Just unhinged.

I like your woopie cushion and rubber chicken!

Ahoahaaheeheehohahahahoheeho. Don't make me laugh. They are nothing compared to the power of Casilu the Traveler, Casilu the Destructor, Casilu the Casilarian, the Pun Queen, Lady of Pranks, Mischief, and Insanity. Look upon me and despair!

Oh, and I'm an axelord, I can arrange to have you unarmed.

Disarmed.

Potato tomato.

I also have cream pies and bottles of seltzer water galore. Jeremiah promised they'd keep clowns away while I sleep.

Cost me 500db a piece, too... But it's worth it!

I have weaponized toys!

Tell you what, we'll have lunch. You bring the drinks, I'll make the sushi...

Casi, you really are crazy.

()

How about I bring the napalm, and you bring the silly putty? Meet me up top of the Syrinx Tower when the blue goose honks at twelve past three.

Mud pies.

Wait, wait, wait, wait!

Syrinx has a tower?

Seems I was right about you. You're a little less than good and a little more than a god, it seems. Don't be yellow now, golden boy.

I sympathize entirely with the bureaucracy of consensus, but I don't think it applies here. There's nothing a dictator could do to end the Forever War either, not really, because you'd have nothing to offer the Aggressor Du Jour that isn't better for them than them beating on the weakest puppy it can find, endlessly. Everything in Lusternia is set up to encourage that, and all the real world costs that make people avoid wars and end wars are not simulated.

In the MUD I'm playing now, there are typos and grammar errors in nearly every room description, public OOC is so prominent that I recently heard a God use some in a shout, and people who are willing to walk you through quests still won't explain how skills or curing work because you're supposed to figure things like that out. And yet it's still far more fun than Lusternia for one reason: when I log in and ask myself, "what do I want to do today?" there are more options on the menu than "1: War."

Yes, war is taking up much of the average Lusternian's time. I guess it's more evident in Serenwilde, but here in Glomdoring, we're actually finding time to do other things - culture, theater games, feasts, quests, etc. since we have more people now who are interested in those. I think it's part of the cycle, and well, Serenwilde would just have to endure the time it's at the bottom. Besides, it's really fun watching an org go up :thumbsup:

I do remember how ridiculously bored I was in Glomdoring back when it was getting beat on because the only person who seemed to have any interest in doing anything related to culture/fun was... Sadhyra. And maybe one or two stray other people. Everybody was just sort of jaded. I guess that must have had something to do with being on the very bottom for so long. I'm glad to hear that's changed. I'm also glad that the horrible attitude that was in Glomdoring when I decided being a rogue would be more appeasing hasn't popped up in Serenwilde yet.

So... yay. It might seem like an eternity's passed, but it's only been... what? A few months? So you Serenwilders just need to wait it out and let them have their fun. It'll be another organization on top by January. And then we can all wish they were dead.

>_o *brings peace* No? Well. I tried. *IS POSITIVE*

Also. An actual twit! Yay. Fern's an ugly human now so I've won my place as the cutest one in the family. Go me.

I don't think it's as simple as that Serenwilde is suffering from the war; I think Lusternia as a whole has changed, and it's just a little more obvious from the Seren perspective. But the stuff that's lost is stuff that only mattered to the people who are also lost, and the people left don't even realize that what they have now isn't what they had then. Nor do, or should, they care: they have what they want. And really that's all Lusternia needs to do: give the people who are playing it what they want.

The only problem is, there isn't another MUD that is what Lusternia used to be, but there are plenty of other MUDs that are what Lusternia is now. So the world got a little smaller.

What he said.

I suppose this should all be going to the streamlining combat thing in a way, too. Conflict quests, domoths, group combat, politics, demigods/ascendants, and so much more.

January, you say? What am I supposed to do for the next three months? Guess I'll be playing more video games and stop giving out a combat system that's probably creating more conflict than it's preventing.

Problem with no longer giving out a system is that it only hurts newer people who are trying to get into it / help their organization. Others don't really need it.

And it is a heck of a lot more frustrating to get killed without even trying to cure what's going on, I think. Though, in the end, it's up to you (your own personal time and all).

I suppose you could try and look strong for the smaller people in your organization. Write up a few inspiring posts, focus on the positive and all that. Three months is just short compared to Glomdoring! You can write up peace treaties with everyone while you recover. Encourage small events (such as feasts and plays) that build up morale. Hey, maybe the whole 'return to the good old days' would start in Serenwilde.

Btw, anyone who believes that an org is truly ruled by a bureaucratic council and not be a dictatorship hasn't looked hard enough at their Council.

Sure, but then I'd only be giving it out to the people I choose, as I don't want to build up the enemy's smaller people, alts or not. Some of the "griefers" I've known in recent times turned out to be using my code, and that really pisses me off. Others don't use it, but they study it to use against me and others they know use it. Always that danger with an open system, unfortunately.

Building up morale is hard to do when you've got little left yourself. Plus, a pep talk for the newbies isn't going to make them stand up to the demigods. In the end, it's all about numbers (of people and of buffs available to those people). As for focusing on small rituals and similar events, the seemingly constant attacks makes that a little difficult. (Ask Ried about that, too.)