Ivorak

[quote name='Fyrd Argentus' timestamp='1349128470' post='122757'] p.s. I'm serious that I don't want this group to stop at beating the death-balance problem. We need to find ways to actively encourage player retention, and remove obstacles to that, or this realm will go POOF. So we need a broad name.... Junior suggested VISION and we're playing with acronyms that will fit that... [/quote] For easy reference, here are some related initiatives/features/etc. that I think do or could contribute to our goal of community building. [list] [*][url="http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/forum/236-community-garden/"]The Community Garden[/url] - get involved with the quests, donate to the treasury, help out with the initial plots. [*][url="http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/calendar/"]The Community Calendar[/url] - Ackshan suggests we use the community calendar to promote events ([url="http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/13038-community-calendar/"]http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/13038-community-calendar/[/url]). That's kind of obvious, but it hasn't been done too much. [*][url="http://sync.in/quN91n6iM0"]"What can you do for MD?"[/url] - I created this document that anyone can edit a while ago for some ideas to combat negativity. Add your own ideas. [/list] I'll add more things here as I rediscover them. Also, here are some things I'd like to do. The first involves creating something the archivists can archive: There has been talk of relaunching the newspaper. While the idea of relaunching the MD newspaper as an "official" monthly is laudable, I think there should be several competing papers that are hopefully more agile and regular. They could focus on different topics or otherwise differentiate their offering. Imagine a periodical called "The Sharpshooter" for instance, tasked with writing social exposes. Myself, I was thinking about launching a weekly (I was toying with the name "Glazbeno Gazette"), with short summaries of important happenings. If we record happenings well, it will give others the impression that more occurs in MD than they experience personally, encouraging to get involved more. I also hope to hire some newer players to write for the paper, giving them further incentive to get involved as well as a way to prove themselves. Those who want to help out should tune in to the [url="http://perigords.tumblr.com/"]Piedmont and Perigord's[/url] page, and send me some ideas/feedback at the email listed there. Secondly, Zyrxae and I have been discussing something related to the MD University. For more info about that, you'd have to contact Zyrxae, we only discussed it briefly.

[list=1] [*]You speak of revival, of the dead, but also of the dying (MD is slowly withering away, but it needn't be this way). I suggest the name [i]Redivivus[/i] for this group, as it reflects that goal perfectly and also because of the intriguing shape/sound of the word. [*]My assistant/friend Etluc has been carrying my dagger around for awhile. He does so in the capacity of an executioner. He will not kill indiscriminately, but offers his services to each land to carry out executions of those who have committed murder. This is intended to serve as a deterrent to murder. If you are a citizen of one of the lands, you should urge your fellow countrymen to secure Etluc's services, knowing that your spent coin will go to a good cause; we are hereby pledging all revenue from this service towards this effort initiated by Fyrd. [*]I am pledging 5 gold to this effort, and will match all future donations (up to an additional 15 gold) by all those not on the Active Veterans, Wishpoint Top, Most Popular, or Item Owners lists (I'd encourage those on these lists to pledge similar matching bids if you can). [/list] I am a friend/supporter of this effort. I'll do more when I can.

Knoll Karovian - an experimental garden plot Assistants and adepts, you may post here. [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][log=Day 265, Year 7][/font][/color] Ivorak: Hello, Avaritia. Avaritia: Greetings. Ivorak: *looks at the mounds in front of him* I've put this off for too long. Ivorak: How about that patch over there? It's hilly, but large. Ivorak: Hopefully there won't be too many stones. : Ivorak trudges between the rows of another's plot Ivorak: Oh, were we assigned plots, do you think? Ivorak: Ava? Avaritia: *looks up from her book* Hm? Oh, I'm sure I don't know. Ivorak: It matters not, this one hasn't seen any work yet. Ivorak: I'd better demarcate it a bit more though. : Ivorak moves a few stones to the edges of his plot. : Ivorak uses a small spade to remove a sample of soil which he places a bucket. Ivorak: Not much more to do with a spade and bucket, eh? : Ivorak walks back towards Ava and pauses Ivorak: Here are the seeds for the bryony and vervain. And a few cuttings as well. Ivorak: *hands Ava the bucket* You'll want to soak them a bit first. Ivorak: Will you need anything else? Avaritia: Not yet. I ~do~ hope Rumi will let me borrow some tools. [/log]

Seigheart has not been forgotten so he is, in a way, still alive. May his flesh be as his spirit.

