It truly is up to us as the Cyrene playerbase to carry the momentum forward. I don't want to people to slip back into old passive habits.
The city is reclaimed, but the threat the Tsol'teth pose still remains. As do the threats from other cities, and who knows what else anymore with the current narrative.
Change is tough in the beginning. Especially for creatures of habit and routine. But we have a chance to elevate Cyrene toward a new frontier on the world stage. And I really hope we can put our efforts into that and succeed.
"Alas. Alas for Hamlin. The Mayor sent east, west, north, and south. To offer the Piper by word of mouth. Wherever it was men's lot to find him, silver and gold to his heart's content. If only he'd return the way he went."
All I'm saying.. is rebuild the clocktower into a defensive tower with ballista paired with ice mages. Ice mages freeze invaders while the ballista pick off those frozen in place.
All I'm saying.. is rebuild the clocktower into a defensive tower with ballista paired with ice mages. Ice mages freeze invaders while the ballista pick off those frozen in place.
Make it with explosive darts and a city-wide range...teach those raiders not to hole up in an outdoors room
It's really good to have the city back, but I too am a little worried about the people of Cyrene falling back into comfort and reclusiveness. It's hard to maintain the fire lit under us when we feel like to an extent we have 'won', despite massive (but, as @Keorin said, mostly intangible) losses.
What’s with all the dislike of what Cyrene was before the Tsol’teth?
I don't think the hate is so much directed toward what Cyrene was before the Tsol'teth, but the concern is directed toward the playerbase of Cyrene basically picking up where they left off.
Cyrene was invaded and occupied for an IC year(ish). During this time, the guards were subverted, their guardian Dragon was bound, the denizens fled and/or processed, and the populace routed as refugees. This -should- have a lasting impact. This -should- change the way many (not all) of the populace view each other, the world, and their once-allies, especially those (Targossas) that sided with the Tsol'teth.
The worry really is that that Cyrene, as a whole, is going to treat the entire occupation like a really really long afternoon Tea, but now everyone is back and we can all go back to planning what to wear to the Thespian playhouse later in the evening.
Generally speaking, if you want the practical answer, I think what usually gets the most dislike is some combination of stagnant leadership and a somewhat nonsensical worldview (where attacking peaceful villages like Mhogedu fits fine in our ideals, but attacking Mhaldor is awful). Everyone's got their own views there, though.
In this case though, I think it's a bit less a dislike of what Cyrene was, and more of a feeling that massive loss of life on a scale that people didn't believe was possible should lead to some kind of change. There's a lot of great things about Cyrene, both in how it was and how it is now, but it should still react to IC events, especially ones of this magnitude.
I mean I cant really blame the admin for not prolonging it. The amount of hate and angst from the majority of the Cyrene playerbase was non-stopping, and people were repeatedly posting not only on the forums but on the achaea discord and on clans how much they are hating the loss and the event. Under that kind of pressure...I cant fault them for wanting to present a 'win' scenario sooner than expected, if that was the case.
I do have a feeling that (and this is something I expressed on another chat) one factor that's possibly accelerating the decline back into Teatime & Giggles at CC is that a lot of 'those types' simply opted to QQ out of the event entirely and now that it's more or less 'over', decide to log back in and continue as normal. I'm not actually Cyrenian so I don't have a full grasp of the activity levels of the refugees, but it just seems that way.
I for one, being y'know, one of the perpetrators of the tragedy, am completely baffled by how (and I'm being kind here) sanguine everyone seems to be. I've never seen people so happy to shake my hand after I've committed genocide.
Also (and forgive me if I forum RP here a bit), I don't doubt there are people who are going to say 'oh it was terrible but thank you for making the hard choice.'. It's actually a little disappointing in any sane person's eye that these people are okay with letting an outsider make such a shitty and brutal decision and not feel a twinge of of regret for the price that had to be paid. Skye and Voc are going to have to live with this forever. Voc more than Skye even, because he *is* Cyrenian and a figure of authority.
Well, if it makes you feel better, sounds like Skye mostly just got guards. Which is a small part of the total loss, in the scheme of things.
