I’m wondering if imms can give us pledges an idea where scarab is at? I’m a bit over 100 hours and pledged what seems like a long time ago but most likely a month or two. I don’t play massive hours, so an hour a day adds up.

Do I need to keep going? I have a role idea that I’ve not written yet, because I didn’t want to go through all that for the cabal to be dead.

Am I doomed to be uncaballed or is there a leader on the way?

This should be an unique cabal, with the very low members, not like the last time.

I'd argue that is probably too low. Even for a unique and elite cabal.

I would probably consider playing an evil char again if the imms made evil leveling as easy as good align.

quick fix? make eregion elves not assist, or at least the feasting elves

Copy Maethien, make the Nightwalkers angels, nothing else... copy that #### somewhere else on the MUD for evils to have a brainless one stop shop to hero.

I'm mentally tough (Tsal's view) so I'll keep trucking in or out of the cabal. I don't need it as a crutch.

Them you can play your game, until induction eventually happens. Instead of feeling the game doesn't start until you are inducted.

128 hours but it was good hours.

Scarab is run purely by Scarabaeus, so you may want to send him an email directly.

However, I did want to point something out:

"I have a role idea that I’ve not written yet, because I didn’t want to go through all that for the cabal to be dead."

This right here? Not a good sign. Not the "not having a role" (though having one would make it easier for Scarabaeus to be like "Ok, this guy has been trying for a long time, I'm going to go ahead and induct him.") - the "I didn't want to go through all that."

As in, it sounds as if you currently aren't roleplaying when you log in. Because "Going through all that" to add a role to your character really shouldn't take more than 1 hour, and you say you've already spent 100 hours...

I don't know if I'm making my point very well here. Hopefully you're getting it. I'm not trying to be a jerk, just pointing something out that caught my eye.

You can RP without entering a role. I'm pretty bad about entering a role until I know the char isn't going to be a flameout, but I'll be RPing the whole time. I dunno, maybe its mental barricade but as long as I dont enter the role I feel like I can use it again.

And also, are the imms as a whole satisfied with the current state of cabal affairs? It seems like Entropy and Scarab are really niche and barren, if not altogether neglected. Has there been any thought to scrapping one for something more accessible?

I mean, from a 'capture the flag' cabalwar standpoint, who the hell is Battle even supposed to raid at this point?

Entropy is niche, and kind of a semi-cabal, but there are usually at least two or three active Entropists kicking around. It isn't exactly neglected, either. It's just kind of... freeform.

Scarab is considerably less active at the moment and generally harder to get into anyway, but I have nothing to do with that cabal and don't have any specifics to give you.

As for whether we as a whole are satisfied with the current state of cabals, that's both a complicated question and a moot one. There are ongoing discussions behind the scenes about changes we could make, but for now, we have what we have and we're trying to make the best of it.

If you want a low-investment cabal, the bar really doesn't get much lower than Entropy (solid roleplay is still required). Scarab is on the opposite end of that spectrum, with higher investment/risk of sinking many hours without an induction, but considerably greater rewards from a powergaming perspective.

Good luck!

I mean, I get it. I've played a neo Entropist. I was that shifter that took forever with your interview (which was cool as hell).

The neglected comment was directed toward Scarab. I think you're doing an excellent job as an Imm and Entropy never felt neglected from an Immortal standpoint. It just feels like it doesn't really fit in the state of traditional cabal wars. Has Entropy ever raided...anyone?

Entropy has raided just about everyone (with varying degrees of success).

I know coders are on the low side but it is obvious based on current members that scarab and entropy just aren't working.

If they were both scrapped and replaced with a mage cabal (for all mages) it would balance out the cabal structure and give battle a proper enemy. This would surely increase player numbers in battle/new mage cabal and mud in general. Couldnt someone tweak old nexus/warlock/scion/masters coded powers that already exist?

We would have...

Trib vs Outlander
Empire vs Fort
Battle vs New Mage Cabal

Like Rahs said, expect no changes for the time being. Otherwise, again like Rahs said, there have been some behind the scenes chats.

But for now we're where we at :).

-Ish

I understand there's this whole mentality of "It's mine, don't touch it" When it comes to IMM's crossing over in other Cabals, but if we know that the IMM over Scarab is a "dead beat dad" right now, why is it not okay for the other IMM's to step in a little bit to cover the slack? I understand Scar is busy AF in life, so perhaps delegation is a better tactic than just leaving it to wither and die until he gets the opportunity to do something about it.

In saying this, Scar I do appreciate all that you do, and have done for CF, just thought there should be a backup in any case. For instance, when I played Ghek, Ishuli inducted me into Outlander. This I think was awesome since outlander didn't have any IMM presence or leadership at the time. Fill the gaps is all I'm saying as life is unpredictable and that's okay.

What I don't get...

Is why everyone seems to think it's worse when plenty of scarabs have had to wait that long in the past.

Just view it as part of the cabal, and take it into consideration when picking. At least now all evils have multiple options for a cabal.

I'm not complaining about the time it takes, and understand the intensive aspect of the cabal. My point is that Scar is not around and doesn't interact with people except under special requirements, and even then, what's good enough for him to interact with? Secondly,
I only mention that it should be allowed for other IMMs to step in when the leading IMM can't focus on their cabal, which the way that
it was put, Only Scar can touch it, though I remember Venera filling in temporarily as an avatar when Scar wasn't around then.

View it as part of the cabal... that to me doesn't make any sense. "The cabal requires a long time for you to be accepted, if they find you capable enough to serve the cult" Okay... so what's long enough? What's too long? Why is it subjective, and if we are to really think in the aspect of RP and character life, they have been waiting for decades to centuries... Why is the premise of availability so lopsided for immortals to interact, but the hundreds of hours that a player is involved in, considered a dime a dozen and meaningless?

It is currently possible to get inducted into Scarab by someone other than Scarab. If you're an applicant who really stands out, commands attention, and seems overall high-quality, that's much more likely to happen.

The question we ask shouldn't be: How did it work before?
The questions we ask should be: Does a long wait to get into Scarab make it better right now? Does it make it more fun? Do the positives of making people wait (whatever those are) outweight the negatives?

The past is in the past. Maybe in that environment 10 years ago it was better to make people wait and keep it a relatively elite cabal. But considering there are approximately zero active characters in the cabal today.. why are we still operating in the way that we used to?

My question was why people are suddenly complaining about it now but not before.

And about why they had some expectations of something different despite evidence that inducts into scarab can take ages, or indeed be unsuccessful with some regularity.

I still don't view it as broken if one cabal with uber powers comes at a price of having to go a long time without said powers. And scarab powers are amazing.

My question was why people are suddenly complaining about it now but not before.

And about why they had some expectations of something different despite evidence that inducts into scarab can take ages, or indeed be unsuccessful with some regularity.

I still don't view it as broken if one cabal with uber powers comes at a price of having to go a long time without said powers. And scarab powers are amazing.