[Proposal] Hitting the reset button again

[Barry Goldwater]

Most, if not all, of you guys have received a PM from me outlining the possibility of a reset to 281/282 AL, or to 700 BL, in order to shock activity back into this game; IMO something ought to be done, the game's been staggering on for several weeks with activity in a constant flux but generally pretty low after a high in May & early June. Over half of those I PM'ed replied positively, so I think this should at least be up for a public discussion now. I'll just copypaste what I'd written in the PMs here:

Hey,

So it seems to me that activity in GoT has been sharply dropping since May & early June, and the RPG is kind of just staggering on with a number of disjointed RPs (Lys/Valyria, the Hunt for Fendrel that took 3 years to even begin to get on the road, the Tyrell/Martell search for Aegon that still hasn't really started, the Ball) and I was wondering why. It wasn't just exams, since those are pretty much behind all/almost all of us, I'd imagine; MMM's exams ran the longest as far as I knew, and he finished at the start of this week. I came to the conclusion that we started in the middle of peacetime, with no real IC reason to want to start one of those big internal conflicts the 7Ks are known for, and since the bigest potential source of said conflict (Aegon) is lagging behind heavily and doesn't look like it'll really start anytime soon..yeah. (and even then, how many pre-June - and post-June - posts were OOC arguments & flaming, lol?)

I'd been thinking about hitting the reset button and jumping back to 281 AL, the Year of the False Spring. Aerys the Mad King still sits the Iron Throne and is being Aerys as usual, and the spark that will cause the WoTU/Robert's Rebellion is here, with the big royal tourney at Harrenhal (IC-wise, if need be we can move to KL or wherever, really). Players would be able to play as younger versions of their characters or their characters' parents, but still largely keep their families. If need be, I could take Aerys II & his family, rest assured I'll work toward starting something for good or for ill - won't be hard given Aerys's mental state Even before the war, there'll be a major RP opportunity in helping put down the Kingswood Brotherhood of outlaws, which apparently summoned up lords from all over the Realm (you had Lannisters, Freys, the royal Targs ofc, and others fighting together to put them down).

That, or I was thinking jumping back to Before the Landing, say 700 years or so BL. No Iron Throne, but we could have one royal house for each of the 7Ks, there's the Rhoynar Invasion to the south, and the Iron Isles are causing all sorts of havoc. Free-for-all conflicts should abound between the arguing 7Ks, and while obviously only 1 player can rule per kingdom as its king, nothing stopping others from being their vassal houses as usual. The problem here is that I'm uncertain of how RPGs will work with multiple independent factions squaring off against one another. If it's likely to fail, I'd prefer going as we are, or jumping to 281.

What do you fellows think?

So basically, the two proposals I've outlined were:

1. Restart to 281/282 AL, just before the WoTU.
Advantages: The background is set in stone, not much work has to be done there, same with the map. A major war will start very very soon, which would hopefully inject life into the game.
Disadvantages: The setting is set in stone, which is a double-edged sword since it doesn't give us that much in the way of creativity. There isn't a lot of time for other RPs before we get the war rolling. Also someone has to be the Mad King since without his insanity no WoTU & the like can happen, I guess if absolutely nobody else wants him I could take on his role

2. Restart to 700 BL.
Advantages: Multiple independent kingdoms with little in the way of canon for the setting (and even that is mostly in the Great Houses like Arryn, Gardener & Lannister, who will be set in stone like the Great Houses we have now), allowing us to make up almost everything out of whole cloth; a new 'lore-crafting' thread could be opened for this exact purpose. Even the rules as they are can be kept (there aren't any radical gamechanging elements like Magic), so we'd only have to edit the map really.
Disadvantages: Dividing the player base into multiple independent factions could easily work & prosper with a large & active base, but one of insufficient size & activity could actually die from that.

3. Keep things as they are.
Self-explanatory.

You'll notice there's no Abstain option. I always found that kinda useless, if you don't want to vote then don't lol. Vote & debate away, folks.

I vote for 700 BL myself BTW, I think we can attract enough of a player base to make the idea workable. And I so call House Gardener of the Reach

[Gandalfus]

Voted

[Shankbot de Bodemloze]

You have my support. Voted.

I think the switch to BL 700 is the best option, although I'm open to being convinced otherwise.

I'll claim the Watch also...

EDIT: If we are starting in BL 700 then we have this to contend with, someone could role play them as well: http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Rhoynar_Invasion

[Xion]

700 BL, imo..but I wouldn't really mind 281 AL.

Faction wise..

[Pericles of Athens]

700 BL.. House Hoare or Rhyonar for the win.

[Dance the older]

I lose my +9 Jousting master Kingsguard

Seriously however, I think a reset to 700 BL would have detrimental effects on this RPG.

Not many players will be aware back then, 5 kingdoms will be difficult to control (ie conquest, or whatever happens). I just don't see it working or being appealing to GoT fans/new comers. Perhaps a reset to 281/82.