As for the distaste some Cyrenians had for the situation, I think the big frustration there was that it felt like we had few options and no real admin attention. I think that we could've done some really cool stuff with a longer occupation, if Cyrene had been able to actually -do- something. Build a military camp to stage a takeback, build alliances with denizens, stuff like that. I have no idea, really, but my -hunch- is that it was always intended to be not too long term, since they didn't seem to have anything planned for it, and I'm not surprised that they gave us a chance to take the city back before the world games.
I imagine the surviving denizens in Cyrene will probably be hugely changed from what they were prior to the invasion, whether from the trauma or being subjected to tsol'teth propaganda for over a year, or maybe even being reprocessed and not themselves at all anymore. The changes to the room descs around the city, the constant rain, the ambience messages, all these will be constant reminders of what happened, and I'd hope players won't simply ignore all that and go back to pre-occupation status. I'm a little envious tbh, the changes add a ton of flavour to the city from an OOC perspective and an opportunity for Cyrene to try a new direction, even while the silence and empty streets make for a very eerie atmosphere.
I imagine the surviving denizens in Cyrene will probably be hugely changed from what they were prior to the invasion, whether from the trauma or being subjected to tsol'teth propaganda for over a year, or maybe even being reprocessed and not themselves at all anymore. The changes to the room descs around the city, the constant rain, the ambience messages, all these will be constant reminders of what happened, and I'd hope players won't simply ignore all that and go back to pre-occupation status. I'm a little envious tbh, the changes add a ton of flavour to the city from an OOC perspective and an opportunity for Cyrene to try a new direction, even while the silence and empty streets make for a very eerie atmosphere.
FWIW, based on the few denizens I've bumped into thus far, no change in looks or behavior.
I typed a huge comment but it deleted itself somehow, so I'll just summarise:
The loss isn't tangible to most folk. It's not physical enough. Three room entrances deleted? Big whoop, they got a cool river with cool lore. Maybe more needs to be done to show - mass graves causing one or two garden rooms to be temporarily cordoned off, with vigils etc & the remaining NPC shopkeeper/s helping to dig for an irl week or two. Or at least a couple room echoes or occasional phrases from npcs that help explain a bit. Otherwise, makebelieve sadness kinda gets tiring after a bit without a reason to be sad. The healing side of sadness - hope, resolve, even if it's just to not collapse that day - is a bit more doable. (Though I admittedly have not been in game much so I can't comment on if that's what people are doing or if they're just absolutely ignoring it - which is also kinda valid, again, everything's 'normal'.)
After some big guard bash a while ago, Daeir wrote up an extremely beautiful funeral that involved lanterns on the rivers through Targossas and singing and such. It was very touching, and entirely done on his own. It was impressive enough admin added some environmental bits to the city that reflected the event.
Obviously it's nice to have admin-led changes, but it isn't fesible for them to handle every little detail themselves. Cyrene had quite a few of its room descs changed, a lot of room types are changed, some lasting city-wide enviornment changes (especially near the old gates) as well as a lot of stuff surrounding the outside of the city during the event (some people on a clan I'm in were commenting how surprised/pleased we were about the level of detail with everything, even). That's a fantastic foundation for you guys to step up and begin carrying the mourning, and then hopeful large change phases, forward.
Go get your hands dirty!
Edit: Y'all better build Shuun a nice canal to flow through, he's a good boi and deserves it.
And I love too Be still, my indelible friend That love soon might end You are unbreaking And be known in its aching Though quaking Shown in this shaking Though crazy Lately of my wasteland, baby That's just wasteland, baby
With this kind of thing the city leadership should be leading the charge. Have a big memorial to the fallen rally organized. Leadership is about helping the RP of the org move forward as much as anything else and as long as the leadership acts as if everything is fine now the city will follow along.
But the jovial atmosphere and nonchalance of it all seems to be in excess. Even for Cyrene standards. I'm personally a bit baffled.
Lord Neraeos' presence brought some order at least.
"Alas. Alas for Hamlin. The Mayor sent east, west, north, and south. To offer the Piper by word of mouth. Wherever it was men's lot to find him, silver and gold to his heart's content. If only he'd return the way he went."
