Arelith

Quite soon I expect. Really depends on when I find time (like a lot of things)

Even when i do there will still be the lengthy bidding period.

Reading though this, I have noted the idea of the castles is mainly focused on the city states. Sure you can be the "lord" of the castle, but this in only at the pleasure of the current owner of which ever city won it. It makes it very difficult for outsiders to band together to get a slice of the pie, as there is always going to be someone "lined up" for the job.

That said, I saw the reasoning behind it and why it is this way.

My question would be are there any plans for something that groups of 10-20 people could work toward with a similar system. Its like the best of both worlds where you have these huge castles, sure, but smaller forts or some such that can change hands a little more often might be a fun idea. This would be geared towards the more outsider groups.

I can think of 2 places in game that fit what you are describing, both are somewhat out of the way, one is very much themed towards a specific audience.

mjones3 wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 28, 2021 1:40 pm

I can think of 2 places in game that fit what you are describing, both are somewhat out of the way, one is very much themed towards a specific audience.

That's 2 places for a server with 2000+ players. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess those 2 places are taken and will continue to be taken.

There are 3 castles that you bid on so its pretty comparable. I guess you could say 4 places that fit the bill if you count the farm too.

mjones3 wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 28, 2021 4:28 pm

There are 3 castles that you bid on so its pretty comparable. I guess you could say 4 places that fit the bill if you count the farm too.

I know of one of the places you are referring too, but it is the same as a quarter so it is never going to be up for grabs sadly. not sure on the 2nd one however.

The castles I think are clearly established and designed around the city states and their "friends". These I seriously doubt will ever be in the hands of "outsiders" as they need to be in bed with the faction leaders of a city.

Well, that's largely due to pockets.
If you have enough gold to outbid a settlement you could give it a whirl?

Or if the goal is to be a smaller group, use someone's quarters as a base or try for a guildhouse which (I imagine) was set up for this exact purpose?

Can a non settlement faction or person bid on a castle? If so that would be a rather neat way to keep things interesting on the surface and my new goal!

I'm actually not sure, it might HAVE to be via a settlement - though I suppose you could do it via a settlement and then still be the bankroll.

Edens_Fall wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 01, 2021 2:30 pm

Can a non settlement faction or person bid on a castle? If so that would be a rather neat way to keep things interesting on the surface and my new goal!

Its a end game goal for me also. However I don't think it is possible. Based on the quote I'll put below which is from IG, it seems you need to be attached to a settlement to take ownership, and it seems based on what I have read here you rule at the pleasure of the settlement owners. Thus (and correct me if I am mistaken here) even if you somehow won the bid, you might not get to be the lord/owner.

EG, a mega wealthy smaller faction cannot take castles.

Irongron wrote: "As for smaller factions being outsted, they really don't need to be. If your faction controls a castle, the owning settlement is purely who you pay tax to. Does that need to a problem? Said faction can again actually reach out to the elected leader of each settlement prior to the bidding, asking that they can retain ownership, and offering something in return. I believe a great many settlements would be open to that, and, once again, it encourages guilds to actually work on reaching out to the rest of the server."

Edens_Fall wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 01, 2021 2:30 pm

Can a non settlement faction or person bid on a castle? If so that would be a rather neat way to keep things interesting on the surface and my new goal!

Bids can be done by anyone but only on behalf of a settlement, Andunor not included even with the city districts showing up on the auction menu. The settlement leader of whatever settlement controls the castle then gets to choose a lord for it and they can change it any time they want by speaking with a certain NPC in the castle.

So my dreams of bidding to win a castle and playing evil countess until a siege outs me are over?

I wonder if it would be acceptable to OOC agree with a settlement leader to take control of a castle for the sole purpose of sparking RP and a surface crisis? IE "oh noes! Evil vampire countess has taken a keep and raised an army. We must siege and RP!"

OR would that to meta?

TBH, seducing/dominating the current owner of a castle to get "Lady" priveleges and then corrupting it until you secede from the settlement and spark a siege would be a fun as hell plotline if you can get settlement leaders/assigned operators to play along.

Ninjimmy wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 02, 2021 2:29 pm

TBH, seducing/dominating the current owner of a castle to get "Lady" priveleges and then corrupting it until you secede from the settlement and spark a siege would be a fun as hell plotline if you can get settlement leaders/assigned operators to play along.

Truth.

Irongron wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 25, 2021 8:09 am

Quite soon I expect. Really depends on when I find time (like a lot of things)

Even when i do there will still be the lengthy bidding period.

Are you going to add a gate to the Dark Spires Citadel? The other two castles all have gates and hidden ways to break into them, the Citadel meanwhile anyone can just waltz in, and that sort of defeats the purpose of a fortified keep.

I think castles, appointed lords and settlements have too much to offer in terms of roleplay - if not for the mechanical determinism which the system currently is based on.

A castle that any could bid upon would be a nice way to keep things fresh on the surface side, but unlikely to come about.

