We can trivially stop them from decaying, which is what most of us do with prized possessions! Our inventories don't automatically stop things from decaying.
"Oh yeah, you're a naughty mayor, aren't you? Misfile that Form MA631-D. Comptroller Shevat's got a nice gemstone disc for you, but yer gonna have to beg for it."
As for things that players give Czixi - I preserve all letters/paintings/other written items eternally, plus the few crafted items that people miraculously got Czixi to like. The vast majority of what she (and her priests) are given is deleted. Otherwise her inventory would be full of macarons. Sometimes I forget to put them in our void of destruction and a few days later am inundated with decay messages, that's always fun.
But what a great goldsink, getting us to bake all those sugary things...
Czixi, the Welkin murmurs, "Fight on, My Effervescent Sylph. I will be with you as you do."
Aian Lerit'r, Lead Schematicist exclaims to you, "A *paperwork* emergency, Chairman!
What’s the biggest misconception out there about being a Divine, in your opinion?
I love this question because it allows us to really touch on something that I think players often forget: we're players, too! One common misconception about being a member of the Lusternian Pantheon, and one of the reasons so many people ultimately return to mortality, is directly connected to the work we do. To be more specific, divinity is less about glitz and glam and more about work itself -- and the work is one of the major (and only!) rewards we receive. Let me explain.
It's always a labor of love for volunteers. Several of us have written blog posts about this topic because it's tough to articulate exactly what we mean. We're unpaid "employees" who help run the game behind the scenes, and it's hard work, but that work is exactly what keeps us coming back. For example, without naming the event specifically, I once spent 30+ hours working endlessly on something I thought folks would really, really love, and it flopped miserably. The backlash was intense, I shed lots and lots of real life tears, and I had to really dig deep to remember why I kept coming back. The answer's the same for most of us: the toil is just as fun for us as the product because we get to be part of the storytelling aspect of the game. When we receive praise instead of critical feedback, that's just icing on the cake.
Players, luckily and intentionally, don't see the sweat and frustration that goes into our day-to-day because we take pride in never dropping the 4th wall. However, I do think that a bulk of our playerbase forgets that we're not paid to do what we do, and while our goal is always to entertain, our compensation for all the hours and hours of writing is really exactly what I described above: a similar love that you share for a really, really cool game. We just get to love it in a different way.
So, tl;dr: a common misconception about being a Divine is that it's all about power, prestige, playing with your Order, and zapping mortals. It's much, much more involved, and very, very hard.
What’s the biggest misconception out there about being a Divine, in your opinion?
I love this question because it allows us to really touch on something that I think players often forget: we're players, too! One common misconception about being a member of the Lusternian Pantheon, and one of the reasons so many people ultimately return to mortality, is directly connected to the work we do. To be more specific, divinity is less about glitz and glam and more about work itself -- and the work is one of the major (and only!) rewards we receive. Let me explain.
It's always a labor of love for volunteers. Several of us have written blog posts about this topic because it's tough to articulate exactly what we mean. We're unpaid "employees" who help run the game behind the scenes, and it's hard work, but that work is exactly what keeps us coming back. For example, without naming the event specifically, I once spent 30+ hours working endlessly on something I thought folks would really, really love, and it flopped miserably. The backlash was intense, I shed lots and lots of real life tears, and I had to really dig deep to remember why I kept coming back. The answer's the same for most of us: the toil is just as fun for us as the product because we get to be part of the storytelling aspect of the game. When we receive praise instead of critical feedback, that's just icing on the cake.
Players, luckily and intentionally, don't see the sweat and frustration that goes into our day-to-day because we take pride in never dropping the 4th wall. However, I do think that a bulk of our playerbase forgets that we're not paid to do what we do, and while our goal is always to entertain, our compensation for all the hours and hours of writing is really exactly what I described above: a similar love that you share for a really, really cool game. We just get to love it in a different way.
So, tl;dr: a common misconception about being a Divine is that it's all about power, prestige, playing with your Order, and zapping mortals. It's much, much more involved, and very, very hard.
While we hear about it from time to time, I'm not sure any of us would truly understand the level of (voluntary) responsibility and load of work our Divine put into the game while occupying their role unless we experienced it ourselves.
So thank you again to all Divine (and Ephemerals!) for all that you do. You are so incredibly appreciated.
Tonight amidst the mountaintops And endless starless night Singing how the wind was lost Before an earthly flight
What’s the biggest misconception out there about being a Divine, in your opinion?
Probably that volunteers only ever get to work on their own organisation's story. Primarily, yes, admin work on their own org in terms of interactions, patron requests, and so on. But when we have Havens-wide projects like events, or when people are submitting their own project proposals, they very often have absolutely nothing to do with their 'home' org.
