10-04-2025, 04:53 PM
A lot of words here; a lot of musings about Eternia and why I enjoy it and why I think others do, too.
I don't often interact with the "Game State" discussions as I find this is the quickest way to despair about the game and lose enjoyment, as well as the quickest way for good writers to become at odds with one another as we argue about our idiosyncrasies that define what exactly gets us going about Eternia the most. This game is very small, let's not forget that, and if we were here for its incredible mechanics, we'd probably not be a community of 200-400 people. This is a world that we get to enjoy, with a certain set of rules that help us collaborate and navigate as we all go at it and create narratives. So many of them! There's a lot of characters and, I think no matter who and what character it is, everyone who is here to play the game adds something to it.
I have had a lot of frustrations pile up and, recently, I guess it's all coming up to surface as I find myself often unsatisfied in the discussions that I partake in with my friends who also play this game. Venting can be healthy, but it doesn't really help us reach the conclusion of how to get over whatever it is that has dissatisfied us. So maybe people will resonate with the opinions I share here, maybe not. But either way, I hope that they give someone to think on. At the end of the day, that's what I am here playing this game for - because I think that people's stories give me something to think about, and I enjoy seeing people's creativity in roleplay.
I don't like destruction. I think that every destruction war left me feeling sad. Yes, even the fel crusades left me feeling a bit empty, at times. The lifecycle of a settlement can be so very small, and at the end of the day, they'll be very easily forgotten. And in that aftermath, I am often left to wonder: how can we perceive them as cities full of people, with an economy and a government, if they just get toppled over like nothing? Obviously, a lot of these settlement destructions have been about cults and demon armies and other, ultimately, short-lived ways of living. But these demons and witches did, after all, cause a furor and leave their mark on the land, destroying a lot of cities. How many characters right now will be able to tell you about the Aegis Empire from... not even a full century ago, I think, in the way we would talk about... I don't know, the Ottoman Empire in real life?
History makes a made up world feel alive. When I look around in the present time, I... don't really recognize most of these settlements. Obviously, the settlement system exists exactly to provide people opportunities to breathe something new into the world and start a narrative of their own, but I think with that freedom comes a great sacrifice. Ironically enough, Dandeli's argument is one I agree with very sincerely. I remember the last wipe of E3, with Achyon and Osrona set at odds, with the former being a remaining force of the empire that toppled a kingdom of flawed crusaders with a cool history founded in origin myth. E3 was my first experience with Eternia, and frankly, as banal as the pieces may have seemed, it really charmed me and the fact that all these settlements(with Moxtli and Fireblooded added in addition, driving further how divided the land was after the devastating conquest and plague).
I think that Extinction had a good spirit, and there was an incredible amount of build-up to it. I was involved in it from start to end. I did not always enjoy every part of it and I had disagreements that I tried to make known at the time, but at the end of the day, it happened as it did. How many characters today will look back at that and praise the heroes that saved Meranthe from the conquest, or think about the histories of the settlements that were destroyed back then? It was really strange, from my perspective, to have this really big event occur that was meant to let a new era begin in Meranthe, only for us to go right back to a shitton of settlements all over the map with no history behind them.
I am not saying that the people in this settlements are bad for partaking in this creative freedom, for the record. And, really, even amongst Aetius' players, most are people who I know I have immensely enjoyed writing with in the past. But the thing is that it really makes me scratch my head when you do a whole Extinction event that was meant to destroy settlements, only for us to go right back to square one with one of the settlements being the game owner's creation that goes on to destroy what was left unfinished.
I don't think that Chance is malicious for doing this, nor do I want to get bogged down in discussions about builds, balance, uniques, sigs. But I just think that, at some point, the story of Meranthe should have peaked. I think that wipes are okay, and the mindset of "never wipe" is unhealthy for the generational game that is Eternia. Yes, powercreep starts occuring as we go further and further in time and old uniques/mats pile up and we get big pow sticks... that's progression, and the wipe is a very healthy way of putting a cap to that rather than "equalizing the fields" with empowered spawns(despite this, I'd like to note anyone who complains about Make-A-Soldiers hasn't seen every single one AFK. None of syne's nor camellia's make-a-soldier threads have had a long-lasting character remain. More unique "rolehooks", I can not say much on, as I have never been a part of one, although I tried to create one for other people - it fell through, too).
I think that tactical will be incredibly good for the game. Maybe some people will quit, and I totally get them: I really love the adrenaline from the current combat system even if sometimes I get so nervous it's kinda scary. However, at the end of the day, I am not here for the combat, and I hope that the new system(i haven't been part of the testing) will evolve into something that will be much more conductive to collaborative storytelling.
I am not a total fan of what is happening in the game rn, but I don't think that any player is anathema. I just know that what I deeply enjoy in this game is the way history comes alive through the generational aspect, and that it can be really sad when you get seen as an "old mage clutching for power for decades" when you just know that if you retire and leave the reins of the settlement's narrative in the hands of another, they won't stay around for it and keep it alive. The gamepop is just so spread across the many settlements and more recently wandering groups of people, that a lot of stories get forgotten. At times, the game feels like a furnace more than it is a means for collaborative storytelling, with how fast something can end and go through 3 more cycles of being forgotten about until it's gone entirely before someone tries to revive it and they have to PRAY they have a group of people who are just as interested to go through the grueling process of building from zero.
My DM's are open, too! And I like talking about this game. I don't spend as much time on it as I did the last year or two, but I still vividly play because I care a lot about the stories that I have been a part of or witnessed. It really warmed my heart when something from previous iterations came back(like mimloopen's Elaide stuff, for example, or the whole wave of Azraelism and the Grey Church coming back).
