Brethren of the Brick Seas (BoBS) Introduction and Starting Thread

[Bregir]

@kurigan:

First, don't join ESL, they have nothing but drama! Also, they are a profiteering set of merchants - and republicans to boot!

Also, a proper "quick guide" walkthrough of John Doe joining BoBS is on our roadmap. In that regard, apart from Ayrlego's excellent quick-guide to the different factions, what sort of things would you like to know? I was thinking headlines like "Real-life parallel", "naming conventions", "Government form", "Special focuses" or something along those lines, but would like to hear your (and others' input).

[kaiju]

3 hours ago, Capt Wolf said:

@Phred, can you take Ayrlego's post above and pin it as a "Quick Beginner's Guide to BoBS" or somesuch?

Not a terrible idea. We really need two threads, a new player/intro thread and a separate general discussion thread.

[Elostirion]

Maybe some of us can work together on a quick beginner's guide for new members?

Important content probably:

* Basic info about the game world
* Choice of Nation (Ayrlego's descriptions are great. I like the idea of adding a typical quote or two for each of the nations, e.g. "Enough profit for the day? By no means!" for Eslandola)
* Get started: Your own character
* First steps (e.g. MOC a property, MOC a ship, get your free licenses, fill in the forms)
* Basic idea of the EGS in 3 sentences.
* Land based properties and settlements in 3-5 sentences
* Ships and the MRCA in 3-5 sentences
* Military rules in 3-5 sentences (not too much to say here)
* Do's and Don'ts when getting started
* Collection of important links

 

Might also be written like a tutorial maybe.

[Bregir]

2 minutes ago, Elostirion said:

Maybe some of us can work together on a quick beginner's guide for new members?

I would be up for this. And I like your approach. What I was thinking was to tell it a bit like a story, or an example of a sig fig signing up and such, but that would of course require a few builds, so a group to do this would be great. Other volunteers for creating this guide?

[Ayrlego]

1 minute ago, Bregir said:

I would be up for this. And I like your approach. What I was thinking was to tell it a bit like a story, or an example of a sig fig signing up and such, but that would of course require a few builds, so a group to do this would be great. Other volunteers for creating this guide?

Count me in!

[gedren_y]

1 hour ago, Bregir said:

@kurigan:

First, don't join ESL, they have nothing but drama! Also, they are a profiteering set of merchants - and republicans to boot!

Slander! Have some pie-in-face from a democrat! <SPLAT!> For the glory of the Triuri!

..................

Woah. Sorry, Solstice flashback. You were saying?

1 hour ago, Bregir said:

Also, a proper "quick guide" walkthrough of John Doe joining BoBS is on our roadmap. In that regard, apart from Ayrlego's excellent quick-guide to the different factions, what sort of things would you like to know? I was thinking headlines like "Real-life parallel", "naming conventions", "Government form", "Special focuses" or something along those lines, but would like to hear your (and others' input).

That should better help prospective members find their place here.

[Capt Wolf]

9 minutes ago, gedren_y said:

2 hours ago, Bregir said:

First, don't join ESL, they have nothing but drama! Also, they are a profiteering set of merchants - and republicans to boot!

Slander! Have some pie-in-face from a democrat!

FYI, he means we are republicans in the sense that Eslandola has installed a head of state that is not a king.

[Bregir]

Just now, Capt Wolf said:

FYI, he means we are republicans in the sense that Eslandola has installed a head of state that is not a king.

Indeed! Republicans! Little better than democrats or other anarchists! Long live the Queen!

[gedren_y]

@Capt Wolf, I knew that. I was just doing some wordplay. I didn't capitalize the word, did I? Am I the only one here who remembers that usage of the word from The Warlock In Spite Of Himself? It was used as an insult by the character, but the term was valid in its usage. Christopher Stasheff is my favorite political Sci-Fi author. Am I being too literary?

[Capt Wolf]

1 minute ago, gedren_y said:

@Capt Wolf, I knew that. I was just doing some wordplay. I didn't capitalize the word, did I? Am I the only one here who remembers that usage of the word from The Warlock In Spite Of Himself? It was used as an insult by the character, but the term was valid in its usage. Christopher Stasheff is my favorite political Sci-Fi author. Am I being too literary?

@gedren_y, my apologies. Although I am a SF fan, I have not read The Warlock In Spite of Himself, so I did not get that specific reference. You are correct that you did not capitalize democrat, but capitalization is sometimes a spurious thing on the internet!

[gedren_y]

Not surprising, since it was first printed in 1969. The snarky attitude was because I have been reading Bloom County comic strips.

[kurigan]

Wow that got away from me fast! What an excellent response all around though. I'm glad my befuddlement can be so inspirational, truly. On the general front, I wholeheartedly support the creation of a guide and would be happy to help in any way I can. I'd suggest two threads though. One that is just the edited guide and another for questions and such. Just to keep things from getting muddled up, like I've found here.  

