Posting this at the request of the Paxians (both Aeternum and Golgothan). The name "Xeilias" that we are using for the Empire has a lot of meaning for us. Pagan put it like this "a war memorial is meaningless if you don't tell people what war you're memorializing." So, I'm going to share with you all the origin of the name "Xeilias". As you all know, Pax Gaming has been around for a good long while, now. We were founded in 2001 as a PA for SWG. Our roots are in the sandbox genre of MMO's. Some of our players got so hooked on the sandbox that they couldn't find any fun in the theme park games. One in particular, Ktara Xeilias, was one of our biggest "we need to play more sandbox game" advocates. She played SWG until the servers shut down. She dabbled in EVE (her significant other played EVE a lot more), and was let down everytime a new MMO released and *wasn't* a sandbox. She pointed us at The Repopulation last year and I think she would have really loved PfO. Ktara's surname in most games was Xeilias. Pathfinder Online is one of the best looking sandboxes on the "upcoming" list of MMO's. It's one where Pax Gaming is putting all of our cards on the table (or, at least, we'll put all the cards on the table closer to EE). We want to leave our make, in a big way, a positive way, in a Paxian way and naming our Alliance/Kingdom/Empire after her is our tribute to her memory. We lost her to cancer this past summer. We weren't even aware she had it. We miss her dearly and for those of us who have been in Pax for more than a few years, we'll have a noticeable void in the membership because she won't be in PFO with us.
Sepherum wrote: I personally see no reason the collective 'we' can't grief the griefers-as long as this, even, has some cost to us. Because by griefing anyone, even a griefer, you become a griefer, and griefing is not cool. Any members found to have been griefing in my organization, even if it's griefers they're griefing, they get das boot from my organization.
Nihimon and Andius, it takes a big person to admit fault, and I won't lie, we're had our fair share on the pax side, as well, and I'll apologize, as well, for any instances where I've stepped across that line. I know we don't always see eye to eye on what we think are good ideas, but i assure you, we want the best possible game and the best possible community to game with in PfO. Pax will never support anything that would be detrimental to PfO or the PfO Community as a whole. So, while we may have different views on how to get there, I promise you, the end goal (great game and a great gaming community to play it with) are the same.
Jazzlvraz wrote:
A friend of mine actually gave he the whole set a few months back. I haven't started reading them, just yet, but I'm really looking forward to them. I really enjoyed Master & Commander, and books are always better than movies, so woo.
Nihimon wrote:
If GW considers wearing the same colors as another group griefing... nm, words can't even express the idiocy of a move like that. There are only so many colors and combinations of colors in the world, more than one group *will* have the same colors, regardless of the intent. To top it off, I'll use a historical reference, since folks on these boards think that RL = a game world. Privateers flew enemy colors *all the time* back in the Age of Sail. I don't think the Spanish called the British griefers or yelled "OMG HAX" at them, it was likely more along the lines of "Son of a ****, GG Brits, GG."
Nihimon wrote:
I don't know how much more in line with GW Pax's definition can get, since the Pax definition includes strict adherence to the EULA and any definitions of griefing GW itself publishes. Let me be clear, I ban people from Pax Gaming yearly for griefing and exploiting, we are zero tolerance with it. But, what you describe as griefing is not griefing by even GW's definition. Banditry and gank tactics *are not* griefing. What Bluddwulf says he and UNC intend to do (use the crap out of SAD's) *is not griefing*. It's time for your misrepresentation of Pax Gaming's intent and what Pax Gaming does or does not support to stop. You don't know us. You've never taken interest in getting to know us. You can not speak for us, because you are not one of us. Right below this post box: "The most important rule: Don't be a jerk. We want our messageboards to be a fun and friendly place." There's a Paizo rule for you there. You talk about people not sticking to GW's definitions, that Paizo one is pretty clear, you should maybe think about following it.
Bluddwolf wrote:
Here's hoping that GW puts out a naming policy for characters, companies, settlements, etc and sticks to it, at least.
Chris Lambertz wrote:
You rock Chris, thanks a ton =)
Sennajin/Rawn, Member of Aeternum, Leader of Pax Gaming. I post on occasion, lurk almost daily.
Nihimon wrote:
We disagree more than not, it seems, but when we do agree... man, do we agree =)
Lhan wrote:
You're right, I missed that context, and great point. All I have to say to that is, we've made sure our hub is safe from UNC(and I'm sure we'll be reaching out to other similar organizations as well, in the future), what the other settlements do to ensure the safety of merchants in their areas of influence is on them.
Lhan wrote:
I see your logic, but disagree with. See my last post. Running merchants away from Callambea is bad for business. If Callambea isn't having merchants come in, we can't grow, if we can't grow, UNC gets no training, so on and so forth. While we can only enforce laws inside our own hexes, I would think the hexes immediately in the vicinity of Pax hexes, for a reasonable distance, will be relatively safe from UNC bandits. I say relatively, because we can't dictate what they can and can't do, but again, if UNC is hurting the bottom line by running off potential business in the region where Callambea is, then that's not good for Pax *or* UNC.
