The Amber Room ~ Age 63 Virtual Kingdom

Division 1 AMBER

1) avian merchant - Dancing Sword
2) dwarf tactician - Hammer Of Thunderbolts
3) faery sage - Deck Of Many Things
4) elf mystic - Ring Of Wizardry
5) halfling rogue - Eyes Of Charming
6) human war hero - Luck Blade
7) orc warrior - Maul Of The Titans
8) undead cleric - Amber Golem

Division 2 MIRROR

9) avian merchant - Mirror Of Mental Prowess
10) dwarf tactician - Apparatus Of Kwalish
11) faery rogue - Ring Of Wishes
12) elf sage - Staff Of Power
13) halfling mystic - Portable Hole
14) human war hero - Helm Of Brilliance
15) orc warrior - Vorpal Sword
16) undead cleric - Clay Golem

Division 3 GOLD

17) avian merchant - Efreeti Bottle
18) dwarf tactician - Sphere Of Annihilation
19) faery sage - Tome Of Mystical Equations
20) elf mystic - Ring Of Shooting Stars
21) halfling rogue- Shadowcloak
22) human war hero - Rod Of Lordly Might
23) orc warrior - Trident Of Submission
24) undead cleric - Bronze Golem

Monarch

25) faery mystic - Staff Of The Magi

* The above are only preliminary. Thank you.

The current alignment serves 10 Tree of Gold capable provinces. Speed was concentrated not just for focal supremacy but to leave other provinces to offensive requirements in a decidedly faery biased age. Orc warriors will be the strongest medicine to deal with the advent of Clear Sight in the faery arsenal. Avian merchant is an early nod to preparation and the need to split spec credits due to elite credits. While human may have been nerfed I still feel it can achieve honor to compensate for the science challenge. Undead cleric will require higher activity to be rewarded with zone domination.

Human war heroes and undead clerics are to work in concert to establish net worth zones. Avians and dwarves are running interference to protect the integrity of orc, elf and halfling. This in turn should default to protecting faeries. Halfling and faery can concentrate efforts on softer targets with elves concentrating on hard targets with appropriate support as situations dictate. The faery mystic monarch offers support in a multitude of sectors.

Additional player input is in Thread: Preliminary: What You Want To Play 63
In Strategy forum.

Human War Hero & Undead Cleric:

This tactic is a rewind of previous ideas. Parallel to ladder chaining these 2 work in concert to secure acres. Targeting to compliment each others strength and cover each other weaknesses the enemy is subject to a methodical breakdown.

Where The Synergy Runs Wild:

We're ideally running Avian Merchant & Dwarf Tactician to engage threats to the killer, thief and mystic compliment. These builds can run traditional uniques with the Dwarf Tactician as alternate camper to the Human War Hero. The enemy fed through via Avian Merchant initial engagement unless Orc Warrior level offense necessitates. Undead Clerics can be on a constant relay tap offensive with Human War hero engaging with War Spoils at opportunity. Thus, there is a chain with near to max gains through the attacker core. Human War Hero camper is dependent on accumulated ops which is the Dwarf Tacticians trigger.

So chain order by build, if intact, runs:

Orc Warrior
Dwarf Tactician
Avian Merchant
Undead Cleric
Human War Hero
Undead Cleric - 2

Elf Mystic and Faery Mystic trash hits dependent on plague. If the Human War Hero has additional offense they can continue the push.

These are only ideals and we never operate in absolutes.

What are your structure rules this age so I can create a template!? :-D you know I love formulating kds haha

Hello tras. Welcome back and congratulations!

Rules are:

1- the Virtual Kingdom is 25 provinces.
2- there must be 3 representives of each personality & race.
3- the 25th, the monarch must be a unique combination.

For clarity ~ personality

3 cleric
3 merchant
3 mystic
3 rogue
3 sage
3 tactician
3 war hero
3 warrior

For clarity ~ race

3 avian
3 dwarf
3 elf
3 faery
3 halfling
3 human
3 orc
3 undead

The Real Challenge:

It would be interesting to see an organized kingdom adopt The Virtual Kingdom template.
For players who embrace challenge and might enjoy a spin on a more intricate level of organization.

It would be interesting to see 3 organized kingdoms in either the exploring or warring tier adopt The Virtual Kingdom template as loose tournament play. The participants could organize their template in any fashion in accordance with the 3 rules.

The tournament is as this template is; to honor the balance the developers have created in our game. Those who question the balance are welcome to use this template to demonstrate otherwise.

Have fun no matter where you are. It's a game, so play it.

Personal Choice:

The Amber Room as I have arrayed is personal choice. I'm a player who enjoys stacking qualities.
I'm not naive to the beauty of switching the dwarves to cleric and the undead to tacticians: This would make a more efficient kingdom. There are a peacocks tail worth of variation I've represented in previous Virtual Kingdoms. You could do things like running 1 elf mystic, 1 elf sage, 1 elf war hero to cover the expanses of high penetration spell use to ignoring sapphire dragon effect.

The Virtual Kingdom I put forward is an interpretation of my bias.

