Greetings and question.

[Anvin Tennard]

Hey everyone!

I wanted to say hi and meet you folks here on the forum. I've been lurking on teamspeak and finally managed to talk with Kaylem yesterday to settle some questions, after which I bought the game. I understand that people aren't actively playing LiF these days, which is sad. Without people to help me settle in, I can't proceed whatsoever. I can only make myself visible and wait until someone oblige me.

One big question: What career to pick? I love the skillcap feature that justifies choice of career and makes interaction necessary to complete the chain of gathering and crafting. At this point, I have no idea what we have and what we don't have. I'd like to hear this from various points of view.

Also, where can I learn about the current situation (who are lords and subjects, how many counties and towns etc.)?

Thanks!


This post will also serve as extension to my profile information (since the system cut off half the text in 2 fields, annoying as it is). You can read it if you wish.

What skills, talents or experience do you possess that you feel would make you a useful or interesting member of the Duchy?:
Ingame: Dedication (I tend to spend 12+ hours a day online. Provided what I need, I get things done if I like to do them). Realism (I dislike powergaming. Provided a solid and fun enviroment, I love to serve and do my part to simulate a practical, fictional community).
OOC: Teamwork and Counselling (Guilds are often quick to place me among officers because of my natural sense of teamwork. People tell me that I have great, useful opinions on important issues. Due to having Asperger's Syndrome, I process thoughts in ways more complex and deep than others - people find me useful for reflecting on their troublesome issues, and I find my life easier when others do the same for me to simplify mine).


If accepted, what are you hoping to get out of your time with the Duchy of Wessex?:
I hope to see a level of activity and dedication that I haven't experienced anywhere else.
I hope to experience how fun it is to be part of a community where people have to interact to complete the chains of production.
I hope to be part of an active community where I can talk with new people and continue to develop my social skills, since I only recently started appreciating being different (made possible in a SWTOR guild with some very helpful people). As noted above, my life becomes easier when people are there to help answer my questions and simplify my thoughts.

[Azzerhoden Razeri]

Greetings Anvin,

You may choose what ever skill sets you wish to explore. We do not want to force people into a role, as this is a game and people need to have fun!

That being said, one of the most critical roles is producing food. It is a lot of work, and one where everyone is encouraged to spend some skill points in.

[Anvin Tennard]

You may choose what ever skill sets you wish to explore. We do not want to force people into a role, as this is a game and people need to have fun!

Allow me to elaborate quoting part of one of my posts on LiF forums:

From past experiences, I know that the more freedom I have to roam (the less defined my environment is), the quicker I ruin my game experience by eventually going ooc, hyperproduce resources and grind all I can to 100 before I feel I can start playing the game "for real". That, and I might end up getting myself into RP positions of power that I lack real experience to handle, ending up feeling like an idiot for it (also a compliment of being asperger).

So in a sense, I need restraint to enjoy myself - the more the better.
There are several avenues I'd like to explore, and could easily settle for one. But, with the current level of activity I need to find a career that can handle prolonged periods of being alone (which ideally should never happen in a roleplaying environment this extensive). I'd like to avoid a career that is too common (after all, what good are 10 soldiers and 0 smiths? Or 10 carpenters and 0 masons?). My goal is to find a balance that allows me to have fun regardless of known problems (here inactivity), instead of getting bored, going ooc and hyperprocude the best that gamemechanics allow.

As a note, I have the impression that come the MMO, people from this guild will flock in to play. I just hope I don't have to wait until then.

[Jaidyn Sothenic]

Welcome to Wessex

[Azzerhoden Razeri]

Every major guild is struggling with activity right now in LIF. Everyone loves it, but aside from building there is little in the game to do. As a sandbox, the game needs the interactions of people with their own agendas. Opening the server up to the public offers a brief respite, but suffers because at the moment you cannot protect your items from theft (no claim ability), griefing (building campfires that prevent players from building or tunneling), and massive server lag from lots of tunnels.

Now, we have been discussing the restarting of the server, and I've been tossing around some ideas in the back of my head on how to remove these obstacles. I hope to have a post up for guild discussions this weekend.

[Anvin Tennard]

Thank you for your feedback, Azzerhoden. If possible, I'd like to join in on any such conversation, both to keep tabs on current affairs and provide feedback if useful. I have only skimmed the surface of the game (controls and content) and agree that the game is nowhere ready for MMO implementation. Even so, as a guild, we are on an honor system to make sure we don't grief one another. This game has huge potential, and I am looking forward to see many of the currently disabled abilities (many of which I've dreamt of for other sandbox games).

I've also had a chat with people IRL whom have helped me conclude that I could develop a character that survives on the streets until someone gets online to get him settled in. As roleplayers, we have more than just the game to enjoy, but noone wants to play alone ofcourse. If I prove to be a constant presence, perhaps it would cause others to pay new interest.

[Anvin Tennard]

I have a terrible tendency of making multiple corrections to the same response (which may cause people allready viewing the thread to not have the latest version). My last reply is finally refined to carry what I wanted to say.

[Aneirin Cuthwulf]

I have a terrible tendency of making multiple corrections to the same response.

You and me both. Welcome to the Guild!

[Gudren Bloddmerch]

Hirem, the farmer, and I can usually be found over at the new settlement. We have, however, taken a few days leave, my fault entirely as I was less than vigilant with a few herbal concoctions that left me somewhat incapacitated.....and, yes, I am aware that as a professional herbalist I should know better, but discovery and advancement are achieved through experimentation are they not.
As just about everyone else had seemed to have abandoned the village we figured it would not hurt to take a short break, to recover and and rebuild our fervour as it were.
No doubt we will be back to take stock and replace the lost livestock within the next few days and thus continue with the building of the new settlement with the assistance of the Brothers Pawnitov.....mayhaps we shall stumble upon one another.

[Azzerhoden Razeri]

or stumble onto the GOON BANDIT!

[Gudren Bloddmerch]

Farmers do not have time to worry about bandits.....if they're going to kill you there isn't much can be done about it. It's not as if we can cease our toils in the fields, if we do the crops wither, the livestock dies or becomes diseased and thus the whole village suffers in addition to not being able to supply the nobility, if we cannot pay our taxes who knows what will happen to us.
Hirem just prays that the smell of piss and shit keeps the bandits away, it clings to him you see.....if he's not clearing dung from the barns he's spreading it on the fields, then there's the hours of standing over tubs of boiling piss, hides or flax. Ok you get used to it, that or, because I have aided him in the fields for so long, I have started to likewise reek and so just don't notice lol
But back to the point.
Bandits! pah! a pox on them, the harvest cannot wait.

[Anvin Tennard]

Another question: The signature oath of fealty for membership registration here doesn't mean that my character has pledged ingame allegiances to anyone yet, right? I can assume noone in the duchy have ever met Anvin unless I make that arrangement by letter or similar meta-introduction?