Partly this happens because sometimes volunteers want to put on a very different hat - playing the same thing all the time, even if you love it deeply, can at times get boring. It could also be that that area of knowledge is complementary to their org. And sometimes, people actively pursue a project because they want to learn something about that area of the game they haven't experienced. It keeps us engaged and it ultimately makes us all into better admin.
With Divine's, does essence matter to them? Like does everything cost essence e.g. making Avatars, using powers. What happens if they run out?
Essence most definitely has a role and the Gods do use them to concretely do things. Aside from RP value, offerings of essence really do help in a mechanical sense. Gods without enough essence won't be able to do certain things. Though it's certainly possible, I don't know of any Divine that has ever "run out" completely before in a mechanical sense.
With Divine's, does essence matter to them? Like does everything cost essence e.g. making Avatars, using powers. What happens if they run out?
Adding to what Maylea has said, it has been revealed that admins also have special 'admin points' they earn (by doing admin things like running events, etc) that is also required in some sense for the bigger things like creating/adding to a realm. So if you are offering to a god and thinking 'why don't you have a realm yet with all these offerings.', this is likely part of the answer.
Will the clock tower in Magnagora be completed? It feels like it has been at least a RL year, probably longer, that it has been in construction with the same 'off-balance' tick at midnight. Not a gripe, I promise, just wondering! Also, is there a way we can maybe remove the loss of balance?
Will the clock tower in Magnagora be completed? It feels like it has been at least a RL year, probably longer, that it has been in construction with the same 'off-balance' tick at midnight. Not a gripe, I promise, just wondering! Also, is there a way we can maybe remove the loss of balance?
I'm pretty sure the running joke is that every event is going to knock down any progress made on it. Imp labor, you get what you pay for.
Will the clock tower in Magnagora be completed? It feels like it has been at least a RL year, probably longer, that it has been in construction with the same 'off-balance' tick at midnight. Not a gripe, I promise, just wondering! Also, is there a way we can maybe remove the loss of balance?
Turns out that building a massive and complex structure requires more than just stacking bricks on top of one another...apparently it requires somebody with a deep understanding of engineering
Will the clock tower in Magnagora be completed? It feels like it has been at least a RL year, probably longer, that it has been in construction with the same 'off-balance' tick at midnight. Not a gripe, I promise, just wondering! Also, is there a way we can maybe remove the loss of balance?
Turns out that building a massive and complex structure requires more than just stacking bricks on top of one another...apparently it requires somebody with a deep understanding of engineering
Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
Gods who have stepped into old gods' shoes (Like @Terentia but not limited to her):
How did/do you approach connections the previous player made with Order stuff, mortal-god relationships, NPCs, etc that make up the history of the god whose shoes you're now filling? Or, to put it another way, how did/do you handle keeping all of the information about your RP role in your head as you take on and develop your version of the character?
Do you guys keep a wiki with bullet points about interactions you've had and NPCs you possess that your predecessor left, or reams and reams of rp logs that @Aonia tied you to a chair and forced you to read through?
Gods who have stepped into old gods' shoes (Like @Terentia but not limited to her):
How did/do you approach connections the previous player made with Order stuff, mortal-god relationships, NPCs, etc that make up the history of the god whose shoes you're now filling? Or, to put it another way, how did/do you handle keeping all of the information about your RP role in your head as you take on and develop your version of the character?
Do you guys keep a wiki with bullet points about interactions you've had and NPCs you possess that your predecessor left, or reams and reams of rp logs that @Aonia tied you to a chair and forced you to read through?
When someone takes on a god role (be it a new one or an old one), they often have to draft up a proposal that fleshes out and explores the dynamics of the character. For those of us who take on an older role, we often find ways to access newsposts, HELP files, and other materials found in-game, as well as use whatever materials our predecessors wrote up in our shared lore bank (and RP logs, if we have them).
In my case, Terentia's notes were thin and a bit scattered, is the best way to phrase it. So at least with player interactions, I am relying on players to feed me information through their roleplay and I will try my best to respond extemporaneously.
We do have notes for NPCs that are actually commented in-game, which we can peruse very quickly. Luckily, most of Terentia's NPCs no longer exist so I don't have to worry too much on that issue.
Gods who have stepped into old gods' shoes (Like @Terentia but not limited to her):
How did/do you approach connections the previous player made with Order stuff, mortal-god relationships, NPCs, etc that make up the history of the god whose shoes you're now filling? Or, to put it another way, how did/do you handle keeping all of the information about your RP role in your head as you take on and develop your version of the character?
Do you guys keep a wiki with bullet points about interactions you've had and NPCs you possess that your predecessor left, or reams and reams of rp logs that @Aonia tied you to a chair and forced you to read through?
