Whaddup guys. I have a very, very special post for you guys today. If you have been around since Aegis, you might (of course) remember the epic battle between the antagonistic and protagonistic forces.
"Destroyers of life, consumers of souls, the dark fists of Iblees."
These two factions battled it out for months on the plains of Aegis, hosting many battles to be spoken of and told. From the time when the Ascended and Undead conflict was at its strongest was when most old timers (like me) remember the golden days... The days that give me great nostalgia, and bring a tear to my eye to remember.
I know. It's sad.
Aaaanyways. The most prevalent members of the Ascended were the Sages; the highest in power and most wise of the Ascended they had in their sect. And, heading it all, was Master Sage Riizu (Ree - zoo. Don't pronounce it wrong). Riizu was a GM back in the days of Aegis, and I'm sure that a lot of you remember him.
Well, I was lucky enough to get in contact with Riizu through his YouTube channel, and he agreed to allow me to interview him. Keep in mind; the Ascended and the Undead haven't been around for two years. It brought back a lot of great memories talking to this dude, and I hope you enjoy what we have to say!
Also, here is an hour long video that introduces the Ascended. In case you're curious.
In other news...
I know there has been a lot of drama lately. All I want to say is that it is events like these that reshape the server. Whether it is for the better or for the worse, that is truly up to us.
Screenshot of the Day
This comes from the meeting of Oren and the Dwarves to settle the conflict of war.
Due to multiple server crashes, an agreement was never really reached; such (I have heard) is being handled in private PMs amongst the nation leaders.
Reminders
Lots of new thingamabobbers! Including...
Updated Tutorial and Guides forum!
It's been very lack-luster as of late, but now it's finally back and rolling!
Players can expect a bunch of new, updated guides to be pumped out from the team. From being a chef to correctly roleplaying an Orc, everything's there, or will be there. Check it out!
Player-wide survey results!
SparehoeCakes, one of the Guides on the server, prepared an extensive survey on the staff, how the server is being run, and all that jazz. Welp, the results are in, and I, frankly, find them very interesting. Let's take a look at the facts, shall we?
I actually find this really interesting. I didn't know how many of us Aegeans were left! Wow! Over 50% of the server has been here for almost two years or more.
According to my good buddy Jistuma, thats about $7600 in donations so far. Dang.
Oh, come on! Really?! The orcs only account for 4% of the population? Tsk tsk tsk.
This really shows where the other races need more love. Come on guys.
You can read more of these charts and view the actual survey here. Thanks again to SparehoeCakes for making it!
Why not have a little competition for my blog readers?
Somewhere in this blog post, I have hidden a link. This link will give you a question, and if you are the first person to send the correct answer to me, you will receive:
• My narration of one of your forum posts (past or present post)
• Featured player on my next blog post (includes text interview)
• 200 minas
(1st place taken!)
The second person will get:
• My narration of one of your forum posts (past or present post)
• 100 minas
The third person will get:
• 50 minas
• A virtual cookie
Note: I'm going to be going off of those who send me the forum message for placement.
A hint: Your answer will be somewhere on the forums...
Good luck!
EDIT: 1st prize has been taken! I.e., it is possible to answer the question (assuming you can even find the link).
Hey guys. Kind of a different post today. I write this not as the official blogger of Lord of the Craft; as a Media Team member, or a member of the Guides. I write this as a player of Lord of the Craft.
I didn't come here to discuss all of the drama that has been happening recently; for that will just be adding coal to the fire. But I did really want to bring something to light here.
I speak about a particular person on this server. Some of you, including me, may have known him as ikeyman232, or LaTerre. To others, he was known as Hunwald, or oHawkZo.
To give you a rundown of what happened...
On August 12th, 2012, a player by the Minecraft name of ikeyman232 repeated history. He walked into the gates of Arethor, killing everyone he could see with absolutely no roleplay. This act, known as a "Pugsy", got him banned quite immediately.
Many were astonished to find that he committed the act, but what was done was done. LaTerre made several ban appeals shortly after the incident, but all were denied by the Administrator Urasept. Urasept denied him, saying that,
"Your staying banned Pugsy'ing is a one way trip. As since you did it once, your likely to do it again. As I said in your ban report, You sir walked your last dinosaur." - Urasept
This was the first great act of "Pugsying" since the original Pugsy went down into fame himself.