For you music minded, you can look at the Virtual Kingdom as a hifi speaker cabinet: It's balance and clarity to game mechanics throughout the frequency range. By tweaking personality and race we color the speakers with our unique personality. In game we see certain signature builds indicative of function. Look at Beastblood or Freeakstyle.

Golem Diplomacy:

It occurs to me that undead conversions are a startup concern. My solution is negotiating attack exchanges with undead from another kingdom. CF will obviously be negotiated prior to the exchanges.

In roleplaying we can interpret this macabre affair in dark age pageantry. A festival for the dead. A joust. The theater is real, but the undead embrace it like we embrace staged entertainment. All are welcome to behold.

The Amnesia Cannon:

Once again this age we've included the amnesia cannon sage. The scope and reach are only limited to how far we can drive our faeries. Their purpose is clear for both offensive and defensive engagements. They tighten the unit for our science challenged human war heroes. As you may have noticed, we've engineered a system for bottom feeders to be dragged into our creepy clutches. We prefer diplomacy of a friendly nature.

Why We Don't Use Undead Tactician/Warrior:

The reasons I don't use either of these in The Virtual Kingdom goes back to what I call stacking. While I find the undead tactician one of the most efficient builds in the game I chose dwarf to cover this task.

Dwarf is capable of faster attack times, thus returns. This is a tactical advantage.
Dwarf has mystic aura and tactician gets clear sight: total defense, not partial.
Dwarf has free build allowing it to serve emergency utility.

The orcs get the nod for warrior in The Virtual Kingdom. There are a number of roles I'd like orcs to enjoy, but it is at warrior that their strength is irreplaceable.

Orc can more easily muster trackable offense, not relying on specialist bloat to achieve numbers.
Orc is a 7, not a maybe.
Orc can inflict more damage.

The undead get the job as cleric for reasons I find most compelling; experience. From the standpoint of synergy you'd have to look at changes. The inability to train elites makes warrior unsavory here because we want to know our warriors are maximized to strike at extreme range. The inherent slop of the undead dynamic offers itself freely to cleric. This build invites the peripheral hits that our dwarf tactician ignores. We need a build that is the attack absorber and reigns in zones of attacker conflict. We don't want the undead in positions that would risk our fellow provinces to plague. If we assigned tactician to undead we increase the risk of spreading plague internally. I've played undead cleric quite a bit and the characteristics it carries into age 63 certainly fit.

The Avian Merchant Shift:

You may know I'm a huge fan of avian tactician in ages past. There reason we don't go tactician age 63 is because we already have clear sight and there are economic concerns with training defense. Alternatively, war hero is almost a great fit but we still have the economic ceiling in the way of training.

Merchant build credits, spec credits and tree of gold offer a balancing aspect to build strategy and kingdom. Avian birthdate bonus gets the tree of gold going and serves out of war handily.

The Human Factor:

We can't move merchant to human, nor should we move tactician to human. The dwarf has the speed to navigate around ambush and dwarf can't accelerate build. Human war hero is too slow to navigate ambush, but can use war spoils and can accerate build. The human also has a presentable offense that transitions well from our orc warrior to undead cleric. Whatever the warrior hammers is typically sorted by the war hero and cleric. War hero and cleric should be attentive to keeping each other safe from enemy max gains.

Expecting humans to run a lot of elites is typical. Our endeavor with war spoils to to offer a place to train defense specialists. On the surface we can soldier ball and accelerate build/train to have a formidable defense set before an enemy wave makes it's next run.

EOWCF:

Merchant on avian offers a rebuilding advantage. Dwarf has free build. Human has tree of gold. Undead cleric has the highest troop retention in game. Orc warrior can aid soldiers which helps in several ways.

The 25th Element:

We currently have a faery mystic operating in the 25th position in The Virtual Kingdom. Here's where we get to ask many questions:

1-Would we be better served by the apparent efficiency of Undead Tactician?

2-How about an Elf War Hero to balance against dragons?

3-Elf Sage Amnesia Cannon?

4-Halfling Mystic for acre efficiency?

5-Faery Rogue?

There are plenty of options here with the additional flexibility of setting up the kingdom in an array of possibilities. Is redundancy at turtling and ops more important than bolstering the attacker core? These are all things we can think about in how we might balance our own Virtual Kingdom.

Nightmare This Age:

One of the reasons I chose faery mystic for the 25th position in my kingdom strategy has to do with the overall drop in elite defense across the attacker biased races. While we might've gotten more mileage from 3 faery mystics for the depth of mana we might've hit the wall on rune consumption. An account of enemies desire to steal runes can exacerbate a mana to rune balance. I also want the depth of reliability we get from elf mystic. The balancing act here was with land efficiency which we have sacrificed to some degree.

Again we want to concentrate on circling the wagons around our 3 elements of high penetration: elf mystic, halfling rogue and orc warrior. We want amnesia from our faery to push threats from both higher and lower tiers in the interest of these 3 elements. This may seem secondary to goal, but the endeavor is to open enemy threats to deeper strikes in all sectors. Since amnesia presumably drops science evenly we can then engage with more efficient effect. This of course is simply an option. Conventional shelling is always there if that serves the greater good.

