Regarding the current situation

[Damien]

I was going to wait to the new year but I saw some comments by a certain person about saying people are salty or some bs which made me post it now (apologies and happy xmas + new years).

First of all, I want to emphasise I do not in any way discredit any of the work done by DMs and the effort gone into things, unless of course its Core/Johannes level self indulgence, which is obviously not the case. My point is and always will be what makes sense at a player level, and what has kept efu great all these years.

Looking at the server however, and what is going on, I do not agree with the status quo at all. We have factions which have, for years, conflicted with each other, working together with/for a guy wearing a skull helm and bone torso. I am sorry but even at a surface level this is terrible.

This level of ignorance towards hostilities, which were built into the setting, are really quite strange and frankly trivialise any plot reveals which come along with it. The ojo quest is a perfect example. You have a weakened bloodmage which each faction could exploit for their benefit, and each faction has 3+ members which could all rally and compete for him, yet instead we have a SELECT group of players, all in competing factions, working with each other to free the guy because "count is bad". Like come on, we are better than this, that is why efu has lasted this long. Not only does this kind of action promote inaction, but it also promotes collaboration amongst conflicting pcs, which last I checked was something we didn't want.

This exact ignorance towards setting and push towards select few is exactly what we hated other servers for, as it just creates idiots on IRC/Discord protecting their fiefdom, and no ability for new players to stand against them.

As it currently stands however, we have a select group of level 10+ pcs all working together, which allow no room for pcs that do not agree with them, nor new PCs in the same factions unless they "kiss the ring" of said pcs, and frankly speaking I hate this with a passion. There is no fun in it, and the idea that I'm somehow salty or something is laughable and anyone who really thinks that of me, after playing for so long, should be ashamed of themselves.

The whole point of EfU, which separated us, was risk and meaningful conflict, and for the sake of the server I hope this comes back.

[Bearic]

It's cool to be worried about stuff and hold things to a high standard, but you're generalizing a lot of player effort and conflict over the last five months that lead into this by suggesting these factions are simply working together now out of complacency.

House Sunpurse was lead by an active group of really cool players for months prior, but things ended up this way after huge conflicts with Moonspear, Redjacks, Orza, Sunspyre in the Ponds, and more. The level 10 pcs heading these factions have all died or nearly died to massive conflict each on a few different circumstances.


It's best to not judge how a House is standing by a DM event either. There are a lot of things to juggle and factor in, so some times temporary alliances occur to mitigate issues.  There is also still plenty of room to elevate another House in a manner of conflict, or player faction for that point. I ran a prelude simply to give players a chance to do something interesting in contention of the Peerage not too long ago.

[Ironside]

Neither of you have played a PC in the current environment.  I would really urge you guys to cut your teeth before saying things like this. (RwG, and Griff)

The last three or four days have been rife with intrigue, assassinations, bold confrontations, pvp, dueling and general drama.  The Orza PCs have murdered Moonspears, the Glitt PCs are fighting everyone involved in some brawl or another.  The Velstra PCs have manipulations ranging high and low. 

Every single one of these PCs is spending the lion's share of their time between the big events you have seen conflicting and building rivalries and generally being the best EFU has been in several months.

This is a thread that I think would have genuine heat if it were posted this summer.  However... it just doesn't, looking IG and paying attention since the fall. 

I am certain you have good intentions with this.  I would ask you to put more of your faith in the EFU DM team, though. 

As a friend, and a member of the community who has played with and had a lot of fun with both of you.  The vocal sniping about this in EFU Main/discord in general doesn't accomplish anything but breeding negativity, and there is an event horizon on negativity.  This is the kind of thing that fuels burnout, even if it isn't supposed to.

[Vlaid]

A bit reductive but there's been over a year's worth of RP and work and organic events that led to "working together with/for a guy wearing a skull helm and bone torso." who used to be a wandering man from the Ponds until Peerage PCs demanded/coerced/forced him into living in the Peerage in the position he's in now which has only been going on for a few weeks or so.

I suggest stepping out of discord and into the game before making these broad sweeping generalizations and opinions next time. I know this general sentiment is making the rounds through some circles of PMs, there's some points here to be made but it's far less than what it is being painted as.

[Random_White_Guy]

I've written and rewritten a response because I thought it'd be best to delete my post from last night, sorry Iron I hadn't seen you responded (Or maybe you were writing it at the time), but having slept on it and less knee-jerk I wanted to say this:

You and Vlaid both raise true points, very valid ones, and it was disingenuous to not point out that yes this week has been obscenely awesome hearing about everything swirling and whirling and going on for the most part.

But to Griff's point I wanted to say this: My issue isn't with the DM staff at all, it's mostly with me and other players. Which may be what set me off about Griff's post.  I don't deny that frustration can lead to DM burnout, and it certainly wasn't my intent to throw haymakers, but it's also the kind of stuff that causes PC burnout too, because  I legitimately feel after some reflection that the terms seem to have changed when people on EFU start talking about risk.

In the current... idk what to call it, "Meta"? But it's not all that current but I felt it profoundly these last two days when I came back and had people talking plots and recruitment and etc and when thinking about why I took my break in the Fall and etc.

It feels like listening to people talk about Risk is like taking a "Risky Action" like rocking the boat or pissing off an NPC or the hub or the crowd.

Where as in the past Risk felt like engaging in things when the deck stacked against you due to the story or principles and brazen and brash moves or etc.

It's not that one is more inherently better or worse than another in the grand scheme of things as both lead to story and developments and more, it's just something I've had trouble putting my finger on and after some ruminating I think that really boils down to the essence of the problem I've been having articulating things.

People stockpiling preparing for Risky Action vs People taking risks as their characters grow and develop.

So when PCs who were taking open  risk they'd get undercut by hardship while people who weren't could go on open invite DM events or the wild quest trains and more could profit and grow without the mitigation and hardship. In the past PCs who were less overt wouldn't get included in larger affairs or DM Faction Quests and etc which were typically for people with more expectations.

If it's the way things are just gonna be, Its my issue to deal with so i'll leave it at that,  one of the things i'm hoping to improve my attitude on in the coming weeks.