State of RK

I gave up Secfenia when they had that massive server crash. I was forgetting to log in anyway and just didn't see the point anymore. The game was going nowhere and supreme leader was such a nazi. So over it.

We need to develop our own game already

This game has been headed downhill since they broke the economy. I remember the old days when this game was young and people were excited to build their counties. Taverns were full, sometimes two or three taverns were full with people getting to know each other and having fun. The counties were able to make money and build their economy. New counties were opening and people would move because they were interested in building a new place. Then the owners decided France was too rich and broke the economy everywhere. The game has gone from the excitement of growing something to just trying to keep our heads above water, and failing. It's no fun when all you can say is that you didn't go further into debt this week.

Some new developments have been fun. Ships brought an entirely new dimension to this game, from new classes, to a new way to travel, to learning the intricacies of sailing, to a new method of warfare. The 3D stuff has potential, but seems to be wasted as there is no real point to it. You can't use 3D to grow your character. Disease has potential, but there haven't been that many diseases around. It seems like they did a couple of test runs and dropped it.

Another issue is that many things are done behind the scenes, via other methods of communication. Hardly anyone is in the taverns anymore, making it very difficult for new characters to become integrated into the community, so they are less invested and less likely to stick around. This is a player issue, rather than an owner issue, so I'm not sure what the owners could do to solve that.

I will admit I don't understand the technical aspects of coding a game or what things need to be developed to keep up with the rest of the gaming world. However, this has always been a character based game, depending heavily on role play and growing one's community and that is the part that has fallen off sharply. It has been difficult to grow my character as she has very little ig interaction with others. My own interest in taking the time to write and grow her personality has waned so that I have become mostly a few-minutes-a-day button pusher.

C+P

Mysterie_Babel wrote:

People droning on and pounding away on their keyboards as if their lives depend on getting their point of view shoved down your throat forcibly, is what killed most of the enjoyment people find in RK.

Effectively, people like Argotitan.

So no, RK is not heading in the 'right' direction, as far as there is a right direction for any online game. But it doesn't solely happen because the GA fails at customer-service and/or using feedback, which they conveniently enough ignore to get their mini-games implemented. Like the stubborn French people they are. It's the community in RK that has fallen apart as well. Many old players quit, people with RP values, such as keeping a distinctive line between OOC/IC to avoid sensitivity rage-quit over someone bapping your character on the head. The old players that remain in this game are mostly greedy little bastards that prefer imaginative power through their pixellated butts over any social interaction beyond their little 'crew'.

RK has turned into a mini-ghetto where factions rule, rather than that we cooperate. Where people choose to voice an opinion through their characters, rather than that they challenge themselves to speak up in RL.

It is fuc.king ridiculous, yet I still continue to play the game because I enjoy what little is left of the RP on forums. :?

This poll should now allow guests to vote and post in it.

Quote :

Do you feel that RK is headed in the right direction?
Yes 7% [ 2 ]
No 89% [ 24 ]
Not Sure 4% [ 1 ]
Total Votes : 27

Looks like I can post as a guest, but not vote, unless my browser is hiding things from me.
It would be a "no".
The pretty graphics are pretty, since I have a PC that can cope with no problem, but they're not properly implemented.
I like playing silly Facebook-style games - but these ones are very limited and very poor.
I agree with everyone else, they should be spending time fixing bugs in the existing system, or upgrading it (with proper testing!), not messing about with superficial trivialities, and then getting those wrong.

Thanks for the feedback, I fixed the voting, all guests should be able to vote now.

Opted to vote no, based simply on one trend that I doubt will ever change: effective communication. Other games I've played there are regular announcements about game development and timelines. In RK, I realized that I can't make up my mind how to vote because I don't know if the next thing they have in the works will be ridiculous (mini games) or pretty good (sailing). So.... same wrong direction as always, at least in my experience.

Elyeria wrote:

This game has been headed downhill since they broke the economy. I remember the old days when this game was young and people were excited to build their counties. Taverns were full, sometimes two or three taverns were full with people getting to know each other and having fun. The counties were able to make money and build their economy. New counties were opening and people would move because they were interested in building a new place. Then the owners decided France was too rich and broke the economy everywhere. The game has gone from the excitement of growing something to just trying to keep our heads above water, and failing. It's no fun when all you can say is that you didn't go further into debt this week.