I like the idea of 700 BL but it will have to change everything, region controls, houses, etc. Will be very difficult to do imo, unless there is a ton of support and help, which I don't see there being. In all honesty, the RPG has suffered heavily in lack of activity recently. Players like Clag, Rathertall, Narf, Paladin V, Ulti, Bjorn, etc, just disappearing. Summer ends up being worse for activity than pre-exam time did lol.

[Barry Goldwater]

Most of those players appear to be active still, just in other parts of the forum. Paladin V told me that he dropped GoT after losing interest, but has expressed interest in the 700 BL reset. Last I spoke with her, Narf expressed some time problems. RTH is also active elsewhere, just not here, but I've approached him with the proposal. Ulti still frequents this board. Bjorn & Clag really do appear to be gone for some reason, though Last I checked Bjorn still had exams, @LM d'you know how long he'll be gone?

I think most folks will be busy with post-exam celebrations, graduations, proms etc. in this time, until the end of June/early July, I know I was a few years ago lol. I'd say that's when activity will really pick up again across the board.

I think a lot of interest just withered due to the game's stagnation, which was pretty much what Paladin told me anyway. ATM there is no real crisis and nobody has the motive to start anything (Maegor's a good King, even a secret Targ marriage could be spun off as a great way to reunite Dragon & Stag in peace, the Aegon RP has yet to go anywhere, revolt for the Greyjoys would be suicide without allies (who aren't forthcoming), and so on & so forth), which while good for the smallfolk given the canon alternative, isn't good for keeping players' attention.

I think a 700 BL start wouldn't be that hard to pull off - we can pretty much keep the rules as they are right now, just remove the Iron Throne and have the Lords Paramount independent. Even the map doesn't require much editing outside the Crownlands/Riverlands/Dorne, the North might need to be split between Stark west & Bolton east but that's it. I was thinking that only the Great Houses would be set in stone; Arryn/Lannister/Gardener/Hoare/Storm Kings/Stark/Bolton. The Riverlands, Crownlands & Dorne would be open sandboxes, players interested in those areas can just pick a limited # of provinces and build their own houses & kingdoms on them.

We have some canon foundations to work with. For example, by 700 BL the Andals should've overtaken nearly all the First Men south of the Neck, it's just the Blackwoods still holding out in Raventree Hall (could be reflected in a First Man-flavored Kingdom in the Northern Riverlands and a thoroughly Andal one to the south, not necessarily Blackwood/Bracken either).

The Riverlands themselves were a football kicked around by its neighbors, so each kingdom could have one or two provs adjacent to them (on the map, translating to Riverrun/Pinkmaiden for the Rock, Atranta/Stony Sept for the Reach, Saltpans/Maidenpool for the Vale, Seagard for II). That leaves 12 provinces, which can then be split into 2 kingdoms of 6 provs each, 3 kingdoms of 4 each, 4 kingdoms of 3 each, or even 6 kingdoms of 2 each depending on how much interest there is in the Riverlands.

Just an example. The same could be done for Dorne & the Crownlands, which have a nice even 20/16 (respectively) provinces to split up between interested players. For the latter at least, the Storm Kings might take off Kingswood & Massey's Hook, but that still leaves an even 14 provs to divide up between the interested.

We will need plenty of activity since we're splitting the player base into multiple independent factions yes, but I think this idea (which gives a largely sandbox background & no less than three places to make your own house) will attract that interest. And ofc, all such world building would be done in a specific thread like last time, where we can help each other draw their histories, connect our backstory to those of others, and mend or outright shoot down more preposterous proposals.

[Adamat]

That's because there isn't enough action. If in 700 BL, everyone is at war. That would be waaay more interesting. I'm on my phone right now, but count me in for 700 BL. If needed, i will help with rulesets being made anew.

[Gandalfus]

The river lands would be house Mudd, bracken and Blackwood. Dorne would be Starfall, Yronwood and Martell. Stormlands would be house Baratheon, Crownlands was split between the Stormlands and river lands.

[Barry Goldwater]

The river lands would be house Mudd, bracken and Blackwood. Dorne would be Starfall, Yronwood and Martell. Stormlands would be house Baratheon, Crownlands was split between the Stormlands and river lands.

Well, I wouldn't opposed to letting players create their own houses in those areas - House Mudd's been dead for thousands of years (the Andals hit 5300 years prior, with a 700 BL start), Dorne was mentioned to be a patchwork of kingdoms, and Crownlands had a few native kings, like the Darklyns of Duskendale. Again, I'd be open to letting players raise their own houses in these areas.

I would not really have much interest in a reset. Especially back to before I have any knowledge about the whole GoT world.
Isn't the current game only 3 years in? Doesn't seem like much chance was given to let the game get some life. And I really do not understand why everyone thinks constant wars make RPGs good, I have always preferred getting deals and alliances and the traitorous part of it.

