PlaneShift
Fan Area => The Hydlaa Plaza => Topic started by: Dannae on December 29, 2013, 06:19:00 am
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Where is Xiosia?
She has been missing in game ever since her 2009 appearances coinciding with the Christmas holiday. Her several day appearances during 2008 and 2009, unofficially coming to be known as Xiosiamas, sparked some of the most memorable, controversial, most talked about events, and longest lasting traditions I’m aware of since joining the game!
I couldn’t play at the time of her first appearance due to the lack of Mac client available after a required update. Still, when I was able to return, I immediately became aware of what had taken place and the huge controversies that ensued. Apparently, the goddess gifted wishes to all that came to her during several days of appearances to the likes of maxed stat of their choosing, magical weapons, staffs, or armors, and even a guild house requested by a forward thinking guild leader bestowed to the Daughters of Xiosia which my character was not a member of at that time.
Her next appearances near Christmas 2009 were not nearly so controversial but the stir in the community and gameplay was still a time I won’t forget. She at first showed up here or there almost as a phantom. Appearing and racing through the land in the form of a rivnak, which had never been seen before at the time, she was chased by many only to disappear before being caught. She left my character and others a request to spread the news of her coming. She finally came to the Ruqua tree bearing her image to morph from rivnak to dermorian in front of a crowd of onlookers who came to see. There she asked each in turn how they would aid her in the year to come and handing each a Charmflower in her name. Those who held on to the flower were rewarded several days later as all the flowers changed into a magical ring of Xiosia (plus 3 endurance).
That was the last time any saw her that I am aware of. There was one further instance where a crowd gathered to watch the induction of four new members to the DOX guild within the Secret Garden heard her voice. After causing patches of rare Starphire flowers to bloom, she chastised a boisterous and interruptive nonbeliever dwarf, and eventually, with a clap of thunder, turned him into a kikiri for all to laugh at. Again, it was quite a memorable event and inspired the story to be retold countless times.
Sadly, the last four Christmas holidays have not seen the return of our fiery goddess Xiosia.
The occurrences undoubtedly make up my favorite of all time GM enabled RP and some of the best fun I’ve had playing Planeshift.
Even years afterward, there is still talk of the Xiosia inspired holiday and role play giving gifts, often specially inscribed, and building Xiosamas trees in the Hydlaa Plaza.
Xiosia… I miss you!
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Xiosiamas is the only event I've ever wanted to be part of. Sad times.
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Wow, I didn't realize that Xiosia's appearances had been so dramatic, even though I was hoping to prompt one with the spontaneous decorations/gift exchange.
Maybe next time we should just ignore the holiday, and force her to come do the gift giving herself. ;D
Just kidding, it was fun, though now I'm dying to be a part of a gm event too...
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The dev that played her is no longer on the team, but I have fond memories of the Xiosamas event I got to attend (with the Rings of Xiosia). It would be lovely to see the goddess return to Yliakum.
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[...]what had taken place and the huge controversies that ensued [...]
Yeah, many players were concerned that the "gifts" could be an indication for an upcoming wipe. It is good that in the meanwhile, the official statement (http://www.hydlaaplaza.com/smf/index.php?topic=39725.0) was changed in the sense that no such thing will ever happen again.
Back to the actual appearance of the goddess, such events clearly have the potential to be highly memorable in the player base, but i guess anything that involves actions of gods is very difficult to plan and set up settings-wise.
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Back to the actual appearance of the goddess, such events clearly have the potential to be highly memorable in the player base, but i guess anything that involves actions of gods is very difficult to plan and set up settings-wise.
It need not be Boni. My character did some detailed research of an appearance of Talad in the Hydlaa Plaza some cycles ago; interviewing many of the witnesses (and getting some logs). She has published a Chronicle of the event which she leaves on the Altar of the Gug Temple, titled Talad's Appearance. Her motive being to show other characters that the gods are more than myth and ledgen.
The memorial part of the visitation was that Kra was riding a Pterosaur. Other than that it was just Talad chatting with those assembled. Even just an appearance to a few characters, with no special booty, would ripple out throughout the player base.