I don't often interact with the "Game State" discussions as I find this is the quickest way to despair about the game and lose enjoyment, as well as the quickest way for good writers to become at odds with one another as we argue about our idiosyncrasies that define what exactly gets us going about Eternia the most. This game is very small, let's not forget that, and if we were here for its incredible mechanics, we'd probably not be a community of 200-400 people. This is a world that we get to enjoy, with a certain set of rules that help us collaborate and navigate as we all go at it and create narratives. So many of them! There's a lot of characters and, I think no matter who and what character it is, everyone who is here to play the game adds something to it.
I have had a lot of frustrations pile up and, recently, I guess it's all coming up to surface as I find myself often unsatisfied in the discussions that I partake in with my friends who also play this game. Venting can be healthy, but it doesn't really help us reach the conclusion of how to get over whatever it is that has dissatisfied us. So maybe people will resonate with the opinions I share here, maybe not. But either way, I hope that they give someone to think on. At the end of the day, that's what I am here playing this game for - because I think that people's stories give me something to think about, and I enjoy seeing people's creativity in roleplay.
I don't like destruction. I think that every destruction war left me feeling sad. Yes, even the fel crusades left me feeling a bit empty, at times. The lifecycle of a settlement can be so very small, and at the end of the day, they'll be very easily forgotten. And in that aftermath, I am often left to wonder: how can we perceive them as cities full of people, with an economy and a government, if they just get toppled over like nothing? Obviously, a lot of these settlement destructions have been about cults and demon armies and other, ultimately, short-lived ways of living. But these demons and witches did, after all, cause a furor and leave their mark on the land, destroying a lot of cities. How many characters right now will be able to tell you about the Aegis Empire from... not even a full century ago, I think, in the way we would talk about... I don't know, the Ottoman Empire in real life?
History makes a made up world feel alive. When I look around in the present time, I... don't really recognize most of these settlements. Obviously, the settlement system exists exactly to provide people opportunities to breathe something new into the world and start a narrative of their own, but I think with that freedom comes a great sacrifice. Ironically enough, Dandeli's argument is one I agree with very sincerely. I remember the last wipe of E3, with Achyon and Osrona set at odds, with the former being a remaining force of the empire that toppled a kingdom of flawed crusaders with a cool history founded in origin myth. E3 was my first experience with Eternia, and frankly, as banal as the pieces may have seemed, it really charmed me and the fact that all these settlements(with Moxtli and Fireblooded added in addition, driving further how divided the land was after the devastating conquest and plague).
I think that Extinction had a good spirit, and there was an incredible amount of build-up to it. I was involved in it from start to end. I did not always enjoy every part of it and I had disagreements that I tried to make known at the time, but at the end of the day, it happened as it did. How many characters today will look back at that and praise the heroes that saved Meranthe from the conquest, or think about the histories of the settlements that were destroyed back then? It was really strange, from my perspective, to have this really big event occur that was meant to let a new era begin in Meranthe, only for us to go right back to a shitton of settlements all over the map with no history behind them.
I am not saying that the people in this settlements are bad for partaking in this creative freedom, for the record. And, really, even amongst Aetius' players, most are people who I know I have immensely enjoyed writing with in the past. But the thing is that it really makes me scratch my head when you do a whole Extinction event that was meant to destroy settlements, only for us to go right back to square one with one of the settlements being the game owner's creation that goes on to destroy what was left unfinished.
I don't think that Chance is malicious for doing this, nor do I want to get bogged down in discussions about builds, balance, uniques, sigs. But I just think that, at some point, the story of Meranthe should have peaked. I think that wipes are okay, and the mindset of "never wipe" is unhealthy for the generational game that is Eternia. Yes, powercreep starts occuring as we go further and further in time and old uniques/mats pile up and we get big pow sticks... that's progression, and the wipe is a very healthy way of putting a cap to that rather than "equalizing the fields" with empowered spawns(despite this, I'd like to note anyone who complains about Make-A-Soldiers hasn't seen every single one AFK. None of syne's nor camellia's make-a-soldier threads have had a long-lasting character remain. More unique "rolehooks", I can not say much on, as I have never been a part of one, although I tried to create one for other people - it fell through, too).
I think that tactical will be incredibly good for the game. Maybe some people will quit, and I totally get them: I really love the adrenaline from the current combat system even if sometimes I get so nervous it's kinda scary. However, at the end of the day, I am not here for the combat, and I hope that the new system(i haven't been part of the testing) will evolve into something that will be much more conductive to collaborative storytelling.
I am not a total fan of what is happening in the game rn, but I don't think that any player is anathema. I just know that what I deeply enjoy in this game is the way history comes alive through the generational aspect, and that it can be really sad when you get seen as an "old mage clutching for power for decades" when you just know that if you retire and leave the reins of the settlement's narrative in the hands of another, they won't stay around for it and keep it alive. The gamepop is just so spread across the many settlements and more recently wandering groups of people, that a lot of stories get forgotten. At times, the game feels like a furnace more than it is a means for collaborative storytelling, with how fast something can end and go through 3 more cycles of being forgotten about until it's gone entirely before someone tries to revive it and they have to PRAY they have a group of people who are just as interested to go through the grueling process of building from zero.
My DM's are open, too! And I like talking about this game. I don't spend as much time on it as I did the last year or two, but I still vividly play because I care a lot about the stories that I have been a part of or witnessed. It really warmed my heart when something from previous iterations came back(like mimloopen's Elaide stuff, for example, or the whole wave of Azraelism and the Grey Church coming back).