MrXLink

7/10 as much as I despise the song, she's doing it really darn well... quite awe-inspiring. Here, have a little something...

Honestly I am not sure of this. Not for a fully F2P game with trade integration. Obtaining currency increases playtime, motivation, integration and value of playing the game, as well as greed for more (i.e. multi-accounting as a result). Limiting currency tampers with all these aspects, no exceptions. If we have no cap greed decreases but so does integration and playtime. If we have a cap greed increases, integration increases but motivation decreases, etc. Soft-cap is the ideal balance between this. Yes there will be some greed left but not as much as we'd have with a hard cap, and yes there will be some decrease in motivation and perhaps integration, but it's better than it'd be when we have no cap. Suggestions are always appreciated though.

I actually feel the need to respond to this. You see, free-to-play models with trading features naturally always induce multi-accounting. No matter what is tried or done, if the currency can be transferred to other accounts, multi-accounting will happen, and there is very little that can be done about this while still maintaining trade liberty and the game's freedom and openness. Considering trading is an essential and core part of the game it needs to be kept. We need a full F2P model which makes things even worse as no currency can be obtained by paying or donating. There will always be multi-accounters, and the point of the reward system is to make the temptation to multi-account as small as possible while keeping the rewards fair and worth playing extensively for to keep server population and player motivation high. This results in the main currency, BFP, having to be fully grindable or limited per day. The original idea was to have a limited amount per day, but this would not be fair towards long-term players and would force more duplicate accounts to be made. Adding a soft-cap rather than a hard-cap to the BFP for playtime rewards, we hope to achieve less multi-accounting and more respect for a fairer BFP distribution system. The problem with removing the soft-cap would mainly be community and newcomer-based problems. I have done some research on full F2P models with their currency distribution which is either long-term hard-capped (EXP, Account Level Bonuses) and then daily hard-capped as well, or it's hard-capped to have an insanely low amount of currency that never changes. The reason for this is to make newcomers stay and keep the community to play the game. This has nothing to do with the BFR team wanting bragging rights about our player base, but more so about this being an online PvP, Trading and Co-Op game, which require players. Considering there are a lot of maps, we need to have a decent server population in order to keep the system going. If we demotivate players by hard-capping, they might only play a set amount of time per day, which might not even be as long. We can also demotivate newcomers by having no cap whatsoever, widening the gap between rich and poor due to people having more time automatically being way richer, giving people with low amounts of time not a fair chance to quickly get into the game and the trading aspect thereof. The problem therefore is to find a solution between not capping and hard-capping. Therefore the soft-cap system was created: Players with more time can keep grinding for BFP, although at lower rate, it's still BFP and encourages them at least a bit to keep playing. Newcomers or low-time players can still gain a decent amount of playing BFP which allows them to catch up with players having more BFP and time more easily. This should help a lot with keeping the servers populated whilst maintaining the idea of playing on a single account. The system is probably the most efficient way in our eyes to balance out server population and multi-accounting frequency.

Well that thread basically states the same thing. We honestly don't want multi-accounting but we can't prevent it, so we'll have to accept that it might happen anyway.

Could someone link me to the post where Hawk claimed multiaccounting is not forbidden? Multiaccounting is forbidden, but can't easily be avoided. We don't encourage it at all, but honestly we won't be able to monitor it, like any game company. The whole "IP detector thing" is harder to create than you think, as some people share IP addresses (same home, or same PC) or switch IP addresses (visiting friends). It's not that easy. It exists for the forums but in a really inconvenient way so it's bothersome to go through. As for the staff list, thank you. I did not have time before to add that. I'm on it.

