Max Dirks
09-25-06, 11:48 PM
The story of Althanas has typically been told through the adventures of its inhabitants. Endless individual storylines have intersected and created the unique Venn-diagram that we call our world. Athylia’s Verse tells this story in a different perspective, from that of Althanas itself. Long after individual characters have gone and their storylines have been forgotten, Athylia’s Verse will live on as a tribute to those who understood they were also a part of a greater story.
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Athylia’s Verse is the official name for Althanas’ new feature’s mega-quest. This quest is not a feature quest in the typical sense. It is on-going adventure where the players determine its direction, not a GM or a continent moderator. Each action a character does might have an effect on the overall outcome of the plot. There are no more ‘closed’ battles or quests, at least in the traditional sense. Everything is considered open RP. Anyone is allowed to join or leave the mega-quest at anytime. It is essentially true open-ended RP on Althanas. Here is an example of how it would work:
Say a Berevarian gang rises to power in a small town in northern Salvar. People in that town can take arms against the gang or they can do nothing. If they do nothing, the gang can enter an open tavern and try to slaughter everyone inside because they were ignored. To take it a step further, that gang could have been hired by an evil clan bent on starting a war between Salvar and Berevar so that each country will pay them handsomely to provide soldiers to fight. Of course, nothing needs to be so drastic or ‘important’ to the overall storyline. Characters can interact and create relationships over a nice fire at a mountain resort or engage in an old fashion bar brawl at a local tavern. This will be especially handy for clans looking to gain power or just for players who are looking to write between posts elsewhere on Althanas.
The feature’s mega-quest is not truly freeform, however. Players will be expected to adhere to both the Althanas general RP rules and the special rules related to Athylia’s Verse. Most importantly: be giving. No single person is the main character in this storyline. Don't "solve" the mystery yourself. Don't be the one hero that the king hired to fix everything. Don't be the one chief villain. Everyone should be trying to work together and play an equal part in the overall story. Hogging the plot is rude and will hurt your score. With this in mind, here are the rest of the rules: All characters must register for the game to keep an accurate spreadsheet of who is involved. Participating characters must have their characters registered in the Realm of Greeting to participate. Standard Althanas rules of conduct apply.
The registration thread can be found here. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=2779) Players are able to create their own threads and ANYONE is allowed to play with them. Most threads are based on locations (very similarly to the typical open ended clan war style). They are left open long after all characters leave the area. Event threads can be made and will be closed once the event is finished. Closed threads will be allowed only if the story deems it necessary. For example, if two clan leaders were to meet ‘in secret’. Threads will initially be formatted [“Name of Place” (Continent)] or [“Name of Event” (Continent)] to make things clear as the story begins. In addition to inter-continental play, regional reputation will be awarded depending on the actions characters take in area specific role-plays. Please note that regional reputation as rewarded by a feature’s moderator stands to be revoked, amended or added by regular Althanas judges.
The Thread request thread can be found here. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=2781) Liquidtime will be allowed. Abuse of liquidtime, however, will be treated as powergaming. Likewise, there is free entry and exit. Players can choose to leave Athylia’s Verse to continue their own adventures at any time. Players can be in both the mega-quest and regular RP at the same time, so long as they don’t practice meta-gaming to protect their characters from the open-ended style of RP in the mega quest. EXP will be awarded at one of three of the following points in the game: the player chooses to exit the quest, the player completes an event based thread, or for every 50 total posts in a location quest (by ALL participants). Standard Althanas rubric and rules apply. All participants will receive EXP based on our QUEST standards. In order to request EXP, the player must post in the EXP request thread, providing direct links to the RP they wish to be rewarded on.
The Judgment/Reward Request thread can be found here. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=2780) With the right enthusiasm and active participation, Athylia’s Verse can become one of the most unique experiences on the site. My hope is that the open-ended nature of the mega-quest will give active players an opportunity to write between posts on Althanas proper and offer an entirely new opportunity for clans to operate. Restrictions on bounties, spying and espionage due to the closed nature of Althanas stand to be lifted. Watch for updates on when Athylia’s Verse will be opening to the general public. In the mean time, please post any questions, comments or suggestions as a response to this thread.
