PM - The Growing Goblin Problem | Page 2

Zelrius

I agree, if anything, I think we should keep a closer eye on D'Vangelline than we did on Theodore. She's more... diplomatic. in her mannerisms and public image, and she certainly knows how to play to the strengths of those she's talking to. I agree with you, I don't think they are inherently evil in the same sense as the super villains you often see in movies. I just think that they have their own beliefs and ideas, and more importantly for Astor, their own motivations. And those might not always turn out to be the right thing, much like Theodore himself. Though often times leaders convince themselves that what they are striving for is for the benefit of all. Just food for thought. I will do the same as well, remain neutral, and should sides need to be taken up, take up the one that best aligns with my own beliefs.

I am of the theory that they do have Masteries, almost in the same exact sense we do. Just like they have Health bars like we do, just to them, there aren't menus or icons representing it. I am under the impression that they see the world around them much like how we see Earth, take it in at Face Value, with no secret 'mechanics'. So, going along with what you said, they only get the one life, and so even if the NPCs are aware of the potential that they have, they're less likely to hone those skills. That being said, somewhere there has to be an Illustrious Blacksmith NPC, right? Much like Snefrid, who was obviously well versed in Wellness and Mobility, with the clear Mastery of Bestial Ancestry, there has to be those who quite high in other Masteries. Atleast, that is my belief, much like the saying on Earth; "No matter how good you are at something, there's always someone who is better." Same logic here, in my book, someone somewhere has to have atleast tried to use the Mastery system, most likely without even knowing it.

That is all I can ask for. Once again, you are a greatly appreciated friend, and that is one of the main reasons. I will happily move against them should they become abusive of my kindness. I don't take kindly to those who take advantage of others, especially if it is me. As much as I talk bad on Astor, don't think I can't be a little Ruthless when the Situation calls for it. If I need to make an example of some Goblins, you can bet I will certainly try.

Tomorrow it is, my lupine friend. I will prepare the supplies we need if the excursion becomes a multi-day thing like I suspect it will. Safe travels, Yes, Humans come first, especially if Goblins are the aggressors.

 

Ueno Mizuki

I'm definitely planning to improve my Berserkergang so far as possible. From the description of the mastery once you reach high enough you regain control and instead you just turn into a focused killer, which is a lot more useful than the mindless rage that you get at the lower ranks. I will keep an eye on whether it affects my mentality on Earth, but so far I remain confident that it won't be an issue as long as I don't spend too much of my free time in Terrasphere and Terrasphere alone, and as long as I remain careful. This may be an illegal game and not necessarily safe, but if one of the main masteries unavoidably messed up your mind I believe we would have heard of it by now.

I was more talking about the fact that doing something like that as a favour sounds like a mild form of prostitution and insincere, but on further thought my initial reaction might have been a bit too harsh. Either way, if one of them is the type to react to rejection with violence... Well, I'd consider that poor attitude. Then again I haven't dealt a lot with being rejected since I was busy with studying and later working. Maybe I'd be more understanding of that response if I was familiar with the sensation.

If you have enough skill with the weapon you can strike what you want to strike, but the Hunting mastery lets you know where to strike. That is not to say that those who have a high weapon mastery can't be precise, but if you were to encounter a foreign creature and you didn't have the Hunting mastery you would have a difficult time figuring out what the weak spot of the creature is supposed to be... Although the eyes are usually a good guess.

...Test subject for Beast Taming? I'm pretty sure that mastery is meant for animals, not people with animal features. Whether I'd want to take part in that experiment depends on the exact details, but I have little expectations since there is still a big difference between me and a normal everyday wolf.

I don't think it's generous to share the money fairly if the money is obtained from us working together. But yes, we both will have to plan around our schedules so we'll actually have the opportunity to carry out those experiments of yours. I'll check the internet once more myself to see if maybe there are more detailed bestiaries available that I hadn't stumbled across yet.

While there are strong clues that the creators of this world weren't too worried about whether it would have negative effects on those who made use of it I doubt they would actually be sadistic enough to purposefully prolong the destruction if they ever decided to wipe Terrasphere. But yes I do hope for the same, even though I think that it is likely enough that hoping for it might be redundant. And it would be a mercy, since whether they know or not there is nothing they could do about it, and while some of them might appreciate knowing the truth most of them would probably wish they didn't know if they ever learned about it.

This world will end just like any other, but let's hope it'll remain for quite some time before that eventual end occurs.

 

Ueno Mizuki

Here in Astorea all the talk appears to be about a diplomatic approach, so I remain confident that they do not desire to conquer the Caenii tribes. More likely they just want to ensure that they won't aid in another invasion and see if maybe there is something they can do about the Lunatic Tribe, since that one is the most troublesome while the Caenii belonging to the other tribes for the most part never even wanted to fight or be here. And while the tribes might benefit from trade and interaction I hope they won't become too civilized... at least not to the extent that they'd abandon most of their own traditions to instead adopt either Astorea's or Falderen's. They're a people whose contact with the outside world hasn't so much been lacking as just limited, so I'd rather not see them immediately lose their identity the moment they become better known.