The snowy, dark peaks of the astonishingly huge Broken Mountain towered into the starry skies of Western Akylos. No matter where one would stand, the peaks would always seem to touch the same constellations in the sky at any angle. A gigantic, black hollow scar split the mountain into two identical parts. The two fragments seemed so realistically identical, it would be considered as unnatural, man-made... perhaps made by the Skylords or the Old Gods. This phenomenon so unreal and mystical made the passageway to the world of the living ominous and threatening. Araxes never bothered with such simple matters as the shapes the environment around him attempted to threaten him with. A passageway is a passageway, no matter how dim or eerie it would appear. He would likely be the most threatening thing in there regardless. He used to fly around the mountain peaks to find enjoyment in scaring the living hell out of the Broken Mountain Guard Post's patrols, using deafening, spine-chilling roars and soulfire storms while flying high above them. Never did he cross the Akylonian border. After all, this would be a foolish attempt at suicide. The guard post was always well-guarded; the pulverizing forces of the Fire troops combined with the sturdy and devastating Frost defenses made for a versatile, resilient opponent not to be messed with. With the war going on, however, it would be very likely for either of the factions to abandon the post and leave the passage low on guard. Nobody would defend a post against dark threats if their sworn enemy would be right in front of their eyes. And so it was that the pitch-black dragon and the former Corsair captain stood to enter the dark scar, ready to face an expectedly weak army at the other side of the mountain. Bardor stared at the high peaks above him, gulping, slightly frightened. He then quickly tried to hide his feelings by apathetically loading his hand-crafted blunderbuss with shards of razor-sharp Lost Mana Wing feathers and bones he had been collecting throughout the journey, throwing pebbles skywards with great force, causing flying creatures to crash down, perfect for ammunition scavenging. The dragon noticed, but cared little. "No way out now..." Bardor mumbled. Araxes remained silent and moved on into the enormous mountain-splitting passage. Bardor followed, quietly and slightly shivering. The passage seemed darker than the void itself. The only way the darkness could be repelled in front of his eyes was through the soothing soulfire flames of Araxes' wings and manes. In the distance, voices could be heard. Araxes suddenly lowered the brightness of his flames to a near-extinguished state and proceeded further towards the voices with utmost caution. Stay where you are, don't move a muscle, or else... the dragon's frightening, echoing voice resonated through the captain's mind. He swiftly obeyed, leaving Araxes to listen in anticipation. [[OOC: Will extend on this ASAP. I used to have more stored but it got messed up in the new IPS update...]]

The problem with these crystals is that you have to build a deck around it to make it work, which in PvP is rarely an option. For Frost affinity cards I did try using Ice Crystal, and 20% damage reduction is quite a nice bonus but... you need frost affinity cards for it. The most useful one is likely Flame Crystal, but the Earth Crystal does stack nicely with other nature regen buildings, like Fountain of Rebirth and Healing Gardens. Again, this revolves around building a deck around them so I'd consider it worth using in PvE rather than PvP.

We won't know until we start working on the loot system. Purely looking at the UI and the distribution system EA seems to have used, displayed loot has a maximum of 4 items, perhaps the loot distribution system has this too. Remember that the UI also shows who receives which loot, which will be very confusing if we cannot alter this (which is actually quite likely). We will have to wait and see what the possibilities for 12p loot distribution are before I can discuss this any further. Feel free to leave your suggestions though.

The problem with said memberships is that you still restrict users from accessing the servers, and therefore the game, if they do not donate or make a guest account. This would count as selling the game's playability, which is essentially part of the game's content. Content selling is something we do not want to do whatsoever. If we require more donations, the very least we could do is update the MotD appropriately or the user account interface to "ask" for donations. Any membership feature just makes this more risky than it has to be. As for donator game or forum ranks, the team has never really liked the idea of distinguishing members globally by the amount of money they have donated. We can have a look at how this works out in the end, as this should not necessarily be too much of an issue regarding the aforementioned statement, but we'd rather not add any perks to donating whatsoever as it would still be some sort of payment to unlock features in whatever way, which remains to be not the safest thing to do. We need not take unnecessary risks, albeit the tiniest ones, but I'll take it into consideration.

Considering the UI only has up to 4 slots for loot distribution I consider that to be quite a tough aspect to improve on. I agree completely.

@tbpeti I definitely see your point here. Point remains that preferably rPvE should have that purpose to make that game mode unique in that regard. Your idea can be compromised though, by slightly increasing gold rewards for said maps and making the upgrades in 12p maps also available in other maps. This would mean we are dragging attention away from 12p maps, but not as much as to change them completely into a map with the only rewards being those you can obtain through farming rPvE as well. What would you think of that solution?

