Longer Mas

[S'rrt]

Quite simply, make Mas longer.

Because it only lasts for about 2 IRL days, and can happen mid-week on a non-holiday, a lot of players can miss it, like I have done. Sure it feels like a fight, a struggle, but it's a short struggle. It feels more like a quick test of defense than a dreaded month that everyone prepares for.

So yeah make it longer please, like a full month or something.

[Jupiter]

I am inclined to say that I like this idea. The GMs could come up with a nice quest way Mas suddenly becomes longer (stealing days from the other gods' month?).

if Mas becomes as long as the other month (7 rl days), we also have more time to develop events and quetss during this time. That would make it easier to come with stuff for non-fighters, too.

[Nitram]

I am strongly against this proposal.
Not only will it change quite a piece of the background lore, it also changes the amount of days of a year and that has major impact on the time calculation in the game. We can't simply add some days because the year in illarion would be longer then 1/3rd of a RL year then. This makes all calculations massively more complicated, especially if we want to keep the timeline stable up to the point of the change. All it all it means that each day would get slightly shorter and that is bad.

So the only way to do this, would be to reduce the numbers of some other months.

Aside from this, this change would remove the "special" part of the month. It would be just another month. Now if you look at the calendar you have a very short month that gives this month a highlight. If it has the same amount of days as the other months it is just another month.

Nitram

[Jupiter]

So the only way to do this, would be to reduce the numbers of some other months.

So there is the solution to you technical objection

Aside from this, this change would remove the "special" part of the month. It would be just another month. Now if you look at the calendar you have a very short month that gives this month a highlight. If it has the same amount of days as the other months it is just another month.

But the speical part of Mas is not the fact that it is short but that is is the days of blood. The major mayhem that is caused during this time makes it special. Yes, if you just look at the calender, it seems to be just a normal month. But how does it look now? You look at the calender and see that this month has less days than the others. That doesn't tell you aynthing. In both cases, same or different amount of days, just looking at the calnder will not reveal what Mas is to you. But once you experienced it, you will know. Thereafter, Mas will always be special to you - same or less amount of days.
I agree that it gives a very nice touch to Mas that is has a lot less days. It adds something to the feeling of it. But it just adds something. If we did not have the whole attacks going on during Mas, noone would care for that straneg Month with just 5 days. So the question is does this "only 5 days" aspect add so much to the character of the month that removing this speciality in exchange for more days of blood and death would actually lessen the fun we have coming from Mas? i am more on teh side of "more days = more fun". But I am curious what others think about it.

[Annabeth]

Another pro to having more days, is that players like myself won't feel forced to play during the limited time there is.

This Mas for example crashed horribly with my real life, so I ended up being semi afk at the gates through most of it cause I felt I had to atleast show my face. If it had been extended a few days though, I would've been able to enjoy it those days instead.


Ninja edit:
Another thing to note is that due to the limited amount of days given, you will normally have to choose one specific character to play during that time, even if you play more. More days = You'd be able to juggle between characters like you normally do.

[Lord Arcia]

I am inclined to say that I like this idea. The GMs could come up with a nice quest way Mas suddenly becomes longer (stealing days from the other gods' month?).

I proposed this same idea over a year ago.

I do agree with Jupiter. The month of Mas should be longer. I do not necessarily think that Mas should be a full RL week, but maybe 4 RL days?

[GolfLima]

sorry ONLY GERMAN today i´m not in constitution to translate it in ENG.

was würde ein längerer MAS bedeuten:
(abgesehen von den Problemen die eine Verlängerung des MAS und damit Verkürzung der anderen Monate mit sich bringen würde)

Vorteile
* scheinbar sind während dieser Zeit mehr Spieler ig
* es gibt mehr Möglichkeiten von "Kampfereignissen" --> warum eigentlich?
* die "Kämpfer-Charaktere" können mehr spielen & haben mehr zu tun

Nachteile
* neue Charaktere sind während dieser Zeit hilflos und mehr oder weniger zu Untätigkeit verdammt --> das Frustpotential dieser Char. dürfte entsprechend hoch sein
* ähnliches gilt für "Nicht- Kämpfer" - sie sind in ihren Möglichkeiten stark eingeschränkt

-> es gibt sicher noch mehr Vor- & Nachteile, aber im Moment bin ich zu kaputt um diese aufzuzählen, dies sind nur die ersten die mir gerade einfallen.