...And do you know what the elves might have done to earn the hatred of the humans? There are many cases where someone does not deserve the treatment they receive, both positive and negative examples.

Assuming that because the elves are hated they must deserve it without proof is a dangerous line of thought. The Africans who were enslaved and shipped to America to work the fields might all have been malicious criminals, but if I remember my history books correctly the motivation for enslaving Africans wasn't because they deserved it, but profit and the fact that they were an easy target.

He might have been insane or he might simply have been at a loss of what to do. Neither of us could say for certain but I myself can't think favourably of him. For the razing and destruction of the entirety of Astorea to be an acceptable course of action even as a desperation gambit all your other options need to have been exhausted beforehand, and I never heard of much trouble between Astorea and Falderen until the war began. Furthermore if the king was unable to see any course of action other than waging war and this wasn't caused by some kind of madness then he was an incompetent king, and while it is easier to sympathize with that you would still need to replace them with a more competent leader, and if he was unwilling to abdicate the throne... I find it difficult to see the former king as anything but either a madman, a warmonger or someone who had become incompetent through age. And in all three the cases I think there is a good case to be made that it would be better to remove him from the throne, although of course without killing or harming him if possible.

From the way you are talking about the subject I am somewhat worried. Your message reads as if something bad happened which is making it difficult for you to trust either of the two regents to the point that you would prefer to have your fears be justified. Be careful that you don't go too far in remaining neutral and end up the enemy of both kingdoms.

It'd be interesting to ask the people of this world what the world looks like to them, and whether they do have access to at least some of the mechanisms in a similar form. It's unfortunate that it seems like it's not possible to make them understand about the truth of this being a virtual world, because otherwise we could have learned a lot about what this world is like in the eyes of the natives.

As long as you understand that you should have a limit to your generosity and forgiveness it should be fine. Considering the fact that it's goblins you shouldn't even need me watching over you and protecting you, but I'd prefer to be certain, especially since I'd like to be present if it does work because I doubt I'd believe it unless I saw it with my own eyes.

Given that Brisshal is ripe with prey and food I don't think provisions are a pressing concern, but there''s no reason not to be cautious. I'll see you tomorrow then, and that will also give you the opportunity to see my new appearance, even if it isn't that much different from what it was like before.

 

Zelrius

Ahaha, you mean you have a life outside of Terrasphere? Impossible. Joking aside, yea, Its probably good that not only does Berserk on its own not last long, you also dont play enough to use it frequently, or if you do, try not to find yourself in situations where frequent use may become inevitable. Though it does pang me with a bit of morbid curiosity. As we've said, I am not sure that kind of stuff does effect the actual mind and body, but I almost kind of want to do a test and find out. Of course, I would never force or ask it upon someone else, so that defaults to meaning I would be my own test subject. And sorry to say, I am too chicken shit to test on myself. So I guess the world will remain in the dark on whether or not Terra things translate into real life at all.

Oh, if that's your qualms about it, I feel a lot less shitty about that joke. Again, no worries, I was largely joking. Its best we forget about that and move on. Please. The latter part of that joke now coming off as an actual problem, and I only meant it as a fun poke at people who are not here to defend themselves. Again, best to drop it.

That's a fair point I hadn't considered. On top of a huge amount of skill, what if you paired that with something like hunting? The Lethality of your attacks would be astronomical. Unmatched even, as far as the NPCs are concerned. Even aside from eyes, soft spots in Scales on dragons, or openings in between plates of Armor. Now I worry that Players don't start abusing that as ways to rob and steal from the poor NPCs who have no way of defending or hiding from someone with an insanely high Mastery stat. The thought of that kind of usage sends chills down my spine...

You might be right, and as with the Beastiary, I will make sure to do extensive research and scouring for any pre-existing information before hand. You're free to decline being a test subject, as I just said, I won't force anything upon anyone, especially not a person I respect and trust as a friend. There will no hard feelings from me if you reject my proposal. Just means I will either have to keep wondering, or ask someone else. You have plenty of time to think about it too, if that is an issue. I have no where near the needed level in that Mastery in order to start even using it on small birds, let alone animal-people.

It's generous that you willingly made the deal equal in that way despite having the full option and offer to take all the money. Stacked on top of the fact that It might take a huge chunk of your free time if and when we do the hunting like that, and you're willing to still split it equally despite me being the one who would get the informational satisfaction out of it. But yes. I will check around too. Though it might sound a bit selfish to say; I hope there isn't one. The Thrill of finding out and writing it down yourself sounds too enticing.

I concur. All good things come to an end, lets just hope later rather than sooner.

