[–] [deleted] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
[–] bobusdoleus 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
On the one hand, I don't think players should play multiple things. A player shouldn't be a god and a race. That's just, like, bad form.
That said, a god should probably be free to influence any unclaimed race, without post-per-day limits (beyond the already existing voat-wide ones). There's a lot of content and that's the only way any of it would get explored. A god only has so much attention span, it seems - some of the gods spend all day creating several types of plants and their interactions, some spend their time bickering with other gods, some gods create races ad nauseum, some spend all their time exploring a single race, defining their social structure, handing down boons and commandments for them. That all seems fine to me. It all comes down to exclusivity. When a god's influencing a race, they can do things, but so can other people; When a player 'plays' a race, then only what they say goes, and no one else has input. Other people can attempt things, or impose disasters, rewards, curses, etc., but ultimately it's the player's decision how the race reacts. I don't think it's a good idea for a god to also be holding exclusive control over another race like that.
As for what domains mean, exactly... Ultimately, being a god 'of something' is just a way of cementing the community's approval for certain actions. People tacitly accepted you when you created a god of <x>, and would seem a bit foolish for then denying you use of that set of abilities, so it's a useful guideline for voting - people will generally vote for things that it 'makes sense' for a given god to do. So if a god of oceans posts something about creating oceans, he can count on a lot of 'ayes.' If a god of time starts creating oceans, especially if the god of oceans speaks up how that's not cool, such support isn't forthcoming, generally. But there's no hard and fast rules about gods trumping things or not. We're all gods, yeah? We can do things. It's about what makes a good story: If the goddess of life denies someone, say the god of rocks, life for their creation, then rock-god goes off to make the life anyways in secret beneath the earth, and then the goddess finds out and is pissed... That sounds like pretty standard god-politics in a story, to me. So, getting into specific mechanics of who can trump whom, when, seems misguided. Simple voting, with the general thematic guidelines of 'this is a story about gods, try and make it a good one,' seems fine.
Which brings me back to another point of gods and domains: A god with more domains, or 'better' domains, isn't actually more powerful or better than a god with fewer, more niche ones, it's always seemed to me. or at least, shouldn't be. The domains serve as useful guidelines for what the god might care about and how they would generally choose to interact with the world, but there isn't actually a hierarchy of 'who would win in a fight' other than the base democratic voting rules. As I've said, who has what domains isn't actually fundamentally that important, except to help people frame voting patterns and play characters. As a consequence, we shouldn't need to worry about gods that went inactive or domains that are retired. We don't have a domain of 'Miners,' but we can still have miners, so there's no need to worry if the god of darkness or the god of time goes on hiatus. Other gods can still interact with those concepts just fine, and maybe that god should be available for another player to take over later, but it's not like someone needs that god to exist or the game doesn't work. There's just one fewer political entity with goals related to the idea of time. If the god of time's gone, that just means other gods can have cool time stuff and not worry about the god of time nosing in and saying 'Hey! Don't do that! I care about time and want it done differently.'
Only time it really matters which god has which thing is on a direct, 1v1 conflict with no other votes, or a completely tied vote. Those situations seem very unlikely. Generally it's probably better form to call in an extra vote rather than try to tiebreak via domains, anyways. There are too many factors, and voting's cleaner.
Them's my thoughts. I'm not actually disagreeing or arguing with you generally, I think, a lot of these are parallel or similar to stuff you've said in your comment.
I see what you're saying, and I would also be okay with this way of game play. I am basically trying to get an idea of what everyone thinks, and just how far I can push the envelope for if/when the Säen go unclaimed, or if they are claimed. You did remind me of something important, which is what makes the best story? A bunch of plant-people planting gardens all over the world is not exactly riveting... but there may be a fleshchanged among them, and who knows if the Necromancer Hellite Champion can really be trusted?
[–] 3869027? [S] 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
I have been thinking a lot about the god playing a race thing too - and the temporary solution of x posts per x days doesn't sit well with me. I suggested it as a temporary fix, until we could get a bigger discussion on it. I am now more inclined to not allow it completely, because as you say, it is unfair to the few that renounced godhood to play their race.