Similar to Terentia, much of previous Mysrais had notes that...certainly existed, but were scattered. In fact, one of the few things that was well documented was Mysrai's appearance through the different Aspects and what sort of order They had, as well as a few tentative thoughts relating to other gods. However, for events and such I had to go through the help files, read up as well I could, and trust what not only previous Mysrais and Estarra had written in event posts to be enough, but what players at the time had written to be fully accurate. Then, much like Terentia I have to base a lot of my knowledge on what players feed me of their own experience. It's a bit tough!
For that reason, I decided that with as old as my god is and how "famous" they are, it was best to just start from scratch. Use that enormous break between iterations to give myself a clean slate to work with, for the most part. I still had all of my order, but they got reset to order rank 0 until they came to interact with me and claim what they had. I also decided that the first Aspect I showed would be distant, and give me a chance to have players express themselves through a priest who was a reflection of my eagerness to do well: the Liar! Players loved to tell me all about their stories with Mysrai and what they felt about the order when it wasn't directly to the god Themself, which was an invaluable help in getting started.
For that reason, I have been doing my best to keep a private library of notes that I can put up in our archives, that way should there ever come a day when I am no longer Mysrai someone else will not have to take these dramatic steps again, and can feel a bit more assured than when I first started. However! Even if that were not the case, I want to point out that there is a great support team in the Havens in our lovely lore experts, who have no problem sitting down with you and puzzling things out or sharing their own wealth of knowledge and previous experience to get you to a point you can work from. The people who trained me into godhood are a lifeline I still rely on to this day when I get confused or feel I hit a brick wall.
I'm absolutely stunned (and happy, shh) to see @Terentia returning, and I know there are a lot of Celestians who missed your character deeply. Was she your first choice? Without giving away too much, had you ever interacted with her while you were a mortal?
As for @Lantra, I'm looking forward to seeing how you develop her in the game as opposed to merely hearing about her in the histories. What drew you to her?
And to both of you, do you feel like sharing your biggest misconception from when you were a mortal, now that you're up in the havens?
Everiine said: The reason population is low isn't because there are too many orgs. It's because so many facets of the game are outright broken and protected by those who benefit from it being that way. An overabundance of gimmicks (including game-breaking ones), artifacts that destroy any concept of balance, blatant pay-to-win features, and an obsession with convenience that makes few things actually worthwhile all contribute to the game's sad decline.
I'm absolutely stunned (and happy, shh) to see @Terentia returning, and I know there are a lot of Celestians who missed your character deeply. Was she your first choice? Without giving away too much, had you ever interacted with her while you were a mortal?
As for @Lantra, I'm looking forward to seeing how you develop her in the game as opposed to merely hearing about her in the histories. What drew you to her?
A very, very long late night brainstorming session led me to Lantra. I had compiled a list of the things I wanted to achieve in a Divine and was ping-ponging those ideas back and forth with another admin. We talked about existing roles and how they would fit, and then we considered roles that no one had played.
When Lantra came up, I floated a few ideas, not expecting them to go anywhere... and then suddenly it was early morning and I somehow had several thousand words written in my godrole proposal! And it only got longer from there (Sorry, Aonia).
That first draft contained a lot of "What if?" questions. Lantra is mentioned in multiple books in the Elder Wars (Tae, Loboshi, Krokano), where she often speaks on behalf of the hamadhi and is considered a key player in many historical events. What would it be like to live through those moments? What sort of person would emerge as a result of these experiences, such as being shoved aside by Fain when he brings forth the Elixir, or being betrayed by Malmydia?
I enjoyed the character that came alive from asking those questions, and I very much look forward to sharing more about her story with the playerbase.
And to both of you, do you feel like sharing your biggest misconception from when you were a mortal, now that you're up in the havens?
Here is something that players should appreciate: new admin get RP jitters, too! Sometimes when you're roleplaying as a visible Divine you wind up immediately engaged in city conversations, guild conversations, tells, and Fulcrux conversations all at once. It's an accelerated pace that definitely takes getting used to.
Also, you may not realize it, but there is often a concerted effort to help new gods acclimate to their org before they release. Even though we weren't released yet, Terentia and I both had been quietly working on the New Celest guild revamp and the latest Ascension events, which helped get our feet wet in the org (no pun intended).
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Estarra the Eternal says, "Give Shevat the floor please."
Czixi, the Welkin murmurs, "Fight on, My Effervescent Sylph. I will be with you as you do."
Aian Lerit'r, Lead Schematicist exclaims to you, "A *paperwork* emergency, Chairman!
Czixi, the Welkin murmurs, "Fight on, My Effervescent Sylph. I will be with you as you do."
Aian Lerit'r, Lead Schematicist exclaims to you, "A *paperwork* emergency, Chairman!
