An open letter to the Administration

Chord

Exelethril said:

The god roles are reliant on people being time benefactors. It's probably really difficult to find people willing to learn a coding language/sink in hours of time, with zero credit being granted since anonymity is a given must. 

Solution would be paid compensation.

Skye said:

It is possible that one might be able to remove some of the burden from admin by opening up player-based contributions like mortal builders and docents, or switching crafting approvals to a player-based anonymous approval queue (#unsubtleagenda), but all those will still ultimately require divine oversight, even if it's less micro-managing and more overall management.

Honestly, I think they could expand and utilize the mortal builder concept better. 

I used to write articles for Iron Realms. They paid in credits and it made me take the job seriously. I put in time, asked for feedback, and did my utmost to go through comments and get feedback about how to improve. Guiding works similarly -- just imagine if they offered a more expansive experience? Instead of merely answering questions in PORTALS, what if there were newbie forays that only Guides could lead?

What if we had in-between steps, where we had players step into roles of important NPCS for Gods, to help alleviate some of their work. We could also have Gods work with their Order on building projects, where Gods cultivate mortals that they trust to work together on building. 

I can't pretend to know why divine retention is the way that it is -- but when I started playing, I fell in love with the idea of Ascension, and have often wished that they'd bring it back. I realize it had its problems, of course. 

Klendathu

I'd apply for mortal builders if it ever came up, bcoz eye kan rite gud.

Jacen

Makarios said:

2. The number of gods who can't return to their mortals because they've seen code is extremely small. In the last 5 years that number is five (including Tecton and I). There's a big difference between our mob behaviour system and the inner workings of Achaea. Four of those five people have been paid employees. Basically, this just isn't a factor for 99% of people. I'll also note you don't get to this point by accident. There is a very clear point of no return that we require people to specifically acknowledge before crossing. There is usually a time we require people to wait before going back to their mortals after leaving the garden, just to avoid situations where events might be resolving and such. That's the extent most people will ever encounter.

Put that, especially the bolded, in HELP CELANI or something related. One of Achaea's (mostly unrelated to this thread) problems is that useful information becomes buried in forum posts and old ANNOUNCE news posts and stuff. Questions about this in particular come up every single time there's a Celani call or a Q&A. Make the answer obvious and accessible.

Klendathu

Klendathu said:

I'd apply for mortal builders if it ever came up, bcoz eye kan rite gud.

My bluff has been called! https://www.achaea.com/news/?game=Achaea&section=Announce&number=4764

Ahmet

Oh my gods a forum thread actually did something. @Nicola I'mma go start a thread about flying unicorn mounts that vomit rainbows of death.

@Klendathu enjoy.

Cailin

Mortal Builder is an excellent idea, I think! Here's my take on it: Have a couple mini-events for the Guides, like someone suggested, just simple things with prewritten guidelines. Like newbie forays or newbie scavenger hunts or something. After a Guide has spent some time as a Guide, proving and improving themselves, they get to graduate to Mortal builder. They join the group of Mortal builders who build simple stuff, and Celani and Gods can delegate some of  their workload to them. And of course, the next step from there would be Celani. They'd be pre-approved for Celani if they had served well as Guide and Builder.


If it is true that a God can play their old character sometimes if they want to, could that please be made very clear in help files or news posts or something? I was definitely under the impression that I'd never play my mortal character again, and I'm not the only one who thought that.

Cailin

Klendathu said:

Klendathu said:

I'd apply for mortal builders if it ever came up, bcoz eye kan rite gud.

My bluff has been called! https://www.achaea.com/news/?game=Achaea&section=Announce&number=4764

Okay, perhaps I should refresh the page before posting a new comment XD oh well

Klendathu

Ahmet said:

Oh my gods a forum thread actually did something. @Nicola I'mma go start a thread about flying unicorn mounts that vomit rainbows of death.

@Klendathu enjoy.

