Sat Sep 7 00:48:07 2013

At 2 o'clock PM, Day of Thunder, 24th of the Month of the Ancient Darkness
on the Theran calendar Azhelak perished, never to return.

Well, that was quite the ride. I don't know where to begin but I'm going to go into far more detail than I normally would about the character and the last 800 hours simply because of all the misinfo and nonsense that's been floating around.


The Build: Chaotic/Good Felar Marshdweller/Explorer.
-----
I went with this after seeing Rasst in action. I've always preferred arpee and thought some of the good_only progging gear would be a nice accent to the build's strengths (it wasn't for the record). I became Sunwarden very early and with insects I felt very strong. Pursuit worked quite a bit when mastered (thank you, skill learn) and dirt/entangle spam/beast call/serpent strike were pretty much all I needed. Early on I noticed the obvious flaws with the build and I was pleasantly surprised that 99% of my enemies did not. Pretty much everyone did exactly what they shouldn't in spamming flee and dying tired. The few who stood their ground and attempted burst damage usually managed to run me off (unless I was prepped to the gills, in which case it was 50/50). This is a big reason why Kraldinor and I never killed each other solo, but more on that later. Beyond that Falcorix was the *only* warrior who utilized dirt kick and retreat to circumvent pursuit.

Sitting around and waiting was torture sometimes. I became very proactive in taking enemy items and killing retrievers during long sessions. Of my 120ish PK wins I would say over 50% of them were in the Prosimy. While this was my first ranger I really think I would have managed more PK wins with another build/alignment and while I'd likely try another ranger someday I doubt it will be another swamp/explorer.


The Role: Cursed felar with anarchistic leanings.
-----
People will have to read the PBF to get the full story but the basic idea behind Azhelak was that his people, the Tul'vharun, were cursed Ages ago when one of Azhelak's direct ancestors was tricked into trading a human a Spear that was said to be blessed by the ancients. His ancestor did this to save his wife who was ill with a mysterious plague. The spear, which represented the Purity of the Tul'vharun, was traded for a cure to the plague. Unknown to the elder Tul'vharun the man later used the Spear in a Becoming which turned the man into a lich. A few months later the now-cured fela gave birth to a horribly disfigured felar and died in the process. From that day on every Tul'vharun that was born was more disfigured than the last (which is why I took repulsive and ancestral curse flaws).

The story went on the theorize the origin of the curse. Some thought it was the ancients cursing the tribe for bartering the spear, others thought it was from the mysterious wanderer-turned Lich (named Draclivis in the role, a name you may have seen in others PBF's). I added that the curse drove the Tul'vharun toward uncharacteristic bloodshed and lust so that despite their best efforts to end their bloodline (and thus the curse) they were unable as the bloodlust would take hold and they'd basically rape and pillage. Azhelak found that by killing evil he could hold these urges at bay. My RP was far more stable in the 48ish ticks after a PK, the longer I went without blood the crazier (and angrier) the RP got.

Here I should note that when i wrote the role I had no idea what the origin of the curse was, nor how (or if) it could be cured. I had no expectations other than seeing if there were any imms who wanted to run with the story. I would have been content to rp a disgruntled, cursed felar until I lost interest. I also would have been content for a story that didn't end happily. i was willing to leave everything (including my expectations) open to the ebb and flow of CF. Azhelak worshiped Baerinika because purity and fighting evil seemed to fit the role well. I have tried in the past (Athioles being the most recent) to get Baer's tat and I screwed it up miserably each time. Come to think of it this was my first tattooed character in Cf and probably the fourth that tried Baer's epic religion. So you can pretty much toss any "favorite" conspiracy theories out the window in that regard.

One day while ranking in Mal'trakis I accidentally killed an elven invoker. Or I should say I called a beast to help us against 3+ headhunters and the elf area attacked and my wolf ate him. I used it as a means to further my bloodcursed arpee and found Andira (along with Oshui) in Baer's shrine. I reached out to Andira, told her about my curse and how I was coming unglued after the curse had tasted the blood of an elf. She agreed to help me in any way she could and our story together started there. I approached her because she was an Acolyte, at the time I knew nothing else about the character, the player nor if she'd play any sort of role in my story.

From there, after an elaborate ritual Azhelak managed to push the darkness from himself (with the aid of Andira). While he (and his tribe) were still cursed he was no longer a slave to the urges mentioned above. He also knew (from a series of dreams, thanks to whichever IMM did that) that the Lich was alive and the source of his affliction. During this time the lich showed up in person (thanks to whichever IMM did that, as well) and a few series of battles occured from which I decided that the only way to defeat the Lich was to forge a new spear.

And so I approached Baerinika (The Spearmaiden, makes sense right?) and I collected ten or so objects that represented the *reborn* purity of the Tul'vharun (as the old spear represented ancient purity) and from that Baerinika gave me a skill to forge a ranger's spear that was imbued with virtue. This spear was used to eventually kill Draclivis and free the Tul'vharun from the curse. At which time the ancestral curse flaw was replaced with the shining soul edge.

The spear you all saw in at least one Dios log doing something fancy. It could wrath, it could cast divine/elemental bolts as well as fumble (I believe?). All told in the 500ish hours I had it it progged in PK four times. Three times the person was already screwed and the fourth was against Kraldinor who I was incapable of killing solo. It went off on mobs quite a bit, especially undead (I'm not sure if that was coincidence or not) but it certainly wasn't as powerful as some on the forums made it out to be. With that being said it was really a nice touch to the character and obtaining it was likely his proudest moment.