It is interesting how many newer players, after reading the Chronicle, are surprised to find that an avatar of the god actually appeared. To many of them the gods are as real as our present day ones in rl; something of myth and legend by and large. Although settings stresses the belief in the gods and that an atheist would be seen as a mad person, it seems to me that settings are not supported by them not appearing from time to time.
- Nova
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The dev that played her is no longer on the team
I've heard rumors it was Xillix who played the Xiosia avatar and believe it was a current gm who played Xiosia's voice on the last occurrence I mentioned above. It wouldn't really matter who might play the goddess at any possible future appearance as long as they were credible. And like Nova said, even simple quick appearances can add so much more authenticity to the settings along with boosting RP.
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It probably was Xillix. I doubt he would have let just anyone play a god(dess).
The incredible gift giving was a blessing and invitation to follow Xiosia to some, but a stone in the shoe to others. People who busted their asses grinding their crafting skill day and night for months or years in order to make q300 blades were suddenly seeing unskilled people get blessed with maxed out crafting skills. They were no longer the minority who had *earned* the ability to make and sell the most valuable goods.
As you would imagine, many players became Xiosia followers - perhaps with the hope of another appearance and another chance for receiving a "bless" in exchange for being a follower.
Settings wise, I think the gods are supposed to be noticeable and prevalent and not mere myths as they are on earth. It would indeed be nice to see some more of that mystical interference - even if no freebies are given out.
Some involvement in the happenings of Yliakum would be nice. Perhaps a Xiosia-lead rebellion of the animals and nature against the hunters and leather workers, a grand reaping of the masses and subsequent appearance of Dakkru in the death realm, or a godly announcement that Laanx has been banished for being such a bitch and that the very mention of her name would result in an instant zapping and vaporizing. This would be swell. <3
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I recall one instance where some characters had gathered in front of the Laanx temple to mock the faith, resulting in a display of power (and scaring my poor character half to death). That was a fun roleplay.
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more importantly, where's grono gone!?
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Rumours say Xiosia appeared to a faithful follower to bestow her with the ring bearing her mark for having helped the poors of Yliakum in her name.
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A shame that there are never any gods around that reward you for helping the rich.
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A shame that there are never any gods around that reward you for helping the rich.
Richs help themselves and hardly anyone else :P
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Yes, and that is why it is such a shame they are not rewarded.
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A god of wealth? Perhaps lawful evil?
If I was that god, I would not be giving out money. I'd be hoarding it to myself while offering the illusory promise of wealth and fortune to my followers.
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That's what you do anyway, isn't it Rigster? :whistling:
Back to topic, Roled is going to organize a small event, another one of the old Sons of Xiosia (SoX) ceremonies in the Garden soon. Any Xiosian's of any race want to participate? Finde me, tell me , ICly talk to me!!
RR
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Yes, and that is why it is such a shame they are not rewarded.
your wish maybe granted ... unfortunately not everyone share the same thought on what a reward is ... here someone say "be afraid of what you wish because it can be granted to you" :P
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Seria likes whips and chains very much ;)
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A god of wealth? Perhaps lawful evil?
If I was that god, I would not be giving out money. I'd be hoarding it to myself while offering the illusory promise of wealth and fortune to my followers.
Isn't that how capitalism works?
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Rumours say Xiosia appeared to a faithful follower to bestow her with the ring bearing her mark for having helped the poors of Yliakum in her name.
So true, and the initially shocked elf became so moved and enraptured by the experience that she vowed her remaining life to the young fiery goddess' teachings and sought out others to assist in her newfound vocation.
This single, and possibly seemingly trivial incident which probably took no more than a few minutes by a well meaning GM to achieve, has already become directly responsible for a countless number of hours of inspired role-play spreading through our virtual land like ripples on a pond surface and effecting everyone and everything in its path.
I like to humbly think that maybe... just maybe... my little post here may have had something to do with inspiring that recent appearance.
Whether or not that's the case doesn't really matter, but I think this example perfectly illustrates the original point of the topic about just how much a little thing can make a big difference.
