Possible LotR Successor Game discussion thread

[Zim]

I thought this was interesting. I certainly agree that it's more players that drive game activity than rules, especially players willing to go against the grain.

I think I should mention that things could be tough for those of us joining late and out of the loop. Unlike players inside the conflict I was pretty oblivious concerning the Illuminati. People talked a little about a secret group but it was represented to me more as an obsession of Jan's than anything else.

Then a couple times when I tried to get more involved (considering a run for Chancellor and then later trying to be involved in the investigation Cecil was doing) I was rebuffed by one or more Illuminati members.

The story came together wonderfully at the end of the game and I see it as one of KotR's greatest accomplishments. However, I can truthfully say that for a few of us newer guys activity was stifled rather than encouraged by the group. Perhaps if I had taken up a banner against it things would have been different.

On the note of influence, I agree that it wasn't paid attention to much. Caps tended to be low and not many of us had the uberstats needed to have much influence, no matter the rank. I remember it being pretty much the Basileus with a lot of influence, former Megas' with 2 or 3, and lots of 1s...

I think our views of KOTR can sometimes be clouded a bit by the Illuminati-effect. One of the reasons KOTR is remembered so fondly is that there was a dedicated group of people who decided to play the bad guys over the long term. This in turn encouraged other people to become similarly dedicated in their opposition to the bad guys, resulting initially in a subtle political struggle and eventually moving into open warfare. From my perspective, it wasn't the KOTR rules that caused this, it was the players themselves: the Illuminati who played the bad guys and the loyalists who then stood up against them.

I would be interested in hearing Northnovas' perspective on this, because I distinctly remember being told that he was very bored with KotR and was close to dropping out. One of the reasons we invited him into the Illuminati was to make the game more interesting for him. After that, he was a major player the entire time. If this is in fact true, the only thing that caused Northnovas' feelings about the game to shift was the Illuminati.

[Ignoramus]

I think we should have the ability to form new Duchies but it should be harder than convincing a few people to switch votes. Maybe requiring the official approval of the King in order to legitimise it? The Kaiser in KotR had quite an important role in assigning new provinces, which meant that Houses couldn't afford to risk alienating him. If the King could officially sanction rebels of Dukes then it would create a sense of risk to go against him.

I also think that LotR flopped because of a lack of competition. There was simply too much land to go around. No one threw the kitchen sink into to getting a certain province.

A key element in KotR was stability. The four duchies were there to stay, and so you could make long term plans. In LotR, you were never sure whether a house would exist by the next term which made alliances riskier.

[Cecil XIX]

I think we should have the ability to form new Duchies but it should be harder than convincing a few people to switch votes. Maybe requiring the official approval of the King in order to legitimise it? The Kaiser in KotR had quite an important role in assigning new provinces, which meant that Houses couldn't afford to risk alienating him. If the King could officially sanction rebels of Dukes then it would create a sense of risk to go against him.

This is a very good idea.