Letters of Import

I thought I would start up a discussion where Achaean's can share letters, notes, and scribblings that are important to them. Feel free to remove any personal information you'd like. I'll go first with a short letter of my own that I received back in January! :)

Pristinely cut from crisp parchment, the edges of this stunning scroll shimmer with a dazzling,

ivory-white aura. Coloured to depict the impression of stained glass, the border of the paper hosts

minute flecks of gold, which line the art and add to the luminous shine of the overall design.

Inscribed into the other side of the page, a phoenix in flight, trailing a ray of Light dominates

the background.

It has no title and the owner is listed as being Aurora, the Lightbringer.

It weighs 3 ounce(s).


Jeslyn Vorondil and Kycen Rian-Moonshadow,

 

 May good tidings fall upon your marriage, and Light guide your steps

through the rich tapestry of your life together. My blessings unto you

both on your special day.

 

 Light guide you

 

 Aurora, Goddess of Light

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Comments

  • AodfionnAodfionn Seattle, WA
    I'm not going to post, but I did receive a letter from someone that I've saved somewhere I'll not lose it. Easily the most kind-hearted and sweet thing anyone's ever sent me. 

    "I've never once regretted you being our leader" is high praise for a dude who still has no idea what the hell he's doing. 
    Aurora says, "Are you drunk, Aodfionn?"
  • BluefBluef Delos
    edited March 2015
    Awesome idea for a thread, @Jeslyn. I have a few discreet black journals that I keep letters of import pasted within. Many of their pages are filled with letters from Seekers of the Dream, from Achimrst about Curia business, and the like.

    But there are also few personal ones that I treasure. For example, these are actually paintings (in gnoll blood) from Bluef's daughter Miallaria:
    Pasted by Bluef on the 8th of Lupar, 662 AF

    On the page you find a carefully detailed fingerpainting in blood. The
    image portrayed is a dragon, wings spread to catch the winds as it flies
    through crimson clouds. Every vein has been etched in, likely using the
    tip of a fingernail and the dragons face is so expressive you would
    think the painting done with a brush if not for telltale prints in
    thicker parts of the "paint". The initials M.S. have been crudely swiped
    into one of the clouds.

    Pasted by Bluef on the 14th of Chronos, 663 AF

    Instead of writing you find a crimson fingerpainting of a forest glade.
    Further inspection reveals that blood is the artists choice of medium.
    Each tree has been carefully painted with the scarlet 'paint', the
    leaves have been painted in such a thin layer that the blood has dried
    to a vivid shade of burnt orange, giving the scene a bright autumn look.
    Despite the macobre medium the painting is a carefully detailed image of
    beauty, signed with a crudely swiped 'M.S.' In the lower left corner.

    I have a journal full of apology letters from an ex-husband as well. Every once in a while when I'm going through my tomes I come across the thing and it reminds me what a douche he was and why Bluef is far better off without him today.

    I also have a love letter that Kaie wrote to me when we very first became acquainted IC that I won't share here. But's it's all the more precious to me today, so it's in a special journal all its own, safe and sound forever. :heart: 

  • AodfionnAodfionn Seattle, WA
    Heartbreaking. 
    Aurora says, "Are you drunk, Aodfionn?"
  • Alll of my letters of import are pasted in a journal now trapped in my IC brothers house in Cyrene. Would be trapped even if i wasnt mhaldorian as he is dormant

  • I write letters.. I think letters are fun. How else can you send Eleusians vaguely threatening missives stuffed with white-stag entrails?

    The joke being that I heard they could use some...

    GUTS!

    Ba-dum-tish. 
  • edited April 2015
    Skye said:
    I wish people wrote more letters. :( I want letters. Like, real ones.
    In-game at least, I've always wished more people used letters.

    I've wished for a long time that they would just do away with the ability to use messages as more-convenient letters. I know a lot of people are horrified at the idea of it, but I think perhaps letters just need a better, message-like interface. And I'm not even sure that's really necessary.

    In general, I wish people leaned more on IC tools for communication and organisation rather than spawning more and more OOC tools like Projects and such. Tael doesn't ever use messages for IC communication and, when I've had substantial administrative duties in the game, I've generally used manuscripts and journals. They're not actually much harder at all to use for organising things - I've never had any problems personally and the only real problems I've faced is people whining that it's inconvenient to have to go to a particular room to update the manuscript they have to deal with a couple of times a week, which is, I think, a pretty reasonable imposition.

    Restricting communication to letters keeps things immersive and IC and it opens up avenues for roleplaying - you can steal letters, you can show them to other people, you etc. None of that is possible with messages. Similarly, using manuscripts and journals in lieu of help files and projects keeps things immersive and IC, opens up further opportunity for things like people "cheating", like a novice who gets someone to sneak them into the househall to check a box on their progression record, which opens up a whole wealth of RP possibilities as they try to keep that secret and perhaps someone notices or investigates.

