Factionless does exist

[mugendo]

Much to the consternation of many a player and developer alike.....I think it really is time to recognise that there are Homins on Atys who do not follow a Deity.

As Factionless Homins we can use the Cats...not supplied by the gods, but from the land....Pulled from the ground by the Homins around you .....when did you last see Ma-Duk or Jenna getting their gardening gloves out ?

As Factionless we craft weapons and armour of the highest quality...how many folk have better quality items from their Kami or Karavan Deities

The teleport points....now that is something from the Deity......it allows us to travel great distances without meeting other Homins, (Nice implementation of something to segregate Homins there), but I will continue to avoid this 'gift' and trek with my trusty mek to my destination...

Fighting skills....yes we Neutrals understand how to use them, against the dangers of the land...But again the Deity in their infinate wisdom chose to encourage Homin to fight Homin...

So, what are we left with here ?.....Factionless, the ones who are not distracted, have the time and inclination to unite Homin...yet the Deity refuse to acknowledge our existence....

Well, everyone knows a Factionless Homin.....How many Deity have you seen ?

[iceaxe68]

Originally Posted by mugendo

Well, everyone knows a Factionless Homin.....

Praise be to Jena, I used my OP mat axe to whack a godless neutral infidel into the mek-dirt of the Yrkanis stables yesterday.

[OOC]Sorry Beau, couldn't resist [/OOC]

[jared96]

Originally Posted by mugendo

Well, everyone knows a Factionless Homin.....How many Deity have you seen ?

I saw Jena and MakDuk in the Fyos Baths drinking champagne and laughing about how easily they get homins do dance to their tunes.

In the year 2000, 25% of the world's poulation was atheist....and it's growing. In a time where fundamentalist religion based terrorism dominates the news of the day, I have to wonder about the marketing strategy of a game that continues to echo such behaviors and promotes killing peeps who are a different religion than you are.

From another thread:

Originally Posted by jared96
When Ryzom was a "buzzword" in the industry, the biggest "claim to fame" of Ryzom was the "RAID Engine", it saw heavy usage in the beta and closed beta stages often with periods of weekly and more than weekly events. I have taken my "vacations from game" a couple of times, lasting severl months at a time but since "retail" I have only been here for one Raid.

What originally attracted me to this game in the original press releases was the line that said we could "build fortifications". Well other than the silly temples, I haven't built anything. The ability to build even temporary fortifications and defend against kitin raids would add a whole new dynaic to the game. The ability to build is already programmed (we did built the temples), the ability to have Raids we know is already there. I have never understood why these raids are not a routine event.

Suggestion:

1. Why not have one or kitins patrols strike every region at least once per season. I remember in FBT kirosta patrols near Matis so the programming is there. Nothing enormous, just a train of saw 30 kitins that would enter a region and "patrol it" until it was wiped out.

2. Let one of these patrols in any given Atys Year have a few more kitins say 40 whuch would "cut and run" back to the kitin lair when their number reached 10 in order to "report back".

3. The following season, the patrol that managed to "report back" would receive a massive kitin invasion in the region the patrol escaped from . Our kitin observers could report that "our forces did not manage to kill all of the kitin in the scouting patrol and we fear that our region will receive a massive invasion in the near future."

4. Later the observers could report that "scouts have reported that the invasion is likely to attack [name town, outpost, whatever on <insert date here>].

5. Allow like 4 RL days to "build defenses".

6. Have the raid at the specified date and time......let kitins do damage to OP's which could then be rebuilt. Maybe even allow them to be destroyed which would then require that they be retaken from npc's. Make the attacking forces bigger than any one faction can handle so that an opportunity would arise for people to negotiate for OP mats which they might not have access to otherwise.

7. Let the patrols and raid kitins have chance of dropping OP stuff. Not tons of it but not wheel odds either. The bitterness in the game comes from having classes of "haves" and "have nots".

8. Let the "gods" be present to bestow an aura on the participants defending hominkind. The amount of protection provided by the aura will be "earnable" and perhaps decrease SLOWLY over time. Lets say aura has earnable value of 100%; you can get 50% from kami, 50% form kara. Your starting point is your faction fame divided by 4. So a peep with faction of 100 / 0 starts with +25 / -25. A peep with 50/50 starts at +12.5 / - 12.5. By killing patrols and defending invasions in Fyros and Zorai, you earn Kami bonus......by defending in Matis / Zora, you earn Kara points. Make it so you can dig mats, craft necessary items and donate to the cause thru npc's for points. NOTE bonuses would NOT change fame. Let these points also be used to purchase things. A point buys a TP (kara point buys kara tp regardless of faction and visa versa). 10 points buys an OP mat, a stack of QLxxx cats or a KL. Forget for a moment whether 10 is appropriate or not but just consider the concept. Or if ya have enough bonus points, why not simply be able to buy TP's since you have "earned favor" with that fcation.

9. (New) Well not new, suggested before but in a different thread. let monuments be built to the heroes of old who 1st united the homins against kitin and got homins to ignore their differences to fight the common enemy. Have the spirits of these heroes able to bestow enchantments on weapons such as the Fyros Burning Weapons has 1 in 10 chance to bestow fire damage, Trytker waving Sword a chance to bestow shockwave damage and so on.


All of the above but the fortifications and "bonus points" already has been done and tested in game and therefore would have little development effort to implement. The bonus points seems worth the development time as it would provide the "have nots" with a shot at getting just about anything in game if they worked hard enough.

[mugendo]

Yes Jared, the kitin patrol etc suggestions are the 'Neutral' content I would like implemented....I'm not asking for the factions to become 'three'...but recognise there are more than TWO

[iceaxe68]

Originally Posted by jared96

In the year 2000, 25% of the world's poulation was atheist....