The path was long, but comfortably calming. The crisp rattling the dull, grey pebbles of Akylos made under Araxes' claws had never grown to be a nuisance. Every step he made always sounded different, echoing endlessly throughout the silent lands of the dead. It was remarkable how dark Akylos had become over time. During the Twilight Wars there was still some grass and sand to be seen due to the Harbinger extending his reach, but that was now over. Araxes had been wandering across blackness, void and death for long after the wars. He always considered these lands to be far from dead, despite there not actually being any form of life within Akylos itself. Souls, Spirits and Ghosts made for a compensation for all the life force the rest of Nyn had accumulated throughout the history of the world itself. Not even just humans, ogres, elves and undead, but additionally insects, avians, and small lizards scurried across the dark, gloomy terrain. All of them had one thing in common; they were heading towards that brightly glowing gate to the point of no return. It was a strange phenomenon. It made Araxes feel as if he was the only one who was completely uninfluenced by the mesmerizing, luring glow of what every single soul would assume was a better life. Of course, there were the occasional group of rebels that would endlessly wander due to not being able to atone for whatever sins and regretful actions they had committed, but even they eventually found their way. He slowly made his way through a convoy of souls, one of the many cyan streams that could be seen from the dark hills and rocks of Akylos. The streams would mostly include families, armies and every once in a while the elderly and deceased. Araxes had been watching the intriguing streams for decades, to the point where he could even determine whether a battle was being held or a horrifying disease had swept over Nyn just by looking at the width and intensity of the queues of the dead. It was a long way to the gates of Ashia from here. He could only feel pity for those having to walk this far and make their ways to the Wailing Lands only to serve no further purpose and never returning from the underrealm to the sheer beauty of Nyn itself. "Oi! Where be ye headin' this fine day?" A familiar voice. A familiar face. A tiny yet confident and proud human soul stood in front of the dragon, waving whatever was left of his right arm to get his attention. Bardor always seemed to keep an eye out for his favourite dragon, although this was an insanely harsh and time-consuming job, considering the fact that in the lands of the dead he had no crew or Corsair ship to command. The only flying ships within the realms of the souls were those that were living entities themselves, such as Spitfires. As an ex-captain, he was always determined to seek out the mightiest beings and keep them as his friends. A bandit mentality at its finest, as the fittest shall survive and to the survivor go the spoils... except for that fact that he would not be considered as a survivor in the first place. He was a decent form of company and a long-lasting one at that. Years of plundering and pillaging are not exactly easy to atone for, especially if one regrets these actions. Araxes looked down to Bardor and growled. "Captain." His fearsome but slightly friendly-toned voice resonated through Bardor's mind as usual. "The moment is finally ours." a wide smile formed on the (ex-)captain's face. "And so I be hearin'. Many lads, mainly lasses, tell tales of lil' Frost queenie and that old Nature sage meeting their makers at exactly the same time, no marks, no trace. I be jealous of that..." he said, grabbing a handful of pebbles and scattering them across the sky with a large amount of force, the rattling echoing melodically as they hit the dark ground. He listened carefully, counting every stone falling. "This means the broken mountain is no obstacle whatsoever." Araxes continued monotonously. "Aye." Bardor replied, still listening for the last stone to drop. It never dropped, to his excitement. "I be comin' with ye." he then decided. "If I get to Ashia while yer gone it might be the last time I see such a fearsome Dragon in me entire afterlife... wouldn't want to waste that opportunity. Besides, might help ye get out while I be at it". Araxes appreciated the gesture. He could easily handle a single squadron of Frost or Fire troops on his own with all attention diverted towards the war, but he wouldn't mind Bardor accompanying him. His information was valuable, his blunderbuss was lethal, his attitude was complimentary. The dragon nodded and proceeded to walk. Bardor followed, proudly walking next to him. "May I ri--..." he wanted to ask, but Araxes interrupted him immediately, roaring "NEVER". The worn-out ex-Corsair-captain chuckled "That's the attitude I like, ya monster...", as he proceeded to follow the Dragon into the darkness.

This would remove the reason for people to play certain PvE maps and just allow them to wait for their upgrades to drop for a specific map they can easily complete. Would also encourage grinding one specific map for a specific upgrade with a high disenchant value for grinding, which is not necessarily what we want. Upgrade placement was a good way to get people to play more parts of the campaigns, which is something I'd like to keep.