I typed a huge comment but it deleted itself somehow, so I'll just summarise:
The loss isn't tangible to most folk. It's not physical enough. Three room entrances deleted? Big whoop, they got a cool river with cool lore. Maybe more needs to be done to show - mass graves causing one or two garden rooms to be temporarily cordoned off, with vigils etc & the remaining NPC shopkeeper/s helping to dig for an irl week or two. Or at least a couple room echoes or occasional phrases from npcs that help explain a bit. Otherwise, makebelieve sadness kinda gets tiring after a bit without a reason to be sad. The healing side of sadness - hope, resolve, even if it's just to not collapse that day - is a bit more doable. (Though I admittedly have not been in game much so I can't comment on if that's what people are doing or if they're just absolutely ignoring it - which is also kinda valid, again, everything's 'normal'.)
Bolded for emphasis. To be sure, last night's antics were a bit out of hand even for Cyrene, and did warrant Lord Neraeos dropping some Divine wrath upon a couple of heads (Zbaco's included).
However, as @Ygia said, roleplaying sadness and gloominess and depression gets really old after a while. At the end of the day, this is still just a game. I come here mainly to relax, chat, get some hunting in, and maybe engage in a bit of light roleplay. Agree that there should be some attention given to the situation in-game, but let's not linger on it forever. At some point, we'll have to move on with life, and let things get back to a normal(ish) state.
That's fine! Just remember as you would like others to respect your desire to have a more light-hearted experience, that others would hope for the same respect for more serious events and situations. There seems to be considerable room for both!
What @Ygia actually said was that makebelieve sadness is tiring without a reason to be sad. Hence her suggestion that there be more physical reminders to the citizens.
Cyrene as a city was about three different kinds of devastated. Seeing its adventurer populace settle back into frivolous routine that fast is creepy from an IC perspective, somewhat immersion-breaking from an OOC one. It's just not realistic. Your city was ripped away once and getting it back came at a huge price... And there's no guarantee it can't happen again, and the Tide is still out there. You guys shouldn't just be sad, you guys should be afraid. "Well it's just a game and I don't enjoy grimdark RP" is a reason for bouncing back that doesn't translate well to an IC justification.
EDIT: As Palusa said, there's nothing wrong with wanting a light-hearted experience. But ignoring IC realities in order to get it has frustrating effects on immersion or people trying to engage with serious events.
________________________ The soul of Ashmond says, "Always with the sniping."
(Clan): Ictinus says, "Stop it Jiraishin, you're making me like you."
What @Ygia actually said was that makebelieve sadness is tiring without a reason to be sad. Hence her suggestion that there be more physical reminders to the citizens.
Cyrene as a city was about three different kinds of devastated. Seeing its adventurer populace settle back into frivolous routine that fast is creepy from an IC perspective, somewhat immersion-breaking from an OOC one. It's just not realistic. Your city was ripped away once and getting it back came at a huge price... And there's no guarantee it can't happen again, and the Tide is still out there. You guys shouldn't just be sad, you guys should be afraid. "Well it's just a game and I don't enjoy grimdark RP" is a reason for bouncing back that doesn't translate well to an IC justification.
EDIT: As Palusa said, there's nothing wrong with wanting a light-hearted experience. But ignoring IC realities in order to get it has frustrating effects on immersion or people trying to engage with serious events.
There's nothing wrong with wanting a light-hearted experience unless I don't want you to.
What @Ygia actually said was that makebelieve sadness is tiring without a reason to be sad. Hence her suggestion that there be more physical reminders to the citizens.
Cyrene as a city was about three different kinds of devastated. Seeing its adventurer populace settle back into frivolous routine that fast is creepy from an IC perspective, somewhat immersion-breaking from an OOC one. It's just not realistic. Your city was ripped away once and getting it back came at a huge price... And there's no guarantee it can't happen again, and the Tide is still out there. You guys shouldn't just be sad, you guys should be afraid. "Well it's just a game and I don't enjoy grimdark RP" is a reason for bouncing back that doesn't translate well to an IC justification.
I would say there's potential to take that fear and terror and form a core of resolve around it. Again, it is somewhat important to avoid real-world comparisons, but we all live in countries that have one pretty awful thing happen in them. What did they do?