Shh, writing room descriptions

Antonius

Cailin said:

Mortal Builder is an excellent idea, I think! Here's my take on it: Have a couple mini-events for the Guides, like someone suggested, just simple things with prewritten guidelines. Like newbie forays or newbie scavenger hunts or something. After a Guide has spent some time as a Guide, proving and improving themselves, they get to graduate to Mortal builder. They join the group of Mortal builders who build simple stuff, and Celani and Gods can delegate some of  their workload to them. And of course, the next step from there would be Celani. They'd be pre-approved for Celani if they had served well as Guide and Builder.


If it is true that a God can play their old character sometimes if they want to, could that please be made very clear in help files or news posts or something? I was definitely under the impression that I'd never play my mortal character again, and I'm not the only one who thought that.

That progression really doesn't make any sense. There's no skill overlap between Guide and Mortal Builder, nor should you have to have spent time as a Guide to become a Mortal Builder.

Marisella

I was reading the other thread on gods currently active, and I am surprised to learn that we only have three currently active gods. However, even if there are a small handful of volunteers in the Garden, it surprises me to know that Achaea is still able to push out events and new releases consistently. The bugs that I have also filed were resolved relatively swiftly, too. I hope that the new class of Celani is able to stick through the progression through to Godhood.

Thank you very much for the hard work, @Makarios, @Nicola, @Ictinus, @Dalinor, @Aegis, @Sartan, @Deucalion, @Rhivona.

Also, I am under the impression that you give up playing your mortal character when you take up Celanihood, and are not allowed to hop onto that character again until you decide to step down, @Cailin. It would not make sense that Gods can randomly log into their mortals to play when they get bored, especially when they now have access to information behind the game.

Dalinor

It is correctly clarified that you can't concurrently play any mortal character while volunteering as a Celani (or beyond). Merely that once you have stepped down from the Garden you can, in most cases, return to your mortal life.

Jacen

Dalinor said:

It is correctly clarified that you can't concurrently play any mortal character while volunteering as a Celani (or beyond). Merely that once you have stepped down from the Garden you can, in most cases, return to your mortal life.

Its a good change, but I still feel like it reads harsher than it should, especially when contrasted with Makarios's previous post. For example, the "case-by-case basis" phrase in the help file contrasts heavily with Makarios's (paraphrased) "You will be able to return unless you give consent not to". In my mind, at least, there's an enormous difference between those two phrases. 

Jacen

Shout out to @Rhivona, @Dalinor, @Makarios, and any other admin that responded proactively to this thread and reached out for, or provided, feedback. HELP CELANI now reads more clearly and less harshly, and I think it will have a positive effect on Celani applications.

Kayeil

Caelan said:

Possible solutions so as not to be part of the problem?  

- Maybe make the Gods visible more?   When I was a newbie, I remember seeing 4 or 5 Gods visible VERY frequently.  Sure there's only 3 or 4 right now, but having them visible - even if you couldn't talk to them - would make it at least appear there are more.  It's a Band-Aid, but it also helps spur interest in the orders and whatnot. Once orders reach a certain level of involvement, they can be more self-sustaining, and current Gods can aid the smaller orders with requests.  They could make it so only the OHs could talk to them? Pushes more responsibility onto OHs to handle things and delegate as needed, which sucks for OH sometimes, but gives them more interaction with members, etc.

Where I am sure many of us OH's would be more than happy and willing to take on more responsibility to keep these Orders running without our Gods, the truth of the matter is most of us have our hands tied because we're only allowed to do so much based on whatever the previous player behind that God told us we could do. In my case I can't oust if someone is doing something very clearly against the Order. I can't induct without my God's approval so progress beyond the pre-Order is at a stand still. I can't promote, demote, or invest various Order powers to anyone at all even if some of them have certainly proven themselves to be extremely helpful and trustworthy and deserving of the oppurtunity to have more responsibilities. I can't add more flavor to the temple,  I can't get new Order items approved. I know some Orders are still missing some shrine powers from the shrine updates that came from the tsol'teth event because it takes our God to approve the investment of the power. There is so very little we can do, especially if the previous God limited us quite a bit. I understand why in my Order's case, my God liked to have a hands-on approach with each individual and liked to go over each of their tasks but without Her everything just dies. The admins would have to change this whole system where we don't always need Divine approval and I kind of doubt that is going to happen because Order Heads are not the boss and we're not the final word on anything, we are just basically in a management position.