[quote name='Pipstickz' timestamp='1346798685' post='121444'] If you believe somebody is being subjected to extreme prejudice (ie. somebody going and giving reputation to every one of somebody's posts, old and new, regardless of content or location) then I will direct you to our friendly team of mods and administrators who I'm sure will do their very best to help figure out your concern. [/quote] Why must someone neg rep all posts old and new for it to be abuse? Systematic neg repping can affect someone even if it is only done on new posts as they appear. I know this is hard to police, but we can still often tell when a player is being treated unfairly. It is not uncommon for someone to gain a number of negative votes for doing nothing more than they are asked to. Simple replies that do not contain controversial opinions are often in seen in the red. It is my opinion that even controversial opinions should not be downvoted on a general basis. I myself reserve downvotes for cursing, spoilers, inaccuracies or falsehoods, illegibility, and/or nastiness. If others were to follow these criteria, they'd still have a lot they could vote down. But I don't think it's constructive to express general disdain through anonymous down voting. It just hurts feelings and puts people on the defensive. [quote name='Fang Archbane' timestamp='1346801323' post='121445'] Rep is useless. learn this, and your life will become that much easier. [/quote] If reputation is useless, why do we have it?

[quote name='Rumi' timestamp='1346514707' post='121330'] Is it feasible that we could increase the risk of killing? One idea I have is make a kill attempt a roll of the dice. A good roll results in success, a bad roll results in failure, and there should also be a chance for the killer to die. Imagine I try to kill Seigheart with a stone dagger and he fights back and I perish by my own weapon. [/quote] I like this idea, because of the reason you gave. However, if the risk off backfire is because of resistance (and it should be; it would be ridiculous if a dagger just exploded randomly or whatnot) then would this apply when the player the killing item is used on is idle?

Raise the dead.

I've been told that it takes more than one person to win Molquert's quest. If so, wishpoints might be problematic, unless you wish to give multiple wishpoints for one revival. Anyway, I am offering a bounty of 20 silver for the first team to do so, as announced in the mood panel. Maybe you could mention that in your first post too (I didn't plan to make a forum topic, but if there is one, it might as well state all relevant awards).

[quote name='Seigheart' timestamp='1345261281' post='120375'] Ivorak, you had no intentions on helping me out. Your general attitude towards me is hostile at the very best. As far as your statement about not being against the law to buy stolen property because you "didn't know". That's not true. Look it up. You'll be in for a big hurt if you are caught receiving stolen property. It's illegal. If he sold it, then yes, he would have stolen it, because the condition that, if he held on to it/used it, he CAN NOT trade it to anyone but myself. And Fang was killed for not giving you my leash. Get real. [/quote] I may have left out the second ’e’ in your name once. Rest assured this was an error, not a slight against your person. I bear you no great enmity. I'm not sure why you think otherwise; we have had very few interactions and I don't recall any hostility. Please refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_of_stolen_goods. Perhaps you are not from the U.S., Scotland, or Canada. But I am. Regardless, since there is no game rule to the contrary, I think I can be excused for something I did not do, and did not know I did not do, and which is technically legal. I'm not entirely sure why Fang was killed, but it was not for your leash. It really isn't much use to me. Did you really think I like hauling around corpses, especially ones that talk back? To all those reading this, consider that there's more to this than you think there is. Perhaps more than I think there is.

I do not believe Fang was killed for being a TK nor for his association with you. In real life, the possession of stolen property is generally only a crime if the buyer knows it to be stolen. I did not know that, despite your allegations to the contrary. Oh, wait, you're defending Fang after he stole something for you? That makes even less sense. I did not offer to buy your leash from Fang. I merely suggested he give it to me before he died because I was not aware that the dead could transfer items. Knowing that my blade would end his life (at least for a while) I thought that was one way I could alleviate his predicament (in the event that you should require the leash to be moved about; I'm sure you don't like being stuck in one place).

Right now I'm wondering what you had in mind with your question. I'm also thinking about how nice it is to have ideas from fresh minds. For example, Ackshan Bemunah's encouragement to rebuild lost friendships ([url="http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/calendar/event/38-rebuild-lost-friendships-no-sponsor/"]http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/calendar/event/38-rebuild-lost-friendships-no-sponsor/[/url]). It's a simple thing, but still very nice. It's also nice to see the calendar being used, it happens so rarely that I almost missed this. And as for Ackshan, I'm enjoying talking to him in game. I also enjoy his thread necromancy, even though that's supposed to be a bad thing; I like it because it's tasteful, it adds something to the discussion, and it's always nice when these old threads bubble up again. Call it nostalgia, if ye desire, but my thought is that these are important as well as foundational parts of MD, even some of the ideas that have been swept aside and discarded, and it is always good to be reminded of them. I'm also wondering what will be done in regards to the killing of Fang and Poe. No one has approached me about it directly, which is odd even though I didn't kill Fang myself, seeing as it was my dagger that was used. Finally, I am planning a quest, and I'm thinking about how I can pull it off. By the way, anyone who would like to help me by drawing some merit badges, get in touch for more details.