Some new developments have been fun. Ships brought an entirely new dimension to this game, from new classes, to a new way to travel, to learning the intricacies of sailing, to a new method of warfare. The 3D stuff has potential, but seems to be wasted as there is no real point to it. You can't use 3D to grow your character. Disease has potential, but there haven't been that many diseases around. It seems like they did a couple of test runs and dropped it.

Another issue is that many things are done behind the scenes, via other methods of communication. Hardly anyone is in the taverns anymore, making it very difficult for new characters to become integrated into the community, so they are less invested and less likely to stick around. This is a player issue, rather than an owner issue, so I'm not sure what the owners could do to solve that.

I will admit I don't understand the technical aspects of coding a game or what things need to be developed to keep up with the rest of the gaming world. However, this has always been a character based game, depending heavily on role play and growing one's community and that is the part that has fallen off sharply. It has been difficult to grow my character as she has very little ig interaction with others. My own interest in taking the time to write and grow her personality has waned so that I have become mostly a few-minutes-a-day button pusher.

+1

Welcome, Guests!

So I turned on the 3D today, first time since it was introduced, to see what it was all about. I remain in the dark as to its purpose. Money sink for those who want to decorate a home? Additional chat space for those who don't want to go to the taverns? Is that all it really is?

Dee ... love the sig!

I don't use the 3D because it slows my game down too much.  If there was a point to the 3D, then maybe I would use it, but I don't see why I should activate something that slows things down and has no purpose.  The 3D element would be fine if you could sleep on the bed and get a mood boost for that or sit at the table and eat a meal.  Maybe you can cultivate a garden or physically see people working your fields?  This would be fun and would be better than, "oh look, takes longer to load the screen and for what?  Oh yes, so I can use the short-cut buttons to access everything."

Meh.

The problem right now is the recent peace between the CA and England has left the English speaking world with literally nothing to do.

RK is a game built for conflict, not peace. It is a game where people should be constantly jockeying for social status in order to organize for the next war. For example, the previous sides should be divided in half, and a half from each side should be joining with a half on the other side to form new sides. Old rivals should become new friends, and old friends should become new rivals.

That's not happening though.

What's happening instead is the playerbase has resigned itself towards just indefinitely preserving how things are. There are no pursuits to change things because people are so eager to cut each other off. Those on the top are friends, and anyone who doesn't cooperate with what they want gets cast out.

There is literally no motive for anyone new to join RK because of this as well. The instant you join RK is the instant you are expected to cooperate with those on top, but again, RK is a game built for conflict, not peace.

If you're looking for peace, there are plenty of other better games and roleplaying communities you can join as well, especially if you're not into economics.

At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if the economy was primarily supported by multiaccounts. Clicking nonstop is a boring game to play, and clearly, the developers don't know how to further develop a good game, especially since they've developed so many side-projects instead. Heck, it wouldn't surprise me if all the way to the top, the developers really don't care about a profitable business model and that they just developed RK for their own self-centered roleplaying while mocking fellow roleplayers to feel good about themselves to compensate for their lack of development will and talent.

+1

Good post.

Yep, +1.

A Player wrote:

Those on the top are friends, and anyone who doesn't cooperate with what they want gets cast out.

There is literally no motive for anyone new to join RK because of this as well. The instant you join RK is the instant you are expected to cooperate with those on top, but again, RK is a game built for conflict, not peace.

I dont see a problem with it at all. Dont want to cooperate ? Be the outlaw for the example. Even single player can do lots of trouble for those with power.

Also I dont see how its different than in some other games: cannot expect to get into most powerful/best/whatever guild/alliance/group while being totally new player.

What I understood from what "A Player" said was RP-wise. If you don't want to join a particular group (outlaw or not), they refuse completely to write with you, so you end up not being able to play at all. (Except IG, which for some is quite boring on its own.)

I remember that happening especially during the An Mumhain/CA peace talks years ago. People I had on MSN started giving me the cold shoulder (and some sent me passive aggressive OOC mails) just because their characters disagreed with whatever my character was doing. I totally wanted to RP with players whose characters were "from the other side" but I knew that if I did, people would start giving my character shit and godmodding her, so I decided not to have to deal with that.

It's what got me to have a character now who knows nothing about politics: I simply don't want to deal with people blurring IC and OOC (or at least, keep that blurring to a minimum.)

Everyone wants peace so that they can RP weddings and dinners and cheesiness... For some reason, they take IG war/conflict as a direct attack on their person or something, so they're doing everything possible to get out of that. To each their own, of course... but still.

