[Chance]

The scythe was locked because, on receiving the relic, it was dismissed as a lesser object and as a sentient kaorblade of Mordred it wouldn't bond with someone that treated it like a token item. The narration was pretty clear that it was a weapon of power, even inducing hallucinations / flashbacks and such. I think this is a perfectly reasonable IC consequence to an IC decision, and if I thought that it was made solely out of OOC dislike, I would have stepped in and reversed it & unlocked the weapon.

They were advised to have an active presence in the game as sort of proof to the relic that it's in capable hands. Something like a ritual of sacrifice after a good run in-game. That isn't a particularly high bar IMO or unfair... A little redemption arc to appease the weapon of concentrated darkness you disrespected. It isn't asking for much.

As for Therian leaders not being chosen as demons, well... they were given fresh rebirths so soon prior to the arc, and having that option again despite only just being chosen as a Theria leader seems too much to me? Compared to people who had been playing the same character for 2-3 months, from 0RPL. We probably could've just had less demons in general, but I don't really regret it and I think it's the main highlight of the conflict at the moment (and is reasonably fun to engage in, if you're the underdog, because you have plenty to do).

[Prestige]

Srsly tho a Gold eye colour option, while little, would be cool.

Just going to mention that you can a-help to have your eye color changed to any RGB color as long as it doesn't look terrible + isn't red eyes.

[Theori]

Srsly tho a Gold eye colour option, while little, would be cool.

Just going to mention that you can a-help to have your eye color changed to any RGB color as long as it doesn't look terrible + isn't red eyes.

This is very good to know!

Also just realised I never canonised -by which I mean it wasn't approved in the initial write up- the oral-tradition thing. I riffed a lot of Rhoynish culture on Iris, and apparently never though to detail it. Maybe I should add some more to that...

[Jesse]

Grinding RPL in this game sucks ass, especially when people can circumvent this with demon rebirths. I see no issue with having more RPL 200s as a whole, and I think a way to lessen the grind is to bring back double xp weekends. It gives people an incentive to get on the game during the weekend and go casual/danger. Also, no more full rebirths! It kinda sucks to level a character when there's not a whole lot to even do besides job to someone 40-50 RPL higher than you.
Make Rhoynish an option to play as at the starting menu, locking your eye color to gold.

Give people opportunities to actually lead, instead of griming them on an OOC level because you don't like them/don't like how they RP.

Put more people on the review team for hiddens.

Make the next map change have IC implications. Something Cataclysmic, I dunno.

There was a fairly big change to RPP gain recently. I don't think increasing the rate will help ease those kinds of worries, though, and I'm in the mind that your RPL is not something that directly influences your enjoyment. When you see setting the foundations of your character as a 'grind' (perhaps due to a lack of an interesting group, or challenges), then that's the problem area, because you'd speed on by if you were into your scenes (not that this is a you problem, of course). I've watched people play very casually and go from 150 - 200 in a week or so.

The rate at which you gain RPL very clearly influences the enjoyment of people, and I don't know why you keep denying this fact. All you've been doing by keeping the gains low is gating the people who really want to go out and make things happen ASAP because they're playing the game "incorrectly." Making the experience as boring as possible for these people in the hopes that they'll play the game "correctly" does nothing but harm the game and appease the people who need arbitrary excuses to feel better than other players.

The fact that people can sometimes gain at a relatively fast rate (likely when they're surrounded by opportunities to RP and/or people to RP with, which you seem to take for granted) doesn't change anything. Sometimes people just have terrible IC circumstances that either deny them access to the same RP opportunities that other people have, or stop them from being as immersed as they otherwise would be, and this game is absolutely merciless towards them. This inherently incentivizes people to create in larger settlements, which does nothing but contribute to the stagnancy that often befalls this game.

Immersion and investment can't be manufactured or forced either. People basically have to throw darts at a board until they find a character concept that they're both willing and able to play for its own sake, and find themselves in an IC situation that grants them enough investment to keep playing, and the time it takes most people to do this exacerbates every other issue that the game faces by virtue of not letting people at least distract themselves from them. Whether you want to admit it or not, much of this process is governed by luck unless you're charismatic enough to draw people to you.

