton

HEY.

I spam Incinerate.

Antidas

Daeir said:

Stuff

This just earned one of the very few "awesome"s that I've ever given out on forums. Good shit.

Krypton

Antidas said:
Good shit.

Scae

Vesios said:

Scae said:

Why Cyrene is so passive? What do they do all the time?

Historically, Cyrene was founded on the premise of "the entire world is fucking insane and murdering each other, let's gtfo and hide in the mountains so we don't die". That eventually involved into an isolationist city obsessed with maintaining their neutrality and refusing to take sides in conflicts - there's a law, for example, that prohibits any citizen from defending a non-Cyrenese in a raid or conflict. This law is part of a much larger, all-encompassing set of laws that can be summarized as "Don't bring conflict to Cyrene". Cyrene's goal is to provide shelter and a home for those individuals who aren't religious zealots keen on murdering everyone with an opposing worldview, those cast out from their former homes and looking for a fresh start, etc.

Cyrene's ideology culminated in them unenemying literally everybody and opening their doors to all citizens of all cities, whether they be Mhaldorian or Targossian, as long as they don't start trouble within the city walls. The city's citizenry is varied and on the whole, they all have varied views, beliefs and motives. The majority (but not all) of Cyrene's players are fans of "slice-of-life" roleplay: managing businesses, putting on plays and trading, with the occasional explorer or three using the city as a home base of sorts.

All of this has both positive and negative side effects: the city's non-combatant population is quite large and extensive, their shops are always well-stocked and you can easily find people to roleplay with, but the combatant population has been declining for a while now, due to the Shield being unable to find fights (because they're prohibited from starting them, and also because nobody raids Cyrene anymore).

They're essentially the Achaean equivalent of the pre-World War 1 United States: we don't care about your problems, we're not part of it, leave us alone.

1. Thanks for great explanation! I will discover and explore a lot of interesting things about Achaea!

2. Why nobody raids Cyrene?

Xaden

Scae said:

2. Why nobody raids Cyrene?

Nobody wants to have to listen to some of them cry at you.

Aquil

Scae said:

Vesios said:

Scae said:

Why Cyrene is so passive? What do they do all the time?

Historically, Cyrene was founded on the premise of "the entire world is fucking insane and murdering each other, let's gtfo and hide in the mountains so we don't die". That eventually involved into an isolationist city obsessed with maintaining their neutrality and refusing to take sides in conflicts - there's a law, for example, that prohibits any citizen from defending a non-Cyrenese in a raid or conflict. This law is part of a much larger, all-encompassing set of laws that can be summarized as "Don't bring conflict to Cyrene". Cyrene's goal is to provide shelter and a home for those individuals who aren't religious zealots keen on murdering everyone with an opposing worldview, those cast out from their former homes and looking for a fresh start, etc.

Cyrene's ideology culminated in them unenemying literally everybody and opening their doors to all citizens of all cities, whether they be Mhaldorian or Targossian, as long as they don't start trouble within the city walls. The city's citizenry is varied and on the whole, they all have varied views, beliefs and motives. The majority (but not all) of Cyrene's players are fans of "slice-of-life" roleplay: managing businesses, putting on plays and trading, with the occasional explorer or three using the city as a home base of sorts.

All of this has both positive and negative side effects: the city's non-combatant population is quite large and extensive, their shops are always well-stocked and you can easily find people to roleplay with, but the combatant population has been declining for a while now, due to the Shield being unable to find fights (because they're prohibited from starting them, and also because nobody raids Cyrene anymore).

They're essentially the Achaean equivalent of the pre-World War 1 United States: we don't care about your problems, we're not part of it, leave us alone.

1. Thanks for great explanation! I will discover and explore a lot of interesting things about Achaea!

2. Why nobody raids Cyrene?

The shopping is so arguably good and in bulk. While some places sell curare for 750 per refill, Cyrene at the Knights Companion or some other shop is selling it at more than half that price. Also it's a great place to afk if you can stand every cyrenian with a: soft, seductive, demure, uncertain, shy, meek voice. Enjoy the amount of kissing and snuggles, and literally watching hookups happen before your very eyes.

Kyrra

Reminds me why I left Cyrene. Gross.

