09-25-2019, 10:03 AM
This is going to sound way more dramatic than it really is, but I want to discuss what I consider one of the biggest failings of SL2 as a setting; stagnancy.
In SL2, the primary interactions taken in roleplay are generally driven purely by personal history and character - this isn't a problem in itself and plenty of people enjoy it, but the reason behind it is the bigger issue: Nothing happens in the world of SL2 so there's nothing else to actually work with. There are no elections, no political events, no wars, no inventions, no scandals, et cetera. There's a solid background of lore with which to base a character's history on, but from the moment you begin playing them everything about them from then on is going to be entirely driven by other characters and maybe some story beats the player themself decides to impose.
Now I'm not going to be just another person that whines "MODS NOT DO EVENTS GAME BAD", I don't think that's a good solution and it puts more of a workload on people who are essentially volunteers who already have other duties to see to.
I think the problem of stagnancy in the world is easily solved simply by adding IC news of what's happening with the world, either on the title screen, the forum, or even a news board actually present in-game near the activity hub of the various towns (Cellsvich Square, Dormeho fountains, etc). By having an actual idea of what's happening in the world, even if it's just the smallest little things, players can make their characters feel like they're actually connected to the world and develop them based on things that are happening - An Umbral could feel uneasy at the news a political party with anti-corrupted sentiment is gaining popularity, the collapse of a noble family in Alstalsia could be all the gossip amongst some Zerans, a decline in the mercenary trade in Kysei could explain why a Chaturangan is so active upon the Sigroganan continent.
So yeah, tl;dr I think a simple weekly/bi-weekly/monthly news feed could go a long way towards making the world of SL2 feel alive as opposed to an unchanging frozen world that relies entirely on players to fill in the gaps.
In SL2, the primary interactions taken in roleplay are generally driven purely by personal history and character - this isn't a problem in itself and plenty of people enjoy it, but the reason behind it is the bigger issue: Nothing happens in the world of SL2 so there's nothing else to actually work with. There are no elections, no political events, no wars, no inventions, no scandals, et cetera. There's a solid background of lore with which to base a character's history on, but from the moment you begin playing them everything about them from then on is going to be entirely driven by other characters and maybe some story beats the player themself decides to impose.
Now I'm not going to be just another person that whines "MODS NOT DO EVENTS GAME BAD", I don't think that's a good solution and it puts more of a workload on people who are essentially volunteers who already have other duties to see to.
I think the problem of stagnancy in the world is easily solved simply by adding IC news of what's happening with the world, either on the title screen, the forum, or even a news board actually present in-game near the activity hub of the various towns (Cellsvich Square, Dormeho fountains, etc). By having an actual idea of what's happening in the world, even if it's just the smallest little things, players can make their characters feel like they're actually connected to the world and develop them based on things that are happening - An Umbral could feel uneasy at the news a political party with anti-corrupted sentiment is gaining popularity, the collapse of a noble family in Alstalsia could be all the gossip amongst some Zerans, a decline in the mercenary trade in Kysei could explain why a Chaturangan is so active upon the Sigroganan continent.
So yeah, tl;dr I think a simple weekly/bi-weekly/monthly news feed could go a long way towards making the world of SL2 feel alive as opposed to an unchanging frozen world that relies entirely on players to fill in the gaps.