Hey hey, party people. Big announcement. Some weeks ago, we announced the dissolution of the State Metropolitan (https://forums.massivecraft.com/threads/the-planned-dissolution-of-the-state-metropolitan.104949/). That day is here: going forward, the State Metropolitan is no longer an organization that will be manned by players. The https://wiki.massivecraft.com/Regalian_Law page has been edited to reflect the Guard-less, Vigilante- and Knight-era situation. Here are some thoughts on how to go forward, and some hints of something else to come as well. Some thoughts:

• How are you supposed to protect your shit from criminals? Hire a samurai. Some of the best roleplay I’ve ever had was in the communities created by Noble House Guards and Militias. In order to counteract the threat to property, life and limb from people who don’t like them, I’m hoping that the average player will throw their lot in with those who do. Religious militias, District watches. Make a private military company and sell out to the highest bidder. Solvaan have never been wealthier.
• How are you supposed to get rid of criminals? Grab them. Grab their friends. Much of the behavior engaged in by pro-State groups was deeply criminal, for example the Dragon Cult breaking down doors looking for Theurgists or the 10 billionth Crookback Invasion Incident. Now this sort of thing can happen without it being a strangely quiet off-the-books ordeal. Vigilantes and militias can gather in the sunlight.
• How are you supposed to be a criminal? Business as usual. With the state monopoly on violence broken up into (comparatively) bickering clans in a patchwork of District-based militias, religious cabals, and mixed organizations that paint the line between legality and illegality varying by member, a Criminal may find more success engaging in diplomacy with groups that would have previously hid behind the skirts of the law and told them to go back to Crookback.

And a promise: One of my friends coined the phrase “there has to be more to life than talking and fighting.” This, quite frankly, has been living in my head rent free for the one week it has been since I heard it. Having observed motivations for roleplay, polled the former Nobility, and engaged with as wide a spectrum of players on a personal level as I’ve been physically able to, I’ve come to a conclusion as old as time: MassiveCraft needs a plot. MassiveCraft needs a central story that its many wonderful characters can weave around, pick sides over, and taste triumph or defeat inside of as a result of their efforts.

I am pleased to be able to state that we’ve got one in the works. With a roadmap of content spanning two Occupation-likes (more on that in a little) and a series of developments in the overall world story, we hope to kick into gear as May turns into June and college students clear out their Final Exams. I’ve already put heavy consideration into how players are going to interact with this.

While I started with the old Noble System as a model, I rapidly came to the conclusion that it would not work. Not only was it too exclusionary to frame a central story around, but it was also too Regalian. The use of wealthy Regalians as the pivot points of the plot implies that most characters self-identify as Regalian. And yet, with the far more expansive lore and egalitarian high-fantasy server culture, Regalia is perhaps the least Ailor, Unionist, and Mundane it’s ever been. A system for players to engage with the world should reflect the players. This meant that it had to be something more general.

To that end, while not a progression system, as small events begin to trickle out in early June, I am going to test various group registry mechanics that let players benefit from their Characters’ identities as they engage with Events, as well as become the vaunted ‘raid-boss’ antagonists inside other players’ tales that I know many of them have always wanted to be. After all: one can be far more flexible with mechanics, when the outcome is written and planned as a DnD campaign might be.

As for ‘Occupation-likes,’ the boys in the back (myself included) have come to the realization that hostile foreign military occupations probably aren’t the way to go when it comes to shaking up the status quo going forward. We’ve tabled ideas as wacky as a situation purely based on Magic, to making the Regalians the occupiers instead and shuttling us over to a map set in another part of the world as we all sip Pina Coladas and drive up rent prices on land that doesn’t belong to us. Fetching.

I hope this all excites you as much as it excites me, and I’m looking forward to this summer. Cheers, folks. Nice having you.

.. And, if I messed up anywhere with those Regalian Law changes, please make a ticket and point out what I didn’t see. I’ll try to get to it as quickly as possible, I know that stuff is important.