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Athylia’s Verse is the official name for Althanas’ new feature’s mega-quest. This quest is not a feature quest in the typical sense. It is on-going adventure where the players determine its direction, not a GM or a continent moderator. Each action a character does might have an effect on the overall outcome of the plot. There are no more ‘closed’ battles or quests, at least in the traditional sense. Everything is considered open RP. Anyone is allowed to join or leave the mega-quest at anytime. It is essentially true open-ended RP on Althanas. Here is an example of how it would work:
Say a Berevarian gang rises to power in a small town in northern Salvar. People in that town can take arms against the gang or they can do nothing. If they do nothing, the gang can enter an open tavern and try to slaughter everyone inside because they were ignored. To take it a step further, that gang could have been hired by an evil clan bent on starting a war between Salvar and Berevar so that each country will pay them handsomely to provide soldiers to fight. Of course, nothing needs to be so drastic or ‘important’ to the overall storyline. Characters can interact and create relationships over a nice fire at a mountain resort or engage in an old fashion bar brawl at a local tavern. This will be especially handy for clans looking to gain power or just for players who are looking to write between posts elsewhere on Althanas.
The feature’s mega-quest is not truly freeform, however. Players will be expected to adhere to both the Althanas general RP rules and the special rules related to Athylia’s Verse. Most importantly: be giving. No single person is the main character in this storyline. Don't "solve" the mystery yourself. Don't be the one hero that the king hired to fix everything. Don't be the one chief villain. Everyone should be trying to work together and play an equal part in the overall story. Hogging the plot is rude and will hurt your score. With this in mind, here are the rest of the rules: All characters must register for the game to keep an accurate spreadsheet of who is involved. Participating characters must have their characters registered in the Realm of Greeting to participate. Standard Althanas rules of conduct apply.
The registration thread can be found here. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=2779) Players are able to create their own threads and ANYONE is allowed to play with them. Most threads are based on locations (very similarly to the typical open ended clan war style). They are left open long after all characters leave the area. Event threads can be made and will be closed once the event is finished. Closed threads will be allowed only if the story deems it necessary. For example, if two clan leaders were to meet ‘in secret’. Threads will initially be formatted [“Name of Place” (Continent)] or [“Name of Event” (Continent)] to make things clear as the story begins. In addition to inter-continental play, regional reputation will be awarded depending on the actions characters take in area specific role-plays. Please note that regional reputation as rewarded by a feature’s moderator stands to be revoked, amended or added by regular Althanas judges.
The Thread request thread can be found here. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=2781) Liquidtime will be allowed. Abuse of liquidtime, however, will be treated as powergaming. Likewise, there is free entry and exit. Players can choose to leave Athylia’s Verse to continue their own adventures at any time. Players can be in both the mega-quest and regular RP at the same time, so long as they don’t practice meta-gaming to protect their characters from the open-ended style of RP in the mega quest. EXP will be awarded at one of three of the following points in the game: the player chooses to exit the quest, the player completes an event based thread, or for every 50 total posts in a location quest (by ALL participants). Standard Althanas rubric and rules apply. All participants will receive EXP based on our QUEST standards. In order to request EXP, the player must post in the EXP request thread, providing direct links to the RP they wish to be rewarded on.
The Judgment/Reward Request thread can be found here. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=2780) With the right enthusiasm and active participation, Athylia’s Verse can become one of the most unique experiences on the site. My hope is that the open-ended nature of the mega-quest will give active players an opportunity to write between posts on Althanas proper and offer an entirely new opportunity for clans to operate. Restrictions on bounties, spying and espionage due to the closed nature of Althanas stand to be lifted. Watch for updates on when Athylia’s Verse will be opening to the general public. In the mean time, please post any questions, comments or suggestions as a response to this thread.