An odd strategy could be human mystic in the 25th position as we had last age to cast chastity on shelled provinces. This along with plague and a degree of peasant elimination could be effective if more difficult to coordinate. The human lack of mages fury and science cost challenges made this an esoteric move.

i got some short free-time on my hands, so i decided to craft an idea which MAY bring some elements of this fantasy and real gaming environment & strategies together..

i will be using the three divisions system, each focusing on unique gameplay of their own.. hopefully i will be able to create synergy of some sort between them in the war field, balancing the 'rainbow' weakness of the kd using different race/pers combos with similar overall output.. ill just start picking something, and improvise on my way to 25th spot..

squad #1 - quick resolve
this division focuses on making waves in 9-10h patterns, prioritising speed over other aspects - namely avians, tacticians and qf casters.. different members specialize on sustainability, high offense and econ capabilities.. designed to max gain to contain any outrunners, or make hit'n'run on opponent tms where needed - utilizes unremovable speed buffs, elite offense and cs/elite training/free building to combat shelling attempts..
1- avian cleric
2- undead tactician
3- avian merchant
4- human tactician
5- avian warrior
6- orc tactician
7- dwarf warrior
8- dwarf cleric

squad #2 fists of rock
the idea of the squad is running 12h wave patterns, aiming for deep chaining a single attacker with t/m backup.. the squad utilizes nightmare & ns capabilities and sustainable high-offense provs..
1- dwarf sage
2- orc warrior
3- orc cleric
4- undead rogue
5- human war hero
6- elf war hero
7- undead merchant
8- human mystic

squad #3 sanctuary
the power core of the kd, specially armed with very high tpa/mods to combat opponent tms or aid attacker squads when they are outgunned..
1- faery mystic
2- elf sage
3- halfling mystic
4- halfling rogue
5- faery rogue
6- faery war hero
7- elf merchant
8- halfling sage

monarch
1- faery sage
the most versatile combo in the game, will be there wherever help is needed - be it attacking department, thievery or magic..

there it is, my virtual kd - who wants to war?

What Is The Virtual Kingdom?

Well here I present The Virtual Kingdom as a balanced template of all personalities and all races in the game. The 25th province can represent the efficiency of the age or a perennial favorite in your arsenal.

What The Virtual Kingdom really is has to do with perspective.
Do you believe in yourself as a player?
Do you have faith that you can play up to the balance of the game and not the bias of the trends?

I've been in many wars as a volunteer in the lower kingdoms. Places with no continuity, places of fear and victims of bullying. I've also warred formidable kingdoms. In fact, the last war I was in was against a classic well organized super waving kingdom that understood mechanics and used them. My kingdom didn't lose because we had a bad kingdom strategy. We lost because we misused the strength we had. We squandered and sat idle.

This balanced kingdom: The Virtual Kingdom, is not a path of failure nor one of success. The Virtual Kingdom is asking a question. This isn't an institution, this is freedom. Can you be a team player while being your best? I'm betting that you can. That's what this is all about. Unbiased clarity of purpose with the freedom to do your best can only result in flawless unity.

Can we always be at our best? No. But what you may fail to see is that we stumble together and we hold each other up.
This kingdom is virtual but the ideas are real.

Thank you LoRD_SaMPuaN. You've done a great kingdom!

I love the effectiveness and the style. Very well planned.

And now an analogy on my style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y92NgQxg8BQ

Avian & Dwarf ~ The Poor Mans Faery:

You guessed it, complimentary bonuses. The blurse(blessing curse) of avian this age with elite credits has nearly relegated them to merchant to exercise depth of leverage. I have found some narrow effectiveness in avian war hero that requires kingdom coordination is squared away. That aside we have merchant on avian and what a choice it is. Looks to have earned the attention of top warring kingdoms in the core.

So let's look at our speed team. I haven't found a better fit for tactician than dwarf because the synergy here is just not available in any other attacker race. Let me clarify. All races have a weakness that can be covered or left open with personality. The dwarf tactician spell book covers all the ground I could ask for in combination. The defensive spells cover both mystic and rogue incursions. The speed bonus with quick feet allows for some ambush dodging. The defensive spells make an easier road for land fat than any other attacker combo. You could argue orc tac, but even in a conventional kingdom it loses it's greatest strength at warrior. Dwarf has free build. Undead tac can stop rogue but can't do anything about mystic.

Lest we forget, it's avian that gets sabotage bonus and dwarf that gets spell damage bonus. The dwarf tac can use stealth for intel while retaining mana for popping fireball and the incomparable fools gold. Avian can then exercise full stealth. The idea here is for these guys to check the paripheral defenses of selected targets. Test that twpa(thieves and wizards per acre). The buddy system here is about exchanging aid, tag teaming and being there when the other factions in kingdom have their hands full. It's not a greedy relationship, we've assigned these two to run interference for the builds that pack the most punch. In taking care of business these two look out for each other, just as human war hero and undead cleric look out for each other.