This probably belongs to the feedback forum but I don't see the reason to create an entire new thread just to mention this. The Dwarven Ranger NPC that spawns sometimes in the area directly north of the Temple of Auril's entrance, which can be asked about the local landmarks of the Dark Spires, still mentions the Base Camp as a tiny place where there's only a Lodge and nothing else. She probably should mention the Citadel now. I know this is not very important, but for nitpicking's sake, I had to mention it. lol

Red_Wharf wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 15, 2021 7:19 am

This probably belongs to the feedback forum but I don't see the reason to create an entire new thread just to mention this. The Dwarven Ranger NPC that spawns sometimes in the area directly north of the Temple of Auril's entrance, which can be asked about the local landmarks of the Dark Spires, still mentions the Base Camp as a tiny place where there's only a Lodge and nothing else. She probably should mention the Citadel now. I know this is not very important, but for nitpicking's sake, I had to mention it. lol

There is a thread called "The Little Things bug thread v2" on the bug reports tab. That's a good place for stuff like this so the right people see it.

I just wish bidding wasn’t tied to settlements. It consolidates power and it would be great to see a mysterious wealthy individual with unknown benefactors swoop in and buy a strategic castle, throwing everyone through a loop. It’d help a lot with general stagnation and create more opportunities for opening up who can participate in using/owning these awesome properties.

I’ll add the the idea of negotiations with a settlement leader being possible or fruitful in any but a handful of scenarios is just not realistic. Often there’s a group they want to support and pass it off to or you’re evil or you’re on another faction or insert any number of reasons you’re never gonna have a snowballs chance in Baator to keep/buy it.

It means that unless you’re one of the institutional incumbents or pandering to them you won’t ever even see the insides of these places.

I wish guild houses were more prevalent and not being deleted, but expanded and added for this reason.

^ Hard agree.

The main problem with traditional guildhouses is that once a clique gets hold of one of those, they're not letting go of it, ever.

It might seem like the property is changing hands on the outside between various individuals... sometimes between factions even, but in reality it's very often just a couple of players bouncing the ownership between each other.

Settlement leadership and agency can change much more organically and this impacts the castles too. Unlike traditional guildhouses, players are required to retain their ownership in a more proactive manner.

The political aspect of the matter is IMO much more important than these being mere gold sinks. We might have reached a point where character builds can be considered somewhat balanced in terms of PvP (I'm not fully on board with this statement, but for the sake of the argument let's say that it is so), but this does not apply even close when we take PvE into account. Some builds have a field day with endgame PvE content and as such, with a bit of research and dedication it is not impossible for individuals with the right build to acquire wealth that can rival entire factions (who are often focused on other things too).

IMO the server as a whole gets more mileage out of castles if settlement leaders can hand out these to upstart factions that are active during the peak hours than it gets out of castles being owned by a handful of skilled PvE enthusiasts who log on mainly during odd hours.
While the political baggage that comes with it might seem like a downside, it at least represents some incentive for the guildhouse owners to interact with the rest of the server to justify their claim.

Yeah, agree with that ^

If we open it up we'll see it move from the same few settlements to the same few PLAYERS who can just lock it in by constantly grinding gold. That would lock out way more players than you would if a settlement owns it (because, bear in mind, if a settlement owns it then every citizen of that settlement has free access, if an individual player owns it then it's just whoever they give a key to)

Not that I object to individuals bidding but I think it'd probably just lead to a new kind of stagnation where even less people can access castles.

Well the main goal behind the individual owning it and not the settlement is dynamic I think. Right now, even with a new city that should rival Cordor the surface is forever locked into a forced peace. This leads to the surface vs UD we have now. When was the last time two surface settlements had conflict? Which I feel would be a good thing from time to time. Yes you can argue a faction can win an election and start one but when is that likely. Soon as you are outted as evil one is forced below ground and to not be outted you tow the line and keep the peace. If I recall Bersk pulled it off for a short time two years ago in Cordor but she was quickly killed off. Anyway, point is to allow a third party variable a foothold to create new dynamics.

Seven Sons of Sin wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:16 pm

-XXX- wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:07 pm

This is mostly because the factions strategically seek to control property outside their guild house.

Knowingly buying property outside your guildhouse, with the intent for it to be used by the guild, funded by the guild, with -faction support, and even nameplating the guild, is deeply problematic, and has become systemic on this server.

It pushes out new players, disenfranchised players, players who don't join Discord, and players with odd or reduced playtimes.

I agree heavily with this. I'm not sure if theres a way to easily enforce this that would be satisfactory to everyone involved, and maybe the pressure of a desire for property (I dont know how many unique players we have but I'd bet its 500-1000) that seems be roughly 1/10th the amount of people who want it could be mitigated by adding slums or tenement buildings to the major 3 settlements.

Also, there is a tactical reason that guildhouses are used this way. It gives the faction access to all X chests in the guild house for their joint use, while also all Y chests the other members have for private use.