    Though I am also of the feeling that a lot of resistance to using IC tools comes from people who have created far too much administrative work for themselves, which is a longstanding problem for people in leadership positions in the game who traditionally don't delegate much (even when the game defines formal subordinates for them) and worry about fastidiously tracking needlessly detailed, fine-grained information about relatively inconsequential things. Four times now Tael has ended up HoN for a house and every time I've easily made due with IC organisation tools by delegating real authority to novice aides rather than treating them like novices themselves and eliminating pointlessly complicated systems that require intensive administrative work to keep track of. Generally, I think people have been pretty satisfied with the outcome since the changes have tended to be kept, though most do seem to go back to using OOC tools for tracking anyway. Alas.

    Tael himself has a few preserved letters, but I wouldn't share them OOCly for various reasons (which probably makes them sound a lot more racy than they are).
  • I love letters as a form of communication. Shimi has sent out a few as sort of self introduction to people she was referred to learn things from. I don't have any personal letters or any preserved yet, since I never get any replies... :( need to meet more of you guys in game so we can become like pen pals!
  • MelodieMelodie Port Saint Lucie, Florida
    This isn't exactly a letter, but during the course of my planning to join Mhaldor, I had drawn up a public news post. Unfortunately, I didn't get to post it since it completely slipped my mind slaves couldn't post to any news sections, and I was quite distracted with the goings-on directly after the wedding itself. I just found it again as I was digging around for a description to modify, and thought I'd share it here, just for fun, since it has the same sort of idea to it that a letter would.

    I might have had a little too much fun making this post. Maybe.

    Hail, people of Sapience.

    Long have I walked these lands as a gentle, kind spirit who sought little conflict and instead simply lived a peaceful existance, content with the world and my place within it. As I grew older, I grew more successful. I had my trials and tribulations, and came out the other side of them with a new sense of self-worth few are able to obtain in their lifetimes, sheltered behind their walls as I was. Yet still, rejection came from the East once more, much to my shock and dismay. As if to add insult to injury, a policy added shortly after made the gates of Targossas slam in my face, and my name shunned for the many years to come, as if a beast who had forsaken her own ideals.

    Despite this, I still held tight to those ideals.

    And so I bade farewell to my birthplace and home of over two hundred years, the Gem of the Vashnars and her beauty, and headed to live among the savages in a village fiercely dedicated to defending and promoting Nature and, in turn, Creation. Or, so I thought. While it is true that some, such as Rangor Corten or Ellodin Longshanks, would defend their home and beliefs unto their last breath, many within Eleusis hypocritically rest on their non-existent laurels, content in their old age and stagnancy to do as little as possible, while allowing few youngsters an ability to become a voice of change. Change is a concept few embrace and several fear, and thus its people stagnate and drag their feet. I watched with growing discontent, even as I perished for them as I would my own, for such is the call of duty.

    I once counted myself among these peoples, Cyrenians, Eleusians, and even to some extent Targossians. I gladly shed my blood for them all, for what is my life in the face of defending one's beliefs? Despite years of never lifting my mace to hurt anything more than a few rats, my original restoration to Devotion gave me new purpose, and my body grew as strong as my faith and spirit. Even now, branded as a traitor to Devotion once more, I tried to make amends, only to be insulted, ignored, and then told my status was to remain; their own beliefs founded upon the ideals of forgiveness, yet with none to be had for one such as me. I gave everything of myself that I had to give without holding back, yet it was never enough.

    I shall do this no longer.

    The so-called protectors of Creation and Nature are content either with finding me nothing but a heretic, or discounting their own people's talents in the face of their own selfish desires. The Cyrenians, dear as I loved them, seem to wallow further and further into complacency, unable to dig themselves out from the pit created of their own lack of desire to properly defend themselves. I looked about myself, and even as I saw individuals with promise or friends with purpose, I saw hoards more of people holding them back from ever becoming what they could truly be.

    So I shed the shackles of that life, and instead look West to Lord Sartan and His own. Instead I choose to take on new shackles as a temporary burden, only to be eventually lifted should I prove myself worthy of such an honour. Instead, I will work with those with a singular purpose, those who suffer as I have, not because they hate each other... but rather for their own benefit, to become more than the uninitiated could ever hope to achieve. With me I take the heart of my beloved, even as I leave his body behind, for sometimes even love isn't enough to wholly sustain oneself.

    I will bear my burden of regret into this renewed path in life, and become stronger for it. And one day, I will return unto you all not as a broken woman unable to be saved, but as the fallen "priestess" I choose to embrace and embody in full.