ISTJ Introvert(67%) Sensing(1%) Thinking(25%) Judging(44%) You have distinctive preference of Introversion over Extraversion (67%) You have marginal or no preference of Sensing over Intuition (1%) You have moderate preference of Thinking over Feeling (25%) You have moderate preference of Judging over Perceiving (44%)

Protracted exchanges such as these where little is resolved (because neither side is too willing to listen, perhaps) always leave me feeling a bit discouraged. Usually I vent to Hedge, and after a few days I get over it. And then there's another forum dispute. I feel as if I need to read the forum to stay on top of things, but often I get drawn into something that leaves a sour taste in my mouth and thus affects my activity within the game. Master of Mar is worried about the future of MD. It is obvious that many of those responding to this topic disagree with his arguments. But even if he's wrong about almost every last one (which I doubt) the worry remains. And it's not his alone. There are many concerned about the sustainability of MD. I don't think forum arguments help that concern (unless players come here for out of game arguments, rather than what I see as the core of MD, the overlapping interactive systems and "mythology" that can only be experienced in game). I'd like to share a quote of Michel Foucault that appears in my papers: [quote]"I dream about a kind of criticism that would try not to judge but to bring an oeuvre, a book, a sentence, an idea to life; it would light fires, watch the grass grow, listen to the wind, and catch the sea foam in the breeze and scatter it. It would multiply not judgments but signs of existence; it would summon them, drag them from their sleep. Perhaps it would invent them sometimes — all the better. Criticism that hands down sentences sends me to sleep; I’d like a criticism of scintillating leaps of imagination. It would not be sovereign or dressed in red. It would bear the lightning of possible storms."[/quote] We all want the best for MD. Let's focus not on telling people how they are wrong, but show them a better alternative (a principle I've just violated, but I think it's worth stating this once). It's harder work, yes, but I think it would be more rewarding.

I'll take that, Lightsage. Best place to find me is Awiiya's Way. Or send a PM, and I'll meet you elsewhere.

1 Morph, age 421 Bidding starts at 18 GC. Auction will end in 7 days or less. I may refuse offers as I see fit.

I'd like a plot.

Whoa... Seig, what was it you quoted that said extortion was illegal? It looks to me like you copied that from Wikipedia. So what if extortion is illegal in real life? That doesn't necessarily make it against the rules of the game. If we're allowed to murder and kidnap (at least by game rules; I'm not saying there shouldn't be any sort of repercussion, it just needs to be enacted by players) then I think extortion is also fair game. MD should allow criminals. We (the players) should not.

With the "top lists" idea, did you envision a drop down menu or having the links inserted upon selection of the "top lists" link? The styling would be hard to get right on the first, but the latter would likely cause everything else to shuffle and doesn't really make anything neater. In general, I like this idea. Edit: I also think that options would fit better along the header than in the sidebar.

I do not think a wishpoint should be awarded so he can add the subtext. Not because I don't think Rumi deserves a wishpoint, but because I think this reason might detract from the authenticity of this reward. Provided Rumi has not yet been rewarded for his work on the Community Garden, I do believe he is deserving of a wishpoint now or in the future. The Community Garden is one of the few bright spots in MD at this time, and demonstrates hard work and ingenuity. Rumi has not simply created a quest, but something that has already inspired multiple quests, community interaction, and generous donations.

[quote name='Grido' timestamp='1339528132' post='114555'] Also iterate alongside Lightsage, what if I wanted one alive, but not the other? [/quote] Grido, you wouldn't by any chance have a reviving item, would you?

[quote name='Isabella Finch' timestamp='1339440231' post='114370'] Though it almost makes the revival items completely pointless as I believe they have a cool down period that lasts as long as the cool down on the kill items. [/quote] I don't think this would be the case at all. If you could sell the use of a revive item quarterly for 20 GC (or even 5) that adds up fairly quickly.

It seems to have been brought up several times that an alliance of only a couple members is not really an alliance and therefore should not be supported by mechanics. But if size is all that defines a group as deserving the badge, alliance chat, and citizenship by default, then maybe there isn't any place for alliances at all. But I think that this is the wrong way of looking at it. An alliance badge is a symbol. The mechanical abilities that come along with it only exist to support the idea represented by that symbol. An idea can have value (though this is not guaranteed) as long as it abides in a single mind. Ideas that are once deemed worthy should not be stricken down until they are either corrupted, abandoned, and/or entirely forgotten. "And/or" because that needs to remain a human decision. This is not to say ideas without recognition are worthless, but that alliances without ideas are. An idea only served by one is more worthy of an alliance than an alliance that serves no idea. Sometimes not just "more" worthy, but actually worthy. Besides, ideas will spread.

Thanks, Shadowseeker. I will keep that in mind if I get any offers.

I support this.