Gowi

Aether Online - A VMMORPG RP inspired by Log Horizon, SAO, and Overlord

I was not talking about RP players here. More about the general playerbase. Cities become wastelands because nobody lives in them anymore and the more players die the harder the "endgame content" becomes, no?

PyroDash888

As Clocktower stated, NPC’s exist. The game world is likely not entirely populated by players or GMs.

Also... I have no idea why even somebody would do such a thing as to kill players IRL when they are killed in game. Makes no sense to me. Maybe the standard answer to that question. "Because he is evil". I dunno, I'd find it tricky to find a proper reason, but this is of course a weak argument against this.

PyroDash888

I think SAO is the only time it was done on “purpose” or stated to be as such— even in the godfather of the genre, .HACK, it was a result that ended with the player falling/remaining in a comatose state in the real world. The reasoning can be done several different ways beyond “chaotic evil”— I could probably conjure a dozen of them if I tried.

And what do you mean, there can't be any depth without consequences?

PyroDash888

Without consequences, tone and conflict take a backseat to idealistic slice of life where there is no greater meaning and as a byproduct no depth to be taken out of. The characters in the story could be well-rounded, three dimensional, and dynamic but they would be in a situation much like the first two seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation— no conflict, no tension, no anxiety; everything is idealized as it is and there is little framing to write something interesting or with great depth. You need consequence, conflict, and these other elements to keep things interesting and meaningful.

Even with consequences SAO was as deep as a dried up lake in the desert, whereas Log Horizon had that depth. A meaning.

PyroDash888

The fault is in the execution, not the concept.

I have another idea for "death" that is not actually dying, but might as well be.
When you die, you start all over. Level 1, starter town, starting gear, no money. The higher you become in the level, the less you want to actually die. That way the huge "half of the players die withing the first week" thing is solved, too xD...

To make that work, we would have to make levelling up a very rewarding process, so that you feel the loss of those rewards even more when you die. And you will die, eventually. We can't all be Kirito :D

Somebody who lost everything they had will also be driven into this despair and the more it is known around the playerbase what a shitty thing it is to start all over, maybe even with some more penalties to slow your initial progress, especially with the huge bulk of players not around the starting area to help you anymore, people will try to avoid dying as best as possible.

How is this for an idea?

PyroDash888

Once again, I agree completely with Clocktower.

Aether Online - A VMMORPG RP inspired by Log Horizon, SAO, and Overlord

Well, yeah. If you're happy with a rapidly diminishing playerbase.

@PyroDash888

In terms of the RP’s playerbase— we’re likely to have drops, and having this mechanic would help the GM manage such things instead of character’s disappearing and having no imperative effect on the characters or the plot.

I see why you would want such a thing, if you also like zombie apocalypse stuff, which I don't.

@PyroDash888

My desire for it has nothing to do with my preference for survival horror as a genre— it has everything to do with my preference for dynamic character development, tension, conflict, and intrigue.

Whereas having a respawn system, with some penalties applied to it, like losing all your equipment, money and some experience points, would enable the players to form alliances to try and better their world. Of course there are the "bully" players, too. But that is one of the challenges one needs to overcome.

And it might even result in player alliance vs player alliance wars.

@PyroDash888

A respawn system without penalty or weight would be depthless, in my opinion, and I think I speak for the sentiment suggested by McHaggis and ClocktowerEchoes with that being a bad idea. A depthless story is not really one that is engaging or interesting. This is all presumption since the GM hasn’t made a stance on it yet, of course.

From my point of view, SAO does a pretty terrible job at conveying how a permadeath system in what is basically a game, which is made for you to die in, much more easily than in real life, at least, effects human psyche. Especially when a good part of the playerbase is underage. It would certainly create a "Walking Dead"-esque environment, which you could escape from by just not risking it.

@PyroDash888

I do not disagree that SAO has issues and properly conveying it, but that doesn’t mean this RP has to replicate those issues. Though I entirely disagree that the situation would equate to “not risking yourself” when much of the inspiration to escape by completing the game makes that sentiment moot. While some individuals would crumble in their despair or fear and hide, this would not be the case for the entire population on the server(s).

Aether Online - A VMMORPG RP inspired by Log Horizon, SAO, and Overlord

Personally I'm all for permadeath (or some penalty for dying), gives the RP a feel of weight; running head first guns blazing again and again can only be so interesting. Plus actual character deaths do provide good plot elements.

@ClocktowerEchos

In regards to permadeath, I find there's pros and cons to both sides of the argument. With permadeath, our characters would be considerably more cautious about a number of things. It raises the possibility of player killing which, although SAO doesn't touch upon it a lot, would have to be met with harsh justice which would be interesting to see playing it. Y'know, gritty and shit.

Non permadeath, on the other hand, makes death a bad idea but not an irreversible one. It has some meaning in that you could be watching your friends slowly slip further and further away from reality. It's a bit more intelligent and long-lasting but it obviously wouldn't carry such an emotional punch; a la Moonlit Black Cats.

Ultimately, however, as Jabber mentioned, we're having more of a focus on Log Horizon than SAO. Plus it could be said that unlike the creator showing up in Ep1 of SAO and telling them that if they die in the game, they die in real life, the Dark Lord did not mention death at all. I reckon we're going for non-permadeath then.

@NarcissisticPotato

I completely agree with Echoes regarding this.

I also bolded points of emphasis per my perspective.