The Wardens: aka being a bad Outlander and humping conjurers.
-----
When I joined Outlander I was kind of surprised and pissed to meet Auldr. My intention was to be a very liberal Warden. Make friends with dwarves, help Paladins, et cetera. Auldr was basically already doing this and after our first talk I almost deleted but instead I decided to help him as best I could. My goals for Outlander were a lot like my role in the sense that I was open to any and every option. I fully expected to be booted at times and I planned to either make my focus entirely on the curse or joining Fort if that would have happened. I made my RP very freedom-centric as Azhelak had a greater appreciation for the idea as he and his tribe were essentially slaves to Draclivis. Secondly it was hard for Azhelak to pass judgment on anyone (especially those of the Light) as he viewed himself as an ugly, cursed and soon-to-be Evil (ie. consumed by the curse/bloodlust) felar. So as Sunwarden my goal was to encourage Wardens to follow their hearts and not dogma. If their hearts led them too far from the Warden's goal of Thar-Eris (which should never be confused with the other branches) then I would have expected the imms to handle it. In this sense I was the best and the worst sort of leader and I think the relationships I developed with all the Wardens were unique.

I work two jobs in the "real world", one in the late afternoon for a few hours and then the other until 4am CST. This is why most of you saw me in the dead of night and it's also why Andira and I meshed as well as we did; my day was ending just as hers started. This overlap (when most of the game is dead) gave us plenty of time to talk (and sorry to disappoint but no mudsex) and develop a dynamic that I felt was defining of what Azhelak became. By the end of his life he was no longer the sheltered, angry felar. He was no longer ashamed of his appearance and he was bolder than ever. This transformation felt natural for me as a player because of Andira. I've played CF for a few years and another mud for a decade before and I'm confident in saying I've never encountered a character that was perfectly played as Andi.

I should take this time to note that we PK'd together very little. I made a point not to hunt with her (defending the Fortress or at times, the Refuge aside) as I didn't feel it was entirely fair and honestly I didn't want to deal with any more whining than I had to. Any reports to the contrary are just nonsense. I have 120+ PK's logged and she was given an assist in six of them. I'm honestly not sure where a lot of the forum backlash came from in that regard.

Eventually we had a non-wedding, which was the best Amaranthe would do for us. I should thank you for changing my perspective on gay marriage, Am. I now understand (at least in theory) the frustration that people must have felt for so many years. This different classification aside the ceremony was a lot of fun, thanks again to everyone who attended and to Amaranthe for putting it on. Up to this point I was viscious in my defense of Andira IC. I was prepared to PK other Outlanders for attacking her but she seemed to win all of the Wardens and even most of the Harbinger branch over on her own. Reavers were always fun to fight/argue with. I'd like to think that Nyst and I had a quiet, disdainful respect for one another.

Overall I appreciate the amount of freedom I was given with the Warden branch. It's always a goal of mine to push the envelope in a cabal, either through wars or ideology, to break the cycle a little. The same thing over and over can only be done so many times.


Goodbyes: Too many to remember.
-----
Andira: I pretty much covered most of it above but I did sincerely enjoy our time together. My mornings aren't going to be quite the same. See your role through!

Brakrar: Azhelak called you brother and he meant it. We came up together and boy did we wreck house for a few months there. My time in Outlander wouldn't of been nearly as enjoyable without you. I think it's BS that you lost Harbinger but I didn't get a vote.

Ekaerok: I didn't trust you IC and I think it showed but OOC I was really impressed by your character. Best of luck.

Baerinika: 8th times the charm I guess! I still don't know how to approach you properly, even after the tattoo I felt like I kind of just stumbled through much of it. I hope the ideological dots I tried to connect were at least close to what you were looking for.

Amaranthe: Thank you for everything. I hope I didn't push things too far. A coven-member is even higher on my list of to-do's now.

Kraldinor: Manipulating Imperial politics was something Azhelak was pretty good at. He took a lot of credit (more than was reasonable ooc) for the poor state of Dura's Empire. Then you came along and surprised the hell out of me. I only play one character when I lead a cabal but I was really tempted to roll something to run around with you. Easily one of my favourite characters of this age.

Mendos: I had plans to approach an imm or two about giving you some of my con before you heroimm'd. You were a key part of Azhelak's development and I'm really glad we crossed paths.

Leyras: I wish you played more. You were Azhelak's oldest friend and I think we bonded more over Auldr's hazing than anything. By the end Azhelak trusted you more than anyone.

Alauvriel: I was apprehensive when Andira first told me what was going on IC but you are nothing short of amazing. As far as I'm concerned the Wardens (and Azhelak's legacy) are in your hands. Go get those Reavers!

Nyst: Getting killed LD rubbed me the wrong way tonight but you had every right to do what you did. I really need a new router.

Rest of the IMM staff: keep up the great work, we appreciate everything you guys do.


-----
I'm sure there's a hundred more people and a few dozen other points I'm forgetting but this is far longer than I ever intended. I never thought I'd be bummed over a character dying but I'm really going to miss this one.

Take care everyone and I'll see you in the Fields.


Azhelak
Aucius
Athioles
Hjalmar
Rhyaldrin

Because I totally missed the fact. Now I'm going to be ashamed because, well, I take pride in paying attention to the little things. Hell I read Nyst's desc (thief waylay is awesome) but not yours!