This isn't something you can change by keeping gains low, but at least having higher gains would make this process feel better.

I myself can adapt to almost any system, but I don't believe that expecting people to pretend that they're not playing a game is good for the game itself.

[Simple]

The rate at which you gain RPL very clearly influences the enjoyment of people, and I don't know why you keep denying this fact. All you've been doing by keeping the gains low is gating the people who really want to go out and make things happen ASAP because they're playing the game "incorrectly." Making the experience as boring as possible for these people in the hopes that they'll play the game "correctly" does nothing but harm the game and appease the people who need arbitrary excuses to feel better than other players.

 
This is likely an unpopular opinion, but I personally believe that the RPP gains currently are too fast. I understand that a lot of people wish to advance quickly in order to make a name or be active or whatever it is they intend on doing. However, I personally feel that it detracts from those who actually have a life and job, the people who aren't able to rp on a consistent basis. I feel that the check limit in Spires really helped equalize that, as well as slowed down the pace to make it feel a bit more natural. 

I'm currently in the 180-200 range and I've been qualifying three times a day just on casual healing/teaching rp, which would have taken me at least 3-4 days on Spires if we take the check limit into account. I know this is a new game, and I don't mean to sound like that old person who says you guys have it better than we did. (but you kinda do.)

I think that we should overall just tone back on the 100/75 percent rebirths and try for something a bit more organic. I personally believe the gains are manageable, slightly fast, but I'm not going to advocate for them being lowered as I'd rather not deal with the ire of those who think otherwise. Just my opinion on the matter, as I'd rather see a slower progression and allow the opportunity for those who work jobs and have a day to day life a chance to catch up and be competitive. If naturally flowing progression is 'boring' and you'd rather zoom to the top, then I don't know what to say. 

The only advice I'd give is to RP more and stop typing /rpp so often. I do understand others have differing opinions and that's totally fine, I prefaced this by saying mine is likely unpopular. <3

[Chance]

Grinding RPL in this game sucks ass, especially when people can circumvent this with demon rebirths. I see no issue with having more RPL 200s as a whole, and I think a way to lessen the grind is to bring back double xp weekends. It gives people an incentive to get on the game during the weekend and go casual/danger. Also, no more full rebirths! It kinda sucks to level a character when there's not a whole lot to even do besides job to someone 40-50 RPL higher than you.
Make Rhoynish an option to play as at the starting menu, locking your eye color to gold.

Give people opportunities to actually lead, instead of griming them on an OOC level because you don't like them/don't like how they RP.

Put more people on the review team for hiddens.

Make the next map change have IC implications. Something Cataclysmic, I dunno.

There was a fairly big change to RPP gain recently. I don't think increasing the rate will help ease those kinds of worries, though, and I'm in the mind that your RPL is not something that directly influences your enjoyment. When you see setting the foundations of your character as a 'grind' (perhaps due to a lack of an interesting group, or challenges), then that's the problem area, because you'd speed on by if you were into your scenes (not that this is a you problem, of course). I've watched people play very casually and go from 150 - 200 in a week or so.

The rate at which you gain RPL very clearly influences the enjoyment of people, and I don't know why you keep denying this fact

This isn't something you can change by keeping gains low, but at least having higher gains would make this process feel better.

Your point would make more sense if the gains were actually low, I think, but right now it's quite the opposite. The progression level is definitely at a high point in comparison to Spires (excluding the 250+ RPL days, of course). Those first few weeks of seeing whether or not a character concept sticks or not are likely all you need to reach a reasonable RPL, although I don't think your RPL really influences this a ton either, but moreso the interactions your character gets and how they're being involved. Some people do focus more on the numbers, but I wouldn't say it's the majority.

You're also making a lot of assumptions, like there's a way to play 'incorrectly' or we're even keeping the gains low for some reason - Again, they were increased drastically last week. I'm all for finding that balance, or I wouldn't experiment so much with RPP gain.

[Chance]

This is likely an unpopular opinion, but I personally believe that the RPP gains currently are too fast. I understand that a lot of people wish to advance quickly in order to make a name or be active or whatever it is they intend on doing.

