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Sariel
12-02-2000, 06:15 PM
Hey all,

This post is to address many of you who have sent, paged or emailed us about how to expand plots or player driven plots in Marrach.

We know that everyone wants to take part or star in their own story and intrigues in Marrach: that’s part of the fun and we look forward to watching you develop your own tales. Equally we have a lot of fun devising and adding to the many wonderful plots that are in motion. We have received a number of great plot ideas, requests and thoughts that are fabulously creative, but unfortunately some of these plots can’t be supported without upsetting the balance of the greater story of Marrach.


We encourage everyone to role-play their characters’ memories however they feel comfortable, but the story of Marrach will always supersede individual stories. For example, say perhaps a player decides he or she wants to be a Fairy. The player has created memories and history for their Fae character. This player can then join the game and role-play it, trying as best they can to convince others that they are Fae, bearing in mind that they will receive no extra support from the StoryHosts to make their story credible. In other words, no special descriptions or props or powers will be given to the character, other than those that might be earned in the course of RP. The player should also be prepared that there may come a day when mysteries of the castle are revealed, and what they thought to be true isn’t actually true at all. For instance, in our previous example, the true Fae of this world (if there are indeed any) might come to the Castle some day, and the player must be willing to accept and role-play whatever consequences arise from that meeting, whether they lend credence to his memories or if they show them to have been false.

Memories of family ties, loved ones and friends that characters “meet again” are encouraged but as the truths of Marrach are slowly revealed, players should be willing to RP the consequences and any revealed truths of these relationships appropriately. This does not necessarily mean you may not be related to someone, but you may be related to someone you did not suspect or in a way you had not considered….

Physical memories of a life before Marrach such as scars, birth marks, items etc are not an option – the process that every character undergoes when awakening in the castle leaves you without any items but your linen wraps and makes your skin whole and unblemished…though that does not exclude the possibility of destiny. A man who remembers a scar on his right cheek may find himself always unsettled when looking at his reflection in a mirror and seeing that it isn’t there. But, later in an impromptu duel, he may find himself scarred in the exact same place with the mark he has always remembered….

Gods, goddesses, deities and assorted other powers that be do not have any power or influence in Marrach. Perceptible divine influence ends at the castle gate, so to speak. This does not mean your character can’t believe he or she is being influenced by a divine power, and may do his or her best to convince others that it is so. But a character who wakes thinking that his god Grald has dominion over him in Marrach will only have the power that the player can exhibit through RP – and convince others of as well. StoryHosts will not help to give power to these kinds of things by creating visitations or other divine effects.

The memories you start with (Start Story) do have a meaning and will come into play as time goes on…


We hope this helps as you are brewing your own intrigues and we look forward to watching more stories and plots unfurl...as well as sharing more of Castle Marrach's stories and intrigues of our own.


Sariel
Customer Experience Host

Avenger
12-02-2000, 08:40 PM
Any possibilites of exceptions to those rule, assuming that they don't interfer with the greater story?

Darren Brimhall
12-02-2000, 09:18 PM
What of 'accidental' discoveries that can occur during a 'highly stressful' moment--such as magical ability without ever becomming a apprentance to Lady Serista. Or being given 'idems' mysteriously that stur up strong memories in characters..
I'm willing to go further with my character, but any discussions on this matter will be done off board (via E-Mail) out of respect for the other player's story lines.

Darren brimhall

Sariel
12-02-2000, 10:14 PM
Hey Avenger and Darren,

The most honest answer I can offer to you both is that all submissions are considered - but you should not be surprised if your plot is not doable - and delighted if it is.

Sariel
Customer Experience Host

LadySilverwolf
12-03-2000, 07:03 AM
Ok... I have a question for you.

There was a point that we all had some problems with character descriptions as we used a certain command that is not available anymore to correct them. During that time, I did some selfish beta testing to see if size was a variable during duels, so I used the command three times I believe.

Each of those times, I went through story restart, and each time I got a different memory. However, my character recall only shows the very first one. Should we disregard the others that were given out? http://www.skotos.net/ubb/confused.gif

Sariel
12-03-2000, 10:30 AM
Lady Silverwolf,

Yes only the first original memory applies. That command only fixed a bug in descriptions. http://www.skotos.net/ubb/smile.gif

Incidentally, if you are unsure of what your original memory is - you can type: recall and all your stored memories will be listed. To add to that list type: remember "memory here." To learn how to look up very specific memories or forget ones you no longer wish to keep try typing: help memory next time you are in the game.

Sariel

Darren Brimhall
12-03-2000, 06:24 PM
Ok, I'm game. Where do I send my ideal's to?

Darren Brimhall

Aeriale
12-04-2000, 09:47 AM
So, it's all cool, it's just that, maybe, you ought to put something in the beginning, saying how important this is to remember. That's my suggestion, anyway.

http://www.skotos.net/ubb/smile.gif That's just the point, Aeriale. It's only as important as you, the player, want it to be. Many characters make a big deal out of the memories, others do not. In fact, I'd bet that if you asked, 9 out of 10 NPCs would tell you they never gave it much thought....or, at least, not for a long, long time.

Staci

StaciD
12-04-2000, 11:10 AM
Oh gosh...Aeriale: I'm so so so so sorry. I thought I was quoting your message but it turns out I was in "edit" mode. I'm afraid I cut out huge chunks of your last message....and now I don't know how to change it back.

