Designing the Architect
Since we are currently accepting applications for new ephemerals, I thought I would make my debut blog post about my experience as an ephemeral and a bit about how Zvoltz was created.
I have to say that, hands down, being in Havens has been one of the best experiences I have had in Lusternia. I have been playing Lusternia since open beta in 2004 and when the call for ephemerals went out, I felt like this would be a new challenge and a new adventure for me, as well as a way to take on a larger role in the game that I truly love to play. After I submitted my ephemeral application, I waited (im)patiently and anxiously to see if I would get accepted or not, though after I was accepted it was like playing Lusternia for the first time all over again. I had so many things to learn and I felt like a complete newbie!
Estarra passed me over to the gentle tentacles of Morgfyre to begin my training in admin basics and after I learned a bit of that, we proceeded to play non-stop games of Vengeance. I’m not kidding here. I probably spent most of my first week playing Vengeance while it was in its testing stages. This was a real treat at first, until everyone started lynching me the first round. So, at that point I had no choice but to do some real work. Morgfyre really has the patience of a saint because I usually forgot everything he said about a day after he said it and he spent countless hours helping me figure things out.
Being an ephemeral is a lot different from being a player, and it was generally difficult at first. Besides my marathon of Vengeance games, there is no real playing to be done. I couldn’t just pop in and chat with anyone or go hunt on Astral and so I spent a lot of my initial time working on my building projects. I’m really proud of what I managed to create though I really have to praise Estarra’s creativity here as she took my somewhat bland ideas and helped me reshape them into something that would be fun for players to do and also something that really tied into and developed Lusternian lore. At this point I was still in seclusion from the players, but I did get to take control of some mobs during the event. I remember feeling so embarrassed about a few of the mistakes I made while trying to possess the mobs, but I’m grateful that the players at the event were kind enough to overlook the errors!
It was around the time that I started my second project that I really started to think about who I wanted to be as an Elder God. I wonder whether or not it is wise to say this, but when I initially applied to become an ephemeral, I was hoping to be Jadice (sorry Jadice fan club!). I decided to go in a different direction but I wasn’t sure what character I actually wanted to be! At one point Shikari tired to lure me to Glomdoring but Glom already has a full set of very amazing Elder Gods and I thought space may be a little tight. Looking back, I feel bad for Shikari, as it seemed like I was constantly having a godrole identity crisis that he was talking me through!
When I finally earned my promotion to High Ephemeral, I really started to worry about my lack of ideas. I was released into the game at this point and was interacting with players and roleplaying again, so I felt a sense of urgency to decide who I wanted to become and what sort of roleplay I would want to do as a god. That’s when I finally decided on Zvoltz. He was really a blank slate, just a name I pulled out of the histories as a First Circle Elder. When I wrote up my initial ideas about the character, well… they were pretty boring. Thankfully, though, the admin team here in Lusternia is wonderfully awesome and I got a lot of feedback on how to flesh Zvoltz out a bit. Eventru pitched in with his deep knowledge of Lusternia lore, some of the other ephemerals helped me come up with more ideas, and Mysrai and I went out for a brainstorming session at a wine bar. Elostian and I spent about an hour trying to come up with titles, though we eventually settled on the Architect (he did keep insisting I name myself Nigel, though). After I finally worked out a cohesive idea for the character, Estarra added in some magic: What if Zvoltz was Mysrai’s sibling and they hated each other? I was sold on that right away!
So, here I am, a newbie god, fresh out of my ephemeralhood! I’m really loving things so far, being able to experience the game from a completely new angle and interact in new and excitingly different ways. I have to give a lot of thanks to all of the game’s admin team. I’ve been in all of the orgs in the game, and I can truly say that none of them are as cool as Havens! A big thanks to all the players as well, I’ve really enjoyed all my interactions with everyone so far and I hope that everyone who’s encountered Zvoltz has come away with a positive experience!
(photo credit: Shikari)