All thing revolve around defending the onslaught of elf mystic, halfling rogue and orc warrior. Pictured:

Spearhead ~
elf mystic
halfling rogue
orc warrior

Assault ~
human war hero
undead cleric

Theater Control ~
avian merchant
dwarf tactician

Logistics ~
faery sage

Everybody is looking out for each other, but defined roles allow us to prioritize responsibility. If the undead cleric suffers undo damage we can bump the aggressor(s). Though I've ordered this in a reactionary light we're actually taking the initiative. We want to do things to dictate the action and force the enemy to react. Part of having the speed duo is to change momentum if we find ourselves in a defensive reactionary situation.

And having seen what I’ve seen—and given the chance—I feel it is my duty to say something. English statesman Edmund Burke said: “All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men and women to do nothing.”
- Emma Watson -

A quote of a quote may seem unimaginative, but think of it as a torch passed to the next to run with it.

On a lighter note http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T8ipIc2PGc

The Age Rolled Slowly Past & I Found Myself Alone ~ The Human War Hero:

For Virtual Kingdoms sake I've begun a solo journey with one of the personalities in the template. It's interesting in monarchy alone. Early on I spent some time answering questions from various kingdoms. My initial restart was as a random so I chose a persona/race appropriate to helping a small kingdom. My experience in the lower tier has taught me a thing or two about undead conversion strikes. Oftentimes economy is the ailment and the ability to march comes in handy.

Upon transfer to a kingdom, dark and abandoned, I decided to stay with the strategy to see how it fairs in the open field.
Attacks come almost daily; some days are worse than others. Fortified stance is no deterrent for undead conversion strikes so it's just part of the scenery. Most undead are fine with an amicable trade of elites for war spoils. ToG obviously has great utility and keeping a loose ratio of army prevents overpopulation and poor gold yield.

I've made a deal with a kingdom to steal my food so I try to keep an abundance available. We had to draw the line at runes so I was forced to erect watch towers to send a polite message. I've had a few kingdoms ask about my status and they've been friendly enough to allow me to grow a little in their midst. Part of my challenge is a mode of conduct to only retal and explore. I could make a good living cleaning up inactives for my neighbors but I felt this was too easy and I didn't want to be considered a threat to the tiniest kingdoms.

As you can imagine a rainbow build would best serve, but it's difficult to accumulate resources and to keep a build balanced with attack regularity. Sometimes I've been forced to rush build guard stations to absorb immenent trad marches due to my war spoil retaliation. This slows my progress because I can't simply run a huge economy. I have but one ceasefire and this was due to the generosity of the steward of Famous Last Words. A noble soul.

Again, as a challenge I'm not seeking ceasefires, but it's a curtesy I would never refuse. It's a matter of chivalry and honor. The question are, can I grow without being aggressive? Is there a place for peaceful coexistence in the bowels of Utopia? - The projection amplified: can a 25er built like The Virtual Kingdom establish itself in relative peace? So far the answer is yes, as long as you're vigilant about retaliation.

One of the undead was making a second conversion volley so I knew I had to discourage the behavior. This was the only time I did both war spoil trad march and ambush. The point was to kill his elites. I was forced to this decision because he was growing and showed signs of hitting down. I wasn't trying to teach a lesson as much as keep an aggressive force in my wheelhouse. I messaged him honorably and he agreed the gains weren't worth it and he didn't like my polite rhetoric lol. So, for now, he's not harassing.

Time to go grocery shop. I hope I have the will to continue recording my experiences. This kingdom is also a hiatus from the road and travel I've done for several ages.

Been enjoying reading of the Virtual Kingdom and decided to try the template...

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE!
Year 10: This kingdom only starts when the Age is ending. It's members are drawn from the miscontent and rabble-rousers. They unite with a common purpose: to sow discord, inflame wrath, and spread pestilence. Unhappy with their fate thus far, their one goal is descruction. The distracted, the lazy, those already at war; these are prime targets. How much trouble can they cause before the End of Days?

Angelic Trumpet of Judgement Day
Elf Sage - Monarch
Hark! The trumpet's sound wakens the four horsemen and calls them to reap the harvest of souls...

Plague
Undead Cleric x 3
Orc Rogue x 3
The plaguebearers come first, trying to infect as many provinces as possible. The undead make the hits while the orcs provide support and liberally apply Vermin to the realm.

War
Dwarf Merchant x 3
Human WarHero x 3
War is expensive. Especially attacking into other people's war which is what this team is *made* for- a well funded juggernaut that keeps on hitting and hitting at just the worst time.

Famine
Halfling Sage x 3
Faery Mystic x 3
Third comes a terrible hunger. This team's objective is to steal every bushel and arson every farm in Utopia. Second priority is to support the fourth and final team...

Death
Avian Tactician x 3
Elf Warrior x 3
Riders of the pale horse are the last thing you ever see. One mission: find any province nearly dead and finish it off!

I love it! You truly have a role-players spirit. Deep theme, colossal objectives, template reinvented.

The sun shines in a pleasing way and I feel unburdened when I see your approach to the game.

It's freedom.