After so many ban appeals denied with strikes of dark lightning, many thought that ikeyman232 had given up.
"I made up a whole entire plan in my head, a vast plan. It was simple, really. I would no RP kill in Arethor, and get banned. When banned, I would wait a few weeks and then sneak myself onto the server on a different account."
But no.
LaTerre crafted a mission. He wanted to prove Urasept wrong, in stating that he would just pugsy again if he ever came back on. He wanted to prove to the members of Lord of the Craft that he could blend in and not break the rules again.
Using his friends account and a miraculously changed IP address, LaTerre slid his way back into the server, under the alias of Hunwald (or oHawkZo). There, he spent nearly a year roleplaying normally, without getting a single ban or strike report even filed against him.
It wasn't until now, with all of these leaving posts, that Hunwald (LaTerre) came out about his true identity.
"Hunwald is not dead. His story simply continues elsewhere, for he was never there."
He proved Urasept wrong; he proved the server wrong about what we think of him.
I just want this to open up our eyes a bit about how we regulate rules. Hunwald did something amazing, just to prove a point. Let us remember him for what he did.
Well, I just finished watching the Antagonist Livestream. I'm really excited for when things get rolling. Once more, I have given you a re-cap of the things said in the Livestream. I hope you enjoy!
Before I get anything started, you can check out the Antagonist sub-forum to read up on some more posts and stuff.
What is the Antagonist?
(Not a depiction of the actual antagonist.)
When Chaqery, the GM head of the Antagonist, first wrote the lore for this evil force, he thought of many things. The server needed something that united us as one entity to fight, and it needed more inclusion of the playerbase. He took evil elements from popular games and books such as the Lord of the Rings, the Witcher, Warhammer, and Dragon's Dogma, smashing those elements together into one big, badass villain.
He also wanted to bring back those "quintessentially fantasy moments", where you truly feel like you're in an intense action scene in a movie. Those moments where the hero seems like he is going to lose, but fights back and takes a daring victory as the night fades away... You know.
Let's get down to some specifics, eh?
The Nation, Ranks, and Goals
When the Antagonist arrives in its unbridled form, it can be perceived as its own nation -- a sixth nation, if you will. The Antagonist won't be played just in events, but rather daily, with sporadic, lively roleplay. Broadcasts won't be used, so players don't all scramble to one area. The roleplay will be spread out, and run mostly by actual players, not GM's.
The Nation
The Antagonist nation is widely known as "Burzümkütotaz" (pronounced Burr-zoom-coo-toe-taz), and is located in the far north. In fact, the North as we know it is more of a gateway to the Antagonist lands than being the actual Antagonist lands.
The goal of the nation is to take over all other nations; and this will be much more serious than other antagonists in the past, due to the scale of our villain this time. Chaqery states that one of the key features to this Antagonist is the massive size and broad ranking system that it has.
Known Ranks
We got some pretty exciting and weird ranks so far. Featuring...
"Big Bad Guy"
• Leads the Antagonist
• Described as a "Giant creature with lots of magical power" (Sargeras, anyone?)
• Hates mortals. Controls you if you become an Antagonist
Hiishtgul (The Immolated)
• The "Lieutenants" of the Antagonist
• Lead the "Sergeants"
• Currently only GM's, but will be expanded to be general players
"Sergeants"
• Bigger, tougher guys in the Antagonist
• Assigned to a Hiishtgul
• They each lead their own "tribe" of regular Antagonist players
• Act independently; do not need orders to attack small settlements
Siege Engineers
• Tiny, creepy crawly goblin-like creatures
• Described to be very much like Gollum/Smeagol
And also specific groups for the Swordsmen and Archer groups.
Why such complicated names?
We want the playerbase to make up their own names for the Antagonist, instead of using the names that the Antagonist have given themselves. For example, most of you wouldn't come to call the nation Burzümkütotaz, but rather, "The Nation of Villains" or "The Momo Skahers", something of that like.
