Stavennites used to be advised to buy an artifact vial, so you could fill the artifact vial from Rythanis and pour that into two normal vials to get double your money's worth out of health refills. If you were bashing a lot as a Stavennite it was actually worth the credits to do this because, early credit prices being what they were, you only had buy 200 odd refills from Rythanis for it to pay itself off. And you had to get refills from Rythanis most of the time because shops didn't stock usable amounts of health and it was pretty uncommon for Joe Average Demoner to find a refiller at any given time, especially if you kept odd hours. To actually get herbs in usable amounts, you had to find one of the rogues or pay hilariously high markups on the black market. I remember buying quince at something like 200g per as a Stavennite.
On the other hand, as a Runeguard(No assassin guild, no predator guild in the magick circle at this time), I was paying upwards of 2k+ for some of the more commonly used toxins; it was not unusual for any given DSL to cost me 100+ gold in toxins.
The black market was horrible and we are better off without it.
"On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."
I think it comes down to preference. I always enjoyed the black market aspect of the game even when it made combat supplies more expensive, simply because it made the game seem more realistic. It made sense to me that in a fantasy setting I might have to consort with some of my enemies in order to gain supplies that would make me stronger in combat.
My real issue is that while most of us respected the rules and played along with them, there were people who just rampantly metagamed it, and because of that I understand the current setup. It's a lot like circles. I'm sad they're in place, but people did the system wrong, and here we are now.
I'd say the black market could be tedious, but some people enjoyed it. Ultimately, what we have now makes the game easier, and some of us are better off without it because we didn't enjoy dealing with it. Others miss it, and it totally makes sense. It comes down to what you want in an RPG.
‘Least I won’t have to carry it no more. You see how bloody heavy it is?’
‘Every sword’s a weight to carry. Men don’t see that when they pick ’em up. But they get heavier with time.”
It's better like this because, preferences aside about the black market, the Hunters and Arboreals did stupid things to try and keep their guild members from using concoctions and harvesting too soon/the wrong way/under a certain price.
Now we've swung all the way to the other end, where 1-2 players are driving the market into the ground because they have no compunctions about harvesting on their alts, but I prefer that to people getting outguilded for accidentally harvesting too much myrrh or learning Concoctions before GR3.
The game as a whole is better off without it because the black market setup did not hurt me or Kabal or Iriaen or Jagara or Aronus or Trenon or any of the other big names from the old days. We had the contacts to avoid the worst ravages of the black market. The people who were hurt by the black market were the lowbies, newbies, and no-namers, the people who couldn't bypass an herb-ban by getting on AIM and asking for maidenhair.
In the days where credits were 1800 gold a pop and sewers were the only place to bash, maidenhair could be 40 gold per, health refills were quite often 300g/50sips, toadstool was so expensive that only the wealthy could use it frequently, and you could easily burn 40+ gold/second fighting as a sabreknight.
I could handle that, or bypass a lot of it due to having contacts and friends. Newbies and lowbies, though? It was crippling.
"On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."
I have no problem with it. Just less and less and less inter-circle interaction, and it just makes me aware of the fact that people just want to do their own thing. As though they would just prefer to play another game.
You know, I was never a big named person or anything like that, but I actually preferred the way it use to be. It was hard to get herbs, and hard to get refills, and hell, it was hard to get specific poisons sometime. I had fun trying to make more money fun ways, without metagaming, like finding someone who wanted to buy a special poison or something. During those days, I usually only had about 100 - 200 toadstool on me at a time, due to the price. It was hard, and I had to limit its use very much. But still, I prefer those days to these.
I would be fine with the way Imperian is, re: most of every side wanting nothing to do with the other 2/3rds of the game, if the population was as big as it once was.
<div>Message #2062 Sent By: (imperian) Received On: 1/20/2018/2:59</div><div>"Antioch has filed a bounty against you. Reason: Raiding Antioch and stealing Bina, being a right</div><div>****, and not belonging anywhere near Antioch till he grows up."</div>
Canavas: "Tired of spending your days alone. Always looking for someone to talk to about your problems... maybe your just tired of hunting alone. You're in luck... for a small fee, you can RENT A FRIEND. Male and female friends available to suit your needs with a variety of races to choose from. This is not a dating service. This is not an escort service. Don't spend another moment along. Contact Canavas for booking arrangements. Rent your friend today."
** You know what? I'd almost rather you didn't vote. You'll only hurt yourself. Voting is thrilling and dangerous, I don't think you could handle it. Leave voting to the big boys, Iniar. **
Sarrius: Basically looking for fights from people that aren't Demonic..
Not going to lie, this is what I said verbatim.