Crazy Like Undead:

The combination of undead attributes and limits create predictable dilemmas for the living this age. There are tons of undead out there and the less socially adept are choosing the living to convert specs to elites.

So being alone in this world I have a new undead friend. At first, as in most cases, the first hit was a conversion which is answered by my obligatory war spoil retaliation. This is done with an awareness of gang bang protection, but a little caution still goes a long way. On the return sortie my undead friend lands 2 bounces. This could be dismissed as ghetto noobery, but I'm going to give this one credit.

Since we would be toying with the meter and my province is growing faster the bounces serve 2 purposes. One, the undead -75% losses mean that the loss of nw would be much harder on my province and the attacks wouldn't push the meter. The second, if I retaliated not only would I lose more military but would've given ops to a kingdoms with 19 more provinces than mine. I can respect an enemy that knows the ropes. Even if this seems like fruitless loss for both sides we can ignore a chance to learn or embrace it.

A Day In The Life:

February 6 of YR4 Wherever (x:x) attacked and stole from Sonic Blue (x:x).
February 7 of YR4 Sonic Blue (x:x) captured 94 acres of land from Wherever (x:x).
February 17 of YR4 An unknown province from The Undead Gamers (x:x) invaded Sonic Blue (x:x) and captured 55 acres of land.
February 24 of YR4 Sonic Blue (x:x) captured 112 acres of land from Burning Paper (x:x).
February 24 of YR4 I will be (x:x) invaded Sonic Blue (x:x) and captured 57 acres of land.

Alliance War:

Running aground on a philosophy of non-aggression is most interesting on the frontier of old alliances. Apparently my practice of retaliation, exploration and peaceful coexistence doesn't agree with elite doctrine. Though I have 3 aggressive kingdoms on the grid I'm forced to deal with 2 in the exploring field. My reasoning is Acre Confusion! Just kidding; I'm actually hitting the 2 growth kingdoms because I suspect an alliance.

If I attack the smaller kingdom I'm simply feeding acres up. This smaller kingdom has learned the trick of bouncing with undead. Perhaps the practice is universal. What happens is the undead with such low losses can anchor you to a nw level with their leftover troops. The losses are obviously disproportionate and my defense was compromised. This practice attracts the buzzards as it were.

In summary, the reason I'm retaliating the 2 growth kingdom is acre cancellation. No CF is expected.

Summary update: CF. Civilization prevails today!

Some nostalgia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57vaKllPg7k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGVbNhrjT8w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj7ZIqNZqxU

Hello again. This is an update and a chance to clarify a nonaggressive approach in a roleplaying sense. I'm no build strategist as I've stated before but I do abide the build characteristics of nonaggression. Thus:

Building type Quantity % of Total Current Effects (effect of next 1%)
Barren Land 0 0.0%
Homes 270 10.2% Increase max population by 2,700
Increase birth rates by 34.15% (2.94%)
Farms 265 10.0% Produce 17,342 bushels per day
Mills 0 0.0% Lower building costs by 0.0% (3.7%)
Reduce exploration costs in gold by 0.0% (2.78%)
Reduce exploration costs in men by 0.0% (1.85%)
Banks 269 10.1% Produce 6,287 gold coins per day
10.64% higher income (0.92%)
Training Grounds 0 0.0% 0.0% higher offensive efficiency (1.39%)
Armouries 0 0.0% 0.0% lower military training costs (1.39%)
0.0% lower military wages & draft costs (1.85%)
Military Barracks 0 0.0% 0.0% lower attack times (1.39%)
Forts 0 0.0% 0.0% higher defensive efficiency (1.85%)
Guard Stations 385 14.5% 23.17% lower resource losses when attacked (1.31%)
Hospitals 300 11.3% 18.73% chance to cure the plague each day (1.43%)
28.1% lower military losses (2.14%)
Guilds 385 14.5% 7.2 wizards trained per day
Towers 215 8.1% Produce 2,412 runes per day
Thieves' Dens 0 0.0% 0.0% higher thievery effectiveness (2.78%)
0.0% lower losses in thievery operations (3.7%)
Watch Towers 290 10.9% 27.28% less damage caused by enemy thieves (2.16%)
18.19% chance of preventing enemy thief missions (1.44%)
Libraries 0 0.0% 0.0% increase in science effects (1.98%)
Schools 272 10.2% 12.89% decrease in science costs (1.1%)
Protect 42.97% of science from enemies (3.67%)
Stables 0 0.0% Hold 0 horses
Produce 0 horses per day
Dungeons 0 0.0% House 0 prisoners
Exploration/Construction Schedules

No barracks, no training grounds, no stables, no armories for that matter. What I want to reflect is a society that believes in a quality of existence. Schools, ample farms, banks, hospitals. Part of the reason I run higher farms is because we don't steal unless absolutely necessary. The strat is not based in the combative but that of metropolitan culture. I've run alone almost all age, but have since invited a friend to join who wanted to experiment with builds.