Though it is fact that there was no occasion for me to actually look at you, other than once or twice during PK when there was no time to read, and the fights weren't interesting to warrant looking back.

That aside, unintended awesomeness is the most awesome. That's how a person should approach CF - be prepared to play with what you have, and when you get something extra, you'll be happier than ever.

Age deaths are so rare. Congrats.

Curiosity makes me ask, did you wear any -age gear?

No, I just became Sunwarden very early (150ish hours?) which made me age slower than your normal felar.

To be honest I was tempted to wear +age gear near the end to speed things up but that felt like cheating. I had four main goals with this character:

1) Break 100 pk wins: Since it was my first ranger (and outlander) it seemed like a realistic goal. Had I been evil I think I would have broken 200.

2) Get tattooed: as mentioned above I have failed miserably at this in the past.

3) Sunwarden.

4) Age die.


I got the rest legitimately, hurrying the age death just didn't seem right.

Really enjoyed interacting with you, even if at times it did feel like pulling teeth (yours, I usually thought, and not mine). Thanks for letting me hang out with you and Andira and not griping about me stealing time from the two of you. There were times you had me laughing my ass off with a witty comment, usually about Sehdara (timing and all that).

Wonderful character, hope you're able to make another just as enjoyable to you and others.

You, much like Kazz, just caught me at the worst time in the morning. Keep up the good work.

I did get a lot out of you, it just took some time. It helped that Andira told me some things so I had a bit more information coming into our conversations, specifics about your history and all that. Plus you eventually told me a lot of the story too.

Again, really enjoyed the character.

Congratulations on a well played character.

I enjoyed our interactions early on, though I soured on you a bit after you became sunwarden. This was mainly because anytime I fought you, it was typically (not always) a three on one with whatever fortress might be around with insects in the forest in a retrieve situation and, if I came repeatedly (I hated resting without the codex) it was usually a repeat. I could have just avoided you, but as I said, I hated resting without the codex. Nothing wrong with what you did since I was the one that made the choice to keep pressing, but I have been on the other side (xasivus vs ziruanja), and would typically only use insects until the first time they died, and would just let em keep fighting and wording after that. They would get the scales back eventually, but no biggie.

I would have sacrificed sleep more to show up when you were around, but in the end not sleeping just to burn through a con point and lose any high end items I had, and whatever other crap fort or the other outlanders felt like taking (I am still annoyed crafted's elf took all my teleport potions and that elf shifter kept taking giant only items) just wasn't that appealing

I never thought you were getting a huge boost from traveling with Andira. But as a long time outlander player, I was annoyed you were traveling with conjurors and that the Harbinger was traveling with Orderly Dwarven Paladins (more annoyed with the latter since I actually died to that several times). I quit playing outlanders right before Amaranthe started loosening things up but my angst was more just along the lines the current batch of outlanders were doing things mine would have never done.

As far as influence in Empire goes, I think Duraskandr and the rest of the council just not showing up was the biggest reason for the big downturn during his reign, though I am still curious if there was anything to his and Gruna's betrayal you started talking to me about.

Re-reading this, it sounds pretty negative, but I'd say that is just a testament to what a frustrating foe you were, which is a good thing. Once again, well done.

Yeah you were a lot to take down even with two or three and there were many times where you managed to kill one of us in the process (even if it was just through rot). The insects probably were a bit much but from an IC stand point a dead Emperor was near the top of Azhelak's priorities. I tried not to loot much of anything from you (or most anyone that I respected) but as you know I can't control what others do.

I don't know how far my rumor-mill actually went, but it was a fun aspect to run with IC. Gruna and yourself were the only Imperials I crossed that were ballsy, often to a detriment. Trying to paint him as a coward/traitor to a council that was full of cowards and traitors was an amusing angle to take.

Hopefully we can be on the same side next time. You're a great asset to the game as a whole.

This is going to come across as whining I know but:

"I should take this time to note that we PK'd together very little. I made a point not to hunt with her (defending the Fortress or at times, the Refuge aside) as I didn't feel it was entirely fair and honestly I didn't want to deal with any more whining than I had to. Any reports to the contrary are just nonsense."

Andira used clairvoyance to find Eidiol who was already hero helping two people rank, Tolgrumm summoned him into the 3vs1 gang where dirt kick and pursuit reduced his chances of escape to pretty much nothing, and my biggest ever weapon got sacced. So it did happen at least once.

Yes, thus the "very little" comment. I don't recall specifics but I know something had happened that pissed me off and made me want to hunt you all down. If I recall you weren't the #1 target but it just ended up that way.

I liked Eidiol more than most Imperials, for what it's worth.

Can't have been that bad if you don't remember it. Probably not so bad as Alauviel dropping an out of range full loot on me at the refuge

At the time I had conspiracy theory thoughts because most of the time neither you or Andira did that (it was the only time I'd gotten into a PK with her other than outside the fort or when she was retrieving actually), and I thought that team good somehow knew I'd finally accumulated more than a handful of charges and decided to put a stop to it before my weapon actually became worth having.

Other times though you were quite magnanimous, I remember being astonished that I was allowed to keep my weapon after that running battle between the palace and the refuge.

If I recall correctly it had nothing to do with you but someone you were with. You were just the unlucky one.

Only reason there's no pk is because I used my only orb of travel. Then later I died to you in the prodigy just after retrieval for lack of said orb.

