a request from the settings team

[radu]

Came here the day the server pooped. Not sure if this is settings or not but...I know I've not a real right to yak but...The settings you have provided are wonderful.
Every citizen of PS ought to know the basics of what you have layed out yes? I would wish a tutorial page that not only tests a players ability to move,trade,fight etc,
but also knowledge of the lore. Answer questions about the history,economy,politics, and races to be admitted. I arrived here  the day the server pooped and I  have been reading everything I could find since then. I come here from another game and am looking for RP. Lots of flame in forums about this. How about if  PS  citizenship is difficult to obtain? Part of the setting is that governing body is a bit paranoid? Entry to PS is only available to those willing to learn and contribute to well being of community. Religions are not fully implemented yet I think but one step toward that  might be demanding demanding  basic knowledge before one can enter?
Government is supposed to be a bit paranoid!! Make people LEARN  the game before they can just go to the pub and LOL. Then when they do? Let  other  players kill  them!

[Mythryndel]

You must not be from the United States... we can't even get everybody to speak a single language here... but I digress...

I am not part of the PS staff, but right now, the game is still under heavy development. Requiring people to know lore/background before even entering the game is a bit of a stretch at this point. I have proposed, on the bug tracker as a Feature Request, to have all characters start out with two items:

1. A book that lists all the critical things they NEED to know, and the things that they WOULD know being from a particular area, not having just fallen off the turnip truck.

2. A journal for recording information their character learns, important encounters, thoughts, etc.

I have also read about people suggesting allowing membership in both a private guild, and a official PS guild. Entrance to a PS guild would mean meeting some requirements, possibly settings related.

[dragnoor]

The emphasis seems to be on the inside. I want to know whats "Down" below us ? The devs have created lots of new stuff to explore since my arrival in this world. And the crater cave is a good example of whats below us ie directly under each map. Lets have more of this. exploration is instinctual & we all love it. I for one am IC just a peasant & dont have a full grasp of the PS world. Its huge scale etc.

I do have one question? The big round door thats locked near Trasok's,where does it go? Will it ever be opened?

[Candy]

Dragnoor, I think the big locked doors in Akkaio lead to the other Dsars in Ojaveda.

[Siteri Kidachi]

The one near Trasok's specifically leads to the Steel Bazaar, which is not its own Dsar but presumably part of Akkaio. The one at the far end leading into the center is for Sarraghi. I forget about the others.

[khoridor]

How much permeates through the Bronze Doors. Can anyone go through, or does one need a pass? Is there a quarantine period when coming out? Is it easy to send a message, or even visit an outpost?

[qeliza]

A question for any that may have the answer... or maybe the answer needs to be developed...

I have always wondered why the sitting is different between the different races.  Is it because of the different religions followed and different praying stances?  I am reading in the library on occassion to try to find the answer.

Azileq (Qeliza)

[khoridor]

Is it because of the different religions followed and different praying stances?

Religion is not related to races. Each character can worship any number of gods he so chooses.
And, character animations must not be taken literally, as they are just representations of an activity. No individual has to sit the same way than another individual of the same race, while animations are race-dependent since each race needs a different 3d model (offering different sitting animations for each character would be an unnecessary extra workload for the development teams).
If it still bugs you, you can simply imagine that each race, having a different origin, sits according to an old cultural habit, that can even pre-date Yliakum.

[Keldrena]

As far as magic goes, are there simple household spells for things like cleaning? If so, what way do they belong to?

[Tontow]

Cleaning?  Azure I would think, since you are moving things around.

[Wrzlprmft]

Especially because of my plans to create a character, that is a religious fanatic with missionary ambitions, I am interested in the answer to the following questions. I am aware of threads with similar topics and some posts in this threads, but I could not find a satisfying official answer. So here I am, hoping not to be reduntant.

• Where does the domain of religion, the supernatural begin?
  
  Magic is quite natural to the inhabitants of Yliakum, be it of divine origin or not, so it should not be the border. (To the people of Yliakum the deeper mechanisms of magic might be at worst what microbiology was to the people of the middle ages, to whom cheese was nothing unusually divine nevertheless.)
  
  For the existence of Laanx et cetera to be as undeniable, as stated in the description of atheism in the character creation, there has to be at least a publically perceived limit to what the playable races can achieve with magic, which is clearly exceeded by the Planeshift Gods. Where is this limit?
  
  Regarding the description of the “Journey to inner self: Laanx” in the character creation, the question also is about the limits to the magic methods of brain washing.
  
• Why is the existence of the Planeshift Gods as obvious as stated in the character creation?
  
  What would have (scientifically) convinced a sceptic chracter of the existence of some gods or at least very powerful wizards?
• What could make this sceptic think, that it would do any good to worship these beings?
  
  After all it might be possible from a sceptic's point of view, that the gods do not care about worship and it is just a waste of time. Also: What are the perceivable benefits of this worship?
• Finally, why is it not common to worship more than one god?
  