Kyrra

Every time I've issued myself or messaged a request, I've been very firmly told that the Garden will never interfere with the way an Order is run. It's solely up to that Divine and if the role happens to be vacant, you're out of luck until someone decides to pick it up again.

As a member of a small Order that only has two active members, one of whom is the OH, we have incredibly limited options on what we are able to do simply because of how abilities were invested at the time.

It's very difficult to grow interest in a Divine Order when your hands are tied on inducting, promoting, or even allowing people to fully experience pre-Order tasks if they have been set up to rely on Divine interaction. When your Divine is active, I cherish these experiences for helping my character develop and grow, and feel a sense of connection and belonging - when your Divine goes dormant/quits, the absence feels real.

For Orders like the Nihilists that haven't had a Babel in real life years, it's both disappointing and discouraging because it limits on how much you're able to get involved with certain aspects of the game. Do you join the Order of an active Divine even if it's not a realm your character connects with just for the experience of being in an Order or do you forsake the experience? Do you stay in a dormant Order or do you leave?

I understand the position of not wanting to step on toes and Order's being that-Divine-only, but I really wish something could be done at times to help the near dormant organisations that are struggling and actually need the interaction to function properly.

Laedha

Jacen said:

Shout out to @Rhivona, @Dalinor, @Makarios, and any other admin that responded proactively to this thread and reached out for, or provided, feedback. HELP CELANI now reads more clearly and less harshly, and I think it will have a positive effect on Celani applications.

Definitely this. Knowing the admin see the same problem as the players and are trying to fix it, even if the possible solutions aren't easy, makes a difference. 

I also second shifting any work possible from godroles to other volunteers. Or what about paying gods in credits that can be used in other IRE games? Being a god seems like it would be fun at times, but also often unrewarding and isolating with a much more contracted social circle. If they could have that circle in another IRE game, there might be less burnout? 

Caelan

Kayeil said:

Caelan said:

Possible solutions so as not to be part of the problem?  

- Maybe make the Gods visible more?   When I was a newbie, I remember seeing 4 or 5 Gods visible VERY frequently.  Sure there's only 3 or 4 right now, but having them visible - even if you couldn't talk to them - would make it at least appear there are more.  It's a Band-Aid, but it also helps spur interest in the orders and whatnot. Once orders reach a certain level of involvement, they can be more self-sustaining, and current Gods can aid the smaller orders with requests.  They could make it so only the OHs could talk to them? Pushes more responsibility onto OHs to handle things and delegate as needed, which sucks for OH sometimes, but gives them more interaction with members, etc.

Where I am sure many of us OH's would be more than happy and willing to take on more responsibility to keep these Orders running without our Gods, the truth of the matter is most of us have our hands tied because we're only allowed to do so much based on whatever the previous player behind that God told us we could do. In my case I can't oust if someone is doing something very clearly against the Order. I can't induct without my God's approval so progress beyond the pre-Order is at a stand still. I can't promote, demote, or invest various Order powers to anyone at all even if some of them have certainly proven themselves to be extremely helpful and trustworthy and deserving of the oppurtunity to have more responsibilities. I can't add more flavor to the temple,  I can't get new Order items approved. I know some Orders are still missing some shrine powers from the shrine updates that came from the tsol'teth event because it takes our God to approve the investment of the power. There is so very little we can do, especially if the previous God limited us quite a bit. I understand why in my Order's case, my God liked to have a hands-on approach with each individual and liked to go over each of their tasks but without Her everything just dies. The admins would have to change this whole system where we don't always need Divine approval and I kind of doubt that is going to happen because Order Heads are not the boss and we're not the final word on anything, we are just basically in a management position.

To be fair, even if you could, it may not matter.  When @Aegis went dormant, I was allowed to induct and oust.  We used that to keep the Order going for a year or two after He just vanished.   Then one day, all the people I inducted were ousted.  A random admin decided I shouldn't be allowed to induct and took that and ousting away.  It was ridiculously frustrating to keep the Order thriving (since it is the Order of one of the original Gods in the game and one that is all about furthering conflict).  Shortly after that I said fuck it and left for 5 years.  