That said, you were cool about not stripping me. I still really don't understand how the be nice to dwarves, conjurers and paladins is compatible with outlander but I guess that's because amaranthe has decided to change that aspect. I personally think that is a terrible call whilst the fortress approach is wilderness.

Didnt spend a lot of time together but Belendithas considered you a friend.

Best of luck with your next.

Because of ArPeee ... #### this, if you wish RP bordered only by your imagination, take a place at Heralds.
Don't return, please.

And yet if I was a herald you and yours would whine that I had nice gear and never left the inn. If I was a villager you'd cry about death blow. If I was a trib you'd say I never left town or took any chances. There is no pleasing miserable, anonymous asshats.

I will be back and sooner rather than later. I'm sure you'll enjoy the next just as much.

He will be inn-sitting gear mule, ganking villager with potions or cowardy city-sitting gear mule? You said, not me.

Not sure if ESL but the point he was trying to make went totally over your head.

Whether or not you'd agree with it being a whole other story of course.

He said something like this: I do whatever i want, everything you are saying now and in future is a whine, because i am great, and doesn't matter i'm playing outlander leader as a fortie with insects, i'm a man with stellar RP and love of gods.

Not sure if you're being obtuse or being an asshole, honestly.

The section of the player base you associate with will always twist words and/or facts to fit your "poor me" agenda.

was not the rank 51 felar ranger outlander hanging about fort with a conjurer and then attacking my rank 43 AP who had no cabal powers and was engaged in fighting with an elven invoker who was many ranks above me too!

It was not the fact that had I freaked a little when you suddenly insected me, then dodged blindness spells reducing my pursuit chances to slim and I forgot I had a lead wand for barrier as I seldom used it due to having not found my black rod to help deal with all the heroes gunning for me daily.

It was not even the fact that you took my 30+ charged weapon that took so long to build and made me soooo scary with my underpowered felar AP combo, dispatched so easily by yourself (Your admission, not rating Grezoosh despite zero interaction previously) despite obviously letting Eidol get his back. I can understand the RP from an outlander taking it as it breaks the 'cycle' but not the way you wanted to break it.

It was the c*nt move you pulled after taking the unholy and then waiting until I unghosted to sacrafice it. I was trying to take the #### death on the chin and go get a new weapon so as not to be all game mechanic abusing and logging off straight away to avoid being online at the same time in case you did pull a c*nt move. You could have destroyed it whilst I was a ghost but decided to wait until I had unghosted and doubled your kills on the 'so easy non-rated felar AP'.

So when you poked your nose in again and this time, blinded, still pursued me well enough alongside Andira and using your potions of sight or conjurer cancellation magic to take my 18 charge unholy from Andira's kill because she couldn't and it was iron; it was the final straw that broke the funstick. I think, as an AP, I treated enemies better than you did but maybe that is me bleeding through into my character and I shouldn't.

Anyway, next time, make a fort and try and RP for insects instead of this, it might make it easier to swallow and less bitter tasting for others.

Waiting to sacrifice the weapon was due to your outburst immediately after your death where you said (among other things) that I hadn't "earned" what I had.

This aside I have no idea why you risked it. You knew from 15 minutes earlier that I was there. Then when you slept the invoker you did it in the fields instead of on the water. 43 or not you'd of done much better if you put some thought into it.

And the second time was 2 on 2. Your invoker friend was just incompetent.

Theoretically you RP'd with a small handful of people, while having a huge story that you went into with the Imms and like one/two other mortals...To the rest of the player-base you're just "over-rewarded outlander attached to conjurer" guy.

And you go on about all this in-depth motivation behind stuff, then when prodded on an item admit that you're actions in game in this case were motivated by an OOC desire to "punish" this AP for saying you hadn't earned something you had. And in another thread regarding another AP he "did something that really made you mad". Well...great RP there. All well til he makes you mad right?

So we're willing to have an in depth role, which we interact with the imms only and maybe a couple of morts, collect all our rewards, but to everyone else we're just "humans in cat suits".

And this is pretty typical of most over-rewarded people. I remember interacting with *so many* over-rewarded chars trying to see what their RP was about and getting met with the typical "I'm busy" sort of responses while they're basically hiding away in a shrine emoting to themselves and an Imm. Or in your case, sitting outside Fort camo'd hoping for easy pickings.

What I'd love to see is if you have an over-rewarded char, you don't *need* to tell everyone what you're all about in a long goodbye because you know, you'd actually interact with other people and that would be part of the requirement to actually get those rewards to begin with.

CF'ers LOVE gossip more than a bunch of old ladies sitting around in a knitting club. The things people come up with and propose as "fact" astound me at times. The point is, there will always be crazy theories about over-rewards, rewards in general, someone's RP, etc. It's not really possible to RP with EVERYONE and tell them your story and have everyone just be like "o I c" and be understanding, rational, and realistic. That's just not the playerbase we have.

My chars don't need 5 paragraphs explaining myself because I talk with people. I talk with my enemies, I talk with my allies, low level guys in my cabal, low level guys in my guild, low level guys I just walk past sometimes.

Point is, its a roleplaying *GAME* and to me that is about roleplaying with the other players not just the Imms and people you know OOC. Everyone I know knew exactly zilch about this character other than his attachment to Andira. Does that seem right to you? Go preach on the mountain, that's what roleplaying is about.

