Shattered Kingdoms

QFT

You have to actually quote someone to be able to QFT. But I do agree.

lol

While I agree that it would be nice to see more toons around longer, and it would make sense not to be able to advance to GM until you hit a certain age, I have to vote no.

Shattered Kingdoms has a lot of appeal because of how convenient it is to play, and creating age restrictions would just muddle with that, not to mention annoy the powerplayers that are, indeed, essential to the balance and, I daresay, enjoyment of the game.

I regret that "toons" ever became a popular enough phrase for people to refer to playable characters.

I agree.

Let's start calling them "tulpa"

Okay, well, I actually liked this idea.

But what if you aged at a slightly faster rate WHILE playing, and didn't age at all while logged off? This way, people would stay online still.

Let's just leave things the way they are.

Some people don't level fast. They're more inclined to stick with their one character, since it was such a hassle to gm them. That brings something to the game. A certain continuity, and characters with deep histories etc.

Some people level fast. They're more likely to delete and make new characters. That brings something to the game, too. New conflict, more fun for everyone else, and the game doesn't stagnate.

Seeing as there is no problem, I see no reason for a solution.

Furthermore, any restriction could drive away some of the already waning pbase.

Ideally, people wouldn't give leadership to seventeen year-olds, and an established leader wouldn't be usurped by someone who was in newbie school earlier that year. These are things to be handled icly, through rp, and not things that need to be coded. It's the players' responsibility to rp out the fact that the prodigy, while talented, is really just a kid.

IMO, there are two different flavors of RP: cause-driven and relationship-driven. Most characters will favor one or the other, because the player behind them does.

Long life makes sense for relationship-driven characters. Their RP plants seeds for deep stories, and it takes time for them to be ripe for harvest. They also provide rich background for SK that's great to interact with.

Cause-driven characters help provide immediate plot for SK. But because they're so concerned with their cause, they don't have a lot of reason for being once they win or lose.

Any serious restriction on character age keeps cause-driven characters from doing their job. Frankly, cause-driven characters should be able to steer organizations. Organizations have a duty to provide public plots for SK, and cause-driven characters do that well. At the same time, organizations can't function over the long term without relationship-driven characters for quality recruitment, internal dynamics, and institutional memory. Ideally, there's a sense of shared leadership, wherever the flags happen to be placed.

I wouldn't quarrel with modest hour limits for top ranks, like 50 hours for Champion. It's been mentioned that super-quick levelling is OOCly desirable to avoid having strong enemies. It doesn't hurt to have a counter-balance so IC behavior isn't effectively penalized. But it's a plus for SK, not a minus, that a 8-year old griffon can have a major impact on Pyrathia.