There are no formal kingdom plans. My endeavor here is to show that growing and playing peacefully while not being bullied is possible. Sometimes it hurts, but the secret is to be morally grounded first and pragmatic. Morality in this case is basic chivalry. We are polite to even our enemies. We yield to honorable competition, but never to bullies.

As any province my status could change in an instant. I'd like you to project my results to a full kingdom. Remember, I'm tech inept and have no skills in math. I live by intuition. Before you let your math subvert your morality just remind yourself that you are easily my better. Use your skills in concert with your vision.

~ Changes were made to the MIRROR division to reflect playeresque choices. ~

Question.

Can a society that eschews military solutions to some extent ( no tg's, barracks) truly claim to be about quality of existence without extreme diplomacy.

There are a large number of guard stations within your province.
Which reflects a desire to protect your cultures ideals imo.

Is it a false morality to defend those ideals in such a manner as opposed to taking a more martial option to deter those who may oppose your ideology?

The utopian world is a cold, cruel world. While you may empower your citizens internally, is such a isolationist approach sustainable? Or even capable of defending that ideology?

Must we always have an option to hit back on those who may threaten our ways of life?
The Bully rarely stops because he can only take a little, he usually stops when you can take more. :)

Diplomacy through strength in a cold, cruel world.

In my case, as a previously single entity, there may need to be clarification.

1-In this journey I've avoided seeking CFs because I wanted a raw experience.
- Gauging the world in it's true nature. If CFs come up they are readily exchanged.

2-This is the beta. I'm playing for experiment. Preemptive diplo was purposely avoided.
- while diplo is very real in the kingdom perspective, It was not my goal to find an easier path.

3-This is dipping the toe in the water; the water is fine. Because I'm not expressly roleplaying by
manner, but exploring the Utopian landscape I reserved the aspect I enjoy most: challenge.

Self preservation is obviously on my mind but the test is doing it out here where this tiny kingdom is interesting to every predator. We are smaller than almost every kingdom in the game, yet large enough to have relations with the top 5. Anything that has come our way diplomatically has been through the natural process of being attacked and retaliating.

I should remind readers that I have no intention of leading. I'm not a leader..or a follower. What I'm doing is presenting to the apprehensive the evidence that you can play your way and succeed. When I say "you" I mean the core of your kingdom.

My intuition tells me there are at least 3 small kingdoms with a knowledgeable and enthusiastic core of 8 players. Instead of province killing to clean up your kingdom, why not join the enthusiastic players from 2 others? Retain your culture and enjoy synergizing with others. The Virtual Kingdom template is just an idea.

Thank you for your time.

The Amber Room ~ Age 63 Virtual Kingdom
Division 1 AMBER

1) avian merchant - Dancing Sword
2) dwarf tactician - Hammer Of Thunderbolts
3) faery sage - Deck Of Many Things
4) elf mystic - Ring Of Wizardry
5) halfling rogue - Eyes Of Charming
6) human war hero - Luck Blade
7) orc warrior - Maul Of The Titans
8) undead cleric - Amber Golem

Division 2 MIRROR

9) avian merchant - Mirror Of Mental Prowess
10) dwarf war hero - Apparatus Of Kwalish
11) faery rogue - Ring Of Wishes
12) elf sage - Staff Of Power
13) halfling mystic - Portable Hole
14) human warrior - Helm Of Brilliance
15) orc cleric - Vorpal Sword
16) undead tactician - Clay Golem

Division 3 GOLD

17) avian merchant - Efreeti Bottle
18) dwarf tactician - Sphere Of Annihilation
19) faery sage - Tome Of Mystical Equations
20) elf mystic - Ring Of Shooting Stars
21) halfling rogue- Shadowcloak
22) human war hero - Rod Of Lordly Might
23) orc warrior - Trident Of Submission
24) undead cleric - Bronze Golem

Monarch

25) faery mystic - Staff Of The Magi

This is my current alignment. You'll find other builds that may be superior to what I chose. The playeresque bias in the MIRROR division offers some strengths in land efficiency for faery, halfling and undead.

OOC:
Strat0. I'm playing devil's advocate to strengthen your philosophy. :) I'm roleplaying a lot. :)

1) We wonder this cold, dark utopian plane of existence. We have a nebulous goal of improving the lot of our folk. Yet is not seeking out friendship with mutual parties a boon to our existence? Trade and cultural exchange are surely the back bone of our society? Should we not seek out new parties who are amicable to our viewpoint?

2) Must we seek challenge when there is an easier path? The man who climbs the north face of the Eiger has achieved a great challenge. The man who is delivered by plane has not. Yet they both enjoy the same view. Is it only the challenge rather than the result that defines us? Or is only the result that does?

3) What is leadership? Is it having personal qualities that people wish to follow? Or is it but the mere enforcement of an ideology with the capability to make those believe?

:)

OOC: Luv this thread. :)

For public consumption the results are fundamental. My personal journey is the joy of challenge and we share to show the timid that we can swim with the sharks. Every day that we are not razed to dust is another success.

On a personal note, you can pursue any diplomatic endeavors you might see advantageous.