Maybe I just got a bad taste and I'm the only one but from what I gather I'm not. It's not other people saying he's breaking role to punish people via PVP, it's him saying that. It's not random detractors...it's his own words and actions. I'm not asking for him to defend himself I'm just pointing out it'd be great if rewards went to people out there in the world not just emoting in a corner somewhere.

And he can defend himself. My comment wasn't about him or the choices he in particular made at all, more that you said when a character has been (over)rewarded it's their responsibility to interact with more people in game and PROVE to everyone why they're so rewarded instead of allowing the rumor mill to churn ooc about it. My point was there is no way to really accomplish this. You can't play 24-7, you can't interact with every person on the who list at all times and explain your life story to them.

I'd be shocked if Azh didn't know Andira OOC and I'll be further shocked if more people don't respond on this thread with "Well, didn't really interact with you but well done!"

I'm not knocking you for rewarding the guy either, just trying to put my opinion out there on what sorts of things should be rewarded (interacting with people in the game) and which things are kinda just churn (gather 10 obscure items). I'd really, really love to see more of the former rewarded and less of the latter because the latter isn't really making the game good for anyone else.

>I'd be shocked if Azh didn't know Andira OOC and I'll be
>further shocked if more people don't respond on this thread
>with "Well, didn't really interact with you but well done!"
>
>I'm not knocking you for rewarding the guy either, just trying
>to put my opinion out there on what sorts of things should be
>rewarded (interacting with people in the game) and which
>things are kinda just churn (gather 10 obscure items). I'd
>really, really love to see more of the former rewarded and
>less of the latter because the latter isn't really making the
>game good for anyone else.

Having been given a similar type of task by Baer I'd guess this wasnt 'show me your OOC knowledge of item lists in CF by finding me fennel, heartstone, and turkey feathers'

ie.
The spear will represent the purity of your people, to create it we will need a number of items that represent purity and your people. It will require a shaft of wood, a head of a metal, grips of leather, but the source of these materials is up to you. The quality to which these items match that need may determine both it's value and properties. Maybe Baer had some items in mind, but I'd guess from what he said she left it mostly up to him, he wasnt telling a story that was specific to Thera. He made it up and was RP'ing this curse as much as the flaw being that he couldn't recall once in a while.

Ranger goes out exploring, player thinks about purity, felar race, etc. etc. Comes back and has to explain each choice. Perhaps some Baer agrees with, some she does not. Likely over the course of a RL week or more building up to the forging.

I usually don't know most of the items, so I just ask people about where they are. Depending on what you're playing, you can bribe, extort, delegate, whatever on your way to finishing.

Kill a guy and offer him his nice weapon back if he grabs you this feather. Offer a thief a 100 gold bounty if they happen to stumble across this claw hanging around someone's inventory. Offer an applicant a recommendation if they can tell you where to find that obscure wand. Etcetera and so forth.

My hero range character just learned (therefor me too) about a lowbie-ish quest that I've never actually seen anyone do, nor even have the reward from. All it took was me helping them do something else, notice that reward item, ask about it, and then RP happened and it was beautiful.

Ignorance is bliss, and I know too many happy people.

I think eskelian is more saying that it should be self-evident to many what your rp is about. Rather than unobserved by many which suggests rp is rather rather in practice.

For example, I saw rp from gazriac, rydell, toktok, but not from other high profile players who I won't name as it could damage their chars.

I wouldn't say this player was an ass. He actually seemed ok. But I didn't see rp. Also I do think it incumbent on imms to help maintain balance. I remember when I led warlock an imm specifically asked me to pick wars to keep things balanced. And therefore fun. I don't think the build does that (not player's fault) nor the alliance btwn conjie and outtie ranger.

Sorry, I realize that probably won't earn me any fuzzy wuzzy points but someone was going to say it eventually with an opening like that. Ha! Look! I did it too!

>My chars don't need 5 paragraphs explaining myself because I
>talk with people. I talk with my enemies, I talk with my
>allies, low level guys in my cabal, low level guys in my
>guild, low level guys I just walk past sometimes.

In case you didn't realize there have been plenty of people in this thread who qualify as enemies, allies, etc. Just because I never had the displeasure of running across your whiny ass doesn't mean that I didn't interact with plenty of people over the last 800 hours.

>Point is, its a roleplaying *GAME* and to me that is about
>roleplaying with the other players not just the Imms and
>people you know OOC. Everyone I know knew exactly zilch about
>this character other than his attachment to Andira. Does that
>seem right to you? Go preach on the mountain, that's what
>roleplaying is about.

See above.

>Maybe I just got a bad taste and I'm the only one but from
>what I gather I'm not. It's not other people saying he's
>breaking role to punish people via PVP, it's him saying that.
>It's not random detractors...it's his own words and actions.
>I'm not asking for him to defend himself I'm just pointing out
>it'd be great if rewards went to people out there in the world
>not just emoting in a corner somewhere.

I never broke role. You're taking things out of context. A fact that likely doesn't surprise anyone.

As for the "rewards" our definitions are going to continue to differ. The Spear was an epic part of this character, though largely (outside of 3 or 4 fights) useless in terms of PVP balance. Did the fact that I had a very long title give me a tactical advantage? I didn't have a custom long description though it would have been nice, maybe then more people would have noticed how disfigured the character was.

I got "It's a long story" which I suppose was true

"In case you didn't realize there have been plenty of people in this thread who qualify as enemies, allies, etc. Just because I never had the displeasure of running across your whiny ass doesn't mean that I didn't interact with plenty of people over the last 800 hours."