Can you forgive me?

Staci

Aeriale
12-04-2000, 07:28 PM
Well, that's real crazy. But, it's okay, I was just rambling anyway. The part you meant to quote was really the most important part.
Umm . . . but basically, (for those who're wondering) I was just saying that I hadn't had enough fore-sight to pay attention to the auto-memory, so, one thing lead to another, and I found myself searching through memories, found one that was familiar (actually, truth be told - the familiar one included a slave-master, making Aeriale the slave, but I didn't want it, so I chose something else - but the slave one didn't seem to fit anyway), and went with it. Then I read this, and went to check the memory, and found something completely unfamiliar.
Then I suggested more attention be brought to the memory.

Speaking of which - I tried to 'forget' a specific memory, and couldn't. The help wasn't very helpful. So what do I do?

But, anyway, Staci, Sariel said that the beginning memories do come into play.

The memories you start with (Start Story)do have a meaning and will come into play as time goes on…

So what d'you mean it's not important?

Anyway~
Aeriale

LadySilverwolf
12-05-2000, 05:39 AM
Thanks Sariel! Now my notes properly reflect what should be remembered.

Edward1968
12-05-2000, 10:11 AM
Some plot lines require a lot of work on the part of the CE hosts. For example, my character when he joined Marrach wanted to become brewmaster and set up a brewery in the castle. I thought it would be a simple request and I would get out of the way for players that wanted to fight and practice magic. What I didn't know is that breverages and a brewery require a HUGE ammount of XML and a level of cooperation between player and host that had not existed before.

I even offered to mock up some XML for the trouble. That was untill I took a look at the XML listed in the article on the article page which shows all the XML it takes just to describe a simple sword. It is pretty next level stuff and so I backed off hoping that others would get to my plot line.

In the mean time, I have struck up a castle romance, become a de facto CE with the awakeners, and played detective. All of which I wouldn't have gotten the chance to do if I was just brewing beer and mocking up XML.

Sometimes the best plot is the one that isn't planned.

Something to think about folks.
Ed Wisniowski
http://www.skotos.net/ubb/wink.gif

Atama
12-05-2000, 06:59 PM
I always encourage people in their Remembering sessions to utilize their memories gained at creation. I always figured there was something important with them. When I give my OOC pep talk before a session, the only rule I set is try to fit your recalled memories into it. I then tell them to make up anything they want, and take their time with their answers.

Lobo
12-06-2000, 12:13 AM
Well, I've tried to keep the plots I've started/been a major plot in a little bit out of the way of the main castle story if possible, and flexable so that they can fit anything that changes in the history/context of the castle. The only big thing that could screw me up is that it is somehow revealed that Katherine is NOT my niece, though I'm not sure what could come up that we couldn't work around.

As for memories, I've had based all the sessions I've done with others off of their start story memories because I've always figured they were important. I must admit I put mine on the back burner in favor of some others that were more interesting (I think I chose the wrong memory in the start story anyway.), but I DO know how to tie that one in to what I've revealed so far, so I should be ok.

Darren Brimhall
12-06-2000, 08:25 AM
Lobo, Katherine could resemble your character's actual niece very closely. It all depends on how clear a memory your character has of her, and she of her Uncle.
Edward, if the XML code is that complex for a simple sword then I'm going to have a lot of trouble with what I'm creating for Jayland's history. I won't stop me from send it in to Skotos or RPing it, but it's going to be a VERY long time before I can get the elements for it--if ever.

Darren Brimhall

SP Aziel
11-26-2001, 12:42 AM
Good post to recall. Bumping.

-- StoryCoder Aziel
-- spaziel@yahoo.com

Stix
11-26-2001, 05:13 AM
Perhaps this should be added to the Help Files section. That way people won't have to bump it.

layla_orb
11-26-2001, 01:24 PM
Mmm... I've never felt the need to use my memory at all, save to add a little romantic aspect to Gwen-- incorporating stars into the little stories she writes, etc, but no plot whatsoever...
What really enthralls me is the structure of the Castle bit of it all, the Knights, Lords, their private issues that have supposedly been about since /long/ before the awakenings. I see hidden conflict between the Big Guys in the Inner Bailey as a gold mine of potential. If only everybody weren't so /vague/ about it all, there's no foothold on which to involve this in current plots (me having an abstract idea of which one could work really well, but again, just too sketchy) or semi-related to current plots-- as creating whole new ones seems quite a task, though I'd be up for it myself.
I'm not interested in mystical aspects, or little unrelated quirks like faeries to play with, nor memories, and /definately/ not blood relations. Considering, I'd be much more avid to play with the Castle's history, I mean, have all the Knights gotten along in perfect harmony for the past centuries? it seems unlikely to me.
Just my aspirations, personally.
Gwen/Layla (Boredly stroking the empty air perching on her left shoulder)

Medb
11-26-2001, 03:45 PM
I have found that the best way to keep Medb's memories viable is to keep them 'fluid' so to speak. No real concrete recollections, just vague images.

I imagine the trauma of death and rebirth made accessing those memories *if they exist at all* more difficult for her.

And I personally have found a great deal of plot potential in the protean aspect of Medb's memories.

Dorinda, Medb's player