Nazihk

Scae said:

2. Why nobody raids Cyrene?

Three reasons:

1. I'm enemed to Mhaldor/Eleusis/Ashtan/Hashan and I like having at least one other city I am not enemied to, so that I can shop there. And Cyrene does have the best shops. 
   
   
2. As a Targossan, it's a lot harder to justify raiding Cyrene. Ashtan is Chaos, Hashan is Dark, Mhaldor is Evil, and Eleusis is Askin' For It. So they're easy to justify.
   
   Cyrene, on the other hand, really doesn't do anything offensive. The best reason I could come up with is "They're not formally Good, so they're obviously Bad", but their shops are too useful to me for me to want to pursue something so tenuous.
   
   
3. You can't tank at all without a sanction and you can't tank properly without the enemy being willing to fight you a fair bit. Cyrene wouldn't do either of those things, which makes them a really boring target.

Asmodron

Times like this make me recall what Alp said:

Alp, the Nightmare Siren says, "Cyrene would be a nice place, if you could just get rid of the people."

Prythe

Ahmet said:

Frederich said:

Cyrene discourages PVP like it's the plague (but defending will happen once every 50 years.)  They've a house for teaching combat, but it's dying out.
Targossas requires you to defend the city.  Doesn't require you to go on the offense.  Good idea to still learn what the shit you should do though.  If you want to go up, in rank, in the city.  Pretty much required to be a minister, aide to a ministry, or be a soldier.

Cyrene doesn't actively discourage pvp, it just doesn't have very many opportunities for organized group combat (i.e. raids). There's always Marks, Dauntless, arena events, treacherous planes/areas, duels, etc. You pretty much only lose out on raids, but that's what people seem to enjoy most when it comes to combat, so to each their own.

Standing around in a city, chatting with neighbors about business and the like is no less RP than preaching or fighting.

People visiting in Cyrene are not talking about the real world - they are discussing people, events, relationships, all within the world of Achaea. That *is* Role Playing.

RP does not have to be some overwrought scripted or impromptu drama.

The standing around and talking is more realistic than "Let's go kill somebody." "Ooooh. I'm going to preach at Strangers and convert them to my [evil/good] ways."

Voc

Vesios said:

Scae said:

Why Cyrene is so passive? What do they do all the time?

Historically, Cyrene was founded on the premise of "the entire world is fucking insane and murdering each other, let's gtfo and hide in the mountains so we don't die". That eventually involved into an isolationist city obsessed with maintaining their neutrality and refusing to take sides in conflicts - there's a law, for example, that prohibits any citizen from defending a non-Cyrenese in a raid or conflict. This law is part of a much larger, all-encompassing set of laws that can be summarized as "Don't bring conflict to Cyrene". Cyrene's goal is to provide shelter and a home for those individuals who aren't religious zealots keen on murdering everyone with an opposing worldview, those cast out from their former homes and looking for a fresh start, etc.

Cyrene's ideology culminated in them unenemying literally everybody and opening their doors to all citizens of all cities, whether they be Mhaldorian or Targossian, as long as they don't start trouble within the city walls. The city's citizenry is varied and on the whole, they all have varied views, beliefs and motives. The majority (but not all) of Cyrene's players are fans of "slice-of-life" roleplay: managing businesses, putting on plays and trading, with the occasional explorer or three using the city as a home base of sorts.

All of this has both positive and negative side effects: the city's non-combatant population is quite large and extensive, their shops are always well-stocked and you can easily find people to roleplay with, but the combatant population has been declining for a while now, due to the Shield being unable to find fights (because they're prohibited from starting them, and also because nobody raids Cyrene anymore).

They're essentially the Achaean equivalent of the pre-World War 1 United States: we don't care about your problems, we're not part of it, leave us alone.

This is a pretty accurate summary.  I have been in Cyrene for a long time and have seen many positive and negative aspects of it but have never been tempted to leave.  Many people like to bash on Cyrene for its passiveness and dismiss the passions for crafting, commerce, and cultural development as silly wastes of time.  And that's fine, things definitely go at a different pace there.  But there's a reason it has such a large population.  Cyrenians are almost overzealous in their desire to help one another and do so continuously.  We have so many dragons, outstanding crafters, and accomplished explorers because people are free to concentrate on the activities that bring them enjoyment instead of being pressured into the constant aggression, whining, complaining, and excuses that plague the city conflict in Achaea.  I am not a duelist and people may look down on that, but I am proud of the way I spend my time, the growth of my character, and the contributions I have made in other areas.  I have also seen some accomplished combatants in our city who set their ego aside and use their skills when needed to defend a cause rather than trying to prove to everyone how great they are.  And even with our lack of honed  experience, many of us are willing to leap into a party for an actual cause, often times with significant effectiveness (as Ahmet described, numbers can work!)