No one cared enough to wish you GLWYN. I guess I struck a nerve, LOL.

Not specific to this char, but many heavily rewarded chars rp with imms but not with the wider player base.

Rp when you know you're watched shouldn't count for much, if anything, IMHO.

I do know players that engineer as many imteractions as they can specifically to milk rewards. They've told me as much. They, however, are not accused of failing to rp because their rp is widely shared with the player base in every interaction.

I think the char that first soured me was Lorraine. No rp until an imm showed (I was grouped with her prior to it) then completely ott "look at me not anyone else" rp and finally a reward for that. Meanwhile I see the Necro played by mek, possibly the most consistently rp'd char I've encountered, seemingly not as rewarded because whilst he rp'd better he did it with players rather than imms.

This guy in game and out in his goodbye thread just comes across like a jerk.

When the main responses you get on your death thread are from Imms that's a problem (to me). Maybe not fitting to trash this guy's death thread with my criticism, so for that I apologize...didn't mean this to be an epic 40 page back and forth...just wanted to point out philosophically that a) this guy should get taken down a peg from his smugness and b) we should be rewarding people who actually RP instead of storytell.

Work both ways I believe. The motivations and stories of a character have made it to the boards in a positive light as well.

I do not know the origin of the negative light cast upon this character, so I cannot comment on him specifically. Though I would assume it has something to do with the character's associations.

I just don't think it is fair to entirely dismiss the opinion that someone was "over rewarded" while simultaneously being "not that great at role play." It happens and it's ok, because opinions. What you/whoever might see as GREAT role play, FANTASTIC interactions! etc. Maybe others don't. You get to share your opinion on the death thread and PBFs, and this guy gets to share his.

No one is above the judgment of the masses. So speaketh the Matrik.

...you (as in the plural, IMMstaff "you") have been beyond horrible at being upfront and transparent about a million things over the years.

You can say it's because you don't want people powergaming the system, or because you don't want to waste time going through the data, or whatever. But the point of the matter is you guys haven't had a "conspiracy" debunking post since Cabdru ####ed everyone's spot up. And Zulg, who was the most honest and upfront IMM in the entire staff left.

Nature abhors a vacuum.

I'm glad over-rewarded is in quotes because really... he won a RC, got a prize, and what else is there?

I do not intend to comment on if he was over rewarded or whatever, but:

He arguably got the best reward one could get. To have his story line come out and be concluded in a very real, interactive way. That's pretty amazing and a reward the caliber of which I, personally, would like more than a billion charge AP weapon.

Completely unrelated to whatever's going on here, but;

Getting given a weapon with a billion charges would be lame, but actually earning them one by one is in itself a very real, interactive storyline and extremely rewarding.

On topic, in mechanical terms I see his reward as less getting an edge and extra progs for his ranger's spear and more being allowed to make friends with a cabal enemy without having to forfeit his cabal position.

If anyone's complaining that he got immteraction, well, they shouldn't.

Dedicated quest for RC prize is an idea that's been kicked around for a while. Some roles fit it better than others. I struggle to run quests but after Daev picked this role to win he looked at me and said "This one is ideal for a quest" and so we ran with that. It was fun. That said, this can happen to anyone! Next RC I run, if I can come up with something I'll try and do the same for my #1 winner.

I really don't know any of the details of this one because I'm lazy and it's TL;DR. I imagine it's tough too to gauge how the player will react. Anyway, yeah, great type of RC win imo.

One might argue that attention, tattoo, leadership position and not an almighty kick in the ass/boot from cabal is a pretty decent reward. He's not a triple-spec warrior but still. We only got 20 pks before we got insect swarm.

The few times I've gotten imm echoes on a char of mine itself counted to me as massive rewards.

And the point was mostly that, if you're going to shower a char with accolades why not someone who walks the walk and who interacts with the peoples? "Well, you made me mad"...really? On a char that got showered with tons of RP rewards, "you made me mad" as a sunwarden is a legit char explanation? You made me angry so I decided to have a conjie clairvoyance you, then gang you down 3 to 1 and sac your stuff?

I'd mark that as terrible roleplay, to be quite honest.

>One might argue that attention, tattoo, leadership position
>and not an almighty kick in the ass/boot from cabal is a
>pretty decent reward.

Well, I'm going to make a point here and sketch in some context you may not be aware of. With respect to softening his attitude towards certain kinds of characters that are traditional Outlander enemies that's less "Azhelak getting away with something" and more "Azhelak taking his branch of the cabal in a direction that Amaranthe has been trying to get it to go for a while, including predating him."

Which, by the way, with like 3/4 of my hats on I am not a fan of either... but it's not fair to beat up Azhelak for that choice.

n/t

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhzQMpQJHeU

>Theoretically you RP'd with a small handful of people, while
>having a huge story that you went into with the Imms and like
>one/two other mortals...To the rest of the player-base you're
>just "over-rewarded outlander attached to conjurer" guy.

One or two other mortals? Much of the story, including some epic battles in the Prosimy (thanks for that, Daevryn) included most of the Outlanders and Fortress, we even had Nexus showing up and fighting with the Lich in one case.

>And you go on about all this in-depth motivation behind stuff,
>then when prodded on an item admit that you're actions in game
>in this case were motivated by an OOC desire to "punish" this
>AP for saying you hadn't earned something you had. And in
>another thread regarding another AP he "did something that
>really made you mad". Well...great RP there. All well til he
>makes you mad right?

