[S] Perrix: Try to establish some form of order

[callouslystalwart]

TRY being the operative word here.

You're still BEING A BADASS. Having recently RE-EQUIPPED and RE-ARMED, you've left a bloody trail of oversized imps and ogres in your wake. Or... Well, metaphorically, since they vanish into grist when defeated, but YOU HAVE A VERY GOOD IMAGINATION. This imaginary trail has led you to both a sprawling, tantalizing DUNGEON and your SECOND GATE. You've temporarily paused your SWEAT-AND-SPANDEX-FLAVORED CARNAGE to pose a few questions to your co-players.

You have PLANS.


-- callouslyStalwart [CS] RIGHT NOW opened memo Teamwork. --

CS: So. ~~CS
CS: If ~everyone's~ second gate leads to the planet of the next player in sequence... ~~CS
CS: Theoretically, any players on a single team could eventually meet up by taking those gates repeatedly. ~~CS
CS: (Made easier, ~I~ suppose, if ~we~ built appropriate roadage/guard posts/signs/etc.) ~~CS
CS: If ~we~ all keep moving at approximately the same speed, ~we~ will never run into one another. ~~CS
CS: Would it not be best to designate one or more "meetup planets" where players will remain without moving on until a certain number of players earlier in the sequence can progress to the same location? ~~CS
CS: It would certainly improve some players' chances of survival! ~~CS
CS: Now that ~we~ are in the actual game there does not appear to be a hard time limit, nor rules against partying up. ~~CS
CS: For ~my~ team, at least, ~I~ am willing to simply dungeon dive on ~my~ planet until some others can join ~me~. ~~CS
CS: ~I'd~ like to move on as much as any others, but ~I~ suppose it will not be too much of a hardship... ~~CS

CS: On a related note... ~~CS
CS: For some reason ~we~ can communicate across sessions, yet there is no indication that later gates will allow ~us~ to visit their planets, correct? ~~CS
CS: ~We~ seem to even have ~our~ own versions of Prospit and Derse, as well. ~~CS
CS: So ~I~ suppose cross-session alliances are in name only for the moment. ~~CS
CS: Vexing. ~~CS

CS: So, then. ~~CS
CS: ~I~ believe that plan all seems rather clear... ~~CS
CS: Thoughts? ~~CS

Comments

[enlivenedaltruist]

Welllll...
...even if we can't meet up, we're playing roughly the same game, right?
And that means that we can help each other figure out the rules and mechanisms that our sprites don't cover! :o
Like...
...well, like a help forum for a normal game!
Right?

[callouslystalwart]

You're an OG - Original Ganker. You don't know about all this Carebeast shit with people who aren't on your team...

But then you remember Chrysi as being a rather refined young lady. Human, sure, but you've always taken Troll Captain Kirk's stance on "interspecies relations"...

A fair point! ~~CS
Knowledge of the game is limited; ~our~ only real resource is ~our~ fellow players! ~~CS
Warnings or key information could arguably be just as useful as another body by your side. ~~CS
If ~I~ cannot protect you in the flesh, ~I~ can at least do so in spirit... ~~CS

[enlivenedaltruist]

That's very kind of you to say!
But...well, I'm not exactly defenseless! ^_^
By the way...when you say 'dungeon diving', do you mean it in the level-grinding sense?
Or does your planet have actual dungeons? :?

[callouslystalwart]

Both! ~~CS
~I~ plan to grind for some experience, grist, gear, and lore in the various dungeons on ~my~ planet. ~~CS
Why, does yours not have any? ~~CS

[enlivenedaltruist]

Mine is mostly very, very dim, with lots of trees.
And some...dilapidated structures and eerie noises too...
...buuuut those are a relatively new discovery!
If my planet has dungeons, I haven't discovered them yet.
Ensuring the safety of my new snakey friends and killing imps has taken priority. c:

[apiarycryptonaut]

Oh, um, Perrix, um!
Th4t seems like 4... good ide4, I think!
But w4it, um, if... we move on to... other pl4nets, wh4t 4bout... our own pl4nets, um?
Will we go b4ck... to them l4ter, m4ybe?
I think te4ming up... will m4ke us stronger!
So going b4ck l4ter... might um, m4ybe, m4ke... our pl4nets e4sier, yes?
If they're h4rd now... th4t is, I think!
4nd um, I think... you might be ex4ctly... three g4tes from me!
Um if, I figured... th4t out correctly, m4ybe.
But I don't know... if I w4nt to... le4ve my pl4net yet.
Soon, m4ybe, I think?
I w4nt to open... four more rooms first!
... ... ... ...

But um, w4it, do... we w4nt to st4rt... te4ming up now, Perrix?
To help e4chother, yes?

You pause for a moment, thinking about exactly who you could help. This is a really complex situation you've started thinking about! But something just came to mind!

I could help Phylus!!!!

[callouslystalwart]

~I~ don't see why not. ~~CS
You could certainly finish up whatever business you have on your own planet first... ~~CS
And then as long as a number of ~us~ end up in a group, it really doesn't matter how ~we~ get there and what smaller parties you form in the meantime. ~~CS

You ponder her suggestion. How very convenient.

~I~ think that should work quite well, yes. ~~CS
He'd expressed interest in working with you before, actually. ~~CS

[apiarycryptonaut]

Ok4y, I underst4nd, yes!
But we just w4nt... to prevent missing e4chother!
Th4t m4kes sense, Perrix!

Oh, yes, y4y, yes!
4nd I c4n 4lso... give him my gift!
In person, I think!
This is 4 perfect... solution, it is, yes!
Y4y y4y y4y y4y!

[callouslystalwart]

Not that it's particularly odd behavior for Kusbir, but you're still intrigued.

