My Dear Fellows

[BrotherZael]

As I sit here with my usual insomniac self at 2:40am reviewing all the dev blogs and sifting through the threads on this forum I was just struck by how rich this community already is.

In the Sixth Dev blog entitled "LFG! (Looking for Group!)" Ryan brought up the issue of getting on the message boards and developing a pre-game society. To quote him exactly:

"We're sure that these ideas have already sparked your imagination. We want to encourage folks to begin self-organizing even before the game is ready for testing. We'll do our best to recognize those organizations that get created early, especially if they announce their existence on our messageboards. How awesome will it be to start playing Pathfinder Online and already have the seeds of the early social order in place? We can't wait to see it all develop and we're so excited to have the community along for the ride!"

Gentlemen, Ladies, and any others who would classify themselves in various manners... Look around you. "How awesome will it be to start playing Pathfinder Online and already have the seeds.." Ryan states.

"How awesome it will be..."

And we have reached that point. Tony's Legit Baking does back room deals with the various Pax coalitions. Brighthaven and Shadowhaven are established as twin cities on opposite sides of the spectrum. My own ex-inquisitor argues politics with a mercenary, a merchant, and a guildmaster.

My dear people we have reached that level, and I salute you. I will probably post two more threads tonight concerning Kingdom politics and Evil superstructure, and I know by the time I get on again later today people will have responded in meaningful manner. We do this game proud, and let us continue to do this game and its devs proud. How awesome it is.

[T7V Wexel Daventry]

+1 Yes indeed. We are making the society from the ground up as we will build in game. So many different views and ideas. Really looking forward to being part of one of the first groups!

[Proxima Sin]

Day 1 of EE: The Battle of the Horati is re-enacted 57 times.

[T7V Wexel Daventry]

@Prox

Fine with me as long as I am in it 57 times! MAybe throw in a few change ups.

[Kobold Catgirl]

Well said! This is what keeps me coming back to this subforum no matter how distracted I get--there're always fascinating discussions going down.

Incidentally, I came up with the idea for a, uh, Chartered Company (a bit rusty on the terms!) the other...hour. Okay, an hour ago. Basically, the company would be dominated by bard PCs and be dedicated to recording conflicts through LPs and writeups and stuff. The company would have firm rules like "Don't reveal stuff that's still going on, like telling someone where bandits are located", wear bright clothes to distinguish itself, and try to establish nonaggression pacts with everyone.

The bard group might also welcome people with creative talents, like writing and drawing. Maybe a newsletter or something?

I didn't want to make a whole thread about this, and I'm gonna post this right now without reading over it because I have to go catch the bus home, but...thoughts?

[BrotherZael]

Kobold Cleaver wrote:

Well said! This is what keeps me coming back to this subforum no matter how distracted I get--there're always fascinating discussions going down.

Incidentally, I came up with the idea for a, uh, Chartered Company (a bit rusty on the terms!) the other...hour. Okay, an hour ago. Basically, the company would be dominated by bard PCs and be dedicated to recording conflicts through LPs and writeups and stuff. The company would have firm rules like "Don't reveal stuff that's still going on, like telling someone where bandits are located", wear bright clothes to distinguish itself, and try to establish nonaggression pacts with everyone.

The bard group might also welcome people with creative talents, like writing and drawing. Maybe a newsletter or something?

I didn't want to make a whole thread about this, and I'm gonna post this right now without reading over it because I have to go catch the bus home, but...thoughts?

Once you get the chance, do it.

[Kobold Catgirl]

As a follow-up (writing this on the bus without internet), here are my general thoughts.

Alignment: True Neutral.

Goals: Record and create. Things that help the community by showing off what it can do, whether that be through recording recent events or making fanart, are emphasized.

Welcomes: Bards and other creative-type PCs (performers, artistic craftsfolk), creative players (people with interest in recording/writing/drawing/music) and people to protect those squishy artists from monsters and the occasional hostile player.

Based In: I'm thinking a tavern might be ideal, thematically, but since I seem to recall CCs needing settlements, we might alternate between friendly towns--wherever the action is, we'll be a little bit to the left.

Potential Allies: Ideally, we would have alliances with everyone, with the understanding being that we remain neutral and are in turn left alone--even if the war is being fought over our base settlement. Like the Grand Lodge*, we are primarily motivated by helping the community as a whole, not individual factions. Exceptions are made for escalation cycles, obviously.

Enemies: That smurf organization. Yes, this is all my evil scheme to pit my own two organizations against each other and profit from the carnage. Hopefully none, but our biggest enemies are people that are jerks to other players and newbies.

Bardic Duties: Members of the CC are expected to protect each other and, above all, to be honest. If they take creative license with an event, they should be clear (OOC) that they are doing so. The main goal of this organization is to show off the best things about PFO, after all. No point if we're just gonna lie. A bard is free to wreak havoc on his own time, but he will not receive the Company's protections while doing so, nor will be be protected from repercussions (meaning that a bard could be a bandit every Tuesday, but he doesn't get backed up by his pals on Wednesday when the cops show up).

Bardic Privileges:

Members of the CC are rewarded with easier access to locations, such as a safer way to observe a great battle, or permission to accompany a merchant caravan to a closely-guarded mining site. They are also given constructive criticism from other members and a place to show off their work.