I think something a lot of you guys are failing to see if the very obvious. UNC wants to work with Pax, and thus Callambea. If UNC is popping every merchant *not* doing business with Pax, at the moment, that just happens to just just outside, or within a reasonable distance of Callambea, that's bad for business. That's bad for Pax *and* UNC. For merchants *not* doing business with Pax, but in the general vicinity of Pax held hexes, I wouldn't stress too much about UNC. We want folks coming to our city to trade, to have our ally running off the potential merchants we may not even know about, yet, is bad for business. Not saying it won't happen, it may on occasion, but how is killing every merchant in the vicinity of Callambea, or other Pax cities, good for business? It won't be. You guys all have very valid concerns, but please, keep in mind, we *want* people to go to our cities to trade, UNC *wants* Callambea to be successful (for their own self interest), and Pax *wants* people to feel like they can come to our city to trade.
Nihimon wrote:
It's obviously *not* clearly spelled out, otherwise people wouldn't have such varied views in regards to it. For instance, you take sanctioned PVP to mean that is the only PVP that is "allowed". All other PVP is being a dick (as all other PVP is unsanctioned). I take it to mean something very different. Sanctioned PVP is consensual PVP. You'll both have certain flags that will allow you to PVP without taking rep hits. Unsanctioned PVP is non-consensual PVP, you will not have those flags and will, therefore, take a reputation hit (the initiator). They both have their place, they're both valid, and they both work within the system that was created. Sanctioned PVP, obviously, is encouraged, in that you don't take a rep hit. Unsanctioned PVP is discouraged in that you do take a rep hit. However, unsanctioned PVP is still ok, and *not* being a dick, no matter how you want to dress it up, or who you want to misquote. Will people who participate in unsanctioned PVP be dicks? Sure, absolutely, but so will some of the folks who participate in sanctioned PVP. If GW didn't want people participating in unsanctioned PVP, they wouldn't even have it. They would just have a toggle system like SWG had. But, they don't. Why don't they? They don't have it so people who *want* to do unsanctioned PVP (and get all the rep hits that go with it) can.
KitNyx wrote:
Sorry, I mis-typed. The first line should have read, "I don't recall actually seeing anyone wanting those repercussions removed." Forgot to tack on removed in my haste =)
KitNyx wrote: I do not see anyone who is hating on those who will have low-rep. I think the case is more about resisting calls to remove the repercussions of low-rep (Calling the system broken might not be an explicit call, but it is definitely implied). I don't recall actually seeing anyone wanting those repercussions. What I've seen is people *accepting* them as being worth it to participate in unsanctioned PVP. They're *embracing* those repercussions as a fact of life.
Like I said on TS, Deacon, anytime you guys want to pow-wow, the doors of Pax Gaming are wide open. I've been a leader in Pax for 11 years and I've been the "top dog" for about 5, now, and it warms the heart to see other gaming communities cropping up with similar ethics. Professionalism, exceptional-ism, and just plain ol' having fun with friends. I wish you guys all the best and I will always have a PM box open. Looking forward to many years of enjoying your guys company.
Nihimon wrote:
Eh, whatever man. You're getting into semantics, now and that's just silly (and a *huge* problem on these boards, in my opinion). Of course, by playing the game and attempting to reach our self set goals we'll be playing a role in the world. But *role playing* in MMO's is playing the game *in character*. That's how it's been in MMO's since the 90's, nothing has magically changed today. Everyone plays a role, but not everyone role plays. Big difference between the two. I'm talking about role playing, not playing roles.
DeciusBrutus wrote:
If there are no mechanical benefits to alignment other than it just being a representation of actions, like reputation in EVE, then alignment doesn't matter to me. I could care less what people's in character personas are. I could care less what their alignmetns are, either. A mechanical based alignment has no bearing on the individual on the other side of the keyboard. I have friends that want to play good, I have friends who want to play evil, and I have friends who, like me, don't give a crap. In a mechanical based system, the way it keeps being described, it sounds like it's EVE's reputation system, with some extras. Something may have gotten lost in the translation over the months between the blogs, podcasts, forum posts, and convention interviews and Q&A's for me, which is understandable, because the game is an ever evolving WIP, but if that's all the alignment system ends up being, then it becomes much like EVE's rep system is to me, which is "whatev's". If that means I get auto-flagged when crossing into another settlement or kingdoms lands, oh well, let's hope they bring a bigger sword or group of friends than I do, or I'll just walk around, if they do. If that means I can't go to NPC cities or lands, again, oh well, I'll just go around. DeciusBrutus wrote:
That sounds a lot like a means to an end, to me. Basically, what I'm saying is, at the end of the day, folks are going to game the game, like they do every other MMO. Will there be RP? God, I hope so, because despite my last two posts, I like some good RP and RPers bring life to MMO worlds. However, to think that this will be a roleplaying game before anything else is just silly, in my opinion. The days of MMO's being RPG's before Massively Multiplayer went away a long, long time ago.