It can be a bit cliquey, but I would like to hear from a city impervious to that flaw.  Most of the people I have met who end up complaining about exclusion ostracize themselves because they think that boasting and overcompensating shows of "superiority" will get people to like them.  It does not.  I'm sure it isn't always the case, and sometimes people just don't fit in with a certain culture, but that's one of the reasons we have multiple cities in the first place.  I believe Cyrene makes an easy target for ridicule, some of it deserved but worthy more of a laugh than serious concern. It has never troubled me because it truly is an exceptional place for people who enjoy working cooperatively with others.

People just gotta chill.

Scae

Aquil said:

Scae said:

Vesios said:

Scae said:

Why Cyrene is so passive? What do they do all the time?

Historically, Cyrene was founded on the premise of "the entire world is fucking insane and murdering each other, let's gtfo and hide in the mountains so we don't die". That eventually involved into an isolationist city obsessed with maintaining their neutrality and refusing to take sides in conflicts - there's a law, for example, that prohibits any citizen from defending a non-Cyrenese in a raid or conflict. This law is part of a much larger, all-encompassing set of laws that can be summarized as "Don't bring conflict to Cyrene". Cyrene's goal is to provide shelter and a home for those individuals who aren't religious zealots keen on murdering everyone with an opposing worldview, those cast out from their former homes and looking for a fresh start, etc.

Cyrene's ideology culminated in them unenemying literally everybody and opening their doors to all citizens of all cities, whether they be Mhaldorian or Targossian, as long as they don't start trouble within the city walls. The city's citizenry is varied and on the whole, they all have varied views, beliefs and motives. The majority (but not all) of Cyrene's players are fans of "slice-of-life" roleplay: managing businesses, putting on plays and trading, with the occasional explorer or three using the city as a home base of sorts.

All of this has both positive and negative side effects: the city's non-combatant population is quite large and extensive, their shops are always well-stocked and you can easily find people to roleplay with, but the combatant population has been declining for a while now, due to the Shield being unable to find fights (because they're prohibited from starting them, and also because nobody raids Cyrene anymore).

They're essentially the Achaean equivalent of the pre-World War 1 United States: we don't care about your problems, we're not part of it, leave us alone.

1. Thanks for great explanation! I will discover and explore a lot of interesting things about Achaea!

2. Why nobody raids Cyrene?

The shopping is so arguably good and in bulk. While some places sell curare for 750 per refill, Cyrene at the Knights Companion or some other shop is selling it at more than half that price. Also it's a great place to afk if you can stand every cyrenian with a: soft, seductive, demure, uncertain, shy, meek voice. Enjoy the amount of kissing and snuggles, and literally watching hookups happen before your very eyes.

Hmm, yeah, agree about prices - today bought some very cheap stuff, that was much more expensive in Eleusis.

Xaden

The shopping in Cyrene is atrocious. 15K for 1K potash? gtfo 

Frederich

@Xaden

We all know who got screwed by those potash prices.  I think she's trying to bank on him doing it again.

Bronislav

This more or less sums up the feelings for Cyrene, sometimes.

Borran

I watched that whole two minutes and forty-four seconds.. and I can't figure out which way you mean. 

You mean how they compare the Federation to Root Beer? Fizzy and happy and if you stay long enough, you begin to like it? That seems to be the most appropriate part. 

Or did you mean how the bartender sits and envies his warmongering brother and his success while sitting behind the bar selling drinks? 

Or do you mean how the two of them have venomous undertones in their interaction while trying to remain civil? That also seems like a Cyrenian thing. 

Or is it how there are 50 people in the bar, but only two of them are having a conversation because the rest are all afk?

Please elaborate.

Ortalanas

Forgive me for raising this from the dead, but its the funniest thing I have read in a long time. Cant stop laughing! Dont hurt me I'm fragile.

Xias

Don't be--this was absolute golden to read! And it brings insight to current discussions about Cyrene and Hashan in a newer city thread.