.HACK, Sword Art Online, Overlord, and Log Horizon all appropriately define the framework of life & death within their frameworks a little differently— but all of them have point. The whole aspect of “if you die in the game, you die in reality” is a lot more significantly interesting to me and once realized by the players would actually create anxiety, paranoia, and dread. I think it is certainly more interesting than countless respawning. Death needs to have weight and danger— and ultimately I think Sword Art Online’s system is better than Log Horizon’s in this aspect (and probably this aspect alone). I would advocate for death having weight, meaning, and harshness to go alongside the RP’s themes.

Remember, just because the ‘Dark Lord’ didn’t explain to us how death works doesn’t mean it is one system or another— it just means whatever it is, it will be a surprise and that surprise puts people on edge and people on edge do stupid things.

THE UNDYING CRUSADE

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A F A R E N E

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A forsaken march— she had seen it before. She thought she would never see it again.

“Mi glywaf dyner lais yn galw arnaf i.” Afarene Taranau muttered the phrase under her breath, though it was not a gentle breeze that was calling her but the exact opposite. It was a callous storm that was reaching out for not only her soul but also everyone else’s.

“Mayhaps we could learn something from these creatures? Could we not perhaps learn from the fallen?”

Afarene’s eyes moved toward the direction of the words— to the human who seemed to be making the gesture of the dead and damned. Whilst she was not properly acquainted with those she traveled with, for her perspective it was not challenging to make a deduction based on the subtext of the words this human chose to speak. The idea of studying the dead was something that the elves of New Anur were very vocal about and in Afarene’s cultural and spiritual education as an adolescent there had been many lessons about leaving the dead be or descending into the madness of hubris. It was through that education and her experiences in the last one-hundred and sixty-four years of life that she agreed that mistakes would be avoided if all species, and not just her people, left things alone that didn’t need to be stirred in the first place. It was with those thoughts and recollections that the red-haired gray elf decided to make a matter-of-fact comment from beneath the cowl of her cloak.

“Have they not been forsaken enough?”

Her question was innocuous enough, but more level-headed comments had inspired conflict through her past. Her eyes moved back toward the field as she took a light breath— trying to make sense from a ranger’s perspective about how to approach the daunting and seemingly endless war she was entering— and this was just the first real situation of it following the speech their “leader” had announced only days prior.

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O L I V A S T E R

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”Forsaken?”

Olivaster’s words were soft yet spoken with a certain condescension. He had always despised elves. From one side of the country to the other they were all the same. Life is precious. Let things lay as they may. Do not seek answers where things are better left undisturbed. It was all very innocent, very plebeian. As if to suggest that there was no price worth paying to learn from the mysteries of the world. Olivaster believed he knew this to be false. Regardless of the particular piece of knowledge, there was always a price worth paying. The only negotiable instrument was how much each particular piece was worth.

Sweeping his hand across the field of decades old fallen soldiers as well as the writhing remains of the undying Olivaster spoke boldly, “You would wade blindly into the unknown, rather than invoke the name of gods you dare not speak to educate us before we pass? You speak of them as forsaken, yet you insult them by aiding in the neglect of their duties. You insult them by not allowing them to protect and serve as they have sworn to do.”

The wizard whose appearance while doing service to his true power had beguiled his real age, began to walk forward. His footsteps were precise. He purposefully avoided damaging any of the skeletons to the best of his ability. But in a field consumed by the fallen it was difficult to avoid crushing at least a hand. In these instances, he merely avoided the more important parts of the skeletons. His face showed little fear if any. For what was there to fear? The undying, nailed to their crosses in a sadistic crucifixion? No, for even when the undying seemed to flail towards his passing robes, Olivaster did not hasten his step. His eyes carried through the masses searching through the faces of those he passed before turning around to face the gathered party once more.

”Do you believe that these men would care not to rest one last time knowing they were able to fulfill their duties where in the past they have failed? Are you so naive as to believe even the undying are too uncivilized to answer just one question?”

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A F A R E N E

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Ffwl Anwybodus.

She should’ve known a human magi would think as such. Even with all of the wisdom that came from the Fall of Aith Anur and New Anur, his ideology continued to exist. The warnings were irrelevant to the humans that had studied magic and they were all so eager to continue on the path that nearly eradicated her people— the foolish ignorance of man’s hubris was infuriating. However, Afarene did not show abundance of emotion as she took a light breath whilst focusing on the situation at hand. There were, after all, more imperative things to focus on then argue with a human who believed that researching the forsaken would lead to victory and not utter total loss. The elves who advised the Duchess were certain to have warned her and set principles down that their soldiers would have to abide by; or so Afarene hoped.

“The only naïve one is you, human. You will learn if you are allowed to cross the line and study them. I bid you luck on your venture, though I know what will come of it.”

Afarene didn’t bother to stick around for his reply as she moved forward, closer to the thick of things— ready to fire an arrow as any ranger would.

Aether Online - A VMMORPG RP inspired by Log Horizon, SAO, and Overlord

I think we need more casters in general (utility, DPS, heal) and ranged combatants (archers, gunslingers, etc), but that's just me.

Aether Online - A VMMORPG RP inspired by Log Horizon, SAO, and Overlord

Does my character count? He does become an (off) tank later on xp

@Savo

Augh! You aren't important, i-idiot!

Aether Online - A VMMORPG RP inspired by Log Horizon, SAO, and Overlord

#notalltanks

Aether Online - A VMMORPG RP inspired by Log Horizon, SAO, and Overlord

I like this group.

Aether Online - A VMMORPG RP inspired by Log Horizon, SAO, and Overlord

<Snipped quote by Gowi>



2moe5u

@NarcissisticPotato

IMG

I invented moe, you out of your weight class bruh.

Aether Online - A VMMORPG RP inspired by Log Horizon, SAO, and Overlord

@Assallya
so what is a "brick house" equivalent to?

@cloudystar

A Commodores' song.