I thought we were talking about cults, because obviously Avatars are a lot easier to get.

Either way, the majority of the work put into the system can only be admired by a minority of the game.

Cults are somewhat of an exception I think. The cult members of the avatar can enjoy the benefits. Though there needs to be a lot to perform the rites...I still think a large portion of the playerbase can enjoy cults. They can seek them out if they desire.

Cults, also, only cost essence. However, the number a god can have is limited (relative to the size of his/her realm - but every god with a realm can have at least one cult).

Largely, I doubt we'll see too many cults in any given order, as that spreads them too thin - and they're not terribly restrictive, in fact, as when they were redesigned it was intended to allow cult members to perform a majority of the rites (though some may require multiple followers present, if you aren't the Avatar of the cult). As well, everything but one or two messages within Veneration can be fully customized by the God, to allow cults some individuality. They are cost-heavy for orders that don't have a lot of bashers, but there it is.

Veneration is - largely - support/utility abilities (+1 celerity, teleport to godrealm, +% to offerings, rescue) some minor combat bonuses (+% dmg vs cultists of an order w/ enmity towards your god, some DMP) and discretionary powers for the godrealm. There's also a few other treats in there that are situationally useful, and one or two that encourage the cult to work together as a group.

Realistically, I can't see a reason for an order to have more than maybe three cults. But hey, if they have the members, have at it!

Oh? Is this documented anywhere? And do you need an active god to do it, or can the cult leader do it?

Only the god can.

And it's documented for the gods! I know Lyreth, Fain, Raezon and myself (and probably other people) have all been hard at work filling it in as they can.

That said, writing skill messages can take time, so..

We don't even have prayer beads yet.

Oh well.

At least you guys have a temple/cult. We don't even have a temple.

Depending on your god though, your god might appreciate creative input or suggestions, or even the whole thing made for them if you really want to be creative. Don't let yourself be kept down!

Or She might be keeping everything as a blank slate in order for you to ponder the infinite possibilities of what that thing could be. :/

Depending on your god... but yeah, that sounds lame.

I actually always feel awful about asking anything of any of the gods because I know how badly they get overworked, so I always offer to do it myself if I can. I sent Her a prayer beads design along with permission to ignore or rewrite it or ask for another, but never heard back.

But Rika is right. As much as we all miss seeing Her, at least we got the temple and cult in place before She faded away. And even Her fading isn't complete; we have seen her once a couple of times since. We have it better than some.

I always feel like I ruin orders. Every one I've been in has lost their God sooner or later. Maybe I'm just having grass-is-greener syndrome looking at Gods like Eventru, who's been around for ages, relatively, and hasn't faded out and is still expanding.

I think any given administrator (or IRE veteran) can tell you I'm an anomaly, and should not be the stick you measure any other admin with when trying to compare. It's wholly unrealistic to expect your average god to be as awesome as Eventru - because, let's be realistic, I'm just awesome on a stick in a can of awesomesauce in a box full of Awesome Inc. products, right out of a truck rented from Rad Rentals, delivered from Estarra's Factory of Wonder.

And remember that some people may be caught up in the foul weather that's plaguing many regions of the globe currently.

And, let's be realistic - I probably won't be here forever. (But don't tell Estarra that!) That said, there's certainly administrators (Terentia, Elostian, Fain) who have been here longer than I.

We all pass on into other stages of our lives - eventually some young, eager volunteer rises up and steps in to take up the torch.

I theoretically know that, but it hasn't made any difference on how I feel.

Yeah, Sylphas, pretty much every order has gone dormant at one point or another. It can't be you because if it were, it'd be almost everyone.

(Don't talk to me about weather, I just barely got home more than a day late due to flight cancellations, only to have to fire up the snowthrower on more than two feet of snow.)