What else does the organization do? Like I said, I was thinking something like a newsletter--perhaps a monthly or biweekly publication that features writeups of recent events, quality art/writing, and links to PFO machinimas/Let's Plays. If it's not too silly an idea, we might even feature opinion columns about game stuff (like arguments about whether bandits are OP or whatever), but that might be a tad much.

* Come to think of it, maybe I could sell this CC as being an offshoot of the Pathfinders. They have bards, right? ;D

[BrotherZael]

Sounds awesome. Would love to see it actually happen!

[Kobold Catgirl]

Where would I go to get intel on creating a Chartered Company?

[BrotherZael]

Land Rush Leaderboard Thread

Let me know what you find out ;)

[BrotherZael]

Also, check the dev blogs at goblinworks.

[Kobold Catgirl]

Oh, I've read most of those (though I need to catch up a bit). I just need to know if there's any protocol in creating a thread.

I'm gonna sleep on this. If, in the morning, I still feel I can maintain this CC, I'll post it. In the meantime, does anybody have any feedback/ideas/interest in joining?

I just have this feeling that I'm a bit late to the party here. Everyone's already aligned, after all, barring alts.

[Pax Shane Gifford]

I wanted to do basically the thing you just described. What I was thinking of was a sort of out-of-game coalition rather than a Company, but even if it ends up as a company that I can't join due to alignment restrictions (90% sure my main will be LG) hopefully I can contribute in some other way (or maybe organize a different newspaper outfit, so we have some competition ;) ).

There's not any protocols for announcing the intention to start a CC. Generally people make a nice-looking and informative first post, but you can do whatever you like.

[Kobold Catgirl]

The one thing I'm unsure about is the alignment issue, yeah. I'm thinking the CC (Pathfinder Society Faction of the River Kingdoms, maybe?) could have "unofficial" members, or "helpers". Maybe even a sister organization that does the same thing but allows other alignments in.

[BrotherZael]

Three publications:

Good Guys And The Path to true Enlightenment

Neutral Supremacy Bloc

Baddies R Bettur

Cheif editors:

A Human Paladin

A High Elf

An Orc

[Nihimon]

Kobold Cleaver wrote:

Where would I go to get intel on creating a Chartered Company?

You can find quite a few examples in Guild Recruitment.

Personally, I think Chartered Company: The Empyrean Order (New 2014-02-03) is an excellent example to follow.

[Kobold Catgirl]

Thanks, Nihimon! I'm still thinking it over...

[RHMG Animator]

@ Nihimon
Not to trash your list, but I think the Guild list needs updating as some of those Guild/Companies no longer exist, or really changed Policy and or alignment

[Nihimon]

I think there are a number of Companies that announced their presence, and then became much less active. I'd hate to remove anyone from the list if there's any chance they're actually going to be around at any time during the game.

Perhaps it would be useful to do a little sorting, though, so that the active Companies bubble up to the top over time. I'll take a look at doing something like that soon.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[Pax Areks]

BrotherZael wrote:

And we have reached that point. Tony's Legit Baking does back room deals with the various Pax coalitions.

I'm certain this information is incorrect. I'd be interested to see how you came to this conclusion, if you care to induldge me via PM.

-Areks

[Lifedragn]

No dealings with Tony's? Are you implying that Tony does NOT bake the best muffins in the River Kingdoms? Them's some dangerous claims to be making. I mean, a man could choke on one of those there lesser muffins.

[Pax Charlie George]

BrotherZael wrote:

And we have reached that point. Tony's Legit Baking does back room deals with the various has approached Pax coalitions with an interest in joining Golgotha in some capacity

Edited for accuracy. While Golgotha leadership was approached by Tony's, no deals or sponsorship has been approved by the appropriate councils. Like any such proposal, there are concerns to weigh. You have to consider what Tony's plans to accomplish, what that means for other diplomatic efforts, and if those two are found favorable you still have to have a relative confidence in their internal infosec.

Thus far there has been no amount of reasonable assurance on any of those considerations. Thus no deals, back or front room, have been approved for the foreseeable future.

[DeciusBrutus]

Pax Areks wrote:

BrotherZael wrote:

And we have reached that point. Tony's Legit Baking does back room deals with the various Pax coalitions.

I'm certain this information is incorrect. I'd be interested to see how you came to this conclusion, if you care to induldge me via PM.

-Areks

Interesting certainty, coming from you. Do you think that there would be some observation you might be able to make that would be different depending on whether that was true or not?

[Nihimon]

DeciusBrutus wrote:

Pax Areks wrote:

BrotherZael wrote:

And we have reached that point. Tony's Legit Baking does back room deals with the various Pax coalitions.

I'm certain this information is incorrect. I'd be interested to see how you came to this conclusion, if you care to induldge me via PM.

-Areks

Interesting certainty, coming from you. Do you think that there would be some observation you might be able to make that would be different depending on whether that was true or not?

I lol'ed

[Lam]

I did not envision Tony's to be a settlement based company, but rather present in many (most) settlements.

[BrotherZael]

flame war.

Lol, nah I was just giving examples true or not to personify my point. But then again, you can't prove anything!