[Achae Eanstray]

I am one of those that wouldn't wish to lengthen Mas anymore then it is. Besides the disadvantage to new players (written per @GolfLima) I don't think even a few more days longer would be welcome or make it as special as it is now. Some players and chars look forward to it. Others dread it. I don't play some of my chars during Mas... some I may.

Another aspect to consider are the GM's who make a big effort to entertain us during this time and do a very good job.. I have not had a Mas that a GM hasn't worked hard to help it be like "Mas" i.e. scary and fearful in all the time I have played. I think one reason for that is ...there IS just a couple of days that they put themselves out for the game versus many days. With more days there is bound to be some "less Mas" days. And that time will no longer be as special to all.

As far as longer quests there is nothing saying a quest can't start during Mas then continue either.

In summary, I like the way it is. Sometimes people may miss one but can usually hit the next.

[CJK]

I would really like to hear the opinion of GMs on this. I feel like the workload they would have from more days of Mas would be comparable to the technical workload it put on the dev team to make it work. The only reason I can see any technical difficulties from Mas "stealing" a few days is that the other months are all exactly 24 days.


I 110% agree with S'rrt, Jupiter, Annabeth and Arcia. I generally find the participation during and around Mas to be much more active and involved than any other time during the IG year. Also, with the lack of conflict IG (for about a thousand reasons), it is one of the only times that fighter characters really have anything to do. It can be unbelievably dull at times to be a fighter right now.


Does it make it difficult for new players? Probably. But if your first day of a game is during a large siege on the city and there are people running around the place excited and doing things, don't you think that is a more compelling "hook" than logging in and seeing people silently trudge from place to place as they grind up crafting? I definitely would be more likely to log in for a second day during Mas than a second day during Tanos.

[Mephistopheles]

Somehow the forces of Moshran steal away the avatar of Bragon!! Now Mas is held on Bras. and vice versa, Bragon be weak mwaahahaa

[Kugar]

Taking into consideration the casual gamers and, those who have many responsibilities out side of the game (that make up I presume a large chunk of the player base), I totally support this idea. Mas would only need something like 6 more ig days to do it and give these people more chance to attend. I like the idea about Mas stealing days from the other months - like the forces of darkness grow in power or something.

Does it make it difficult for new players? Probably. But if your first day of a game is during a large siege on the city and there are people running around the place excited and doing things, don't you think that is a more compelling "hook" than logging in and seeing people silently trudge from place to place as they grind up crafting? I definitely would be more likely to log in for a second day during Mas than a second day during Tanos.

Agreed.

Another aspect to consider are the GM's who make a big effort to entertain us during this time and do a very good job.. I have not had a Mas that a GM hasn't worked hard to help it be like "Mas" i.e. scary and fearful in all the time I have played. I think one reason for that is ...there IS just a couple of days that they put themselves out for the game versus many days. With more days there is bound to be some "less Mas" days. And that time will no longer be as special to all.

Or the GMs could just spread out the Mas events between the larger selection of days instead of feeling obliged to dedicate many consecutive hours all at once? The spawn portals can do most of the work when GMs can't log on - spread more of them out in the wilderness and create a 'fetch and close the portal' type of gameplay.

[CJK]

Taking into consideration the casual gamers and, those who have many responsibilities out side of the game (that make up I presume a large chunk of the player base), I totally support this idea. Mas would only need something like 6 more ig days to do it and give these people more chance to attend.

At first I thought 8 days would be way too long, then I realized this would put it across two weekends, which would be great. It is easier for everybody to have major events on weekends, and the opening and closing of Mas should be one of those major events.

But, then that would put it at 24 IG days, right? That is the current length of all the other months. If it were that long because it stole days from the others, it would then be the longest month instead of the shortest.

