Arx
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Um, um, UM?!
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So I’ve been keeping an eye on the GitHub for a bit and was >this< close to opening a thread yesterday about Arx seeming a way out but coming along pretty neat! Very interested to see what you’ve got cooked up.
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Server Message of the Day: We will probably be taking down the sandbox soon, to start the conversion of server hosting towards Arx 2 as it goes into alpha testing.
<.<
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As someone who didn’t get to play, what was Arx like? Any selling points that Arx 2 has to boast? I’m somewhat interested.
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@Juniper we don’t really know the big Arx 2 selling points at this point, since it hasn’t opened yet and apos hasn’t publicized details at this point.
but for the original arx, i’d say the biggest selling point was the very extensive lore and the sense of mystery in exploring it. the setting was built in such a way that ignorance was baked into the theme: there were magical reasons the populace had forgotten a lot of stuff about magic and their land’s history, so there was a very deep sense of discovery that i think was pretty addictive for a lot of people. and the really rich lore meant that the world felt very real, and thus very rich and rewarding to play in.
that was my personal favorite part of it, at least!
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I think the best selling points were the stories I got to create with other people. I was able to do rich character development and make quasi friends as well.
10/10 would recommend
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populace had forgotten a lot of stuff
I think the neatest thing is that it wasn’t just forgetting about magic and history, but you could come down with a bit of amnesia, which my understanding is the whole reason for the journals, so you could write little reminders for yourself in case you forgot (and also so if/when you dropped the character and someone else picked them up, they obviously had a case of the forgets and the journals are right there to remind them of things)
Mummy Pun? MUMMY PUN!
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I loved the journal mechanic.
I only ever played an original character with zero secrets/plot tie-in, so my experience of Arx was VERY different than a lot of people’s, but there were some great writers on there and very fun characters. I had a lot of fun for a while.
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I loved the baked-in family connections and the amazing roster. I had a little tribe to start with, and while it took me a bit to feel 100% comfortable in Norwood and Kenna’s skins, I always felt like I gad the freedom to make them mine.
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@Jennkryst said in Arx:
populace had forgotten a lot of stuff
I think the neatest thing is that it wasn’t just forgetting about magic and history, but you could come down with a bit of amnesia, which my understanding is the whole reason for the journals, so you could write little reminders for yourself in case you forgot (and also so if/when you dropped the character and someone else picked them up, they obviously had a case of the forgets and the journals are right there to remind them of things)
i don’t think that was the thematic reason for the journals; the practice existed long before the Big Plot Point of Forgetting. it was a religious practice to honor wisdom and knowledge and such.
but also super duper useful for picking up a roster who had been played before, yeah.
she/her | playlist
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Will this game use Evennia, Ares, or a Secret Third Thing?
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@Juniper Arx was lore rich for people who wanted to delve with an active grid that had something for anyone and more than enough social RP for anyone who didn’t necessarily want to deep dive into all the fantastical things.
Arx also had a secret system that tied most into some aspect of the metaplot or history, giving every character something they could pursue out the gate that was more or less “theirs” and could hook in to wider story arcs.
Arx 2 is probably going to be a completely different setting and I don’t know what - if any - of the lore will remain the same. But I do know the way magic is meant to work is pretty fucking cool.
So I think the biggest selling point of Arx 2 (without knowing anything about it except the outline of magic we played around with at the end of Arx’s run) is going to be that magic system as a core part of the game, a new immersive lore, and a cool grid with diverse RP options.
Will this game use Evennia, Ares, or a Secret Third Thing?
Evennia
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@InkGolem evennnia, yeah
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@howyadoin said in Arx:
Arx also had a secret system that tied most into some aspect of the metaplot or history, giving every character something they could pursue out the gate that was more or less “theirs” and could hook in to wider story arcs.
To clarify, this was a system about Character Secrets, not a system that was secret.
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@howyadoin said in Arx:
Arx also had a secret system that tied most into some aspect of the metaplot or history, giving every character something they could pursue out the gate that was more or less “theirs” and could hook in to wider story arcs.
To clarify, this was a system about Character Secrets, not a system that was secret.
No, the systems were secrets, too. Every time I tried to learn a system to be able to answer questions on help chan or to try to recruit folks, it always ended in more confusion.
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dang, gonna have to remember how to set up a MU client.
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If there is gonna be an Arx 2, I honestly can’t wait.
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@Juniper So the first Arx was designed more for a pretty small group in that it was very much a mush with a very few immersive grid based elements. People coming from muds frequently said some version of 'I do not know how to play this game ’ as mush design was still a very top down ‘go out and find RP and get involved in story’. There is a lot about mushes and this kind of play I enjoy, but there’s some fundamental differences in Arx’s reboot, I’ll talk mechanically a bit about that and then start doing lore teasers in follow up posts.
