Originally Posted by
StratOcastle
That's what I try to tell kingdoms I visit. The farms aren't that detrimental, but losing players to homicidal kingdom shaping is ludicrous. I have pretty strong opinions about the difference between teamwork and herd mentality. I run into veteran players all the time that tell me I can't do something I've already done.
From a player who still remembers my impressions coming into Utopia:
I came from table top games and mages are generally fragile. When I saw the defensive strength of faery and the spell book it attracted me immediately. This could be why we see a lot of new faeries. My experience in RPGs lead me to build what I'm familiar with. I'm not into unbreakable defenses; I like stuff that can absorb a lot of punishment.
Most of my time in RPGs was running non-traditional fighters. In strategy games I had different signatures as well. In Star Fleet battles I had particular favorite ships. One was a klingon D-7(like on the old show) that was fitted with Hydran weaponry called the Renegade. It was beautiful. Klingon D-7s had great maneuverability for a heavy cruiser. The Hydrans had both a home and expeditionary fleet, each fitted with different weapons and support. The Renegade integrated these systems. Mind you, this was not a better ship it was just my style. The weapons array with the durability and maneuverability of the D-7 made it a classic. I'll name off the toys from memory. It's been many years: 2 x fusion beams, 2 x hellbore canons, 2 x gattling phasers, 4 x phase ll phasers, and 2 shuttle bays for pseudo-fighters.
When I play Utopia I draw on influences that are well over 30 years in refining a personal style. I learned quickly that you can travel in Utopia. Traveling allows me to exercise my favorite ways to play. Bless you all who follow the leader, it's the better part of the game. For me I enjoy experimenting and challenging the odds. But I urge you that what is conceived as teamwork here(by a large portion of the community) isn't the synergy we enjoy in my RPG group. It's much more integrated with complexity and reads.
I can tell when I see old aid messages in forum that were never addressed, or the prioritization of dragon funding over player dynamics. This is not the mechanics, this is how you chose to play and I find it mildly heartbreaking. A player who needs a hand up and gets it might feel indebted to deliver. A new player might feel welcome enough to stay.