Greetings, Skylords! I have been having a look at Allcards and the Wiki and received many questions from you regarding the exact loot lists (list of which card upgrade drops on which map) for PvE maps. A lot of you want to know which cards drop where and whether we can determine it as such to put the correct information into the Allcards/Wiki systems. Now, since we are not working on loot yet we do not exactly know what drops where. However, we are all quite positive about the fact that loot is distributed through the server, which means we can most likely find and alter the loot lists. This means that (if we end up being able to do so, which is likely) we will add Amii upgrades to PvE maps and we will be able to figure out the exact loot lists at some point in the future. Now Nullpointer and I have been thinking, since we can edit loot lists, why not mix up the loot list and assign upgrades elsewhere to give a new, fresh perspective on playing for upgrades? It can help us make unpopular PvE maps more popular, and so on. U1 would still drop at standard, U2 at advanced, and U3 at expert. There are four things we can do with this... Keep the original loot listRandomly create a new loot listCreate a new loot list themed around the map to the extent we can (i.e. Lost Warlord B in Empire)Create a new loot list focused on distributing popularity amongst maps for a better player-to-map balance in PvENow I want to hear the voices of you, the community, to help us decide on what to do with this! This is your chance for some possible future development input, so vote for your favourite option(s), what would you like to see happening to the loot list? You can vote for multiple options. On a side note, yes I have heard your suggestions regarding adding Amii upgrades to rPvE. However, since rPvE is so highly spammable and potentially harder to add upgrades into, we are likely stepping away from that idea. PvE is for upgrades, rPvE will be the main way of grinding for gold, that is the plan I currently have in mind. Thanks a lot for your feedback, skylords! I value your activity, hype and contribution a lot, you are all fabulous gentlefolk.

I would like to make a correction to this statement. As of the current state of the project we can still not say when the game, beta, or whatever next update will be done. Around June, we have the certainty that there is a lot of free time on our hands which we can use to accelerate the project's progress very likely by a large amount, but there is no certainty for a date, release, or next stage yet. Hawk sometimes gets dragged away in the hype for the game and the current development, and this may lead to some misinformation being given such as the message I quoted. It is very optimistic to spread word that the project may in fact be done much before June. The project's progress depends entirely on the spare time our current programmers have, especially pointing at Blank, Lord NullPointer and Fiki here. We are working as hard on this as we can offer, so please do have patience. We deeply apologise and are sincerely sorry for having raised any false hopes and excitement for having a set date such as June 2016, but we honestly do not want to disappoint you any further by not having released anything by this time without correcting Hawks aforementioned statement. We would like to ask you to be patient and to not fret. The servers or beta stage could be done way before June, but might also be done way later. We simply do not know and cannot predict how much time we will have and what further obstacles lie in our way, as well as how long QA and optimisation will last. So please do keep the hype up and await further news. If anything major pops up we will be sure to let you know through the forums and our social media networks ASAP. Regardless of this perhaps upsetting news, I would like to thank you for all the support you're still giving us, the popularity and flourishing of the community and all the ideas and contributions you make. You are an absolutely fabulous community to manage, thanks everyone, your support is ever so valuable to me

The stars brightly lit up the midnight sky, like sparkling gems within the many Stonekin caves deep beneath the earth. Not that daylight ever fell in Akylos. The only light that ever shone there would have to be the moon, stars and the bright glow of the portal to Ashia. The faint stream of cyan shades of the dead slowly passing through rivers to the Wailing Lands… the same pattern, the same stream of bodiless souls on a crusade towards a single, shared goal, hoping for a better life, hoping to not be stuck in the depths of this void of a place for the rest of their afterlives, had gone by for decades. One dragon observed every single one of them. Whether it was an act of boredom or enjoyment was even hard for him to tell. Being trapped in a realm of practically emptiness did not really contribute to the knowledge of whatever purpose an action had in Akylos. For all he knew his refusal to enter the gate did not really change the point of anything in his existence. One thing was sure; Nyn is a place he did not want to leave, and once Ashia was reached, there was no way back. Araxes was always a watchful dragon. After all, with no purpose, what could one do other than observe, even what he could not reach? Listening to the Lost Souls helped him obtain knowledge on the world of Nyn. Change was afoot, rapidly. Seemed the elements were at war once again, which could be useful, considering the gateways to Akylos were many and jointly guarded by the elements. The time had finally come. Finally he could leave this wretched place. He gazed around him, growling lowly. The nearest passage had to be the broken mountain in the Shattered Lands. Normally guarded by both Frost and Fire forces, this would clearly be the easiest way out now. Slowly and calmly, he started making his way towards the broken mountain, walking. His eyes set on the pitch-black mountain in the far distance. There was no haste, none at all. Just inevitability…

