[Neus]

I'm probably not going to be able to respond to every single point made in the thread, but I'll try my best. First of all, I'm sure everyone is aware that a character I play was the primary driving factor behind a lot of this recent conflict, so I have a share of responsibility for any parts of it that have been unsatisfactory on an OOC level. I fully admit that I could have handled it better, but I hope people understand that there is not any sort of grudge or dislike OOCly on my end - I have had a lot of fun RPing with people in BH. Any missteps I have made were purely inexperience and not expecting how things would be received and perceived.

Tax Collection
One of the points that I hear a lot is that there was no advance notice OOCly to the Beggar's Hole players about what we intended, and that if it were a nation, there would be this expectation. That is fair, and I think it's true given the reactions to the recent prison break. One of the reasons I did not feel like it was necessary, I believe, is because I knew OOCly that whatever happened wouldn't have a lasting IC impact; no one was going to get killed, BH wasn't going to get kicked out or razed to the ground, etc. I mistakenly thought that everyone would assume the same thing and be relatively chill about it, but no one else but me would have any way to know that for sure.

The second tax collection also did not have advance OOC notice. This one was perhaps a bit more negligent on my part, after seeing how the first one went, but I was also aware OOCly that BH had found out about it ICly somehow and were making preparations, so I thought it would be fine to forego it as the time approached. I think this one went better overall OOCly, too, which I was relatively happy about.

One thing I would like to comment on regarding this is that I am not 100% familiar with who everyone is IC in relation to Discords, and secondary Discord servers for certain factions/nations make it difficult to coordinate with them, or even know what they're up to. Obviously, in BH's case, they don't have private channels in the main server, nor am I trying to use this as an excuse and saying 'oh well if you guys just used the main discord then of course I would have given you more heads up' because I don't think it'd have changed anything. It's just a small point I want people to consider for the future.

Jail Breaking
I think this is something that everyone involved feels at least a little icky about, and I don't blame anyone in particular for it. I said OOCly when I was made aware of it that I thought the timing was smart (since it was meant to take place during the tax collection). I think where a lot of the negative feelings on it came from was just that it was purely an NPC affair - there wasn't any PC interaction, so some people viewed it as questionable. One of the Geladyne characters basically spends all of his time in the jail guarding it, so him being excluded (due to bad IRL timing) from a jail break was a sad moment (although them's the breaks sometimes).

For stuff like this in the future, I think we may end up requiring it to be done when there are PCs around. One concern I have about advanced OOC notice for these sort of things is that such things usually bring in the hordes, so it can make more complex or more 'well manned' than it should be. That's not me saying that it should be one way or another; just me expressing a personal concern about it.

The main point I wanted to get across is just that, if there were a PC or two around to interfere with the attempt, I think everyone would have felt a lot better about the event, both as participants or people who heard about it after the fact.

War Stuff
I have been in the process of working on a document related to this, as well as having constructive conversations with various members of the community about what things to include in it. My attention is usually split in 3-4 different directions during the day, so I haven't been able to finish it quite yet, but I intend to do so soon. When I do, I will post it for public discussion, and we can see if the community as a whole agrees with the ideas presented in it or not. I am mainly aiming for rules/guidelines that prioritize the fun/interesting parts, and that lead to as few bad feelings OOC as possible.

This will include information about NPC 'troops' and whatnot.

Beggar's Hole In General
I just want to talk a bit about how I perceive Beggar's Hole. First of all, I don't treat them or the community there as a gag, either ICly or OOCly. I have had fun with the conflict that's arisen with them. I have treated them as a serious part of the world - and ICly, the Austung has addressed their existence in ways that I feel would be appropriate for a nation to do so.

Beggar's Hole is a collection of the lawless; they don't have an army, or anything like that. Logically, when picking a fight with a nation that does, they are at a sizeable disadvantage. I would hope that everyone agrees that makes sense and should be factored in to RP appropriately. This is not to say that they couldn't potentially stand on their own, particularly with another nation's help, or that they're doomed to failure because of it.

By no means am I trying to close the door on smaller upcropping or player made towns or nations; I have very much enjoyed watching BH grow, and want to encourage people to do that sort of thing. However, I also want to respect the IC that is already there with the four nations; a new neighbor trying to build their own powerbase so close to a nation's should invite some conflict in an effort to smother it in its crib. I think there are a good number of people who realize this already; I just wanted to make it clear for the people who don't.

Basically what I'm saying is that I think it would be bad to abandon logic and suppress natural IC reactions, just to prop up a player faction that I like. Does that make sense? You can tell me if it doesn't, this whole section is basically me rambling.

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I will now respond to some individual points I saw that I have comments on.

As a quick side note before I finish, in regards to the 'eye spies', I would like to mention that I do not enjoy the concept of a paid item that is supposedly cosmetic to be used as a way to gather information on a ICly level, mainly with how it works with the enviroment around it. While yes we can roleplay destroying them and what not, this could be simply solved by not allowing them at all and rather, utilize the player's character that would've otherwise been miles upon miles away, unable to be tracked down properly as they can quite simply unsummon their pet in a moment's notice. But that's just me.

I am in full agreement about this and will likely amend the rules to reflect it soon. The Pet Kit was always intended to just be a cute pet, not an RP advantage, and I'm not comfortable with a donation item being used in that way.

That sole reason is the bane of this entire continent. Everyone can just push away from conflict or 'force' conflict by putting an app in to an admin and type out an essay about why X, Y, or Z deserves to be killed/robbed/etc. Beggar's Hole was created so that we could have a chance to be antagonistic and rise up to be more than just haha-funny people who rob with consent.

First of all, I'm sorry that you felt the need to quit over this, rather than bring it up as a community discussion. Second, while it is true that there are still basic RP protections in place on Korvara, I think that even the first week of Korvara proves that people are willing to go along with serious consequences for RP. I'm not sure which part of the rules you dislike specifically, though.

The question is not just for us, but for others who are planning on making their own settlements:

- What do we have to do to be considered a nation?
- How to be taken more seriously in our development?

So, one thing I will say is that making a nation is hard, especially in an environment like Korvara where you have a big neighbor no matter where you go. Being recognized as a nation is almost certainly going to be an IC thing, but if you want my general opinion, and I'm sorry if this seems negative because it's not meant that way, but;

Think of it this way. What does BH have to offer that would push it beyond being a player faction? Nations, generally, have laws, exports, some form of government, things that would attract citizens (I know we all hate NPCs but please, citizens are people too) to want to live there, merchants to come peddle their wares, etc.

There are relatively small collectives of individuals who live in a mostly lawless fashion, but these are historically just tribes or barbarians, not something you'd call a nation. Just to be clear, I am not saying that BH could never become a nation or a city-state or etc. I encourage you all to pursue it as much as possible IC if that's your goal.