Shattered Kingdoms

I've been getting into the game again, and I've tried my hand in a couple religions now while I dabble with characters.

What's with the weaksauce investing ceremonies? Those used to be one of the biggest RP experiences my character would have in their lifetime. Now, with just about every religion (except Sadr), all I've seen is: "So you believe in the spheres? Cool. Welcome in."

I'm not calling anyone in particular out here, I just wanted to remind people that it's an important opportunity for some fulfilling role play.

That is all.

Well, it really depends on what religion you're joining, as ceremonies work better for some religions than others. Also, there has been a move to getting people invested as soon as possible. From what I've seen from the immstaff, they actually want people invested on the first, or if you really need to wait, the second meeting. From then on, you can do continuation RP and what not and just use blemish as your disciplinary tool.

I did prefer the older style of investment, when maybe you had to wait a while to be invested, but it usually felt better since you had to work harder for it. I'm just not sure that the old style is still viable with so few people about anymore.

As someone who has only just gotten into the game for the first time, I welcome the speedy investments. There's a lot of griping about alternatives, after all.

If someone capable of investment is online but not exactly free to engage in a lengthy rite, I'd welcome an unceremonious investment rather than being told to wait until the aprons came back from the tailor.

If I were a high follower, though, I'd certainly be doing it differently than I've seen it done, but everyone runs their own kitchens.

I used to do big investments for seekers, but there has been heavy pressure from the IMM staff to get players into religions and for a good reason.

I am lucky in that being a Knight, I can focus my energies on the ritual of squire to Knight. When just a seeker, I let them in quickly with a simple ritual of them claim devotion to my God, but when it comes time to Knight them, I go all out. So what I did was to just focus that RP outlet elsewhere and I recommend the same for you. I know for awhile one faith had ranks within their faith and did a big ceremony when they moved up to the second rank.l

Pomp and circumstance should be saved for really important events. I believe that there should be some rite or ceremony to investment. I also believe that priests should be excited to do said ceremony because it is their duty to spread their god's word. Knighting or full ordination could fully be played out and be that eventual reason for a bit of high ceremony. There could be other reasons, but I'm just saying, when I get a new employee, I show them the basics and get them working. After they put in some effort, then they get rewarded with recognition via favor or high favor. I think that its a different flow than we used to see years ago, but that's basically evolution at work. I think we simply have to adapt to the ways in which the game has been changing and we must build on what's available.

Evwyn's induction was actually the first one I got off my [REDACTED] for and put some effort into (usually had time constraints with the other ones), and it was a lot of fun. (Sorry other Sadrites I've invested. :p )

I enjoyed it. I was glad there was some effort and role play involved, and really it doesn't take much to have someone explain their view on the spheres and do a little something role play-wise other than investing and giving a symbol and hightailing it.

I understand wanting to get people into the religion asap, but investing a character without any role play or discussion of the religion at all (as I've seen in a few (few) cases) could ultimately lead to them changing their mind and ditching the character anyway, since religions are 4life.

But, as I said, this isn't a blamefest or a QQ so much as a reminder of the fun experiences you can have with induction ceremonies and role play.

When I see threads like this, I immediately start thinking of excuses to RP with the author.

Some religions are pretty desperate for members. Why linger with it?

What happened is people want instant gratification. They don't want to RP any more than they have to anymore. They want into the religion and then they want to continue their leveling with minimal interruptions. This is what SK has evolved into over the past few years.