OOC: Greetings gentlefolk, and welcome to the BattleForge Roleplaying game. For rules, conditions, information on characters and factions, and how to participate in this game, please head to the RP signup thread over here: http://forum.skylords.eu/index.php?/topic/1744-the-battleforge-rp-signup/ Only participants may post in this thread. Any posts made by nonparticipants will be deleted without warning. Repeated voilations of this rule made by the same person may result in a warning for spamming. The current participants and their characters are: Araxes - Lost Dragon @MrXLink Avatrostkol - Avatar of Frost @anonyme0273 Bloodsucker - Nature-sided Shadow Worm @5MERTN1K Chronos - Stone Shard @Defqon Dzodin - Shadow Giant Slayer @Dzodin The Great Warrior of Justice - Defender @Malzawar Ish'Faithal - Timeshifter Spirit @DragonOfTime Kaylen Storm - Kobold Engineer @Eddio The Last Whisper - Forest Elder @Lukegriffin02 Xyalas - Promo Swamp Drake @Kiwi Vasdohr - Dreadcharger @veryhasted Alright, without further ado, let the RP begin… here’s your intro, be prepared to write yourself in. Remember to post at least once per week, at most twice per day! WARNING - This thread's recommended age for both reading and writing is 16+, as it may contain foul language, violence, blood, cruelty and potentially very dark themes/topics. This is a guideline and you may proceed as you wish, but be warned. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Nyn… a world of wonder and warfare. A place of beauty and bloodshed, and for at least a few decades, a realm of peace and pride. Collaboratively, the elements of Fire, Nature, Frost and Shadow had fended off the destruction of the world seemingly ages ago. Some remember it clearly, others are faintly reminded by the songs being sung and poems being recited by all the troubadours today; about the clash between elements, about the vanquishing of the dreaded Twilight Curse, about the liberation of the souls, the terror and slavery caused by Shane Blight, and even about the rise of Rogan Kayle, the King of Lyr of the olden days. Brave Skylords fought for what was theirs, worked together to protect the Forge and the world of Nyn from despair and chaos. Perhaps the days of never-ending war were the better days for the sake of Nyn’s history and elemental coherence. With a shared purpose and objective, all the forces of Nyn seemed to forget about their differences and collaborated for the greater good. Once the Twilight War had been resolved, however, it only became more and more clear that this was a mere illusion. In fact, the aftermath of the War only made the elemental tensions worse, with each faction considering themselves to contribute most to Nyn’s liberation, denouncing their natural counterparts. The burning rage of the Fire tribes, blaming most of their losses on the cowardice and defensive attitude of the Frost Kingdom, whereas the Frost civilization blamed this on the Fire tribes’ reckless lack of strategic approach. The stunningly beautiful creatures of Nature felt insulted by the sacrifices the Shadow Empire made, destroying both themselves and their allies for the greater good, and corrupting the lands, whereas Shadow found this an insulting and impure matter. Nothing had changed for the better, but nobody was waiting for another war. This is why all the elements remained silent, but for how long… It was only a matter of time until the next conflict would break out. The oracles of Nature foresaw it for years, and the Lost Souls became restless, some even refusing to enter Ashia until the tension had been endured. The way in which the next conflict started, however, was a surprise to everybody. Within the same night, at the exact same time, Tyria, the Queen of Lyr and ruler of the Frost Kingdom, as well as Aerion, the sage and leader of Nature, were killed mercilessly and without a trace of any killer. Aerion having been poisoned by an incurable unknown substance in his afternoon tea, whereas Tyria was lost due to extensive blood loss from a wound in her chest, presumably caused by a large dagger of unknown origin. As could be expected, Nature immediately blamed the Shadow Empire for the death of their leader. Of course, what is more subtle and painful than getting poisoned in such a brutal way? This had to be the work of those undead bastards, seeking to get rid of us since the end of the War... or so the forces of Nature claimed. The death of Tyria could naturally only be caused by the Fire tribes, claim the citizens of Lyr and the kingdom of Frost. They had always despised Frost’s defensive strategies, blamed them on their losses and now found revenge by assassinating their bravest leader since Rogan. An aggressive, merciless chest wound could only be the cause of senseless, reckless violence, right? It would be straightforward enough to claim that Frost and Nature would ally with each other since they shared a similar fate… but this was not the case. After all, Frost had long been defiling the lands with industry, constructs and massive structures, and Nature has been blamed to be the cause of the chilling cold and merciless conditions in the Kingdom of Frost for the last three years… and Shadow and Fire had always despised each other for their lack of taste and different strategic approaches. Not everybody was single-minded about the war between factions and civilizations slowly began to fall apart. This meant war. War between Fire and Frost, war between Shadow and Nature, and perhaps war in general. Even the Skylords, being originally part of either of the four elements, were frowning at each other and using their powers against each other, biased by the ongoing conflict. The Gods were clearly not pleased by this, and threw every single Skylord into exile, denying them any access to the Forge of Creation, which was left to float within the heavens; empty, hollow and unstable. With nobody to trust and no divine protection, awareness sharpened and collaboration weakened. Collaborative tasks to protect the realm were abandoned due to factions not trusting each other well enough, and the tension still grows stronger every single day. Small, independent alliances and rivalries are formed, and creatures seem to focus so much on the war they pay little attention to the rest of Nyn. The situation is highly fragile and unstable, and the ongoing war has disrupted the balance between elements, causing the Forge to tremble… and as soon as there is a lack of attention, new opportunities may arise for those who have long been isolated, contained or silent. After all, Bandits could have a free domain these days, the world’s instability worried the Stonekin, and who was to guard the passageways to Akylos? An unthinkable, awful future is slowly drenching the world of Nyn into chaos… who could possibly be facing it?