I think focusing so much on combat / trying to 'make impact' is also a losing strategy? It's not something you should force.

I find it takes a week or two before most people are even comfortable with their character's personality and they feel fleshed out and grounded. And those interactions, even if they're 'casual', tend to be what sets the character's direction from that point on where they might meet people/establish their short-term goals. It isn't a race and you want that grace period where you are vulnerable/weak to serve as inspiration, and protection, too, if it does come to that, because you're a low RPL / fresh face.

[Jesse]

Grinding RPL in this game sucks ass, especially when people can circumvent this with demon rebirths. I see no issue with having more RPL 200s as a whole, and I think a way to lessen the grind is to bring back double xp weekends. It gives people an incentive to get on the game during the weekend and go casual/danger. Also, no more full rebirths! It kinda sucks to level a character when there's not a whole lot to even do besides job to someone 40-50 RPL higher than you.
Make Rhoynish an option to play as at the starting menu, locking your eye color to gold.

Give people opportunities to actually lead, instead of griming them on an OOC level because you don't like them/don't like how they RP.

Put more people on the review team for hiddens.

Make the next map change have IC implications. Something Cataclysmic, I dunno.

There was a fairly big change to RPP gain recently. I don't think increasing the rate will help ease those kinds of worries, though, and I'm in the mind that your RPL is not something that directly influences your enjoyment. When you see setting the foundations of your character as a 'grind' (perhaps due to a lack of an interesting group, or challenges), then that's the problem area, because you'd speed on by if you were into your scenes (not that this is a you problem, of course). I've watched people play very casually and go from 150 - 200 in a week or so.

The rate at which you gain RPL very clearly influences the enjoyment of people, and I don't know why you keep denying this fact

This isn't something you can change by keeping gains low, but at least having higher gains would make this process feel better.

Your point would make more sense if the gains were actually low, I think, but right now it's quite the opposite. The progression level is definitely at a high point in comparison to Spires (excluding the 250+ RPL days, of course). Those first few weeks of seeing whether or not a character concept sticks or not are all you need to reach 200+, although I don't think your RPL really influences this a ton either, but moreso the interactions your character gets and how they're being involved.

You're also making a lot of assumptions, like there's a way to play 'incorrectly' or we're even keeping the gains low for some reason - Again, they were increased drastically last week. I'm all for finding that balance, or I wouldn't experiment so much with RPP gain.

I put "incorrectly" in quotes because it seems like the mindset some people have towards this game. I didn't mean to say there was a correct way to play the game; quite the opposite, even.

I'll get back to you on whether or not the gains still feel bad on my next character. I just know that the 150-200 stretch on my current one was absolutely terrible, but maybe it's different now.

[Detective100]

This is likely an unpopular opinion, but I personally believe that the RPP gains currently are too fast. I understand that a lot of people wish to advance quickly in order to make a name or be active or whatever it is they intend on doing.

I think focusing so much on combat / trying to 'make impact' is also a losing strategy? It's not something you should force.

I find it takes a week or two before most people are even comfortable with their character's personality and they feel fleshed out and grounded. And those interactions, even if they're 'casual', tend to be what sets the character's direction from that point on where they might meet people/establish their short-term goals. It isn't a race and you want that grace period where you are vulnerable/weak to serve as inspiration, and protection, too, if it does come to that, because you're a low RPL / fresh face.

Right now though, there is a need to "make an impact" if you want to get hiddens, at least in my case. It is a word that was repeated in my apps, and I can only base this based on the apps I an see (which is, well, just mine). I don't have much else to say on this, since I in part understand the concept, giving rewards to those who are active in the story. Impact in the end of the day is a vague term though, you can't always tell how much impact is truely needed for certain things.

Not much else to say about it at the moment, just thought I'll write it out: "Making impact", whether it is a losing strategy or not, is valued, and if my case isn't singular? Is needed in apps.

[Chance]

Yeah, but I'm referring to a newly made character. Hidden spells are an entirely different conversation.

I'll be archiving a number of applications after the next batch is processed, Detective, to maybe assist yourself and others in that regard. Judging by your last application (which was a good attempt) I think you already have an understanding of what's needed, though.