That makes, let me see, 75% of the population that is not atheist.

Originally Posted by jared96

In a time where fundamentalist religion based terrorism dominates the news of the day, I have to wonder about the marketing strategy of a game that continues to echo such behaviors and promotes killing peeps who are a different religion than you are.

Apparently religious murder is very popular, and an excellent marketing strategy for millions of fundamentalist types the world over.

In a time where people kill each other using religion as an excuse (like, since the beginning of human history) what better place to put these things than in a game instead of in the real world.

And, like in the human world, on Atys there are many many opinions and motivations, a whole wide ranging spectrum of them. From peaceful neutrals like our dear beloved Mugendo, to loose cannons like "the devil of Atys", to factional zealots like... many homins. It's all part of the rich experience we have, and to remove any of it would cheapen the experience.

[daestny]

Real world politics and religion aren't suitable topics for discussion here, let's remain in the world of Atys when we discuss these subjects please.

[danolt]

If the factions decide to stop respawning homins who are factionless we wont be seeing very many "nonbelievers" at least not many who will venture much further then the city gates.

Self absorption, yes it does exist. Why be part of a group that has laws, beliefs and guidelines when you can ignore them, call yourself above the law, be above tradition and make yourself the highest power and the center of the universe. It is so much easier to cast blame, to separate, to say "I am above this" and that those who stand over there, those who think differently they are the are the problem.

If a group does not follow a creed or higher power if they have no guidelines, no moral code, no laws, no communal traditions then the only thing they follow is the Homin who leads them. And I must say, it is a pretty good gig if you can get it.

I am not sure where the idea that Jena wants Homins to war amongst themselves comes from, it is certainly not part of her commandments. I would argue that Homins don't need much help from Jena or the factions to be hostile.

It is the Homins who fight amongst themselves, our history is filled with war, slavery and atrocities, it is part of the Homin condition. Unless, of course, all Homins lived in peace 60 years ago. There was no Ma-duk before the swarming. Our grandparents lived in a time when that name Ma-Duk had never been uttered by a homins lips.

Yet the "factionless" have it all figured out. It is all so simple, it is that which we can not control that causes our conflicts. It is the Gods, for it certainly can not be our own fault, because if it is part of the Homin condition, that would mean that the "factionless" Homin is no better or wiser then one who follows laws, traditions and faith.

The factions have nothing to do with the wars of Homins. Before there were Kami, before there was Ma-duk, the Zoari closed their gates to the refugees fleeing the Kitin and watched as thousands upon thousands died, the Matis marched on Karavia and slaughtered the Fyros after the fire of Coriolis, the Fyros occupied the Lake Lands and kept the Trykers from self sufficiency and I suspect the Trykers wear pirate hats for a reason. Slavery, murder, extortion all predate the present factional conflict.

Jena, the mother of creation, created us in Her Image. Meaning we have the ability to create, to choose. We have free will to follow her or not. We can enslave ourselves and force our children to cover their faces so they will no longer be able to see the difference between right and wrong. We can unite and create a golden era of peace and advancement. We can even follow false gods. We choose, if we do the work we can do anything because our creator gave us that ability.

Pero

(This was an in character response)

[iceaxe68]

Originally Posted by daestny

Real world politics and religion aren't suitable topics for discussion here, let's remain in the world of Atys when we discuss these subjects please.

Amen, brother!

To properly rephrase my earlier thoughts:

I am extraordinarily happy to be in a community where we are free to think as we will and express our beliefs as we so decide. It makes life on Atys far more interesting than it might be if there were really only two points of view, if one were forced to pick one side and stick with it regardless of changes in our understanding and ideas.

The vocal presence of homins with differing opinions, and of homins who might be swayed by our debates and actually make a change is, for me, one of the chiefmost joys of Atysian life.

So, cheers to Mugendo, and may Jena forgive you in your ignorance.

[vguerin]

Originally Posted by mugendo

As Factionless Homins we can use the Cats...not supplied by the gods, but from the land....Pulled from the ground by the Homins around you .....when did you last see Ma-Duk or Jenna getting their gardening gloves out ?

As Factionless we craft weapons and armour of the highest quality...how many folk have better quality items from their Kami or Karavan Deities

Those Cats come from the boring machines provided by the deities. Since what they produce appears to be endless, it may in fact be an etherial creation by the dieties. By erecting a drill of a specific faction you show their power, and they give back a reward in what the drills provide ? This is what I believe, can you disprove this ?

The sisters of Jena, using a power I have yet to see matched on Atys, not all that long ago, brought back the young Matisian prince. All we had to do was provide materials worthy of their attention. The life of a homin was saved by the vassals provided from Jena via her "sisters" in the Karavan.

As a reward for my service to the Karavan, they have supplied me (by giving me honor points) with shields and armor pieces that I consider unmatched to date by homin craft. Factionless to you must mean non-believer, since I believe I just gave examples showing some of thier power...

you just have to believe.

[jared96]

Originally Posted by daestny

Real world politics and religion aren't suitable topics for discussion here, let's remain in the world of Atys when we discuss these subjects please.

The subject is Ryzom's viability / content and the potential success of any entertainment and viability of any commercial venture can not be weighed separately from the world we live in. Can't see many Mom's springing for the $15 a month when they don't like the message or religious hate being sold to their children.

You may remember that "the Ahhhhh-nold" shot a big blockbuster movie about blowing a building by terrorists that was shot just before 9/11. The release of the movie was delayed almost 2 years as it was deemed "unwise" from a commercial standpoint to release a movie which touched on a subject brought so painfully home. What do you think the success of a game would be that say had teh hero trying to stop a nutjob from wiping out students on a college campus post Virginia tech ?