What I find interesting is our scope of encounters in this tiny kingdom. We see the most devastated war torn kingdoms to the most polished and expertly controlled top kingdoms....close up, without a shark cage. Are we a meal worth eating or a competitor worth destroying? Not yet ;-)

After a days thought process I returned the attacking core of the MIRROR division to original specifications. Human is more likely to hold honor as war hero and will shine in war with their 10% bonus and immunities. Dwarf is simply faster and creates headaches for t/ms as a tac. Orc might have shorter sustain as warrior, but I've run them and it's a solid combination. Undead cleric is near and dear to my way of warring. Avian didn't change as I see merchant as their apex strat this age.

The changes remain in the t/m group as I see benefit in the reshuffle.

Virtual Divisions:

While we are saddened to see any reputable kingdoms struggle to survive to the point of breakup we must turn our attention to the possibility of a new life here in The Virtual Kingdom. I've been contacted by a number of players this age in failing kingdoms. It pulls my heart strings because primarily I've been a volunteer to help kingdoms in distress.

Instead of happenstance migration we could work toward a kingdom that both offers these kingdoms the muscle of relevance and the opportunity to preserve the culture that made them reknown contenders. Here we allow these kingdoms to function in the tight synergy of their best 8 players, independently as a division. Obviously there's a kingdom theater strategy that all 3 divisions work toward, but individual identity is at the forefront of the ideal.

The evolution of The Virtual Kingdom began as a celebration of the game in it's diversity. We celebrate this in the pageantry of each division having one representative of each personality and race. It's been mentioned here before, but I believe we need to ring this bell to enlighten those who are struggling. We have a kingdom culture. We have divisional culture.

The evolution of divisions is directly related to my experience trying to help fragmented kingdoms. It's time to stop fighting to recruit and have it be our strength. I'm asking the few that hang on through thick and thin to join 2 other kingdoms fighting the same recruitment battle. It may seem a compromise at first to merge and sacrifice total power. It may seem a compromise to diversify your division equally by personality and race, but consider the long view.

By offering each player a specialized role we entice their desire to shine in their own way in a team environment. This is about active team oriented players hand picked by each of the 3 kingdoms. You then have 2 other divisions to learn from, to teach to and to compete with. We are passionate about the strat despite the strat. Learn as I have that it will become important in the right way rather than a liability.

I want you to look at the 2 top kingdoms fighting for the land crown, CR vs Pyro. How far off are we? Look at the competition with homogenous cores and you'll note the pattern of winning has been by these 2 strats. And these are top kingdoms honed to razor sharp efficiency. Behold the balance in the attacker core here in The Virtual Kingdom. Behold the balance in the t/m core. I'm not saying it's superior I'm saying we have balance and we have player attention.

I'm not throwing American Badass under the bus, but wouldn't you say his desire to play has been heightened since losing his faery to PK? We can joke, but as the CR strat became more balanced the more impressive the victories have been. Players that feel they make a difference tend to make a difference.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by StratOcastle

Virtual Divisions:

While we are saddened to see any reputable kingdoms struggle to survive to the point of breakup we must turn our attention to the possibility of a new life here in The Virtual Kingdom. I've been contacted by a number of players this age in failing kingdoms. It pulls my heart strings because primarily I've been a volunteer to help kingdoms in distress.

Instead of happenstance migration we could work toward a kingdom that both offers these kingdoms the muscle of relevance and the opportunity to preserve the culture that made them reknown contenders. Here we allow these kingdoms to function in the tight synergy of their best 8 players, independently as a division. Obviously there's a kingdom theater strategy that all 3 divisions work toward, but individual identity is at the forefront of the ideal.

The evolution of The Virtual Kingdom began as a celebration of the game in it's diversity. We celebrate this in the pageantry of each division having one representative of each personality and race. It's been mentioned here before, but I believe we need to ring this bell to enlighten those who are struggling. We have a kingdom culture. We have divisional culture.

The evolution of divisions is directly related to my experience trying to help fragmented kingdoms. It's time to stop fighting to recruit and have it be our strength. I'm asking the few that hang on through thick and thin to join 2 other kingdoms fighting the same recruitment battle. It may seem a compromise at first to merge and sacrifice total power. It may seem a compromise to diversify your division equally by personality and race, but consider the long view.

By offering each player a specialized role we entice their desire to shine in their own way in a team environment. This is about active team oriented players hand picked by each of the 3 kingdoms. You then have 2 other divisions to learn from, to teach to and to compete with. We are passionate about the strat despite the strat. Learn as I have that it will become important in the right way rather than a liability.

I want you to look at the 2 top kingdoms fighting for the land crown, CR vs Pyro. How far off are we? Look at the competition with homogenous cores and you'll note the pattern of winning has been by these 2 strats. And these are top kingdoms honed to razor sharp efficiency. Behold the balance in the attacker core here in The Virtual Kingdom. Behold the balance in the t/m core. I'm not saying it's superior I'm saying we have balance and we have player attention.

I'm not throwing American Badass under the bus, but wouldn't you say his desire to play has been heightened since losing his faery to PK? We can joke, but as the CR strat became more balanced the more impressive the victories have been. Players that feel they make a difference tend to make a difference.