OH is the "mortal voice" of the Order.  If the previous God entrusted us enough, it shouldn't be an issue unless we start running aground of Their "realm" and trying to permanently change the Order affiliation with such.  It would help keep people playing and involved so there didn't feel like such a monumental task for the new God to recruit after 7 year lulls or whatever (when people are sitting there not wanting to join because they don't know how long *this* God will be around).  Especially if the OH was good/persuasive enough to maintain the Order in the absence.  It frees up new Divine to handle alot more things.  And obviously the OH would have the tacit understanding that new Gods will expect new things and be forced to adjust or leave.

Klendathu

Klendathu said:

Ahmet said:

Oh my gods a forum thread actually did something. @Nicola I'mma go start a thread about flying unicorn mounts that vomit rainbows of death.

@Klendathu enjoy.

Shh, writing room descriptions

Application sent

Kayeil

Caelan said:

Kayeil said:

Caelan said:

Possible solutions so as not to be part of the problem?  

- Maybe make the Gods visible more?   When I was a newbie, I remember seeing 4 or 5 Gods visible VERY frequently.  Sure there's only 3 or 4 right now, but having them visible - even if you couldn't talk to them - would make it at least appear there are more.  It's a Band-Aid, but it also helps spur interest in the orders and whatnot. Once orders reach a certain level of involvement, they can be more self-sustaining, and current Gods can aid the smaller orders with requests.  They could make it so only the OHs could talk to them? Pushes more responsibility onto OHs to handle things and delegate as needed, which sucks for OH sometimes, but gives them more interaction with members, etc.

Where I am sure many of us OH's would be more than happy and willing to take on more responsibility to keep these Orders running without our Gods, the truth of the matter is most of us have our hands tied because we're only allowed to do so much based on whatever the previous player behind that God told us we could do. In my case I can't oust if someone is doing something very clearly against the Order. I can't induct without my God's approval so progress beyond the pre-Order is at a stand still. I can't promote, demote, or invest various Order powers to anyone at all even if some of them have certainly proven themselves to be extremely helpful and trustworthy and deserving of the oppurtunity to have more responsibilities. I can't add more flavor to the temple,  I can't get new Order items approved. I know some Orders are still missing some shrine powers from the shrine updates that came from the tsol'teth event because it takes our God to approve the investment of the power. There is so very little we can do, especially if the previous God limited us quite a bit. I understand why in my Order's case, my God liked to have a hands-on approach with each individual and liked to go over each of their tasks but without Her everything just dies. The admins would have to change this whole system where we don't always need Divine approval and I kind of doubt that is going to happen because Order Heads are not the boss and we're not the final word on anything, we are just basically in a management position.

To be fair, even if you could, it may not matter.  When @Aegis went dormant, I was allowed to induct and oust.  We used that to keep the Order going for a year or two after He just vanished.   Then one day, all the people I inducted were ousted.  A random admin decided I shouldn't be allowed to induct and took that and ousting away.  It was ridiculously frustrating to keep the Order thriving (since it is the Order of one of the original Gods in the game and one that is all about furthering conflict).  Shortly after that I said fuck it and left for 5 years.  

OH is the "mortal voice" of the Order.  If the previous God entrusted us enough, it shouldn't be an issue unless we start running aground of Their "realm" and trying to permanently change the Order affiliation with such.  It would help keep people playing and involved so there didn't feel like such a monumental task for the new God to recruit after 7 year lulls or whatever (when people are sitting there not wanting to join because they don't know how long *this* God will be around).  Especially if the OH was good/persuasive enough to maintain the Order in the absence.  It frees up new Divine to handle alot more things.  And obviously the OH would have the tacit understanding that new Gods will expect new things and be forced to adjust or leave.