It's always a labor of love for volunteers. Several of us have written blog posts about this topic because it's tough to articulate exactly what we mean. We're unpaid "employees" who help run the game behind the scenes, and it's hard work, but that work is exactly what keeps us coming back. For example, without naming the event specifically, I once spent 30+ hours working endlessly on something I thought folks would really, really love, and it flopped miserably. The backlash was intense, I shed lots and lots of real life tears, and I had to really dig deep to remember why I kept coming back. The answer's the same for most of us: the toil is just as fun for us as the product because we get to be part of the storytelling aspect of the game. When we receive praise instead of critical feedback, that's just icing on the cake.
Players, luckily and intentionally, don't see the sweat and frustration that goes into our day-to-day because we take pride in never dropping the 4th wall. However, I do think that a bulk of our playerbase forgets that we're not paid to do what we do, and while our goal is always to entertain, our compensation for all the hours and hours of writing is really exactly what I described above: a similar love that you share for a really, really cool game. We just get to love it in a different way.
So, tl;dr: a common misconception about being a Divine is that it's all about power, prestige, playing with your Order, and zapping mortals. It's much, much more involved, and very, very hard.
So thank you again to all Divine (and Ephemerals!) for all that you do. You are so incredibly appreciated.
Tonight amidst the mountaintops
And endless starless night
Singing how the wind was lost
Before an earthly flight
Partly this happens because sometimes volunteers want to put on a very different hat - playing the same thing all the time, even if you love it deeply, can at times get boring. It could also be that that area of knowledge is complementary to their org. And sometimes, people actively pursue a project because they want to learn something about that area of the game they haven't experienced. It keeps us engaged and it ultimately makes us all into better admin.
Adding to what Maylea has said, it has been revealed that admins also have special 'admin points' they earn (by doing admin things like running events, etc) that is also required in some sense for the bigger things like creating/adding to a realm. So if you are offering to a god and thinking 'why don't you have a realm yet with all these offerings.', this is likely part of the answer.
>.>
In my case, Terentia's notes were thin and a bit scattered, is the best way to phrase it. So at least with player interactions, I am relying on players to feed me information through their roleplay and I will try my best to respond extemporaneously.
We do have notes for NPCs that are actually commented in-game, which we can peruse very quickly. Luckily, most of Terentia's NPCs no longer exist so I don't have to worry too much on that issue.
For that reason, I decided that with as old as my god is and how "famous" they are, it was best to just start from scratch. Use that enormous break between iterations to give myself a clean slate to work with, for the most part. I still had all of my order, but they got reset to order rank 0 until they came to interact with me and claim what they had. I also decided that the first Aspect I showed would be distant, and give me a chance to have players express themselves through a priest who was a reflection of my eagerness to do well: the Liar! Players loved to tell me all about their stories with Mysrai and what they felt about the order when it wasn't directly to the god Themself, which was an invaluable help in getting started.
For that reason, I have been doing my best to keep a private library of notes that I can put up in our archives, that way should there ever come a day when I am no longer Mysrai someone else will not have to take these dramatic steps again, and can feel a bit more assured than when I first started. However! Even if that were not the case, I want to point out that there is a great support team in the Havens in our lovely lore experts, who have no problem sitting down with you and puzzling things out or sharing their own wealth of knowledge and previous experience to get you to a point you can work from. The people who trained me into godhood are a lifeline I still rely on to this day when I get confused or feel I hit a brick wall.
I'm absolutely stunned (and happy, shh) to see @Terentia returning, and I know there are a lot of Celestians who missed your character deeply. Was she your first choice? Without giving away too much, had you ever interacted with her while you were a mortal?
As for @Lantra, I'm looking forward to seeing how you develop her in the game as opposed to merely hearing about her in the histories. What drew you to her?
And to both of you, do you feel like sharing your biggest misconception from when you were a mortal, now that you're up in the havens?
When Lantra came up, I floated a few ideas, not expecting them to go anywhere... and then suddenly it was early morning and I somehow had several thousand words written in my godrole proposal! And it only got longer from there (Sorry, Aonia).
That first draft contained a lot of "What if?" questions. Lantra is mentioned in multiple books in the Elder Wars (Tae, Loboshi, Krokano), where she often speaks on behalf of the hamadhi and is considered a key player in many historical events. What would it be like to live through those moments? What sort of person would emerge as a result of these experiences, such as being shoved aside by Fain when he brings forth the Elixir, or being betrayed by Malmydia?
I enjoyed the character that came alive from asking those questions, and I very much look forward to sharing more about her story with the playerbase.
Here is something that players should appreciate: new admin get RP jitters, too! Sometimes when you're roleplaying as a visible Divine you wind up immediately engaged in city conversations, guild conversations, tells, and Fulcrux conversations all at once. It's an accelerated pace that definitely takes getting used to.
Also, you may not realize it, but there is often a concerted effort to help new gods acclimate to their org before they release. Even though we weren't released yet, Terentia and I both had been quietly working on the New Celest guild revamp and the latest Ascension events, which helped get our feet wet in the org (no pun intended).
*poof*