    Watch for that day, Targossas, and know you brought it upon yourselves.

    In service to the worthy,
    Melodie Le'Murzen, Fallen Priestess

    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
  • Now, I havn't thought this through in full yet, so bear with me - but,  regarding letters being an underused form of communication, isn't this in part due to them requiring a few steps to actually get done? Getting one, entering some form of editor to write it and then travelling to a post office to send it - all that is bypassed by simply typing a message. 

    Would it be possible to perhaps have a config option for this, so that sender goes through the process of sending a message, but the recipient gets a letter?

    Of course this falls short re: sending items, customising letters and so on, but perhaps just having the option of your messages transform to regular Delos-sent letters might encourage more letters into circulation? 
  • edited April 2015
    Having messages turned into letters like that will probably never happen - letters cost gold to send and there are even artefacts to allow them to be sent from anywhere. I suppose it's possible, but it seems unlikely. And it would be strange too because the system would have no way of knowing whether a message actually is IC - you probably don't want the game sending you letters for decay messages (though those could be exempted) or "OOC: How does scytherus work with nechamandra again?".

    You're absolutely right about messages being used because they're more convenient. As long as they're available for IC communication with no drawbacks at all, people will probably use them. On the other hand, having to go get a letter and post it from a post office seems like a pretty astoundingly insignificant imposition - and having to use the editor increases the effort by one button press and one mouseclick.

    Which is why I wish you just couldn't use messages for IC communication. One option would be to preserve them for automatic use only, though that makes OOC messages impossible, which seems undesirable. But at the very least I wish there were an actual, explicit directive in the help files, and maybe a little system message when you send a message that says something like "You're sending a message to Tael. Please remember that messages are for out-of-character communication. If your communication is with the character Tael and not the player behind him, please consider using a letter."

    The thing that frustrates me is that any time anyone brings up doing away with messages for IC communication, people scream bloody murder like they couldn't possibly keep up with the sheer volume of communication they receive and send. But the convenience of a message over a letter is pretty minimal and, to a larger extent than is generally recognised, these high volumes of correspondence a few players are complaining about are mostly self-inflicted.

    I used to have my return message set to inform people that I ignore IC messages, asking people to send a letter instead. Eventually, I just gave up. You would think this was like asking people to move mountains - people either just ignored the request entirely or they actually ranted at me that it was unreasonable to request they go through such a terriblearduous process of sending a letter.
  • edited April 2015
    Mm, didn't remember the artefact matter. It's likely not the fact that letters are such a terrible, arduous process, as much as the fact that messages are still so much quicker, like you also mentioned. 

    The question is which one is more feasible to change, to make letters easier, or messages harder? 

    Edit: to clarify, the suggestion wasn't to make all messages into letters, but provide an option to the sender to have it delivered as one, without the (however correctly) perceived hassle associated with it. 
  • AerekAerek East Tennessee, USA
    Messages are quicker, easier, free, and can't be "lost". Letters take effort, travel, gold (a pittance, but still), and can easily get lost if the recipient doesn't notice the delivery because of whatever they were doing at the time, and can decay or even get stolen before they're read.

    Messages are just more practical by far. I do use letters for "formal" interactions, because that's how I see them: they're RP aides. When you're reaching out to someone you haven't really spoken to before, to discuss something important or open up some new avenue of interaction/relation, use a letter, you can do much more with them. But when you're just letting me know about day-to-day things, use a message. If you flood my inventory in letters composed of one-line notifications, house reqs, or other quick clarifications you needed while I wasn't online at the time, I will PK you.

    For the little things, where the effort of a letter isn't warranted, just pretend messages -are- letters, we're cutting out all the unnecessary steps when the content of the message isn't worth all the extra work.
    -- Grounded in but one perspective, what we perceive is an exaggeration of the truth.
  • HerenicusHerenicus The Western Front
    Letters can and have been made more practical, though. Messages are so déclassé. Come join us on team fancy, @Aerek.
  • Well my letters of import seem to be gone :(  The library in Camellio's house is evidently no longer there and no trace of my journals that resided within.

  • NimNim
    edited April 2015
    Letters and books and such would be vastly improved by means of out-of-editor writing methods.

    Letters would have to be tweaked a bit, since currently they're write-once, but I still think being able to write to these things without literally leaving the game would vastly improve their place as roleplaying instruments.

    There are other improvements too, such as being able to format text. Having documents with longer lifespans than letters (but shorter than scrolls) would be cool too, for things like official documents or whatnot. Notebooks (like books but with lifespans) would be kind of cool too.
  • There are slates in Lothos that you can write on without using the editor, so the mechanic already exists (although it could be done a little more "neatly" than using the touch/push commands). Those work well as a kind of notepad.
  • So, the other day Multon received an interesting letter, which read...