  It would not be surprising of course, that for example organised Laanxism as the analogy to the RL monopolistic brain washing religions is not very fond of the worship of other gods. But I do not see a reason, why for example an adherent of Talad would not direct any worship to Laanx from time to time — of course in a different way than organized Laanxists would do, rather worshipping Laanx like she was in her early days.

[Oomi]

Wrzlprmft,

Wow... that's a lot of ground to cover but I'll do my best.

Deities are a concrete fact in Yliakum, since they appear directly in front of the citizens from time to time and use their powers (GM events), so you could say that religion is present and pervasive from the moment you enter the world. HOWEVER, just because they exist and have clearly demonstrated powers of godhood does not mean that everyone must pick a side & pitch in to help that side as if they were lining up to play dodgeball in school. (Small attempt at humor there.)

Magic is most definitely of divine origin. Talad created all the Glyphs that exist in Yliakum, and they are the only current source of magic for the denizens of this realm. Thus the glyphs are what limit the citizens' magical abilities. There is no known spell that can be used to force another to follow a particular god.

The gods are interested in being worshipped, as evidenced by either their specific requests to have temples built in their honor, the fact that they don't blast to smithereens temples they didn't request, or their occasional appearances where they directly ask for fealty.

Worship can bring with it items, knowledge, training, and other goodies, either through quests or GM events. However, godhood does not equate to absence of spite, jealousy, anger, etc., so some gods would not be pleased to find a citizen hedging their bets with another god. Also, you will find that some gods are polar opposites regarding goals, desires, and worldviews, so it might be hard for a person to follow two at once with complete honesty. Regarding the issue of serving a god dishonestly... it could get messy but it's your choice!

I hope I've helped answer some of your questions.

[Wrzlprmft]

I hope I've helped answer some of your questions.

Thanks, you definitely have, however I would like to dig deeper on some aspects:

There is no known spell that can be used to force another to follow a particular god.

Just to avoid misunderstanding: I was not thinking of that extreme spells, but more of illusions and dream manipulation. If for example a sceptical character sees Laanx wandering around doing things, that are impossible to do with glyphs, he still needs to consider to be the victim of a clever illusion created by a bunch of Laanx priests — if that powerfull illusion spells are thinkable to be done with glyphs.

However, godhood does not equate to absence of spite, jealousy, anger, etc., so some gods would not be pleased to find a citizen hedging their bets with another god. Also, you will find that some gods are polar opposites regarding goals, desires, and worldviews, so it might be hard for a person to follow two at once with complete honesty.

But what about those multiple worships without contradiction? Just to go back to my example of a Talad adherent, who worships Laanx a little bit too: As far as I understood it, Talad is quite sympathetic to Laanx and therefore he should not object to it, as long as the worship to him is not reduced. Laanx in turn may hate Talad and his worshippers, but my example should at worst be as bad in Laanx's eyes as the pure Talad worshipper and therefore not experience any disadvantages — assuming of course, that the gods behave logiccally to a certain amount and have no other reason, to object to multiple worship as such.

[Oomi]

Just to avoid misunderstanding: I was not thinking of that extreme spells, but more of illusions and dream manipulation. If for example a sceptical character sees Laanx wandering around doing things, that are impossible to do with glyphs, he still needs to consider to be the victim of a clever illusion created by a bunch of Laanx priests — if that powerfull illusion spells are thinkable to be done with glyphs.

I don't claim to speak for the rest of the team here, but any glyph-created illusion spell with that sort of power could be a dangerous thing.  It could make it possible for a player to use game mechanics to force another into an act that they did not necessarily agree to. As it stands right now, a player has the power to walk away from a fight or RP that he/she does not wish to be a part of.  Mind control spells could allow one player to 'remotely control' another player and take away the power of choice. It is my opinion that any glyph illusion spells should involve simple things like smokescreens, hide in shadows, et cetera. I think the sort of things you are speaking of should remain firmly in the realm of RP, and only done with the solid agreement of all parties. Keep in mind that this is my personal opinion.

But what about those multiple worships without contradiction? Just to go back to my example of a Talad adherent, who worships Laanx a little bit too: As far as I understood it, Talad is quite sympathetic to Laanx and therefore he should not object to it, as long as the worship to him is not reduced. Laanx in turn may hate Talad and his worshippers, but my example should at worst be as bad in Laanx's eyes as the pure Talad worshipper and therefore not experience any disadvantages — assuming of course, that the gods behave logiccally to a certain amount and have no other reason, to object to multiple worship as such.

The solution here is full implementation of factions. We can set it up so that those with a certain level of Talad faction cannot do higher level Laanx religion quests (intolerance on Laanx's part), and also ensure that Laanx faction has little to no effect upon Talad religion quests (tolerance on Talad's part). We are already in progress on this and it will come to pass, it is just not complete as of yet.

[Prolix]

Speaking of mind control effects there is one quest that deals with this alchemically as opposed to spell-wise. I believe it is claimed to be a true-death crime although the npc villain involved never seems to be punished for it. Certainly that is due to limitations of the game system. It has been a while since I did that quest so my information might be out of date.