They didn't go back to magically okay, the trauma of these events stays with us long after the impact of such things, that would be magnified in such a small city-state where the adventurers are the vital heart of everything.
Does this also mean everyone has to sit shiva and wear black for a century? No, memorials are held, speeches are made, festivals and events to remember the lost and defend and celebrate your nation's way of life exist. There lies an optimistic character's opportunity to bring positivity if they don't feel like feeling miserable for the hell of it. Perhaps there's a core of people who mostly just want vengeance, or want to make sure it never happens again, there's a cadre of people who want to carry forwards the new experiences they've found and they have opportunity there too.
However, I accept its very easy to judge from the outside, its your city, your trauma and your way to deal with it. I just hope that no matter how serious the impact you know that surviving it was the key thing, and no matter your character's disposition I'm convinced there's an appropriate outlet for you to have a generally productive impact, and in turn there isn't a need to dismiss someone who is taking a different spin on it. At least OOC.
@Palusa As you can see, there's not much respect given.
It would be exceptionally easy to agree with that and leave it. I'm not going to say that its a one-sided thing at all or point fingers at one person, because it almost certainly isn't. But have you considered the impact it has on other plays to be trying to be serious in a serious situation, and then for another character be behaving in a manner that is extremely dismissive of this seriousness?
I don't have many examples, but the one I do have is that it was extremely strange to see some characters amidst what was essentially a desperate and bloody struggle to liberate the Grandmaster of his fragments behave in a way that in reality, would seem utterly detached from the situation.
Optimistic characters unwinding tension, a little gallows humour or putting their creativity towards a positive outlet in times of trouble should be encouraged I think. If anyone reads this and thinks "that's what I do" then superb, and if you're getting flak for that I think that's bad. If there are moments when your behaviour is vastly different from those around you and people are reacting to that, then please at least consider whether that reaction may be fueled by the sheer mental whiplash of it.
I make all of those comments specifically not directed at you, @Lenn, we haven't interacted much, but more just what limited experience I've had with people interacting in such a way that would in reality provoke a comment too. It may not remotely apply to anyone, and if that's so, feel free to dismiss it.
Comments
Penwize has cowardly forfeited the challenge to mortal combat issued by Atalkez.
The city is reclaimed, but the threat the Tsol'teth pose still remains. As do the threats from other cities, and who knows what else anymore with the current narrative.
Change is tough in the beginning. Especially for creatures of habit and routine. But we have a chance to elevate Cyrene toward a new frontier on the world stage. And I really hope we can put our efforts into that and succeed.
Cyrene was invaded and occupied for an IC year(ish). During this time, the guards were subverted, their guardian Dragon was bound, the denizens fled and/or processed, and the populace routed as refugees. This -should- have a lasting impact. This -should- change the way many (not all) of the populace view each other, the world, and their once-allies, especially those (Targossas) that sided with the Tsol'teth.
The worry really is that that Cyrene, as a whole, is going to treat the entire occupation like a really really long afternoon Tea, but now everyone is back and we can all go back to planning what to wear to the Thespian playhouse later in the evening.
Also (and forgive me if I forum RP here a bit), I don't doubt there are people who are going to say 'oh it was terrible but thank you for making the hard choice.'. It's actually a little disappointing in any sane person's eye that these people are okay with letting an outsider make such a shitty and brutal decision and not feel a twinge of of regret for the price that had to be paid. Skye and Voc are going to have to live with this forever. Voc more than Skye even, because he *is* Cyrenian and a figure of authority.
The loss isn't tangible to most folk. It's not physical enough. Three room entrances deleted? Big whoop, they got a cool river with cool lore. Maybe more needs to be done to show - mass graves causing one or two garden rooms to be temporarily cordoned off, with vigils etc & the remaining NPC shopkeeper/s helping to dig for an irl week or two. Or at least a couple room echoes or occasional phrases from npcs that help explain a bit. Otherwise, makebelieve sadness kinda gets tiring after a bit without a reason to be sad. The healing side of sadness - hope, resolve, even if it's just to not collapse that day - is a bit more doable. (Though I admittedly have not been in game much so I can't comment on if that's what people are doing or if they're just absolutely ignoring it - which is also kinda valid, again, everything's 'normal'.)
