Dominion Dissolution, Mistral Lake (it's staying), and also moving away from CvC focus aspirations

[Jaster]

Just don't expect me to stop stealing y'all's firestones.

[Spidercat]

Many people built their character's identities around the dominion and its activities.

I don't believe this is entirely true. There was a lot more to these characters than just their faction affiliation. Many characters, regardless of their allegiance, possess multifaceted personalities and depth beyond their factional ties.

At some point, I noticed a shift where friendships within factions appeared more centered on political ideologies rather than genuine connections. So much so that I did not feel like there was a point in trying to continue the story of a character who only wanted to learn how to treat herself better. There seemed to be very little interest in the character's wellbeing, or her journey towards self-acceptance. Moreover, there is a notable presence of other characters grappling with their own issues, and it feels like their wellbeing isn't receiving the attention or support it deserves.

I urge everyone, whether consciously or unconsciously making assumptions, to consider that there might be unexplored depths to every character. I understand the staff's decision, and sincerely hope that we can all become more mindful of how our roleplay impacts fellow players from this point onwards.

I loved the Dominion, the storylines related to it, and the efforts invested by both staff and characters. The effort and thought put into developing these characters are commendable. I hope that you are all able to find reasons to keep playing them, and that there will keep being ways for you to contribute to the community in ML.

I cannot think of a character who was just made for Dominion stuff. Everyone active seems to be getting themselves involved with anything that catches their interest. Some of it yes is related to the old campaigns and troubles of the former dominion, but conversations did stray to other things, and querks of people.


Anyway, I can't really give any word on how things were in Shadgard, but I can't think of any friendships that were politically motivated. In fact, i'm pretty sure there were more tensions caused amongst friends for thinking of certain actions to take against certain other player characters. But that did not really dominate the discussion up north. Everyone got into their own hijinks, misadventures and non-dominion related drama. Gathering for design sessions, going out on picnics, or thinking delving into this cave together was a good idea. I haven't been too aware of situations where people had issue with another's individual roleplay. In fact, I've heard people coming up north stating they felt outcasted and judged down in Shadgard for trying to get involved with the roleplay down there.

[Volinn]

In fact, i'm pretty sure there were more tensions caused amongst friends for thinking of certain actions to take against certain other player characters.

This was not at all my experience, personally.

But there's nothing wrong with a character concept having been tied in with the Dominion's ideals: I can think of a few characters who are or were intrinsically linked to them. It's not a bad thing- it CERTAINLY doesn't mean they were one-dimensional. There's tons of nuance in that stance.

[Spidercat]

I am not arguing against that. It's just that dominion RP wasn't really brought up as often when not prompted by an event, or a reaction to something. I've seen more RP with folks trying to liven up the Lake's actual town with planned events or gatherings. Most people who had chars more invested generally kept to themselves and their npc contacts until recent events started causing more visibility with them.


But that's my experience with players up north that I roleplay near daily. I'm not sure about players who were invested in Dominion Rp in a more antagonistic role. I"m sure they did more than just focused on that entirely either.

[Volinn]

I... honestly have no idea what you're debating right now? I'm not saying the majority of RP has been focused around factions at all? I never once implied that. I don't even know anyone in Shadgard who was ever diehard Shadgard all day e'rry day. You're painting broad strokes over a non-issue that never occurred for either side of the equation. I'm kind of confused: I'm saying that there were, in fact, numerous Dominion-focused characters and I was simply pointing out that is is not and was not a bad thing. That is it. Your original post seemed to heavily insinuate that it was and that nobody like that exists or existed. I can think of two prominent characters whose end goals aligned with the Dominion and it was functionally a core part of their characters, along with a few more who aligned with those ideals on a less intrinsic level. There's a TON of nuance in that stance and I found it really cool, honestly. Sure, I look forward to where the game goes, but I'll not have my goofy statement skewed so strangely.

[Gorth]

I'm also kind of confused as to the point of these last few posts. To say there are 'no' characters made with the intention of joining the Dominion is straight up wrong, even beyond the technicality of those characters made after Mistral became a valid citizenship area. The point being that those people might be a little bit put out by this whole set of developments.

[Spidercat]

And this is why I shouldn't be reading posts at 4 am. My readthrough last night made me think people were only making characters to join up with the shadey fog-covered town's government as the initial concept. Appologies there. Yes, there are people who ended up invested with the Dominion's mission for various reasons. Though it seems some people are more concerned that they might have issues investing in RP again if it's possible for it to end like this.



Though I am more curious on the quoted bit. I wanted to say that those type of players rarely brought up their thoughts on the dominion with people up north unless prompted by an event. It was encouraged for them to keep quiet about what they were doing, even if word still got out. So it wasn't easy to really roleplay with them because of that, and Rp consisted about other stuff they didn't have to be so tight-lipped about. Meaning, it'd be hard to really associate with other players with Dominion Rp due to how exclusively limited it ended up being for a while. And the only time it ever caused an issue were arguements on handling one particular situation. Well that and getting mail out when one wasn't allowed to know certain mailbox numbers. This was my thoughts on friendships being formed for political reasons. Until recently, those players really couldn't leaverage their investment with the dominion as it was discouraged, and if they wanted more than 2 friends, they better have more to their character than just being a government goon. Because for a while, it felt like those players were nothing more than glorified mailmen if they weren't invested in other things.



Though, I'm not sure when I brought up factions? Antagonistic to Dominion Rp doesn't mean Shadgard. Things never got up to that state at all, and I was aiming more towards people's interactions with those players. Because I know some of those people aligned with the dominion could get very, very mouthy when agitated. And some people individually could have issues with the conquesting nation creeping a bit too south for comfort. And of course those two groups of players would not get along.

[Gorth]

This might have been brought up before, but could it be possible to see the citizenship restrictions lifted? So we can have a character previously registered to Mistral active with a Shadgard character?

[Gorth]

This might have been brought up before, but could it be possible to see the citizenship restrictions lifted? So we can have a character previously registered to Mistral active with a Shadgard character?

This has, as of today, been seen to. Thanks, Rias!