I was 100% for this until we lost players and the dozens of races created during the Age of Creation were more or less forgotten about. Until we get more people I don't think it's wrong for the Creators to expand upon their creations a little. I have no idea who created the Thorac Humans, but I think they'd have a cool story arc if anyone took them over, so I am trying to keep them someone relevant in the meantime. Same as the Naga or the Squid Creatures who are into science.... And really, the Saen won't do anything on their own until they are claimed, but since they have such a close relationship with Pome (tending his forests and living on his Shrine), he can order them to do just about anything, so does that fall into the realm of playing the race, or Pome giving orders?
I propose we give it one week, until the next Sabbath, continuing gameplay as we have been while actively trying to recruit players. If in 6-7 days things continue as empty as they have been, we can all present our arguments and vote on it. I do think we'll need some middle-ground, because I am not confident we'll attract many more active players to fill in the roles of the empty Gods, or take over Races.
As for recruitment, will rejoining v/all be enough? It worked initially to gather people who stayed for a week, but maybe a post to v/rpg or v/dice would aim at a more specific demographic? If no one minds, I'll go ahead and do that, unless it would be better coming from one of the moderators.
[–] HumptyDumpty 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I have to say that I agree with all the sentiments in this thread. I do think we need more players and more people writing. I would like to add that this week alone we have had a number of new races/players join. The question is, do we allow this sub to grow organically, with one or two new players a week, or do we force it. The new players that have joined recently have all seemed to contribute. They seem like they will stick around, unlike many of the one post gods.
For me, that's the problem with pushing the sub, you might not get people who want to tell a story and stick around. I like the suggestion in looking for new players in similar subs, it might at the very least provide less trolling.
To be honest I'm quite happy to trust the judgement of most people within this sub, for now I would suggest to give it another week, and maybe review it again at the next sabbath.
If people feel more strongly one way or the other, then I'm happy to support whatever action is decided.
[–] Oveass 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
I agree, we either need more players or we should allow everyone more freedom in playing god/race. With too few Gods some actions seem... empty. I can't really go call on the sun to help heath in Roxxarums forge, so that Roxxarum can go forge me some super awesome stuff because both the goddess of the sun (only created a sun) and Roxxarum (currently occupied but clearly a player) are AFK. I also had ideas for creatures that would need to be made/blessed by the god of time, but he's also AFK. Like the god of noodles did more stuff than the god of time. And god of time is an insanely strong domain.
That's why I proposed to actively seek the gods that only had their creation post and PM them to see if they'd be playing still. Then vacate those gods for new players. This would bring back into play gods with interesting and often crucial domains.
The gods are mainly screwing all of the mortals over continuously, because the gods have a very broad scope they usually shouldn't care about what happens to the lives beneath them. This is why people playing Races are so important, they provide the real magic in this world through storytelling, like Char'Li who refused the offers of a God. Koniguldon who is sieging mt Greb from all the horrors in the hope to find more precious ore.
God's have limited ability to tell these stories, as Meranath did by focussing his attention on 1 Holnareem champion.
We need both parts, the global influence and the stories that follow from it. We need both to be played so people have a chance to interact. Without Pome telling about the Thorac or the Saen both would become a forgotten mystery. Do you know what the Illithid or the Sophons are? What do the Naga do or care about? We dont know because no one has written about them yet. We need interaction.
When the Flora want to sell their wares, and the only active races are Med'Ja and Holnareem. That would be a pretty empty market. Now thanks to the Shryke, Saen and Thorac we have a reasonably big network of trade with good supply lines and stock. That wouldn't be the case if me and GrandPrismatic hadn't taken the liberty of progressing these races.
Tldr: we need interaction. We need it between gods and we need it between races. Ideally everything has it's own unique controller, no conflicts of interest. But when we are few players and many races/gods then I think the option should be there to play a limited version of god/race alongside being a race/god for sake of interactivity of Gaea.
[–] Cutsprocket 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Hom as a being still exists, it's just he split his essence amongst the Med'ja. Between Pomme and Zille we don't really need anymore nature gods. we did have a beast god but hes gone awol after creating some epic beasts