I know where I have chances of success. Against Demonic's artifact juggernauts and their larger body count/higher rate of organization as opposed to Anti-Magick or Magick, tooling around looking for a fight there is going to get me a fight I will not win ever (read: it is boring). Against Magick, I've got chances for entertainment. They can bring a bit larger numbers, but their lack of organization means that a smaller team can beat them, or one person can. It just won't be a massacre.
<div>Message #2062 Sent By: (imperian) Received On: 1/20/2018/2:59</div><div>"Antioch has filed a bounty against you. Reason: Raiding Antioch and stealing Bina, being a right</div><div>****, and not belonging anywhere near Antioch till he grows up."</div>
Honestly, who goes out looking for a fight they know they can't win? Sarrius' only flaw here is that, as usual, he manages to sound like a massive tool when saying it.
‘Least I won’t have to carry it no more. You see how bloody heavy it is?’
‘Every sword’s a weight to carry. Men don’t see that when they pick ’em up. But they get heavier with time.”
Last Event Result: Your mercenaries spread out and search the basement of clues. After a few moments a few come forward to show the others what they hae found.
Ok.. Yes. Good! You're making progress
Current Report: A pen filled with undead children stands before you, clearly they are used for experimentation
What the **** this is random... Ok..
What do you do? 1) Burn them, this is an outrage! (Skill: Arson - Difficulty: 4) [5m, 49s remaining] GUYS???
Last Event Result: When your mercenaries take up the strange stuffed animals used to sooth the children, Tolynothen Stormhammer trips over one of the watch dogs, waking it from its slumber. They all take their queue and make a break for it, in hopes not to be torn to shreds.
When your mercenaries take up the strange stuffed animals used to sooth the children, Tolynothen Stormhammer trips over one of the watch dogs, waking it from its slumber. They all take their queue and make a break for it, in hopes not to be torn to shreds.
I don't really see them pausing to form up before running for their lives.
Comments
It's much better like this.
Stavennites used to be advised to buy an artifact vial, so you could fill the artifact vial from Rythanis and pour that into two normal vials to get double your money's worth out of health refills. If you were bashing a lot as a Stavennite it was actually worth the credits to do this because, early credit prices being what they were, you only had buy 200 odd refills from Rythanis for it to pay itself off. And you had to get refills from Rythanis most of the time because shops didn't stock usable amounts of health and it was pretty uncommon for Joe Average Demoner to find a refiller at any given time, especially if you kept odd hours. To actually get herbs in usable amounts, you had to find one of the rogues or pay hilariously high markups on the black market. I remember buying quince at something like 200g per as a Stavennite.
On the other hand, as a Runeguard(No assassin guild, no predator guild in the magick circle at this time), I was paying upwards of 2k+ for some of the more commonly used toxins; it was not unusual for any given DSL to cost me 100+ gold in toxins.
The black market was horrible and we are better off without it.
"On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."
‘Every sword’s a weight to carry. Men don’t see that when they pick ’em up. But they get heavier with time.”
Now we've swung all the way to the other end, where 1-2 players are driving the market into the ground because they have no compunctions about harvesting on their alts, but I prefer that to people getting outguilded for accidentally harvesting too much myrrh or learning Concoctions before GR3.
The game as a whole is better off without it because the black market setup did not hurt me or Kabal or Iriaen or Jagara or Aronus or Trenon or any of the other big names from the old days. We had the contacts to avoid the worst ravages of the black market. The people who were hurt by the black market were the lowbies, newbies, and no-namers, the people who couldn't bypass an herb-ban by getting on AIM and asking for maidenhair.
In the days where credits were 1800 gold a pop and sewers were the only place to bash, maidenhair could be 40 gold per, health refills were quite often 300g/50sips, toadstool was so expensive that only the wealthy could use it frequently, and you could easily burn 40+ gold/second fighting as a sabreknight.
I could handle that, or bypass a lot of it due to having contacts and friends. Newbies and lowbies, though? It was crippling.
"On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."
‘Every sword’s a weight to carry. Men don’t see that when they pick ’em up. But they get heavier with time.”
Last Event Result:
Your mercenaries spread out and search the basement of clues. After a few moments a few come forward to show the others what they hae found.
Ok.. Yes. Good! You're making progress
Current Report:
A pen filled with undead children stands before you, clearly they are used for experimentation
What the **** this is random... Ok..
What do you do?
1) Burn them, this is an outrage! (Skill: Arson - Difficulty: 4) [5m, 49s remaining]
GUYS???
Last Event Result:
When your mercenaries take up the strange stuffed animals used to sooth the children, Tolynothen Stormhammer trips over one of the watch dogs, waking it from its slumber. They all take their queue and make a break for it, in hopes not to be torn to shreds.
STORMHAMMER YOU SON OF A ****.