I have to wonder if it even matters. A lot of Gods seem to go the route of pretty much wiping the slate clean when a new volunteer fills the role and awakens the God again... demoting or ousting everyone and making them all earn entry and rank from the very bottom with a whole new set of tasks/requirements to fulfill. Some Gods don't. I understand the reason, but I imagine it sucks for the ones who stuck around for years and stayed loyal. Especially the ones who stayed active.

Solnir

Kayeil said:

Caelan said:

Kayeil said:

Caelan said:

Possible solutions so as not to be part of the problem?  

- Maybe make the Gods visible more?   When I was a newbie, I remember seeing 4 or 5 Gods visible VERY frequently.  Sure there's only 3 or 4 right now, but having them visible - even if you couldn't talk to them - would make it at least appear there are more.  It's a Band-Aid, but it also helps spur interest in the orders and whatnot. Once orders reach a certain level of involvement, they can be more self-sustaining, and current Gods can aid the smaller orders with requests.  They could make it so only the OHs could talk to them? Pushes more responsibility onto OHs to handle things and delegate as needed, which sucks for OH sometimes, but gives them more interaction with members, etc.

Where I am sure many of us OH's would be more than happy and willing to take on more responsibility to keep these Orders running without our Gods, the truth of the matter is most of us have our hands tied because we're only allowed to do so much based on whatever the previous player behind that God told us we could do. In my case I can't oust if someone is doing something very clearly against the Order. I can't induct without my God's approval so progress beyond the pre-Order is at a stand still. I can't promote, demote, or invest various Order powers to anyone at all even if some of them have certainly proven themselves to be extremely helpful and trustworthy and deserving of the oppurtunity to have more responsibilities. I can't add more flavor to the temple,  I can't get new Order items approved. I know some Orders are still missing some shrine powers from the shrine updates that came from the tsol'teth event because it takes our God to approve the investment of the power. There is so very little we can do, especially if the previous God limited us quite a bit. I understand why in my Order's case, my God liked to have a hands-on approach with each individual and liked to go over each of their tasks but without Her everything just dies. The admins would have to change this whole system where we don't always need Divine approval and I kind of doubt that is going to happen because Order Heads are not the boss and we're not the final word on anything, we are just basically in a management position.

To be fair, even if you could, it may not matter.  When @Aegis went dormant, I was allowed to induct and oust.  We used that to keep the Order going for a year or two after He just vanished.   Then one day, all the people I inducted were ousted.  A random admin decided I shouldn't be allowed to induct and took that and ousting away.  It was ridiculously frustrating to keep the Order thriving (since it is the Order of one of the original Gods in the game and one that is all about furthering conflict).  Shortly after that I said fuck it and left for 5 years.  

OH is the "mortal voice" of the Order.  If the previous God entrusted us enough, it shouldn't be an issue unless we start running aground of Their "realm" and trying to permanently change the Order affiliation with such.  It would help keep people playing and involved so there didn't feel like such a monumental task for the new God to recruit after 7 year lulls or whatever (when people are sitting there not wanting to join because they don't know how long *this* God will be around).  Especially if the OH was good/persuasive enough to maintain the Order in the absence.  It frees up new Divine to handle alot more things.  And obviously the OH would have the tacit understanding that new Gods will expect new things and be forced to adjust or leave.

I have to wonder if it even matters. A lot of Gods seem to go the route of pretty much wiping the slate clean when a new volunteer fills the role and awakens the God again... demoting or ousting everyone and making them all earn entry and rank from the very bottom with a whole new set of tasks/requirements to fulfill. Some Gods don't. I understand the reason, but I imagine it sucks for the ones who stuck around for years and stayed loyal. Especially the ones who stayed active.

Not in an Order, probably never will be, but the bolded above would be enough for me to leave the Order and never look back.

Reyson

And yet, inheriting an old god's order intact, with all its drama, infighting, and the weight of its members' personal baggage also sounds terrible. I feel for gods, I really do.

Caelan

Kayeil said:

I have to wonder if it even matters. A lot of Gods seem to go the route of pretty much wiping the slate clean when a new volunteer fills the role and awakens the God again... demoting or ousting everyone and making them all earn entry and rank from the very bottom with a whole new set of tasks/requirements to fulfill. Some Gods don't. I understand the reason, but I imagine it sucks for the ones who stuck around for years and stayed loyal. Especially the ones who stayed active.