Whitesnow wrote:

I dont see a problem with it at all. Dont want to cooperate ? Be the outlaw for the example. Even single player can do lots of trouble for those with power.

Also I dont see how its different than in some other games: cannot expect to get into most powerful/best/whatever guild/alliance/group while being totally new player.

RK is a team game. You get squashed if you try to do things as individuals.

Anyway, you can't be an outlaw when those in power deliberately squash the gray area between outlaw and oppressor to prevent outlaws from either accumulating weapons and strength or reputation. Those in power design the economy so only those they like accumulate power, and anyone who differs from them is immediately associated with being an enemy. On top of that, fellow innocents don't stand up for you either. Instead, they just go along with those in power. Outlaws need that gray area to hide within, but when you're treated as guilty before proven innocent, that gray area doesn't exist. It's either you're with those in power, or you're against them. Those in power deliberately want outlaws so they have people to make examples of to other innocents.

At least before, when the CA was at war with England, those in power couldn't get away with this forever. The oppression of domestic freedom in the name of domestic security came at the price of foreign security threats. Now, that balance of power doesn't exist anymore. That said, I'm not saying the CA should have to exist in order to prevent those in power from doing this. Like I said before, old friends should become new rivals, and old rivals should become new friends. People should be constantly jockeying for social status, but now, the player base is resigned.

On top of that, recent events with Daubigny and Julius Octavius suggest that the CA is actually mirroring England.

Ritaa wrote:

What I understood from what "A Player" said was RP-wise. If you don't want to join a particular group (outlaw or not), they refuse completely to write with you, so you end up not being able to play at all. (Except IG, which for some is quite boring on its own.)

I remember that happening especially during the An Mumhain/CA peace talks years ago. People I had on MSN started giving me the cold shoulder (and some sent me passive aggressive OOC mails) just because their characters disagreed with whatever my character was doing. I totally wanted to RP with players whose characters were "from the other side" but I knew that if I did, people would start giving my character shit and godmodding her, so I decided not to have to deal with that.

It's what got me to have a character now who knows nothing about politics: I simply don't want to deal with people blurring IC and OOC (or at least, keep that blurring to a minimum.)

Everyone wants peace so that they can RP weddings and dinners and cheesiness... For some reason, they take IG war/conflict as a direct attack on their person or something, so they're doing everything possible to get out of that. To each their own, of course... but still.

Yes, this seems to happen a lot.

People constantly manipulate moderation to shut down characters they don't like. They collectively complain to suggest that some individuals are making things a mess, or they deliberately behave badly where characters they don't like are behaving in order to get the entire thread shut down.

There's nothing wrong with people being friends, but even friends play against each other. Just because you're a friend on MSN doesn't mean you're an ally in the game. It's like how you play poker or basketball or Starcraft with your friends.

A Player wrote:

Whitesnow wrote:

I dont see a problem with it at all. Dont want to cooperate ? Be the outlaw for the example. Even single player can do lots of trouble for those with power.

Also I dont see how its different than in some other games: cannot expect to get into most powerful/best/whatever guild/alliance/group while being totally new player.

RK is a team game.  You get squashed if you try to do things as individuals.

Anyway, you can't be an outlaw when those in power deliberately squash the gray area between outlaw and oppressor to prevent outlaws from either accumulating weapons and strength or reputation.  Those in power design the economy so only those they like accumulate power, and anyone who differs from them is immediately associated with being an enemy.  On top of that, fellow innocents don't stand up for you either.  Instead, they just go along with those in power.  Outlaws need that gray area to hide within, but when you're treated as guilty before proven innocent, that gray area doesn't exist.  It's either you're with those in power, or you're against them.  Those in power deliberately want outlaws so they have people to make examples of to other innocents.  

At least before, when the CA was at war with England, those in power couldn't get away with this forever.  The oppression of domestic freedom in the name of domestic security came at the price of foreign security threats.  Now, that balance of power doesn't exist anymore.  That said, I'm not saying the CA should have to exist in order to prevent those in power from doing this.  Like I said before, old friends should become new rivals, and old rivals should become new friends.  People should be constantly jockeying for social status, but now, the player base is resigned.

On top of that, recent events with Daubigny and Julius Octavius suggest that the CA is actually mirroring England.

Like there arent/werent players who were anything but team players, cared only about their own agenda and actually managed to achieve their goals Besides being alone has some positive sides.

I dont get the part about JO, could you elaborate how its "mirroring England" ?