We could also go for it being 20 IG days, which would be the current 5 plus one from each other month. It would be 20, and the others 23. That would be about a week, right? I can see where some who are more or less attached to our lore could take issue with that. Then again, aren't we supposed to be overhauling a lot of that lore anyway? Why not include something in that overhaul that actually matters IG instead of just text on the website for 10 people to read...

[Jupiter]

I can see where some who are more or less attached to our lore could take issue with that. Then again, aren't we supposed to be overhauling a lot of that lore anyway? Why not include something in that overhaul that actually matters IG instead of just text on the website for 10 people to read...

Indeed.
IF we decide to do this, it should be an actual event in the world of Illarion. Restrengthining of Moshran or whatever.

[Slightly]

Have to say I wouldn't be keen to see a change to Mas.

I think the last thing needed right now when aiming to start promoting the game heavily soon is destabilisation of any of the existing structure. Work needs to focus on tying up all the loose ends so we are as polished as possible for that time. Likewise with the lore, work is already underway and to suddenly write in another change will just delay us getting to a stable state which we really need before promoting.

From a GM perspective it would be hard to sustain that rate of engagement over more than a couple of days - especially during the week for those working full time. To prolong it and dilute the intensity would simply result in losing what is special about Mas in my opinion.

That said, there is no reason why a GM couldn't start early or extend into the new year if they had a good plot up their sleeve. Also perhaps we need to come up with a few more aggressive/chaotic quests through the rest of the year that might be just as tense and can be targeted to suit player availability. Feel free to send us some suggestions of what you would most like to see.

I would also agree that to prolong Mas could have a negative impact on new and non-combat players, particularly if you are depending on unattended spawns. Certainly I have had to step in at times when I have misjudged spawning monsters and caught an unsuspecting player.

[Banduk]

I would not want to change the calendar to extend the Mas at the expense of the other month.

Mas is a tricky thing. I as PO feel I must to be online and I’m not be the only one coming into ooc conflict with RL. This might work for one or two days (everybody can calculate when the next Mas will come), but not a week. I know people taking vacation during Mas.
Especially GM’s are under heavy pressure to be active all the day long.

But why do we love Mas? We know there is action (not necessarily conflicts).
It’s not the Mas we like, we like the action.
A note I’ve heard in chat in Mas emphasize that: “No need to log in, no GM is in!”
So have more time in Mas with the same amount of actions sparkled over longer time would make it as all the other time. Player comes for quest and leaves once the quest is ended.

I see no reason why a similar attack to Illarion or one of its realms cannot made at any time of the year. So GM’s feel free to create a longer event (not real long term, maybe 4-6 weeks) with continuously attacks ending in a furious weekend at the main time using the tools we have.
Blocking a part of the wilderness with continuously spawning portals should be no problem for new player or non fighter. Example: A Merinium Golem leads an siege to the Merinium mine over 2 weeks. Even a spawn of countless madness undeads in the very early morning would be possible before the gates because the time to kill them really is close.

These are for sure low level quest. There is no big story not much RP like with the fire deamon or Zharas or Flinn or others. Nor there is a lot of preparation. But it seems people love it. So why not such if the people ask for:
No. 7 awaken, happens once in eons. She’s thirsty for blood and will not stop until she sent everybody to Cherga at the final weekend.

[GolfLima]

keep in mind:

* longer MAS seems interesting for high advanced fighters but i never understand why such events not could be at other month too
* if you create more fun for high advanced fighters what about the other charakters (mages, priests, crafters ......)
* seems some players are more time ig at MAS than normal --> why?

* longer MAS is NO FUN for new charakters --> i doubt that a new char. will stay for a long time ig when killed several times at MAS
* longer MAS is NO FUN for NON FIGHTERS - they cant do nothing than hide if they are not good fighters too --> is there by chance anything that is for the same interest like MAS for fighters for crafters ( if you have mastered a craft this craft becomes boring - there is nothing more to do)

and by the way this is a RP game not a "hack and slay" game

[Estralis Seborian]

I said Banduk said it all. We need more events, not just one event once a year.

Nitram stressed the high effort - an effort we should spend to improve the game, have more events and less bugs rather than making one events "longer".