Yeah.  I mean I was all kinds of loyal and still am.  But with the general attitude leaning more towards the lolgank style of play, no real room in Shallam for combatants, me moving to Eleusis and being blocked by people who still wouldn't let some .. honestly.. BS go from 300 IG years before (it has gotten much better since then in Eleusis honestly)..  the only reason I stuck around was @Aegis.   Having the admin undo all my work to keep the Order thriving really pissed me off.  Plus I was just back from getting blown up, finally finding out I was being medically retired, and working 14 hours a day driving a truck for FedEx (lol, with no legs) so time became an issue also.  

But I totally get the re-invigoration of new Divine-players resetting things. It also helps them shape the Order how They see fit and updates it with the times, etc. 

Morthif

Caelan said:

Kayeil said:

I have to wonder if it even matters. A lot of Gods seem to go the route of pretty much wiping the slate clean when a new volunteer fills the role and awakens the God again... demoting or ousting everyone and making them all earn entry and rank from the very bottom with a whole new set of tasks/requirements to fulfill. Some Gods don't. I understand the reason, but I imagine it sucks for the ones who stuck around for years and stayed loyal. Especially the ones who stayed active.

Yeah.  I mean I was all kinds of loyal and still am.  But with the general attitude leaning more towards the lolgank style of play, no real room in Shallam for combatants, me moving to Eleusis and being blocked by people who still wouldn't let some .. honestly.. BS go from 300 IG years before (it has gotten much better since then in Eleusis honestly)..  the only reason I stuck around was @Aegis.   Having the admin undo all my work to keep the Order thriving really pissed me off.  Plus I was just back from getting blown up, finally finding out I was being medically retired, and working 14 hours a day driving a truck for FedEx (lol, with no legs) so time became an issue also.  

But I totally get the re-invigoration of new Divine-players resetting things. It also helps them shape the Order how They see fit and updates it with the times, etc. 

New @Aegis is doing a great job from my perspective as a newer member of the Order but I always wonder how you feel. Reading through the old posts to when old Aegis went out for a pack of smokes and then nothing for 7 years still spooks me. I love love love the order, the ideology, and the people but it's Aegis' super active, super awesome interactions that make it for me. 

Caelan

Yeah.  Old @Aegis was the same way.  Pretty involved.  Would pop in fairly frequently.  Easy to approach on things that were kind of half IC, half OOC (and managed to make it completely understandable with just IC terms).  I love the new Aegis.  I was a little hurt at first, for like.. 2 minutes.. that I wasn't OH, but then, I totally get it.   


I was a little nervous at first, with who the human was OOC (like, had they been a pacifist and just wanted to play a War god?)  and "would they 'forget' everything?"    But new Aegis is pretty damn amazing IMO.  It's always been about the people though.  And right now Aegeans are in a great spot.  Having an active, participating God is just icing on the cake ( a shit ton of amazing, extra helpings, sweet, delicious icing).   Literally, the only reason I returned and have stuck with it since August (I was content AF not logging in for so long)

Saeva

I will come play a cupcake and candy god of Cyrene if you come babysit while I work. Let's do this!

Prythe

Kayeil said:

I have to wonder if it even matters. A lot of Gods seem to go the route of pretty much wiping the slate clean when a new volunteer fills the role and awakens the God again... demoting or ousting everyone and making them all earn entry and rank from the very bottom with a whole new set of tasks/requirements to fulfill. Some Gods don't. I understand the reason, but I imagine it sucks for the ones who stuck around for years and stayed loyal. Especially the ones who stayed active.

I saw somebody get screwed by a prior changeover on Pandy. Not this current (!!!!) Pandy whom I love and adore and will forever and ever and more and more but one of the times before. 

Player worked their tush off keeping the Order together and flowing and was not even the OH, just the only one high enough to care enough to get things done.

When a new Pandy came in without so much of a "KMA" said Player was demoted and not even given a shot at the very open OH slot.