If we're going to split hairs about RP one could argue that I was breaking character every time I went easy on someone (and it was often). Azhelak, as a Warden, shouldn't of let Eidiol keep the weapon he mentioned in this thread. Nor should I of needed an excuse to actively hunt evils who were trying to rank. Most of the time I tried to show respect to the players regardless of the character which is in and of itself poor roleplay. Believe me, I could of had waaaay more than 125 PK wins.


>So we're willing to have an in depth role, which we interact
>with the imms only and maybe a couple of morts, collect all
>our rewards, but to everyone else we're just "humans in cat
>suits".

"All our rewards". This nonsense about titles and RC-related quests being "rewards" is outrageous. Can you imagine if I had been a Maran and been given insects? Or how about a second home terrain? How about if I was a warrior with three+ specs or legacies like some Villagers I've seen in my three years playing here?

If anything I've seen a conscious effort among the IMM staff to scale down rewards. A custom long description isn't a reason to bitch on a forum.

As for the tattoo, that was a reward which took me over 300 hours to earn. Furthermore, it progged the pounce a handful of times. Most of what people were seeing was pursuit.

>And this is pretty typical of most over-rewarded people. I
>remember interacting with *so many* over-rewarded chars trying
>to see what their RP was about and getting met with the
>typical "I'm busy" sort of responses while they're basically
>hiding away in a shrine emoting to themselves and an Imm. Or
>in your case, sitting outside Fort camo'd hoping for easy
>pickings.

Ever stop and think it's you and not them?

>What I'd love to see is if you have an over-rewarded char, you
>don't *need* to tell everyone what you're all about in a long
>goodbye because you know, you'd actually interact with other
>people and that would be part of the requirement to actually
>get those rewards to begin with.

*facepalm*

How about you tell me who you played and roughly how many times you died spamming flee like a moron?

I know its hard to accept criticism but...

- I've never died to you. In fact I never even fought you, because you weren't my enemy.

- Could it have been me? Sure, I'm not above criticism. Generally though when you look at a good RP'ers goodbye thread at 800 hours they get more than a handful of 'never interacted with you but...' types of responses.

Anyway, my main beef with you, Daevryn already cleared up for me, so take the rest of my criticism for what it is, honest feedback which you can ignore if you want.

And it's probably worth noting, if you had less of a douchey response to Abernyte, I wouldn't have posted anything at all. But what can I say? I enjoy taking douchey people down a notch.

Very true about the invoker. I had heard you had departed by a ranger who was also either incompetent, forgot to have acute vision up or was being a sneaky bastard despite being aided to gather a spear.

>It was the c*nt move you pulled after taking the unholy and
>then waiting until I unghosted to sacrafice it.

I honestly don't think I've ever lost a weapon as an A-P and not had this happen to me.

But I may inspire more hatred than most if I play one.

nt

Lemme make it clear, I'm not a big fan of these kills, but I always expect them to happen. I would most especially expect it to happen if I had just gone OOC on them.

This points back to Arvam's post on the gameplay forum but I think the best thing about CF and such an intensely RP environment is that you can create a concept such as you did, get involved in the RP of others and have such a different, immersive experience. I liked that Azhelak RP'd so far outside the grain while still within the loose boundaries of religion and cabal, and that it made such perfect sense with your role.

You'll have to try another Baer follower again some day, shake off that lingering wtf am I supposed to do with this purity crap feeling.

Good luck on your next.

First, as I told you the other day, I regret killing you LD. When it
did become obvious to me (2 rounds before you died), I chose to go
on and finish you, but I wished I hadn't done it afterwards,
especially when you age-died shortly after.

The other fight we had was pretty much one-sided, mechanically,
given your combo. I didn't have a lot of options and swampmire is
crazy good, they need to have a look at that. Not sure
why you didn't practice mosquitoes, since they would have given you
even more flexibility but I guess you didn't really need them.

IC, in stark contrast with Auldr, I think you did an excellent job
as Sunwarden. You were sublime, cautious with the reavers yet firm
with your own. At no point did I get a sense of someone trying
to shove his ideology down my throat. "quiet, disdainful respect"
is exactly how Nyst felt towards you. There were a lot of things
that could have happened IC but for much of my life we had basically
opposite playtimes so plans didn't come into fruition
as I'd like them to.

Finally, I think part of the problem with the whole Andira/fortress
OOC circus is that you were so powerful solo, that ppl really felt
like they stood no chance whatsoever when they went down vs
you+others which was probably the case for the vast majority of them.

Great job and good luck with your next.

You can't post your ROLE! No one will buy the PBF now!...

Wait what?

They already did? Oh, well then...


SUBJECT: Hi,
MESSAGE: I enjoyed our interactions.

I uses eyejab as cagocluse because I didn't want you using a staff to escape. Then I tried burst damage and died to pursuit when it failed.

Not really just encountered a lot of people over the months. You did better than most and eye jab is always a good option.

I was tempted to post the log of you, me and Pqual in the prosimy but I decided against it.

Good luck with your next.

>Not really just encountered a lot of people over the months.
>You did better than most and eye jab is always a good option.
>
>
>I was tempted to post the log of you, me and Pqual in the
>prosimy but I decided against it.
>
>Good luck with your next.

Log would possibly be funnier if you saw it from my side.