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yes, novacadian, yes it does :)
Dannae, happy to hear of the reverberations from that episode, agree completely that it makes a huge difference, even the tiniest events....there was a darling heavily armored fenki who was challenging everyone yesterday, she was awesome because she fought us each according to our level, so that I was able to win when magic dueling her (with pitiful levels) (and I accidentally killed her and felt bad and so did a hari kari, is that how you spell it?? then she teleported me right back out of the death realm, the whole thing was funny and awesome) and also she posed enough of a challenge even for Kisoji, although he beat her too, even with getting a key stuck and so sidling along the grass for ages....
Anyway, sorry tl;dr, events of all magnitudes are awesome and enlivening :love:
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Dannae, happy to hear of the reverberations from that episode, agree completely that it makes a huge difference, even the tiniest events...
Anyway, sorry tl;dr, events of all magnitudes are awesome and enlivening :love:
To that point, Pierre and all- this Sunday -8GMT in the Garden, a community rp event, the Ceremony of Xiosia :flowers: All are welcome!
http://www.hydlaaplaza.com/smf/index.php?topic=41631.msg470148#msg470148
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I like to humbly think that maybe... just maybe... my little post here may have had something to do with inspiring that recent appearance.
Whether or not that's the case doesn't really matter, but I think this example perfectly illustrates the original point of the topic about just how much a little thing can make a big difference.
Indeed there is truth in your words ;) ... little things can make the difference.
On a side topic unfortunately for some of us time is limited so we either run events of we develop the game... but I heard a good news: rumours say a beloved GM is back :-X :thumbup:
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... but I heard a good news: rumours say a beloved GM is back :-X :thumbup:
Noticed that, big huge :thumbup: Very happy O--)
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Caarrie?! ;D
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Catching up on Xiosia related topics, it was interesting to see this post and reading some of the RP logs for her visits that I missed after the first big "Xiosmas" event. For me, at that time, I had already started the DOX guild and it was thriving. It was a guild mate that asked for our house, not Siteya, as I was really not feeling very comfy with the gift giving ceremony. Siteya did not even have dialogue with Xiosia, it was not what I would consider an rp event and I had a hard time merging it into Siteya's DOX storyline.
Although I was very grateful for the house, I do have to agree with Rig, the gifts were unfair to older players. As for Rigs other comment, "As you would imagine, many players became Xiosia followers - perhaps with the hope of another appearance and another chance for receiving a "bless" in exchange for being a follower." Just to set the record clear, if referring to DOX success, we busted our little Priestess' hinds helping new female characters and also with our charm and grace, getting older unguilded characters to join. Siteya spent several weeks sweet talking Karasuma into joining. The DOX also had some backlash from the first Xiosmas event, with some desecration of the garden, negative rumors and slander that went around.
I think it would be grand if the Gods were more involved, spawned and co-created with players IG scenarios and lore, and yes Rig, it is time for Dakkru to make her presence known...I fantasize about what her avatar might look like and the event...a beautiful Azhord glowing day, The Daughters all gathered for a Xiosian Ceremony, with dancing and chanting around the Ruqua tree, waiting for another visit from the beloved gift giving Xiosia, when instead, Dakkru steps out of the tree, to slay them all, upon waking in the death realm, they find themselves imprisoned in a cage...off in the distance they hear footsteps down the hall, coming closer...
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I recall those early day when DOX was very active. The thing is that those "gifts" came at the price of the promise of worship, at one of the events, at least. Many players only paid lip service to the promise as you can imagine. I was unwilling to line up to abase myself to curry favor so instead I loaded up an alt and role played taking scrapings from the back of the tree whilst Xiosia still inhabited it. It went unnoticed in the general hubbub, as expected.
I do believe that Dakkru made an appearance once around then, manifesting in the dark crystal.
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Catching up on Xiosia related topics, it was interesting to see this post and reading some of the RP logs for her visits that I missed after the first big "Xiosmas" event. For me, at that time, I had already started the DOX guild and it was thriving. It was a guild mate that asked for our house, not Siteya, as I was really not feeling very comfy with the gift giving ceremony. Siteya did not even have dialogue with Xiosia, it was not what I would consider an rp event and I had a hard time merging it into Siteya's DOX storyline.