Greetings, Skylords As some of you might already have heard, I've been spending my time in the forge updating existing information we had on card upgrades, ability costs and hidden values and meanings behind obscure ability descriptions. It has finally been completed; I have documented every card's upgrade values, found out each ability cost (which is not usually stated in card descriptions) and I have found some missing information on some card descriptions that are vague or don't describe anything at all. Examples include the mechanics behind Rage and Root Network bonuses, spawned creature health/attack power or even what the heck spells like Lost Evocation and Thunderstorm do exactly. I put it all in a speadsheet for you to observe. Hopefully we can use all this information to keep the Wiki, Allcards and the game itself in a better state! Have a look over here to see the list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EymgWic3qqaZeakjhMr5nUhhidxzKVg2GzVVfZp3M08/edit?usp=sharing Enjoy and expect the future to hold wiki updates to be done. Stay cool, Skylords, and please try to avoid those pesky little rodents hiding in the soles of your shoes, they have sent complaints.

Forgive me for my overly detailed Character Sheet, I couldn't help myself... For future applications, you are more than free to PM me in case you feel like being involved in my storyline. Name: Araxes Age: 2495 Card & Faction: Lost Dragon, Lost Souls Appearance and Gender: I am a male, dark Lost Dragon with pitch-black, sharp rhomboid scales with the occasional hint of silver specks, like stars in the midnight sky. Unlike most of my kin, I am not a wyvern. I have six limbs rather than four; four sturdy legs with sharp, curled claws, and two large, ghostly wings. On land, I walk quadrupedal (on 4 legs). My wings are constantly ablaze in a storm of bright, teal flames. They span across 12 metres. My lizard-like eyes are burning in a dark purple glow. Sharp, pitch-black spikes run down from the back of my head to the end of my dark and similarly teal-burning tail. My teeth are sharp as daggers, and my fiery breath is a bright teal wave of agony and despair. I am a nightmare to behold. Alignment: I serve nobody. There never even was anybody trustworthy enough to begin with. The Harbinger was a fool, overtaken by greed. Thousands of years of misery and endless suffering he pulled through, for the sake of unleashing that blasted curse upon the entirety of Nyn, and what did he achieve? Exile from this world. That is not what I am after. I do not wish to find salvation within the gates of Ashia (Nyn's Underworld), for my reign has only just begun... Abilities: Corrupted Flames: The fire within me is as corrupted as my soul. Those afflicted by the flames from my breath, wings or tail have a chance to become paralysed with searing pain in their hearts, rendering it impossible to aim their ranged weapons.Telepathy: I am able to strike fear into my enemies or potential allies by talking to them through their minds from a short distance.Revenant's Ultimatum: Finally, must I get slain in battle, after a brief delay, my corrupted, unstable spirit form will rise to fight once more. This spirit form is extremely unstable and vulnerable, and is my last resort. If my spirit form gets destroyed, I cease to exist. However, if my spirit form survives, I will fade straight back to Akylos and the Wailing Lands, where the other restless souls reside, to reclaim my draconian body and wander across the lands of Nyn once more.Strengths: My dreadful, chilling appearance is meant to strike fear in my enemies' hearts. Aside from my fiery breath, I am capable of delivering crushing, powerful blows that can potentially engulf my enemies in flames in the process. Ranged attacks can be shut down by my Corrupted Flames. Due to my size and purpose, I am often encountered alone. This makes me strong against (smaller) single targets. Nobody is my master, I am not bound to the Harbinger and in control of my own purpose. On a psychological level, I corrupt and manipulate others. I am the voice of reason in a madman's head, I am the beating heart of the confused and enraged, I am that dark, empty conversion you seek when all hope is lost. Such vulnerable targets tend to come in useful for many different occasions... Weaknesses: My mouth and eyes are the most vulnerable parts of my draconian body, but are still quite resilient. If I manage to get destroyed, my spirit form is extremely vulnerable and I am very likely use it as a surprise attack to quickly finish off a fight, or to fly away and save my existence. Unleashing my spirit form will force me to return to Akylos, costing me precious time to continue whatever I was doing in the first place. Although I can control and eliminate ranged attacks with my Corrupted Flames, and my scales offer a good ranged defense, I am vulnerable to melee attacks. A careful opponent that can dodge the flames will find my scales significantly easier to penetrate. Due to my size and purpose, I am often