To "A Player"

That gray area exists, but you can't just go around robbing and expect to be able to hide for your crimes. In my opinion, you should be able to, but it's way too easy for wherever you're robbing to throw you in a court or kill list your ass. They shouldn't have that much power, because it makes being a bad guy tough.

But if you want to play an outlaw, it isn't hard to get into, you start robbing and you make a name for yourself. Most people won't want to RP with you, but with a bit of patience you'll find people that will. It only took me about a week within committing my first crime to find some long term RP partners.

And there are some people outside of my own little group that I RP with. I used to be part of the Saighdears, then I left and most of the characters that were around when I was with them loath me, but we have no troubles RPing.

And lastly, while RK is a team game, and you'll never get far if you isolate yourself, you don't have to join another group to be successful, you can just work with them, then go do something else when you get bored.

Nowadays in fact its not so hard to be a highwayman. They cannot fine you into negative, death sentence isnt so scary after all, prison might be boring but if you're low level its no longer than 3 days. Armies dont always stop robbers as well.

TheMightyTrooper wrote:

To "A Player"

That gray area exists, but you can't just go around robbing and expect to be able to hide for your crimes. In my opinion, you should be able to, but it's way too easy for wherever you're robbing to throw you in a court or kill list your ass. They shouldn't have that much power, because it makes being a bad guy tough.

But if you want to play an outlaw, it isn't hard to get into, you start robbing and you make a name for yourself. Most people won't want to RP with you, but with a bit of patience you'll find people that will. It only took me about a week within committing my first crime to find some long term RP partners.

And there are some people outside of my own little group that I RP with. I used to be part of the Saighdears, then I left and most of the characters that were around when I was with them loath me, but we have no troubles RPing.

And lastly, while RK is a team game, and you'll never get far if you isolate yourself, you don't have to join another group to be successful, you can just work with them, then go do something else when you get bored.

That's the light side of being an outlaw though. It's nothing like what Inanna did with the WoS back in Cornwall.

If anything, court sentences need to be made more severe so long-term punishments can be administered. For example, if you have people in government who commit treason by betraying and intimidating the public to maintain their social status, you probably want to fine them thousands or tens of thousands of pounds and throw them in jail for months if not a year. The real reason for containing the courts is to prevent this. It really has nothing to do with excessively punishing small time crooks. The developers don't want revolutionizing liberation campaigns to take place. If a group of people manage to grab control of a corrupt government, the developers don't want those people to have the ability to bury corrupt people six feet under. Corrupt people don't want their corruption over time to go to waste.

WhiteSnow wrote:

I dont get the part about JO, could you elaborate how its "mirroring England" ?

JO is someone who doesn't believe people should have to simply go along with those in power. He understands corruption, and believes in being responsible instead. This is why he was originally a founder of Scottish independence, but later became somewhat sympathizing with England. Yes, England is corrupt, but JO knows that corruption isn't the only way to hurt people. Flat out crime can hurt people too, and he sees a lot of flat out crime in the CA. He also sees how flat out criminals can take over governments and form a different sort of corruption, but that corruption is still corrupt whether it's snobby or sloppy.

A Player wrote:

The developers don't want revolutionizing liberation campaigns to take place.

There is everything one needs to overthrow the people in power. In elections you can participate ? You can revolt, you can rob. Can make an army.

A Player wrote:

JO is someone who doesn't believe people should have to simply go along with those in power.

As long as it is not him in power. Actually it really sounds like the bees against the honey

A Player wrote:

He understands corruption, and believes in being responsible instead.

Would be weird if he wouldnt understand corruption, given his past About being responsible - yes, he does believe in it as long as its not him who has to be responsible

A Player wrote:

This is why he was originally a founder of Scottish independence, but later became somewhat sympathizing with England.

Somehow I missed the moment of him having something to do with Scotland's independence.

A Player wrote:

Flat out crime can hurt people too, and he sees a lot of flat out crime in the CA.

He does see it when it convenient for him. Just as well he will quickly close eyes when "flat out" crimes are being commited by his friends.

A Player wrote:

He also sees how flat out criminals can take over governments and form a different sort of corruption, but that corruption is still corrupt whether it's snobby or sloppy.

Out of interest, where he does see it ? In England, Galloway, Glasgow ?

How did this go from the state of RK to the state of Dry and JO's relationship? :p

Well, I dont really see anything about relationship nor Dry for that matter I am interested how CA mirrors England and how JO gets in that picture. "A player" has some interesting views about it and corruption in CA(England, Glasgow, Galloway?) as well.