  

As for my personal dilemma: when it all started I figured I'd be most likely to join Corrington or the Sea Rats. I don't really know though. I suppose that for all my pomp about naval realism I'm a bit too much of a profiteering scallywag myself. Don't be surprised to find if my loyalties can be bought by the highest bidder. My strengths obviously lie in shipbuilding and even though the stress I've put myself through over the last few months has diminished my enthusiasm somewhat, I still have my existing fleet and a couple of never-before-revealed projects to bring to the table. Part of what's attracting me to BoBS is the opportunity/inspiration to go beyond that though. Custom figures are not a big part of BoBS, for the sake of general repetition, but that and characterization are something I thoroughly enjoy doing, but have felt little reason to expound upon with my MOCs on my own. I also want to work on my land based building; architecture, fortification and landscaping but lack inspiration. So I guess my most burning question is, who has a place in their regime for someone with my talents and ambitions?  

 

edit/after though:

Here's what you can do with a guy like me. Say you have a colony you want to develop but your neighbors are giving you trouble about it. Well I can sail in with my fleet of slops and set up a defensive network and land personnel, to start with fortifications an encampments. From there I can start contributing to colonial development with industry and agriculture. And, if my fleet happens to take a few prizes in the process, well that's just more wealth to go around.

 

[SkaForHire]

On 1/23/2017 at 6:21 AM, Maxim I said:

Trador is still claiming the islands southeast of Isla de Medio

Some people even dare to say that the influence of Trador is visible in the South East part of Isla de Medio itself.

@SkaForHire, @Mike S & @Kolonialbeamter : for future maps, it would be great if those tiny islands are painted green instead of yellow :)

Better win that war then, buddy!

On 1/23/2017 at 7:48 AM, Maxim I said:

We still are talking about 0 db's in the townbank

But tbh, I was very amused to see that Mardier summoned out of the blue more than 50 warships to raid all those settlements.

I mean, a fleet of 5 had to raid Trador (the second smallest settlement so far). Considering Nova Terelli has a royal fortress and they raided 5 more settlements, the Mardier fleet must be huge and out of proportion...

When BoBS started, they only had 3 class 5HA's in their royal fleet, just like any other NPC nation (this number received from Skaforhire).

 

They have a much more viable fleet a year later. The civil war is over as well.  There is a mechanic for all of this as well.  They also get money to spend each "turn" (MRCA) they are at war (the same as PC nations do, just really not as much). They bought more ships instead of forts. :P

[SkaForHire]

27 minutes ago, kurigan said:

Wow that got away from me fast! What an excellent response all around though. I'm glad my befuddlement can be so inspirational, truly. On the general front, I wholeheartedly support the creation of a guide and would be happy to help in any way I can. I'd suggest two threads though. One that is just the edited guide and another for questions and such. Just to keep things from getting muddled up, like I've found here.  

  

As for my personal dilemma: when it all started I figured I'd be most likely to join Corrington or the Sea Rats. I don't really know though. I suppose that for all my pomp about naval realism I'm a bit too much of a profiteering scallywag myself. Don't be surprised to find if my loyalties can be bought by the highest bidder. My strengths obviously lie in shipbuilding and even though the stress I've put myself through over the last few months has diminished my enthusiasm somewhat, I still have my existing fleet and a couple of never-before-revealed projects to bring to the table. Part of what's attracting me to BoBS is the opportunity/inspiration to go beyond that though. Custom figures are not a big part of BoBS, for the sake of general repetition, but that and characterization are something I thoroughly enjoy doing, but have felt little reason to expound upon with my MOCs on my own. I also want to work on my land based building; architecture, fortification and landscaping but lack inspiration. So I guess my most burning question is, who has a place in their regime for someone with my talents and ambitions?  

 

Corrington would welcome you home with open arms.  We love a good exploration expedition, grand monumental building, order and some controlled chaos, and we are very proud of our navy and its individual captains. Also, we have a pretty hefty trade apparatus, and a pretty successful trade record, although our trade fleet is a bit smaller than the other imperial nations (but we are smaller in active players). Our Navy is strong though.

[Elostirion]

26 minutes ago, SkaForHire said:

Better win that war then, buddy!

 

They have a much more viable fleet a year later. The civil war is over as well.  There is a mechanic for all of this as well.  They also get money to spend each "turn" (MRCA) they are at war (the same as PC nations do, just really not as much). They bought more ships instead of forts. :P

For me this brings up some points where the game could be improved even further:

* We need war rules to win wars. I know that's a tough part, and the game has kind of overtaken itself in this regard, with the first war being started so early. But at some point we will need those rules.
* There has never been a real announcement regarding all the Mardier Civil War things. I would love to read about the results and aftermath.
* It would be great to know a bit more about NPC nation mechanics. Not every detail, but a general understanding.
* We need some kind of transparency into NPC fleets, settlements, etc. if we are to make war with them. I don't say this has to be gifted, but at least there needs to be some kind of scouting mechanics so we could gain knowledge about the size of their fleets and forts.

