Aeoshattr

So much stuff to read. I might reiterate what others have said, for some reason I find individual posts very difficult to follow (to me the whole page looks very white, the gray that separates posts doesn't contrast enough). 1. Needs some bedazzling to look more like the old forum, aesthetically. Right now it's very barren and disconnected from the game, but I think this is just because it was recently updated, it won't stay like this, right? Right?... 2. Activity feed is extremely spammy. I hugely preferred the old one (where topics were highlighted), because this one highlights every single post in every single new thread, also who upvoted what, who uploaded pics, literally everything. I'm not saying it's absolutely a bad thing, but is there an option to sort the activity feed, or show only active topics as opposed to every new post? 3. If you click the 'reputation' thing in your profile, it says something like 'no content here', rather than pointing to posts in which you were given reputation. 4. Seems to have a bunch of new tools and gadgets to use though, which is good. Could someone post a tutorial or "look, this thing is new and useful" for the technologically inept, like me? Cheers.

No idea what this means, the forum is ugly, but HEY I ranked second in something! Shower me in appreciation.

Can see a "Who's Online" thing, a "Recently Browsing", "Today's Bdays", "Upcoming Events" and "Recent Event Reviews" on the right side. So can we panic and freak out now?

redacted... sorry for being asleep when the new clickie at plains of liberty was discussed

I vaguely remember the rule of thumb in these cases is to login with your e-mail address. But I might be wrong.

['war']['retreatCoord']['team_a'] = '1_-4x3_1'; Wasp Altar ['war']['retreatCoord']['team_c'] = '1_4x4_2'; Wind's Sanc Interior

Even so, choosing to sell it is sad. https://magicduel.com/page/Announcement/view/3772 Says you were given the solidifier partly to complement your tea-making. So it implies you were given the Chawan as part of a role...

Happy birthday, Assira. Have a great day. :)

Separate "Land Loyalty" into "Loyalty" and "Attunement". Loyalty is only gained by citizens, Attunement is gained by anyone who gets an active day while on the land's territory. Loyalty increases by +1, Attunement by +2, as previously announced. They have identical functions, however: 1. Land Loyalty is permanent and does not decay. 2. Land Attunement decreases by -1 / land / day. (so if you have attunement for 5 different lands, you lose 1 from each land each day). 3. Land Attunement is converted into Land Loyalty at a much slower rate (say every 100 Attunement you gain 1 Loyalty - this could also imply 'capping' attunement at 100, and when you go over 100 it is reset to 0 and you get 1 land loyalty. Random idea). Does that sound fairer? I agree with NoOne (shockingly). I am strongly against land loyalty decaying, mostly for the reason that some characters are historically strongly connected to a land, that doesn't mean their history should decay if they are inactive. Bit of a slippery slope, but what's next? Will stats decay for inactive players? Will old players lose items for inactivity? You get what I mean.

Fourth (and last) hint: 1 week left to start the quest. All those who have not submitted their entries so far have had points deducted, as mentioned in the initial post, since all hints have now been posted.

(and if you believe you are not mortal, then pass its AP requirements and you should be fine) It would appear you are a mortal after all :P

Sunfire, you link an announcement from more than 5 years ago... Surely he exists, but he's not "there", as the hint says. You can't go and "Check out the Knator Commander at the back Loreroot exit..", because he isn't there, and he won't be there.