encountered alone. This makes me vulnerable against well-coordinated teams. Nobody is my master, causing me to have little initial support in my cause. I am greedy for power, and am of mind that I am alone in my cause. I do not make a trustworthy ally, but respect those with a similar mindset. Personality: I am an isolated, manipulative spirit dragon; those who have seen me either fled in total fear, or fought courageously to their inevitable end. I have yet to meet a reasonable creature, therefore I disbelieve they exist. I follow my own, corrupted heart and disregard the path I have to take to reach the gates of Ashia, for Ashia is not within my interests. Century-old rage about being trapped in the Wailing Lands fuels my ambitions. All of this does not necessarily mean I am devoid of emotions. I am an intelligent, rebellious, being with great knowledge of the world, but my heart is filled with immense sorrow regarding my past. I often feel lonely inside, but hide it behind my pride. I am absolutely determined to pursue my ambitions, and I do not accept others giving me orders unless they have earned my deepest respect. To the lost or living souls, depending on their cause, I am not afraid to converse and forge alliances, but beware... I am not to be trusted under any occasion, and known to manipulate and deceive. One day I may proudly fight by your side, the next day I might send you to Akylos. In combat, I am fearless and would fight to the death, seeing as I have nothing to lose. History: I have not always been lost. In fact, I have been here for centuries and fought in the many wars in the history of Nyn. For years and years, I served the Lyrish Kingdom as a Northland Drake; watching over their city, protecting it from harm. Chilling maelstroms and freezing snowstorms I summoned to keep the fire tribes and bandits out of the human town. I was well-known. Even the Skylords praised me and told me stories about the Forge of Creation, and how it could realise one's wildest dreams. I admired the world and even befriended and allied with fellow dragons, specifically speaking a Grim Bahir from the shadowlands. One night, however, my fate got altered completely, as a rebellion formed within the city of Lyr, criticising the scarcity of supplies, food stocks and resources, blaming the King of Lyr for the harsh times the city had gone through the past couple of years. Hundreds of citizens rebelled against the inequality among elemental forces, and in a burst of madness destroyed their own home. I managed to prevent most of Lyr from collapsing under its own population, managed to protect and defend sabotaged Worldbreaker Guns and Strongholds. It was the destruction of the Frost Crystal towers in the far outskirts of Lyr that made my life come to an end, as crystal shards pierced right through my wings and heart. I swiftly bled and froze to death, only to find myself to awake in Akylos; the misty shores of the dead. I was upset, and my heart was completely devoted towards returning to the world of the living. I spent centuries in Akylos, trying to find a way to escape. It was only when I decided to reach the Wailing Lands where I met the Harbinger and witnessed the creation of the Twilight Curse and the Lost Souls rebellion, as the door to Ashia had closed. I felt no need to see the world perish just to give the dead their state of peace, there was no justice to that. The Harbinger thought otherwise, and assembled all lost souls to fight for him. I refused. I would rather stay in this wretched place than to corrupt the world, and so he trapped me in the Wailing Lands, between worlds. I have always refused to confront my past and fight my shadows to enter Ashia, and have been trapped in a world of emptiness and shadows for centuries. It corrupted my mind with despair and rage. It was only when the Harbinger fell in Akylos when I noticed an opportunity... with the elemental forces protecting the Akylonian borders in harmony, all I had to do is wait. Wait for another inevitable elemental war, to catch the guardians off guard. With the gates to Ashia open, few lost souls care to find a way to return to Nyn... but I did. And my eyes are set on but one thing: the Forge... Theme: Yoko Shimomura - Darkness of the Unknown - KH2.5 ________________________________________________ Some notes from myself regarding the abilities Araxes has... his corrupted flames reflect the actual card's ability. His telepathy is used to play mind games, and what is supposed to be his Revenant's Doom is something I worked out for implementing it usefully within this RP. Basically the ability works exactly like Revenant's Doom, but instead of fading for good, provided that the spirit form is not destroyed, he gets sent back to Akylos once it expires. Considering he already is a lost soul, he cannot become a lost soul upon death, so this mechanic should make up for this fact. This also allows for plenty of opportunities of dead players to encounter Araxes, which makes it a more exciting and complex story concept.