A gift? ~~CS
What sort of gift? ~~CS

[apiarycryptonaut]

Oh, 4 return gift!
But I c4n't spoil... wh4t it is, no!
Th4t wouldn't be f4ir.
Phylus gets to solve... it first, yes, y4y!

[flowerwhisperer]

we||
if we're going to pick meetup p|anets
it won't be mine
for
obvious reasons

urm
what do you mean by dungeon?

[callouslystalwart]

Quite obvious, yes. ~~CS
And ~I~ mean dungeons! ~~CS
Well, ~I~ suppose ruins if you prefer... ~~CS
But subterranean stone structures stocked with traps, enemies, and rewards at the end! ~~CS

[flowerwhisperer]

huh
and you have p|enty of that on your p|anet?

[callouslystalwart]

Quite a few, yes. ~~CS
Abundant ruins are to be expected with The Land of Abundance and Ruin. ~~CS

[flowerwhisperer]

oh
makes sense
i suppose there are some ruins here too?
though it'd be covered in vegetation at this point

[mapmaking]

hey perrIx--x
I have a quesTIon--x?
buT I canT ask IT here can we Troll personally or someThIng--x?

oh also I guess I can come--x
maybe--x....
I goT some armor from avIspa and I made These sweeT booTs--x
and ThIs map--x!

[callouslystalwart]

Well that's rather unexpected.

Still! Maybe he really does recognize your absolutely shit bananas LEADERSHIP attribute.

Certainly! ~~CS
~I'd~ prefer everyone keep important information in the loop on as much as possible, especially considering this is a team effort now... ~~CS
But ~I~ suppose if one would be more comfortable with some privacy, ~I~ can oblige! ~~CS

[mapmaking]

....Something like that.

ITs--x
noT really game sTuff--x
buT I wasnT sure who To ask advIce from oTher Than you--x
youve been a really bIg help for The whole game so far--x

[callouslystalwart]

Well ~I~ certainly do ~my~ best. ~~CS

You preemptively swap over to a Trollian window.

What did you need? ~~CS

[austereastronomer]

I think my planet might be a reasonable meeting point for our session.
I've secured the local area, and the underground areas are, at least, relatively peaceful.

[callouslystalwart]

Excellent! ~~CS
~I~ should like to scout the area for ~myself~ at some point. ~~CS
Perhaps ~we~ could pool ~our~ abilities and further fortify the position together... ~~CS

[artful_transgressor]

whoa wait
i figured the gates just took us to places around our own planet
since thats what the first one did
so all the other ones take you to completely different planets?
i was starting to think we were all kinda playing in a Vacuum
where maybe the shit we does affects the other players but we neVer actually interact with anyone directly

alright so
maybe i haVent been paying attention enough
or more to the point maybe i haVent asked this before
and theres so many people among the sessions that its impossible to keep track of without asking
but when you say 'next in the sequence'
how the fuck does the sequence go
and who exactly is in which session
like i know for sure zirreh and kaprao are in the same session as me
since theyre my client and serVer respectiVely
and i know zurahe and i think nikkal are definitely in the other troll session
and im guessing the people iVe talked to that i know are human are definitely NOT in the same session as me
but thats it
thats pretty much all iVe got to go on for sure
hell i probably haVent eVen talked to eVeryone whos playing
is there a fucking list somewhere
where weVe figured out whos in which session
fuck while were at it do we haVe this sequence worked out somewhere
seems like if we got that planned out we could map the gates if they worked on a predictable system
which is what you seem to be indicating

also
id be fine with staying put on my planet to meet up with people
if only cause im not sure how id get back
unless i find some way to whateVer planets gate leads back to mine
and who the fuck knows how long it would take to do that
and since my quests not finished yet i dunno how smart it is to leaVe my planet with that not done until/unless some easy way between planets is worked out

[callouslystalwart]

To be honest... ~~CS
~I'm~ not entirely sure who all is on what "team" or in what order, which is part of why ~I~ suggested this. ~~CS
~I~ do know that we have ended up in a "sequence", however. ~~CS
Each player has exactly one server and one client, and each "team" seems to be a closed sequence. ~~CS
In other words, since each player's second gate leads to the planet of their server player, then by following this sequence you could go through all of the players in your "team" until you eventually wrapped back around to your own planet. ~~CS
...Or so ~I~ would assume. ~~CS
~We've~ not tested that far yet, obviously, and some players have yet to advance that far. ~~CS
It's possible a glitch or even just the normal workings of the game make things turn out differently. ~~CS

~I~ think finishing up the business on your own planet is a splendid idea in the meantime! ~~CS

[artful_transgressor]

okay
i thought i was just like
woefully underinformed
but are you telling me NO ONES nailed this shit down?
okay
thats it
i am gonna get this shit sorted
i mean iVe been making excuses for it cause i didnt wanna admit i didnt know
but iVe been making excuses precisely cause there IS no excuse to not know who the fuck is and isnt on your team
at least by now
except for the fact that only a couple people actually seem to be trying to be productiVe and communicatiVe i guess
but frankly thats gonna be one of the smallest obstacles this game throws at us if it drops meteors on us as its opening goddamn gambit
so weVe gotta figure out a way to deal

as for finishing shit up on our planets
i dont eVen know where to START on mine
im supposed to bring night
to a fucking desert wasteland where the sun neVer sets
how the fuck am i supposed to do that?
and like
not eVen just a part of the planet
the WHOLE GODDAMN PLANET
so its not like i can just pitch a tent and go 'hey look heres some shade'

[callouslystalwart]

Well the most obvious solution is to destroy the sun. ~~CS

Clearly.