Here's my take on things, because hopefully I calmed down enough to be able to talk about this. This is one of my infamous text walls (and quite a heartfelt one too), you have been warned, but I will try and summarise it in a TL;DR at the end. 1. Necrovion. I agree with Azull, to a great extent. This is both because I felt more integrated in Necrovion than in any other land I have been before. I like to believe that it transcended just the nature of an alliance, as I have been a citizen of Necrovion for more than a year before joining the Tainted Warriors; I'll be honest, I was very, very happy as a citizen. To me, the badge was more of a symbol of recognition when it was received; I didn't see it as a necessity, but it being given to me actually made me happy (which to those who know me, know is a big deal. I'm really never happy). I don't believe that Necrovion, as it stands today, is defined by any alliance it has or has had. 2. Reactions and comments. Yes, people are bitter and defensive. Thorny and hardened. I think it's just a reality of MD... So unfortunately, accusations and acidic words do start flying, but it's only natural that they do so, taking into account how people are. Is it okay? No. Is it a reality? Yeah. My opinion? Can't make an omelet without breaking the eggs, take it or leave it. I actually had to try really hard to not say anything, other than the outburst I had in the in-game chat in the first few minutes after it happened. 3. View on alliances. I think Assira pointed at a few things very accurately, so I'll reiterate those with my own perspective. I think alliances might have lost some of the "wow factor" they used to have. I think this is more probably 50% because most of those in MD are veterans. Alliances don't phase us that much anymore. We know what they're about. So to us, it looks like they devalued, like they lost their meaning. However, they also did lose part of their meaning (it's not just in our heads). If you look at alliances from a distance, maybe 1 or 2 stand out as unique. The rest are really the same thing, but with different artwork and in different lands (keep in mind, I might be a bit extreme here, but my point remains: compare GG to GotR, to SoE or KoB and then compare DoB with GotR or any of the previously mentioned, and you should see what I mean). But this is because people are not as involved as they used to be, IMO, rather than because of an intrinsic flaw in the alliances. Also, no offence meant to any ally mentioned. The rest of the harm, IMO, is done by repeated takeovers. I really want to believe that they are done in an attempt to make MD progress, rather than as some sort of selfish, coercive method to obtain personal gain. Please let me have that delusion, if I'm wrong. But I think the huge, huge thing that this method misses is the fact that alliances are, in fact, made of people. Hit them once, they might fight back. Hit them twice, maybe. But when everybody is getting hit again and again all around you, you start to think more about how to keep what you have rather than what to actually do with it - I think this would be a main point. It becomes a dead long-term 'savings' account rather than an investment. Look at the reaction the vast population had to the economic crisis in the 2000s. It was all about 'saving what you have' rather than 'correcting and making plans to improve in the future'. The way I see it, things will just get progressively worse, and I think that in the most recent 2 (excluding TW) takeovers, you can see that active people, alliance leaders that actually had a plan and vision left (or are significantly less active/visible now). Finally? Very superficial, perhaps, but the fewer alliances there are, the more barren the game looks. Yes, I really like the badges, their art. I think they had a big, big "wow factor" to them, especially for new players. But now, I think a massive number of alliances are dead, with all the "wow" they brought gone. Some badges had a lot of symbolism to them, a lot about the alliance or its land could be learned just by looking at the badge. And now that's gone. Sure, you might still see it in some capitols, but it's no longer in the game. It's no longer flowing, it's no longer present in the public eye. And it saddens me that most likely, that is permanent and will not improve in the future. TL;DR NC is more than its alliances, through the people who inhabit and rule it. Can't throw a tomato at a fan and expect to not get a mess. All alliances have lost some of their 'oomph' because of lack of involvement, repeated takeovers, reduced population, and a natural tendency to focus on protecting rather than being out-going when threatened. I think a coordinated effort is necessary to change this, if my delusional view that "change and improvement of MD" is the ultimate goal is correct.

He does have a point, IMO. While those characters may still exist (because I don't think it's MD practice to delete characters), they are essentially gone. I don't know the last time KC, Wodin or the Shade Sentinel, for that matter, actually showed up online and did something. I don't mean this in a negative way, simply stating that they are not actively involved in the world of MD anymore, rather just a memory of the past. Could some ample AL bring them back? Yeah. Should they be discarded? Probably no. But in its current state, I think it's misleading to advertise to new players that these characters "are there".

Third hint: Deadlines mentioned above remain valid.

If a land is defined by its alliances, what's the point of citizenship then?

On hold until further notice.

3 participants currently in. This will be on hold until further notice.

I will only put an early deadline on beginning the quest. For the finish, I'll leave the old deadline. Therefore: Last Possible Quest Start day: 23rd of March 2016 Last Possible Quest finish day: 23rd of May 2016

Ahh, so within you have gazed... Come, come closer now. No need to be scared, is there? Unless... Yes, unless your mind is not prepared. Come, come. I will help you. I will light your path, so in the mirror yourself you may see, But before that, you must prove yourself to me. Show me: Attunement to the dim blur of dark, Perception of the subtle art. Patience for the dawn to come Wit for it all to sum. Come to me, and I will point you to your first step. Or for those who want less fancy words OOC Notes:

Resolved.

Second hint:

It is green. Mur's name appears as red in the chat and Chewett's appears as orange, but when they make realm-wide chat announcements, the text they send will appear as green.

Le MRF.

Hm. I'll give 2 perspectives on this: my own and Aeo's. Me: There are many different types of love, as I think the Ancient Greek used to describe (Agápe, Éros, Philia and Storge), each with its own subtleties and differences. Some almost confound with friendship, others refer strictly to intimate aspects, etc - my point here is that you can love many different people in different ways, not necessarily the traditional "hearts and roses and candles" kind of love. But all in all, I would say that love is simply the single strongest connection that two human beings can form. It may last for a brief moment and burn vividly and then fade (Éros), it may last for a lifetime and be steady and sturdy (Philia, Storge); the fact remains though, that for the duration of it, those in love are connected and transcend most of the less virtuous aspects of humanity. Love makes us better. Love makes you do things that you would normally not even consider, makes you forget yourself for others. I'm conveniently omitting the 12-year-olds in "love" who do stupid things. Maturity is an absolute prerequisite for love. Aeo: Love is made of a speckled little mix of joy, sadness, hurt and a whole lot of fear. Love means tiptoeing around, being extremely careful and attentive and gentle. Like trying to hold a delicate little butterfly between the shears of scissors; knowing that the slightest flinch could kill or worse, maim. Even more, no matter how you look at it, love is not eternal; all love ends, and the darkest, grimmest part is that it never dies at the same time for each half of the couple. The flame is always extinguished in one side before the other. Thus even if it does light your path or bring joy, when the flame flickers away to smoke, darkness will quickly rush in to fill the void - and when it does, you will be at your most helpless and defenceless.