 

 

@kurigan: Reading what you write I think that what you currently are is a Sea Rat, and what you might want to become is an Oleander.

However: Eslandola surely would warmly welcome you (at least I would for certain).

But honestly, go for what you feel like. Maybe look at some of the MOCs of the nations in their respective threads.

Edited January 24, 2017 by Elostirion

[MKJoshA]

@kurigan The Sea Rats are the best faction for someone who wants to make their name on the high seas! We highly value individuals and allow all of our members to pursue doubloons in the way that suites them best!

[Kolonialbeamter]

6 minutes ago, Elostirion said:

For me this brings up some points where the game could be improved even further:

* We need war rules to win wars. I know that's a tough part, and the game has kind of overtaken itself in this regard, with the first war being started so early. But at some point we will need those rules.
* There has never been a real announcement regarding all the Mardier Civil War things. I would love to read about the results and aftermath.
* It would be great to know a bit more about NPC nation mechanics. Not every detail, but a general understanding.
* We need some kind of transparency into NPC fleets, settlements, etc. if we are to make war with them. I don't say this has to be gifted, but at least there needs to be some kind of scouting mechanics so we could gain knowledge about the size of their fleets and forts.

I'd agree with this.

Info about an NPC's strength needs to be obtainable either as fixed stats beforehand, or be subject to IP purchase - or better even moc to get them.

 

@kurigan If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle to find a beautiful flower - join Corrington. If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle to find a mystical artifact - join Oleon. If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle to find a shiny city of gold - join Eslandola. If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle... because it's utterly drunk - join the Sea Rats 

[Garmadon]

Challenge V has been posted, go check it out, folks! 

@KB, 

[Legostone]

1 hour ago, Kolonialbeamter said:

@kurigan If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle to find a beautiful flower - join Corrington. If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle to find a mystical artifact - join Oleon. If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle to find a shiny city of gold - join Eslandola. If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle... because it's utterly drunk - join the Sea Rats 

 

:D I think we  have some content to add to that planned introduction thread:P

[dr_spock]

4 hours ago, Kolonialbeamter said:

 

@kurigan

If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle to find a beautiful flower - join Corrington.
If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle to find a mystical artifact - join Oleon.
If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle to find a shiny city of gold - join Eslandola.
If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle... because it's utterly drunk - join the Sea Rats 

   And the winner is.  Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. 

 

[Ulric Brickenheim]

We might be drunks or some of us but we still get rich! And have our freedom we are not surpressed by some inbred royals or some lousy merchant council!

[kaiju]

11 hours ago, Kolonialbeamter said:

 If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle to find a beautiful flower - join Corrington. If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle to find a mystical artifact - join Oleon. If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle to find a shiny city of gold - join Eslandola. If you see your sigfig crawling through the jungle... because it's utterly drunk - join the Sea Rats 

Ironically, all the current artifact hunting seems to be being done by Sea Rats.

[Kolonialbeamter]

8 minutes ago, kaiju said:

Ironically, all the current artifact hunting seems to be being done by Sea Rats.

Whereas in my eyes the only legitimate reason to crawl through a nasty jungle is to be totally drunk

[Capt Wolf]

17 hours ago, kurigan said:

What an excellent response all around though. I'm glad my befuddlement can be so inspirational, truly.

Every player can make a difference! Seriously.

17 hours ago, kurigan said:

I suppose that for all my pomp about naval realism I'm a bit too much of a profiteering scallywag myself. Don't be surprised to find if my loyalties can be bought by the highest bidder.

This also sounds like an Eslandolan to me!

16 hours ago, SkaForHire said:

Part of what's attracting me to BoBS is the opportunity/inspiration to go beyond that though.

Any of the factions will be happy to have you join them, and your skills and interests will contribute, wherever you land. What I will say about Eslandola is that I've really enjoyed the cooperative element in ESL, with some collaborative builds and such. The chaos that others might see with our multiple trade companies is what I think our strength is, as there always seems to be a new idea to be a part of. I've also collaborated on some stories with players outside ESL, something that playing the role of the trader facilitates. And personally, I've learned a lot by being so closely involved with other players in these builds. That's my 2 cents on the subject.

[gedren_y]

And the faction PMs (there have been a few) are a pretty fun read. How we organized the KMA, and totally threw @SkaForHire for a loop, is so filled with enthusiasm and a fictional national pride it's almost silly. Our reaction to his reaction got even wilder. If you would like to read this, join Eslandola!