As one of the lone wolf houses currently I certainly plan to start some stuff, just need a little time to get some forces and a plan.

That's part of the draw to this, though. Since there's little canon in the way of things in this time, we're free to basically make up our own world with a small canon groundwork (Rhoynar Invasion, the Riverlands/Crownlands being a mess, Hoare activity, etc.)

It isn't just the wars really, it's that practically no conflict period has an avenue in this current incarnation of the game. Nobody really has a reason to hate Maegor (LM) besides the Greyjoys & Targ exiles, nobody else been given reason to plot his downfall, the RPs that could lead to external conflict (Tyrell/Martell plans for the Targs, Lys) have yet to finish and still have a long way ahead of them...peace is good for the smallfolk, but not the players. Barring Maegor inexplicably becoming an Aerys III, there's no reason why anyone would want to get rid of him besides the Greyjoys or Targs, and neither are really strong enough to be any more than a few years' annoyance right now, or otherwise have yet to actually start their plot (Tyrell + Martell + Aegon) and don't look like they'll do that anytime soon.

It has been 3 years yes, but we had another incarnation of it prior to that (which exploded and necessitated the reset that led to this current game). The RPG's been active since March or April, I think, this current incarnation since April/May (we didn't officially start for a while so we could set the rules up & stuff, but that didn't stop people from starting RP).

Shall we give it two weeks before we hit the reset button and see how it goes? Then the reset can always be used as an option if it dies down.

Yeah, I wouldn't be adverse to giving this incarnation of the game some more time unless everyone wants to hit the reset button ASAP really badly, of course.

[Rhapture]

I would not really have much interest in a reset. Especially back to before I have any knowledge about the whole GoT world.
Isn't the current game only 3 years in? Doesn't seem like much chance was given to let the game get some life. And I really do not understand why everyone thinks constant wars make RPGs good, I have always preferred getting deals and alliances and the traitorous part of it.

As one of the lone wolf houses currently I certainly plan to start some stuff, just need a little time to get some forces and a plan.

[Gandalfus]

Shall we give it two weeks before we hit the reset button and see how it goes? Then the reset can always be used as an option if it dies down.

[Shankbot de Bodemloze]

Shall we give it two weeks before we hit the reset button and see how it goes? Then the reset can always be used as an option if it dies down.

That is a great idea.

[Rhapture]

Originally Posted by ♔ King Dain of Erebor ♔
Shall we give it two weeks before we hit the reset button and see how it goes? Then the reset can always be used as an option if it dies down.





That sounds good to me.

Since winter just hit, shouldn't something be happening besides random death rolls, (where everyone lived anyway). anything coming over the wall? snow and cold moving farther south? small farmers showing up at cities and castles because there is now where else to go? Seems like a perfect time to throw the kingdom in disarray

[Shankbot de Bodemloze]

That sounds good to me.

Since winter just hit, shouldn't something be happening besides random death rolls, (where everyone lived anyway). anything coming over the wall? snow and cold moving farther south? small farmers showing up at cities and castles because there is now where else to go? Seems like a perfect time to throw the kingdom in disarray

Funnily enough me and Bonez were just about to take a trip to Castle Black, I'm sure we can conjure something up...

[Adamat]

IF we do this, i wnt Arryn. I love those guys.

[Pericles of Athens]

Just saying whatever kingdoms on the arm in dorne should have a great advantage, that being the Rhoynish who would side with them. The Rhoynish were pretty powerful and them plus (fill in with martells or martell replacement) would be much more powerful than the other 'petty' kingdoms in dorne.

That being said I call house Hoare of the iron islands.

Edit

I rather not wait two weeks to do this if it's gonna happen anyway..

[Bonez]

Since winter just hit, shouldn't something be happening besides random death rolls, (where everyone lived anyway). anything coming over the wall? snow and cold moving farther south? small farmers showing up at cities and castles because there is now where else to go? Seems like a perfect time to throw the kingdom in disarray

Umm, I am not allowed to give details at this time... But if someone *cough*Barry*cough* hadn't said something it would be very interesting right now, because canon wise we should be just about where azaii azzahi (whatever it is) became known and a few of those umm, guys showed up.

[Barry Goldwater]

Umm, I am not allowed to give details at this time... But if someone *cough*Barry*cough* hadn't said something it would be very interesting right now, because canon wise we should be just about where azaii azzahi (whatever it is) became known and a few of those umm, guys showed up.

Hey, I did already say I'd be willing to wait some weeks before really getting around to serious talk on a reset, in hopes of the game reinvigorating and thus rendering any reset unnecessary. That was precisely why

[Dance the older]

To note those quitting, it would provide proper RPG etiquette to at least let others know (not just mods) that your departing the game... So we can replace them or move on (for example waiting for a tournament to begin where the host actually left the game without word) lol...