So I am very big on interactive grids and the coming game might feel a good bit more like a mush merged with a RPI or old style moo in how much someone can do without needing staff to make it real. I view automation as kind of in tension with high quality personalized story telling, so I’ve been very pointedly trying to make sure I, and anyone else storytelling on the game, can try to focus on that and have as few barriers to doing that as possible. Structurally it is mostly born of me thinking about the different pain points people have playing a mush and trying to smooth them out, to the point where role players I know on other formats might be able to enjoy it, as I remove a lot of the blockers that we in the hobby grudgingly tolerate.
Mostly this means me designing a game that I hope would be better with my storytelling there, but it isn’t as reliant on me or any one person. I am believer that if things on the game engage people, if there’s mini games on grid they find fun and want to do, it is more likely they will be around and available for RP and creates a reinforcing environment. I expect my testing to take a good bit as it’s just too important I hit the right notes there.
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Okay, as I have time I’ll do some lore posts that will give a hint about the theme of the world and what changed, though it is still medieval stasis adventure-fantasy. So starting areas, beginning with Arx itself.
The Necropolis
“One stands before us in Durance. Speak thy name and testament.”
Arx is a city of history and memory. If one wished and spent time in the Great Archive, they could learn of each different age of the world. Of how the Great Necropolis of Arx was built, of how the Compact of Arvum rose with the now city of Arx as its capital, and how the Compact spread through all the world. In these walls, you could learn of the Sixth Age and how this place came to be the greatest city in all the world. We have no shortage of memorials with the names of deeds of the great heroes from those past ages, and there are reminders all around us of how many spent most of their all-too-brief lives here. Near all rest here, in our Necropolis. We built a golden age, an empire with Arx as its crown jewel.
That was before the Penitent’s arrival and the Shroud over Arx.
To this day, we don’t know who the Penitent is. Or was. There were always guesses, and the most popular was that he was the god of Justice descended in mortal form, the Sentinel made manifest and come to Arx to shield the city from what was to come. The Sixth Age ended with the Penitent crafting the Shroud over Arx, a great gray haze of a barrier that prevented all entry. The Penitent was near never seen, but we felt his eyes upon us always, and those inside that threatened the city were struck down by the Penitent’s magic without a word. Not quite without warning, his statues would turn to give notice, but near enough for most. We wouldn’t quite call it a prison, not when the Shroud only blocked entry to Arx, but any could pass through if they chose, never to return. It was, we were told, a safety measure against the end of the world, for the greatest city that ever was, a city of three million people, to ride out the apocalypse. Most at the time thought it would pass quickly.
It has been a thousand years.
“As Arx endures, we remember.”
Years winnowed us. There were the Great Callings, when the greatest among us would be gathered by the Penitent and ride out through the Shroud, never to return. Over the years, more and more stifled under the Shroud’s gray sky and the unceasing watch of a being we know nothing about, and traveled to see what world remained beyond. Age after age passed, underneath the Shroud, and we kept and honored this city despite a malaise that tested us all. Few who were born here did not at least consider leaving, even knowing that we could not be certain anything at all existed beyond the barrier. Of the three million when the Greatest City was sealed, there are under fifty thousand living within Arx today. But at least we were safe.
And then came the Vanishing.
Five years ago, during the Eclipse of Mirrors masquerade under the Blood Moon, a great mist entered the city and with it came the demons. Those with magic to fight, our Gifted, were not great in number in our current age, as how many could stand to remain and languish here when possible adventure called beyond the Shroud? But few as their number were, every last one of our puissant was killed or taken from us on one night, shocking us to our core and breaking that lifetimes long lethargy from us. We could see cracks in the Shroud now, fractures in the gray sky, and not a word from the Penitent as our city was gutted in a surprise attack.
We still know not what directed the attack, who the demonic foes were, or where those captured were taken. Some believe the city could have been massacred, and know not why it wasn’t. Some left the Shroud to seek answers, never to return. And we started to see beasts, corrupted abyssal things prowling the lands around the city. Minor foes we could handle, but more proof they could penetrate the weakened Shroud.
“Still Here.”
And now the Shroud has broken completely. The sound of breaking glass, like a million mirrors all shattering at once during the night. The lands are open to us, and as we are to them. Those with strength to do so gather to go forth. Others panic and pray, hoping that the Penitent will answer, despite that he has never done so during the past thousand years. We were born and raised in a city of ghosts and echoes, a Necropolis that has been the resting place for the greatest men and women of every age. But if one cares enough to read their stories, some believe they know what the gods will ask of us.
Because most of the heroes were born here too.
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