Antagonist Lands
If you ventured far enough and searched wide enough, it is possible to visit the Antagonist lands right now. As said before, the North is more of a gateway to the lair of this evil force. However, when you get there, you'll find that the place is much like a labyrinth -- it will be hard to navigate around the hellish planes, not to mention forces there that might stop you along the way.
These lands have been worked on vigorously by builders since April, and I think they have done a fine job. Below, you can view the Antagonist trailer, which shows off some of Burzümkütotaz.
Some players who have already ventured to the North or small parts of Burzümkütotaz have found many enchanted weapons, books of lore, and other charms to be had that tell more about the Antagonist, or will help you defeat it in the future.
Kanrath has been leading several expeditions to the North, and he has encountered several dark forces already. You can read about his party's experiences below -- and feel free to send him a message if you are interested in being a part of a future expedition!
When the Antagonist attacks a small settlement, they often capture some of the survivors, bringing them back to the evil realm. If you've submitted an application here, and your captors find your roleplay to be satisfactory, you may be absorbed into the Antagonist! Therefore, there isn't really accepting or denying; rather by-chance roleplay that leads to assimilation.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that your character will most certainly become permanently bound to the Antagonist. If the heroes of Anthos defeat this overwhelming force, the character that you had accepted with will likely be permanently killed (if you're never accepted, you have no need to worry about this). Beware!
Villain Applications
If you end up being accepted into the Antagonistic force, you will not be required to make a villain application. Your activity will just be expected; but you will be held to the same standard as those who do have villain applications.
The same goes for Magic applications.
Group Applications
Sometimes, whole groups will want to join the Antagonist, or at least request roleplay. Whether this be for in-character reasons or out-of-character reasons, the leader of your group can request roleplay with the Antagonist for possible assimilation (<-- I love that word).
If you lead a rather large group, and you all agree to be absorbed into the Antagonist if you are chosen, you can send a PM to Chaqery on the forums. Make sure to describe the group name, a little description of the group, and why y'all want to join the Antagonist. Then, hope for the best as they might set up a mini-event to roleplay with your people!
Plugins and Magic
When the Nexus plugin hits, the Antagonist will be making full use of it, just as we will.
Basically, they will be using corrupted forms of magic that is already present. For example, your average mage might have a fire spell, water spell, etc. The evildoers will instead have corrupted fire, corrupted water, and the such. If you can imagine such a thing.
Another cool thing is that you will keep your racial benefits if you become a member of the nation of Burzümkütotaz. If you're an Orc and you have the Bloodlust ability, you'll still have it, for example. The cool part is that being a member of the Antagonist gives you a corrupted bonus. Who knows what it is, but it will definitely change the tide of your benefits.
How is this different from the Undead
First of all, this Antagonist has no affiliation with Iblees, who was the driving force behind Aegis' popular villainous group. This Antagonist will be much bigger in scale than the Undead were.
Also, in Aegis, the driving force behind the conflict were two clashing forces: the Ascended and the Undead. In Anthos, there will be no primary protagonist. We are the primary protagonist. We form within ourselves the heroes that will fight off this ancient evil.
What is Going to Happen, and When
Malinor, the nation of the elves, has already been attacked by the Antagonist once before. As the war between the Dwarves and Humans begins to settle, the Antagonist may rise, looking then only for the opportune moment to strike. From there, the attacks will slowly build up until they cannot be ignored.
Smaller settlements might have also gotten a taste of this villainous cavalry.
Races
As large groups of races are absorbed into the Antagonist, small sub-races will be created within it to compensate. A nation of the elves might be taken over, resulting in the "remodeling" of that nation's lands, and the creation of a specific Antagonist elf group.
Let's just hope that we don't have to fight spoon-wielding corrupt halflings.
Finally, if you haven't already, you can view the Antagonist Livestream below. Most everything that I have stated above was taken from there.
Screenshot of the Day
Today's screenshot of the day comes from TheCleaningCrew. This is out in the Wilds, somewhere...
That's all for today folks! And a bit of good news! We're going even more official, and the Lord of the Craft blog might actually become an integrated part of the website (thanks to the coding magic of Mr. Tythus). More on this later, though.
Finally, I'm going to get the chance to interview more members of the staff about stuff that wasn't discussed in livestreams or posts. Expect that in the future as well.
But for now, thanks for reading, and go bust some of me!