 

Zelrius

I hope that remains true. I'd hate to see the Caenis as a subjugated race, either to themselves or to Astor and his Immortal cronies. However, ensuring they remain out of Invasions and other Politics is unlikely, unless they are captured, subjugated, or the worst in my opinion, Puppeted. Unlike strategy video games, there is, as far as I am aware, no great Cosmic Power forcing anyone or anything to uphold to treaties or peace deals, unless you use the Contract system in the game, but even that isn't a binding factor, its just a written note on a UI Screen. Basically what I am saying is, I am willing to sit back and let it be, but no one, especially Astor, should be surprised if some tribes turn their back on some piece of paper. I'd much prefer they kept their sovereignty, and as you said, their own traditions and Culture. A Brief knowledge of history tells me that might change very soon with the other races and Kingdoms now coming into direct contact with them. I pray it will remain peaceful. And should Astorea or Falderen move against them or aggregates in anyway, I will not hesitate to turn my back on the players to defend those people.


I don't know, to be honest with you. I try to keep up with the histories that the NPCs are ever willing to share. I am just saying not to leave it out of the question that they did something. Maybe it wasn't them; perhaps it's the 'One bad apple spoiled the bunch' phenomenon. Its entirely possible that an individual or small group of Elves gave everyone the wrong impression. Or maybe some Noble spun some propoganda against them for some personal gain. But all that relies on a lot of factors. Occam's Razor says to accept the theory that takes the least assumptions. And that one is that the Elves as a group did something to anger or strike fear into the Humans and Felis. If you can show me proof otherwise, I will more than happily change my position and show sympathy for those all too smug bastards. Until then, I am under the belief that they got what was coming to them, and Astor ignored that for his own gain.


There wasn't much trouble between Astorea and Falderen before because Astorea was born from the northern part of Falderen, which I believe was being held by the Yladians at the time. So through some convoluted diplomacy and probably hundreds of years of war and fighting, it feel from Falderen, and then somehow ended up in Astor's hands. It's ridiculous that it took an Immortal otherworldly being to break whatever stalemate was being held there. And even more so that Astor thought it okay to interfere with a world that wasn't his in such a way. Atleast, that's how I understand it. And hey, calm down, I wasn't saying Theodore was in the right. I was saying I understood where he was coming from and how he came to the decisions that he did, even if they were wrong, they make sense logically. Maybe he was a Warmonger, I haven't heard much about Theodore previous to this Astorea bullshit, and I doubt I will get many accurate reports now. Doesn't mean I won't try, but Kings aren't intentionally Evil. And very rarely are Madkings ever actually Mad. I believe dethroning him was the right move, I don't think his replacement was the most well chosen.


Maybe you're right. Maybe I am taking things a bit too far, and I might be unfairly distrustful. But forgive me if I don't swoon to the side of a man who meddled with the balance of power, and got a Kingdom out of it. And if I am a bit skeptical of the Daughter who so willingly and openly opposed her father, going so far as to let a few groups of people slaughter her Countrymen in their forts and take them for her, after telling us that we were there to rescue fellow players. Players, mind you, who could have logged out or committed suicide and returned Safely to Brisshal. However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy that expedition and learn from it a little.


As you have stated your concern, out of immense respect for you, I will be more cautious moving forward regarding the Kingdoms.But that's under the arrogant assumption that I am high profile enough that they even notice my existence, let alone to make me an Open Enemy of either State. I am not nearly that strong, nor a very loud political voice. Afterall, the first time I've openly stated my concerns regarding Terrasphere politics was just now, in some message spam, to a girl I barely even know. What kind of loser like that is Public Enemy #1?


The only way to get real answers in that regard is to phrase it as best you can, without any mention of anything other than their direct perception. But then that makes your question so vague that it might not be answerable; similar to trying to describe colour to someone who has been blind their whole life. It's certainly something worth trying, maybe I will pay some Townsfolk for their time, if they sit with me and try their best to answer some questions. An experiment of sorts, if you will. Sort of like how Universities do it back on Earth.


Generosity has bounds, but I appreciate your words of wisdom and kindness. Yea, I'd hardly believe it myself unless someone came along to confirm. Someone level headed like you might also help in said negotiations, so we'll certainly see when we head out tomorrow.


Actually, you're right. I didn't even think about that. Perhaps I will only bring Flasks so that we can travel away from Rivers and Direct sources of water if need be. But I'll still bring an emergency food supply in case we some how find ourselves in a situation where food will become scarce. I doubt we will, but you never know.


If you have any more to say, I'd much prefer to continue our conversation on the topics discussed here, in person. It's been a while since I've seen you, and it might make for better conversation if we can also see body language and expressions. We just have to promise not to get heated at eachother for differing views. Does that sound alright with you?

 

Ueno Mizuki

It is probably for the best that we put our conversation on hold until tomorrow yes. I have several things to say about your ideas, but we'll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow, especially since I doubt that the goblins will be too difficult to deal with regardless of whether they accept the peaceful approach or refuse and we have to take care of them the harsh way.