Hillfolk popularity

[Arvael]

I wanted to play a Khaldean - but the little teeny blurb about the people gave very little guidance to me as a newcomer to Cogg. I searched everywhere for a bit more lore, or even a map of the world, but alas. If these things exist, I couldn't find them anywhere.

For some folks, I get that this wouldn't at all be a deterrent, and they could confidently roleplay without the supporting lore. For myself, wanting very much to roleplay well AND to support unique cultural differences in-character, the potential learning curve was just too steep and intimidating (and I'm ridiculously insecure at the best of times). So hillfolk kinda = hobbits in my head, and that is a concept I understand, so... I went with that. Once I got ig and found they hillfolk weren't being portrayed quite as anticipated, I rerolled with a more fleshed-out character concept...but still didn't feel as though I could do justice to full-on Khaldean.

A bit more fleshed-out lore to support the races and a map of the world would be so awesome, btw. Does anyone have a conceptual map? I have NO sense of direction so reading the locations of imaginary places in proximity to other imaginary places just make my brain melt into goo, so if anyone has a map to share...

[Vaelin]

I love the hillfolk, they’re a seemingly chill race. But for my char concept, I wanted the shortest race possible who are known to be hearty and stubborn. Not to mention family oriented enough to have known quirky X degree cousins.

[Staz]

I think you have two groups of people Hillfolk most appeal to: newbies and veterans who just want to chill.

Hillfolk have the most open-ended description, IMHO, when someone is making a new character. The blurb doesn't say much about concrete events in their history or specific deities. They're made to sound rather independent, both from governments and from religions. Almost as if they are too plain for historians to have really noticed anything significant about them.

I think for a new player, amidst all of the other races that have fairly specific cultures and backgrounds, the one that is the least intimidating is Hillfolk. You don't have to know the lore to play them, they're simple country folk ranging from salt-of-the-earth to straight up redneck. They can be nice, or mean, or aloof, and it's uncomplicated.

For me personally, playing an unrefined country boy who is admittedly clueless about the wider world has been a great doorway to learning more about the world of Cogg from other characters. He doesn't have any innate enemies or goals inherited from his culture, and he isn't expected to venerate any specific deity/deities.

I picked Hillfolk for my first character because I had heard a bit about the crafting system before picking up the game, and I wanted to play a simple tradesman. Specifically, I wanted to woodwork and build things. The only other racial blurb that mentions the trades are the Giganti, and their description as war-loving makes them seem slightly more intimidating to roleplay for a beginner.

All of the same things make them appealing to the RP vet who just wants to chill out, too. On a game where you can have two characters, many people don't want both to be constantly involved in high-impact RP around things like wars, politics, and religion. Occasionally, everyone wants to kick back and roleplay a dude with nothing better to do than pick berries and go fishing,