Kayeil

Prythe said:

Kayeil said:

I have to wonder if it even matters. A lot of Gods seem to go the route of pretty much wiping the slate clean when a new volunteer fills the role and awakens the God again... demoting or ousting everyone and making them all earn entry and rank from the very bottom with a whole new set of tasks/requirements to fulfill. Some Gods don't. I understand the reason, but I imagine it sucks for the ones who stuck around for years and stayed loyal. Especially the ones who stayed active.

I saw somebody get screwed by a prior changeover on Pandy. Not this current (!!!!) Pandy whom I love and adore and will forever and ever and more and more but one of the times before. 

Player worked their tush off keeping the Order together and flowing and was not even the OH, just the only one high enough to care enough to get things done.

When a new Pandy came in without so much of a "KMA" said Player was demoted and not even given a shot at the very open OH slot.

Wow so one person got screwed over and not everyone at the same time? That would really only make sense to me if the one member was being particularly bad during the God's absence, but that doesn't sound like that was the case. In those instances it does seem more fair to treat everyone the same.

Tahquil

Or talk to the pre-existing order members then restructure where They think they currently fit.

Illarion

Dalinor said:

It is correctly clarified that you can't concurrently play any mortal character while volunteering as a Celani (or beyond). Merely that once you have stepped down from the Garden you can, in most cases, return to your mortal life.

This is, probably, a good thing but, on the other hand, I'm not sure it's a good thing to really emphasise.  I always thought it was really important that the need for character separation was driven home when applying to be Celani and, ultimately, a God.  Separating yourself from your IC biases/relationships/goals in exactly the way you need to if you want to be a good Divine is (I would imagine) by far the hardest part of the whole thing. (And if it's not done well, will inevitably lead to a host of unpleasant and corrosive problems).

If what you do is emphasise that Godhood can be temporary and you can hop back in to your old character (unless you've done something super egregious) and at the same time you're also emphasizing that becoming a God can be super quick, then that seems like a bad combo to me.  You will inevitably get people dipping their toe in the water, and dipping back out which is bad on all levels.  You'll get imperfectly character separated people being promoted to full God status - sometimes even as the Divine for the faction they played for (which is almost always bad).

Achaea has always generated (and though I don't play an awful lot these days) still seems to generate amazingly dedicated people.  The problem (it seems to me) has not been, and is not, a paucity of applicants.  The problem is retention.  I think there are two sides to that - playerbase, and admin.  I think the playerbase as a whole should (continue to) reflect on how they can make playing a volunteer Divine a more enjoyable experience.  On how to constructively criticize, on how to balance criticism with praise.  Equally though, I hope that the admin (continue to) reflect on how they can improve retention which does seem to be low.  Is there enough support in place?  How is the Garden atmosphere?  Are the employed Gods too hands-on, too hands-off?  What is working, what is not working? 

One of the amusing, and as I get a bit more distance from the day-to-day experiences of caring about Achaea like its my real life, childish things about the forums sometimes is how unwilling people can be to ask questions of the admin here.  The "open letter" at the start of this thread is reasonable, considered, not overly emotive, based on facts.  It's entirely reasonable to ask for the admin to respond (as @Makarios did very helpfully and interestingly), but instead a number of people felt it necessary to jump in and defend the admin from the very horror of responding to a set of concerns.  In the hope of getting a pat on the head, and a biscuit from Mummy and Daddy I suppose.  Odd.

Reyson

I think you've rather impressively misinterpreted many people's motivation here. 

For one, I've posted out of an instinct to point out that the first step to correcting most issues is modifying your own behaviour. If we're having problems retaining Gods, then isn't it entirely possible that, as a playerbase, we've not made Achaea a friendly place for the volunteers who take those roles? What does the faction each person currently play have to offer that would be appealing to a prospective volunteer? What are the unappealing parts? Do the appealing outweigh the unappealing? And so on. 

Self-examination, in short. I'm not looking for approval. I'm hoping people post things that are well-thought out and cogent, perhaps get just one person to go 'oh, hey, maybe I can do more as a member of a faction to make this a good spot to play a God in.' Not looking for pats on the head, I'm afraid!