A new take on vampirism/guild

[Kas]

Greetings.

I would like to have a debate/discussion about vampires, a currently closed
guild that sparked some controversies in the past. In Genesis, I miss something,
like some real enigmas, mysteries, the unknown and the hidden, even if it's
in a guildform like for example vampires.

The reason I miss such a guild which could be thematically is, they sort of present
a third faction or party beside the "goodies" and the "evils", spawning more
interguild politics and dilemmas, something I feel the game is direly lacking.

Now, many remember the controversies and the gamemechanics of the closed vamps,
but what if it was changed, recoded and made to work differently? I think
such a guild could prosper in Genesis with completely altered gamemechanics
supporting them, with all the positive and negative aspects of vampirism
as often portrayed in the popular culture.

What do you think of again having such a guild in Genesis? Please comment/reflect
on positive and negative aspects of such an idea. Please though, such a guild
could work completely different than the latter ones (so we don't go into a
potential fallacious position of assuming it will be exacly like before in
terms of guildpower, recruitment policy,exploits and so on).

Thanks.

[Draugor]

If I recall the problem was the type of members it attracted and the powers it had from the start? If that could be sorted in some way and people didnt tell everyone and their uncle whos a vamp and whos not it would add a nice element to the game, never knowing whos a corspehumper

[Kas]

If I recall the problem was the type of members it attracted and the powers it had from the start? If that could be sorted in some way and people didnt tell everyone and their uncle whos a vamp and whos not it would add a nice element to the game, never knowing whos a corspehumper

Guild ethics and guildpower, fine arguments.

Who's who may leak eventually anyway, but do the individuals have the integrity to separate characters?

[Amberlee]

I am all for a guild like that.
And would even play a character in such a guild given the chance.

[Makfly]

I agree that the game could benefit from having a close-knit, neutral guild that could form a third-party in the good vs evil struggle.
I presume the Vampire concept could be as good as any for this, since the problems of the past Vamp guilds have been the players, not the concept it self.
Hopefully the Elementalist OCC will be a true neutral party that could make the good vs evil struggle more interesting. Not like the Neidar or Spirit Circle guilds which are neutral game mechanic-wise, but might as well be actual goodie guilds.

Anyways I miss the mystery too, like when we all started out and didn't know much about anything - Thing were new and full of mystery and wonder back then. Still basing a guild on secrecy in Genesis is probably not a good idea, as very few things stays secret for long in this game.

And would even play a character in such a guild given the chance.

If its the Vamp guild, you know you won't be allowed in, unless you're RL buddy with the inner circle

[Kas]

I think basing a guild entirely on secrecy is a failed concept. You can create a guild with components not so transparent to everyone else, and let the members try to keep the content as secret as possible, but it shouldn't compromise the guild's integrity. So my opinion is, secrecy is fine as a factor, but not as the sum of all the factors.

Even if everything is exposed, a vampireguild (or similar) could still function and maintain it's primary role and function in the game.

Somehow, even with the elementalists in the play, they won't necessarily fill the function of such a guild as above due to their 'binding' nature, consolidating into a greater "uniform" unit prohibing some of the interesting gameplay options between the various existing guilds.

Tactically it's wise, but due to the small number of guilds, factions and players in the game, I think it currently ruin alot of politics, schemes and play.

The vampires were a wildcard, perhaps the joker in the deck of cards so I miss them, or such a faction in the game.

[Manglor]

I like the idea and the theme. I guess my question is, is there enough of a separation in Roleplay currently between good and evils to make a difference? Or is it two different factions grinding xp in different areas avoiding each other completely?

What does a neutral party bring to the table other than another OCC guild? SC are goodies, and while Hektor will challenge the point, the proof is in the typical companions of choice for he and his guildmates. Neidar, while currently under fire for being dickheads, are "goodies" too.

If it's an undead "neutral no align-restriction" guild, that has powers and drawbacks accordingly, then is it just a Mercenary guild with pale skin?

Keep in mind balance, too. All guilds are meant to be balanced to within a certain degree, so what's the draw? Old Vamps were powerful and the best pvp players/powerplayers were members (which inherently brings about a different level of power when played by smart people.)

How do you bring in a new guild that has to be balanced, but has mystery and neutrality on its side, but is no more powerful than say the Glads. Again, I love the idea, but challenge its necessity in the new balanced world.

Sorry for rambling.

[Laurel]

Nothing stops you from RP'ing a vampire. In fact - more than enough skills, emotes, items, to make it work.

[Amberlee]

And would even play a character in such a guild given the chance.

If its the Vamp guild, you know you won't be allowed in, unless you're RL buddy with the inner circle

You think about the former vampire guild.. And what you just said is false.
You know what they say about making assumptions, right?

[Kas]

How do you bring in a new guild that has to be balanced, but has mystery and neutrality on its side, but is no more powerful than say the Glads. Again, I love the idea, but challenge its necessity in the new balanced world.

Well, that's relatively easy. If I understand the globalization balancing correctly, the guild is given a max efficiency they can utilize at the same time.

If we use the power of gladiators as a base in this hypothetical example, we could in a simplistic manner give the vampires some extra boom at nighttime (not in darkness), and vice versa. Let's say they got 10% boost at night, and 10% penalty at day, which would give the guild an extra dimention.

Then mystery - Every vampire grows/gains his/her own set of abilities that is unique in appearance, function and method, based on anything from factors like guildxp, stat distributions, "mysteries solved/delved into", age, randomly selected seeded on their names, ages or some other criterias, or combinations. May or may not be personally selected, but 'discovered' through hints and such. Not an A4-approach.

I think it can be done easily, but with a substantial amount of work to truly make it feel unique and mysterious, atleast far beyond what Genesis have today.