After some big guard bash a while ago, Daeir wrote up an extremely beautiful funeral that involved lanterns on the rivers through Targossas and singing and such. It was very touching, and entirely done on his own. It was impressive enough admin added some environmental bits to the city that reflected the event.
Obviously it's nice to have admin-led changes, but it isn't fesible for them to handle every little detail themselves. Cyrene had quite a few of its room descs changed, a lot of room types are changed, some lasting city-wide enviornment changes (especially near the old gates) as well as a lot of stuff surrounding the outside of the city during the event (some people on a clan I'm in were commenting how surprised/pleased we were about the level of detail with everything, even). That's a fantastic foundation for you guys to step up and begin carrying the mourning, and then hopeful large change phases, forward.
Go get your hands dirty!
Edit: Y'all better build Shuun a nice canal to flow through, he's a good boi and deserves it.
That love soon might end You are unbreaking
And be known in its aching Though quaking
Shown in this shaking Though crazy
Lately of my wasteland, baby That's just wasteland, baby
But the jovial atmosphere and nonchalance of it all seems to be in excess. Even for Cyrene standards. I'm personally a bit baffled.
Lord Neraeos' presence brought some order at least.
Cyrene as a city was about three different kinds of devastated. Seeing its adventurer populace settle back into frivolous routine that fast is creepy from an IC perspective, somewhat immersion-breaking from an OOC one. It's just not realistic. Your city was ripped away once and getting it back came at a huge price... And there's no guarantee it can't happen again, and the Tide is still out there. You guys shouldn't just be sad, you guys should be afraid. "Well it's just a game and I don't enjoy grimdark RP" is a reason for bouncing back that doesn't translate well to an IC justification.
EDIT: As Palusa said, there's nothing wrong with wanting a light-hearted experience. But ignoring IC realities in order to get it has frustrating effects on immersion or people trying to engage with serious events.
The soul of Ashmond says, "Always with the sniping."
(Clan): Ictinus says, "Stop it Jiraishin, you're making me like you."
Got it.
They didn't go back to magically okay, the trauma of these events stays with us long after the impact of such things, that would be magnified in such a small city-state where the adventurers are the vital heart of everything.
Does this also mean everyone has to sit shiva and wear black for a century? No, memorials are held, speeches are made, festivals and events to remember the lost and defend and celebrate your nation's way of life exist. There lies an optimistic character's opportunity to bring positivity if they don't feel like feeling miserable for the hell of it. Perhaps there's a core of people who mostly just want vengeance, or want to make sure it never happens again, there's a cadre of people who want to carry forwards the new experiences they've found and they have opportunity there too.
However, I accept its very easy to judge from the outside, its your city, your trauma and your way to deal with it. I just hope that no matter how serious the impact you know that surviving it was the key thing, and no matter your character's disposition I'm convinced there's an appropriate outlet for you to have a generally productive impact, and in turn there isn't a need to dismiss someone who is taking a different spin on it. At least OOC.
I don't have many examples, but the one I do have is that it was extremely strange to see some characters amidst what was essentially a desperate and bloody struggle to liberate the Grandmaster of his fragments behave in a way that in reality, would seem utterly detached from the situation.
Optimistic characters unwinding tension, a little gallows humour or putting their creativity towards a positive outlet in times of trouble should be encouraged I think. If anyone reads this and thinks "that's what I do" then superb, and if you're getting flak for that I think that's bad. If there are moments when your behaviour is vastly different from those around you and people are reacting to that, then please at least consider whether that reaction may be fueled by the sheer mental whiplash of it.
I make all of those comments specifically not directed at you, @Lenn, we haven't interacted much, but more just what limited experience I've had with people interacting in such a way that would in reality provoke a comment too. It may not remotely apply to anyone, and if that's so, feel free to dismiss it.
Edit: As for one person being serious and another being silly, have you considered the serious person should stop being serious? Problem solved.
I'm being facetious, of course.
Penwize has cowardly forfeited the challenge to mortal combat issued by Atalkez.