Although I was very grateful for the house, I do have to agree with Rig, the gifts were unfair to older players. As for Rigs other comment, "As you would imagine, many players became Xiosia followers - perhaps with the hope of another appearance and another chance for receiving a "bless" in exchange for being a follower." Just to set the record clear, if referring to DOX success, we busted our little Priestess' hinds helping new female characters and also with our charm and grace, getting older unguilded characters to join. Siteya spent several weeks sweet talking Karasuma into joining. The DOX also had some backlash from the first Xiosmas event, with some desecration of the garden, negative rumors and slander that went around.
I think it would be grand if the Gods were more involved, spawned and co-created with players IG scenarios and lore, and yes Rig, it is time for Dakkru to make her presence known...I fantasize about what her avatar might look like and the event...a beautiful Azhord glowing day, The Daughters all gathered for a Xiosian Ceremony, with dancing and chanting around the Ruqua tree, waiting for another visit from the beloved gift giving Xiosia, when instead, Dakkru steps out of the tree, to slay them all, upon waking in the death realm, they find themselves imprisoned in a cage...off in the distance they hear footsteps down the hall, coming closer...
Heh heh... surprise appearances and unexpected consequences for the win!
I've come to accept that awesome plots like this are far more likely to work out in single author stories than in multi-player role play. Few folks are really into letting their characters struggle and suffer like that, and few players can pull off that sort of power play without pissing people off. It's also kind of hard to do this with the decentralized literary style of RP that is prevalent on Planeshift, though perhaps something like this might be doable with a turn based dnd style of play. It's something I've been tossing around in my head for a while now and possibly something I'll experiment with when I have more free time. :)
I don't question the authenticity of DOX's RP, and hope I didn't give that impression. I know you folks have been active and consistent for a long time now... I'm just not into all the huggy, happy, feely-touchy RP, personally. I like the tricky, bindy, whippy, stabby RP more. I guess it's similar in that both genres involve invading one another's personal space and all and sticking... eh... but anyway, nice to hear from you, and good luck! :)
Seriously though.. you got me thinking with that last paragraph... >.>
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I'm just not into all the huggy, happy, feely-touchy RP
I don't really know any DOX who were rp'ers interested only in such play... it would get pretty boring quickly in my mind. Sure, there are more than occasional moments of that type of emotionally based rp, but I believe that is where and how characters get to know one another and develop bonds that make them care enough when bad things happen. I'd like to see more rp where characters joke with one another as in real life when at the tavern with friends too, rather than all murder and death.
Thinking back over the years, the DOX have been involved in so many attacks from evil characters and groups that it became something initial members had to be warned about. Just a few I can think of off the top of my head were the Ahriman kidnappings and charm spells rp ending with his being the only character I know of standing trial and sentenced to death by crystal... then there was several dealings with the walking dead and dark mage mind controlling where DOX seemed to be singled out as prime targets, other rp's with Karlyle and Marsuvias and a few other rp's where my character was accosted and killed outright. There were many more that I'd have to pore over my logs to recall them all.
I mostly felt compelled to reply to set the record straight that most of the DOX players I've known don't shy away from any kind of intriguing rp, so please don't decide not to include us because of any rumors to the contrary.
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seconding dannae's post. it isn't all butterflies, giggles, and pillowfights in DoX as many assume.
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The Daughters of Xiosia are some pretty cool cats.
And I don't just mean the enkidukai. 8)
/me dive-tackles Aramara.
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I'm just not into all the huggy, happy, feely-touchy RP, personally. I like the tricky, bindy, whippy, stabby RP more.
I'll be glad to murder you any time of the day, Rigwyn. :)
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Haha, love all the responses since my last post in this thread. I have to say after coming back that, yes, Siteya is that huggable, overly sweet, hippy chick, spewing blessings about the realm...but she was created to do that work, at that time, the focus of DOX was "do good" and make your presence known. Upon reflection, because of that, I/we spent much of our time in game helping new female chars and planning player events, she never got to have as much rp fun, and she made me a workaholic for the cause... I also realized that she became so loved by the community, she and DOX became almost untouchable. Unknown to her, she was well connected to the Outlaws and so DOX had some behind the scenes protection. No foul play fell upon the DOX back then, but I assume it was because there were so many targets and violent rp' going on, we slipped under the radar mostly. There was also a shortage of healers, no one wants to kill the healer that sewed them up and licked their wounds the week before.