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    Dearest Multon,


    Are you tired? Does your soul yearn for rest from the chains of an
    unfulfilling life? Do you find yourself yearning for Truth in a world of
    half-truths and outright lies? HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU! The pain, the
    suffering, and the toil that you've underwent thus far is meaningless!
    It's all for nothing! I know what you're thinking! What the hell do you
    mean it's been meaningless?! I worked for that?! Of course the mortal
    tendency is to want to preserve your accomplishments, your family, and
    your treasures, but they will all one day vanish into the infinite chasm
    of the Void. Isn't that Great!?!?

    Now that you know this, you can live your life with true Purpose! You
    can seek what is meaningful to you in this short, ethereal existence!
    You can seek out what is truly yours! Should you love and enjoy your
    family?! Yes! But if that's what truly is what you wish to expend your
    quite limited time doing, then do so!!! Some relish this brief moment
    and reach for their own purpose and perfection! If knowing this makes
    you feel free, then perhaps you are called into His Service! Perhaps,
    like the Great Prophet, the unending perfection of the infinite Void
    (where all is known, possessed, and experienced) calls to you with the
    very beat of that same drum! If you're tired of seeking unfulfilling
    paths just to feel benevolent, then seek your True path. Follow the
    Twin. Find the Razor. Seek Him.

    In Love,
    His humble servant.

    Of course, how Multon chooses to respond to such a letter could change the course of his entire life. It is a truly important decision. So, after much thought, Multon decided such an important missive required an immediate response. Multon proceeded do just that by buying another letter, putting the first letter in that one, and sending the new letter he bought to the highest ranked person in Ashtan who was in the realms at the time. The reply Multon wrote read as follows....

    Dear Humble Servant,

    Get stuffed.

    Multon
    Multon is not a complicated person... And, as regards some things, a man of few words.

    P.S. Whoever I sent this to, it was kind of a spur of the moment decision, probably not the best one, but I thought it suited Multon's personality.
  • I've been thinking about ways to make letters more convenient, able to be used as a more IC alternative to messages, without devaluing the current letter system or artefacts.

    One way to do it is to allow you to send a tell to certain denizens (who would probably be located in post offices), having them send someone a letter/note on your behalf, for a fee (could be more expensive than the 100 gold letter cost). The disadvantages compared to normal letters would be that you're limited to a single line without formatting, like tells and messages, and it could also have stricter limitations on length. That way sending letters from a post office (or silver whistle) is still useful because they allow for longer and better-formatted text, they can contain items, and you can use custom stationery.

    An example of how it would work:
    [spoiler][/spoiler]
    And on the recipient's end:
    [spoiler][/spoiler]
  • Multon said:

    P.S. Whoever I sent this to, it was kind of a spur of the moment decision, probably not the best one, but I thought it suited Multon's personality.
    How did you know who to send it to, @Multon? The letter looked really anonymous.

  • Sena said:
    I've been thinking about ways to make letters more convenient, able to be used as a more IC alternative to messages, without devaluing the current letter system or artefacts.

    One way to do it is to allow you to send a tell to certain denizens (who would probably be located in post offices), having them send someone a letter/note on your behalf, for a fee (could be more expensive than the 100 gold letter cost). The disadvantages compared to normal letters would be that you're limited to a single line without formatting, like tells and messages, and it could also have stricter limitations on length. That way sending letters from a post office (or silver whistle) is still useful because they allow for longer and better-formatted text, they can contain items, and you can use custom stationery.

    An example of how it would work:
    [spoiler][/spoiler]
    And on the recipient's end:
    [spoiler][/spoiler]
    I question your maths in those logs (either you sent 41 letters or that log is fake. Faaaake). 
  • I counted the two numbers as letters, so it is 41. "5 sovereigns per alphanumeric character" doesn't sound as good.
  • KlendathuKlendathu Eye of the Storm
    Tibitha said:
    Sena said:
    ?? MATH STUFF ??
    I question your maths in those logs (either you sent 41 letters or that log is fake. Faaaake). 


    Tharos, the Announcer of Delos shouts, "It's near the end of the egghunt and I still haven't figured out how to pronounce Clean-dat-hoo."
  • Ohhh letters as in abcdef letters. Might need to use "characters" instead in this instance. 

    Was wondering if Sarapis got 41 letters (stalker) or whether there were 40 other recipients somewhere and you were hosting a party.

    :D
  • Ognog said:
    Multon said:

    P.S. Whoever I sent this to, it was kind of a spur of the moment decision, probably not the best one, but I thought it suited Multon's personality.
    How did you know who to send it to, @Multon? The letter looked really anonymous.
    Um.... I think I just looked on help for the highest ranked person in Ashtan who I could see was online. 
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