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Very well written, I love your love of the game :D

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Originally Posted by khronosschoty

Very well written, I love your love of the game :D

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Thank you khronosschoty. I sense your love of the game as well. I'm honored.

On a subject that seems to elude me through writing I forget to mention, I don't put this Virtual Kingdom here with any desire to lead. The reasons may seem unrelated but I'll explain. I'm not pursuing power or monarchy.

As a student of art I became aware of different mediums of expression and performance. I'm terrible at performing arts but I love music and how it's made. My expression is in the 'still life' projects related to what I love. In my musical world I'm working on a guitar project, in here it's kingdom framework.

With the guitar I'm planning I could use any design I choose. I chose character over performance because performance is out there in spades. For those who know, a Jackson USA Soloist is a beautiful machine in the best way and a Rickenbacker 381v69 is not. Ah, but the Ric. Check out the John Kay of Steppenwolf signature guitar if you like them in black.
But to get back on track, I've chosen the woods which has taken years. Each hardware component not just chosen for performance, but comfort and congruence with the total design. No expense was spared right down to the titanium truss rod. The most expensive things aren't always the best fit and were passed on after consideration. These things weren't contemplated; I have to have it in my hands, see it with my eyes to determine it's inclusion.
I could've designed another Jackson Soloist, but they make an awful good one already. I'm designing everything I want in this narrow range guitar because I have other guitars that do all the other things.
But I'm not a decent player. All I'm doing is created a legacy to be handed down to a more capable player when the time comes.

Which brings me to...

I'm a giver, not a taker. Givers are best left to lead by example. My instinct are too giving to be in a position of power. In CF negotiations with a top 5 kingdom after trading retals I was asked if they could have some acreage back. I had already written half my apology and agreement when I realized I was giving my acres away with no compensation. It wasn't a greedy or angry move on my part as much as a demonstration of the non-aggressive approach I'm using this age.

For those that don't know, I'm only doing retal and explore; No unprovoked attacks. I enjoy the challenge and the experiment. I don't run around with a banner saying I'll retal, as I believe we should always expect retaliation. The other side is to see our community in it's rawest form. I want to see how they react to the most obvious liability of running in a kingdom as a single province. I'm easily PKed by almost every kingdom on the server. Recently I've had a friend join so now we're 2. Both our builds are in The Virtual Kingdom design. Not so tough with only 2.

The very fact that I'm not randoming should be noted as evidence of a giver. Leaders need to balance much more.

This is clearly a whiskey and cigar thread !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by copious

This is clearly a whiskey and cigar thread !

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What is a whiskey and cigar thread? :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by khronosschoty

What is a whiskey and cigar thread? :D

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The underground world of pms. Due to smoke nazis our culture has been driven into the dark where we bumped into whiskey aficionados. Now we share the comfort of good company and our love of liabilities. ;-)

Breakdown:

Pyromaniacs

1- avian
7- dwarf
7- faery
3- human
5- orc
2- undead

Beastblood

10- avian
3- dwarf
2- faery
2- halfling
3- human
5- orc

CR

5- elf
2- faery
6- halfling
5- human
7- orc

The Amber Room

1- avian
1- human

In Conclusion:

The dirty truth no one tells a new or even a seasoned player is that your province isn't yours....in their grand design.

I'm here to tell you that your province is yours if you want.

Many probably forgot that when you signed into this game the introduction implies building your province with peasants and wizards, schools, war crafts, banks and homes. It mentions teamwork and all the active participant rhetoric one would expect.

However...

All over this game the meta is: you are a robot or you control robots. Bad kingdoms have bad robots or bad controllers. Good kingdoms the opposite. No one cares about your province.

When was the last time you heard an organized kingdom compliment a core province for exceeding expectations?
You don't.
Do you know why?
Because they aren't permitted to exceed expectation. They can only do as they're told or disappoint.

This to me is the deepest problem in the game. We have powerful leaders dangle success in the face of ambitious players and they give their self determination away. If this meta culture was isolated to the areas of crown competition then it's not a problem. The thing is these meta gamers stick their head in others business based in their efficient mechanics to bully. Those bullies continue the bigger fish trend and the province gamer is faced with a few decisions.

My decision was to challenge the meta and play the game my way. I invite you to play the game your way. The Virtual Kingdom is about getting us together but a confident player doesn't require the template. This template is about fun and I'm sure it would do fine in this meta environment. I'm out here doing it and I'm doing it almost alone. I'm about 3000 acres give or take and have absorbed 112 attacks as of last count.

It's a game, so play it. ;-)

The Amber Room is the great mystery of the last century. For the sake of this, I went to St. Petersburg to look at http://https://petersburg.experthttp...om-in-pushkin/. Inspiration is guaranteed!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by masonlim

The Amber Room is the great mystery of the last century. For the sake of this, I went to St. Petersburg to look at http://https://petersburg.experthttp...om-in-pushkin/. Inspiration is guaranteed!

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Awesome. I'm glad you had the experience. Faith in humanity can be rekindled when timeless art like the Amber Room is reconstructed.