Phyllain wrote:
Eh... maybe the more vocal posters on these boards, sure. Most of the people I know that are intending to play this game (of which there are many, and most of them don't post here, and they will all be in EE)could give two craps about alignment as it relates to an in character persona. Alignment is a means to an end and that end is to be successful in whatever it is they want to pursue in the game, be it PVE, PVP, Crafting, Trading, etc. I think you'll be surprised how many people in the EE play the game first and RP second. A lot of folks on these boards have it the other way around, they think people are going to be RPing first and gaming the game second. I think that is a mistaken line of thought.
We have a member in Pax (not in our PfO guild, atm) that will be helping with the MMO track: http://www.dragoncon.org/?q=MMORPGs_track In addition to that guy we usually have about 10 members at D*Con (I usually go, but I can't make it this year). I'll poke around, see if any of our Aeternum folks will be there.
(Pax Gaming) Simply stated, I love EVE. I think EVE is a great game. I know PfO isn't "fantasy EVE" but it's similar enough that it drew me in. I love sci-fi games, but I've been playing EVE for 10 years, I'd like a change of pace for my sandbox game of choice and PfO fits the bill. I want a game where I can leverage the Pax community to build cities, work together to harvest resources and make things from them, have the occasional party with our friends and the general community as a whole, and in my downtime, have some good fun, meaningful PVP in the mix, as well.
Andius wrote:
Let the record show, I completely, 100% agree with you on this. I will get behind any effort to show people that you can have a fun, open, and engaging community in an open PVP game. Just because some folks do kill everyone they see doesn't mean everyone kills everyone they see, or even the majority of folks kill everyone they see. Getting that message across in a constructive way, just like you said, is key.
DeciusBrutus wrote:
+1 I completely agree. If I'm paying for the game, or even if it's F2P, TBH, I fully intend to do whatever I want, so long as I'm not breaking the EULA.
Andius wrote: A lesser or greater degree makes a world of difference. EVE may have some suicide gankers in high sec, but until you've defended territory in null sec you aren't having the same experience that Freelancer, Darkfall, and PFO will offer. LOL, Freelancer again. Anyway, yes, pax has extensive experience in living in nullsec space and we've been there since 2004. And no, not all of Pax is out there, we have two corps for the purpose of segregating out our lowsec (note, not highsec, lowsec) from our nullsec players. No, you won't see that on the Pax site, because of the nature of EVE. I figure our PFO boards will start getting closed to the public once OE starts, as well.
Andius wrote:
We have one of our long term EVE leaders (he's still a leader in EVE) involved with the Aeternum leadership council. However, Dak cann correct me if I'm wrong, all current Aeternum leaders (Reds) have played EVE to a greater or lesser degree. Our other EVE leaders and some EVE players have a direct line to Aeternum leadership as well. They've been in null sec for years (and remain there to this day). I got a PM update on what they're doing, today and the alliance they're in has managed to retake the systems the Goons took from them late last year. So things are going well on that front.
AvenaOats wrote:
Pax already operates guilds in several other games. We're fine doing what we're doing, thank you kindly.
Drakhan Valane wrote: I got all excited until I realized you weren't talking about the Penny Arcade eXpo at all. :( We actually get that alot. The first Penny Arcade Expo was in 2004, Pax gaming was founded in 2001, so it's been a kinda of "meh" thing for me. People see us in games all the time and either know that we're Pax Gaming from other games they've played and seen us in or we get asked if we're from Penny Arcade. Anywho, to my point for posting, I wanted to remind (or impress upon) everyone that the Pax Gaming Annual Meeting is not just a Pax Aeternum thing, it is the yearly get together we do with all of our members from all the games we play. our entire Community (or as much of it that can make a TS meeting). Now, at the end we do a QA with our members (we usually announce Community changes at these meetings) and they will have priority on the list of questions we answer, so I'm honestly not sure how much, if any, time we'll be able to have for Aeternum specifics this time around, but I would certainly love to see if we can squeeze that in there. This is the first year we've ever opened up our Annual Meeting to non-Paxians, so it'll be a trial by fire, so to speak. I'm looking forward to it, as I do every year. I keep tabs on each Division and Guild of Pax Gaming throughout the year, but some of our members stick to one or two guilds and general community, so it's nice to see and hear their questions and reactions to their fellow Paxians achievements in their various games.
Bluddwolf wrote:
Should be fixed, now. Thanks for pointing it out!
Yeah the first episode was just me recording them on my machine locally. The next one I will walk them through setting up Audacity to record themselves and then send me the .wav's to I can mesh them all together. I used to do this all the time, but it was years ago (back in the early days of WoW) so I'm a bit rusty on some of the details. Thanks again, Papaver for all the tips!
I think I figured out our audio issues. The version of Audacity I was using was almost a year old, so when I exported the .wav to .mp3 it got all sorts of messed up. I installed the newest version last night and did some test recordings (using Audacity to record rather than TS3) and when I exported it sounded much, much better. Thanks again to everyone for the feedback, comments, suggestions, and support!
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