Pqual talking me into trying to kill you instead of just retrieve because he thought you looted him heavily when you didn't, then me failing flurry, him sending me tells saying "just flurry!". Me telling him I'm trying, then dying.

People all assumed cagocluse had lots of perfected stuff but in reality some key skills wouldn't go up.

You really played a great father figure for Alauviel and taught me a lot about roleplay in the process. Thanks for everything! I hope you'll be back in soon.

Very well done. I mostly caught you at the end of your life, but was impressed with the story and the rp. Don't blame Nyst for that. I pretty much told my reavers to kill you for marrying a defiler. And yes, I know that Amaranthe blessed it. But, hey, I am evil in my own kind of way. Good luck with your next.

You will be sorely missed. Yes, I was totally bummed when I heard. Summertime didn't give me a lot of time to play Leyras, and really my only regret is I missed out on more time with you. Your char went from crazy little bro to best friend to hero/paragon for Leyras, and your RP was vivid enough that I the player was really emotionally invested in the entire process. Incidentally, Leyras stayed convinced you were really quite insane up to your dying day, but that didn't interfere with how highly your char was regarded. Maybe we're all more than a little crazy in the Tree

I think you were part of an extremely strong RP storyline with some very high quality chars. I was happy to have the opportunity to experience that story in a supporting role. Looking back, I can't imagine all that is actually done and part of CF history now. Incidentally, massive kudos to the Imms behind the scene for making it all happen and continuing to make it happen.

An example to me of the massive power in your storyline was, quite frankly, the ceremony. I think there were between 15 and 20 people involved with the whole thing. Everyone got to hear your backstory and the story of how Azhelak and Andira got together; a lot of friendships and alliances were formed that day.

A lot more can be said, of how awesome a Sunwarden you were, et al, but I'm happy we got the chance to talk over those things IC. Yes, you had an extremely favorable comparison relative to Auldr, but I think you'd be worthy get getting written into the bark at any time. Incidentally, the RP change after you defeated that Lich was very obvious to your close friends -- I remarked on it without even fully understanding your role.

To sum it up, I'd probably pick "Pride" by U2 as your song, and it's definitely the song I listened to while I mulled over our months long, entertainingly dramatic but overall very happy association.

One of the questy things that happened during the aforementioned hunt for Draclivis. I had just camped:



wilderness FOREST <1038hp 497m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 9 PM>
wilderness FOREST <1038hp 497m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 9 PM>
Your sleep this night is fitful and restless, doing very little to refresh you.

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 497m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 9 PM>
You're dragged into a deeper sleep and feel your awareness shift, tugged to a dream that quickly becomes a nightmare.

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 497m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 9 PM>
You are pinned beneath a cloudless sky, left completely open to the elements.

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 627m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 10 PM>
Looking down at yourself, you see small wooden stakes are thrust through various parts of your body, driven down into the earth.

wilderness forest <1038hp 627m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 10 PM>
You feel ready to search out herbs once more.

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 11 PM>
A figure wrapped in black furs suddenly leans over you, enveloping you in the scent of rot, death, and disease.

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 11 PM>
A bone-dry whisper rasps from it. "You think you've broken yourself from the curse? That the Ancients respect your little show of strength?"

wilderness forest <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 11 PM>
The lich laughs and stabs your side roughly with the blackened haft of a broken spear.

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 11 PM>
"You freed yourself, Azhelak, but not the way you wanted to. The Ancients held me back from the power in your bloodline. And now you've broken their bond."

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 11 PM>
"You've been so proud and you think yourself so free now. Instead, I'm the one who's free. To break you and in doing so I will erase from Thera the only thing that could destroy me."

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 11 PM>
"Your life is still vibrant. I want the essence of it, and I know exactly how to force you to give it to me freely."

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 11 PM>
The lich kneels, grabbing your ear violently and pulling it to his bony visage.

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 11 PM>
"I'm going to ruin everything you care about. Your precious Tree will burn. You'll never see the sun again for the conflagration I will set upon your home."

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 12 AM>
"Your tribe will be skinned. I will start with the ugly children my curse has spawned."

wilderness forest <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 12 AM>
"But what I will enjoy the most is what I plan to do to your precious, innocent elf. I was a part of you for so long, I know your feelings and motivations. Every movement."

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 12 AM>
"Worse, your desires of what you want from her. She'll think it's you when I break her body and that will break her soul."

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 12 AM>
"The only thing that will save them is your sacrifice."

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 1 AM>
The lich tucks the blackened shaft, though as it glints in the moonlight you think you catch sight of familiar runes. He pats it, as though assuring himself it is safe before he draws a dagger.

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 1 AM>
Twisting your ear even more angrily, it slices into the flesh behind it and fills a vial with your blood. It is corked and tucked away for safekeeping.

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 1 AM>
With a harsh cackle, the lich gestures and each of the stakes come flying from your prone body, releasing you.

wilderness FOREST <1038hp 689m 917mv 24350tnl (-26.49%) 2 AM>
You feel an endless moment of falling before breaking out in the cold sweat of fear.

nt

Nightmares and dreams can have no significant value to game mechanics, but they add such great flare to the experience and joy to the player. For example, with Toktok, I could see him having a nightmare reliving the death of his family... or the rage he chose not to embrace consume him in a bloodrage.

Kudos for this. Pleae do it more often and randomly. About as often as Nel drops off mugs of stout.

I love this game!