NOTE: ALL INFORMATION IN THIS POST IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. I WILL ANNOUNCE MAJOR UPDATES. RP can be found here: http://forum.skylords.eu/index.php?/topic/1838-the-elemental-clash-the-battleforge-rp/ Greetings, lords, ladies and things of the sky! Development is progressing and the wait is getting tedious. I know, and therefore I have decided to introduce you people to the world of forum RPs. I have been doing RP on forums for several years in the past, and perhaps some of our fellow 3.7K+ skylords have the motivation, excitement, creativity and seriousness to participate in a game of storytelling. So... what's up with all this and how does it work? Allow me to elaborate... What is an RP? RP stands for Role Play, and the simplest way to explain it is... it's making a story together. Each member plays the role of a character, who they then tell about what they're doing, where they are, and what actions they are taking. They interact with each other and the world, and so you create one expressive and big story together. The overall world, scenario and guidelines for the story are being made and/or maintained by a person called the Game Master (or DM if you're into Dungeons & Dragons), who also keeps order and decides what kind of characters get accepted, how balanced the game is, and who wins in a fight or conflict between players or from a player towards key environmental events. The GM and all participants then interact with each other in order to progress within the storyline in their own pace. So what is this RP going to be about? Well, what could possibly be a more amazing setting than the world of Nyn itself? This will be a BattleForge-based RP in which the participants play as a BattleForge unit, or a unit related to a BattleForge card, belonging to one of the BattleForge factions within the world of Nyn. The world would look like THIS, as you likely know through playing the game. The point is, though... that aside from what is specified, we do not have to be accurate towards the lore for this. New locations, towns, landmarks, events and so on may be created within the world by participants like possibly yourself! There are but few boundaries to this, so let your imagination go wild. In the upcoming days I will write an introduction to the storyline, but in order to spark some interest here is a brief summary. (Credits to @anonyme0273 and @kestas3 for inspiration) Time has been fleeting in the world of Nyn. The Twilight Curse was cleansed, and the world was saved from destruction thanks to the Skylords of the Old. But the peace and quiet this brought upon the world did not last eternally. Fire, Nature, Frost, and Shadow were always watching each other, each of them individually claiming to be responsible for resolving the Twilight Wars just a bit more than the rest, blaming each other for lives lost, mistakes made, and a lack of effort done within the war. Wisely, the elemental leaders diplomatically quieted down about this, until one day the leaders of Frost and Nature were assaulted by an unknown force. Frost, with their defensive principles, blamed the aggressive Fire tribes for this, and beautiful, controlling Nature blamed the subtle and dark ways of the Shadow empire. Furiously denying one other's responsibility for the assaults, a massive war emerged between all four elements. But it did not stop there. Upset as they naturally were about the past, elements forged alliances and societies to stand up against their now common enemies. With years and years of arguing and blaming behind each other's backs as a motivating factor, this would be an irresolvable conflict... or would it? Furious about the ongoing war, the Skylords were exiled from the Forge of Creation by the Gods themselves, due to them being biased towards their own element, destroying the balance of the world. But the growing instability of the ancient Forge, caused by the amount of chaos and hatred within the world of Nyn below, was a worrying sight to behold. Had the Gods abandoned all hope? And what would the war do to the Forge...? Elements Every character that participates in this RP will have to belong to a certain Element. You can choose any BattleForge Element, with the exception of Legendary, Amii, and Fire/Frost factions. You can choose one of the following factions, of which each will receive their own small introduction when the story starts. A short description will elaborate on the faction's style of acting, hopefully allowing you to make a better choice about what kind of faction you want to belong to. FIRE is the most aggressive of the four base elements. Their main combat strengths are brute, high-damage explosive and besieging attacks in exchange for very low protections. They often go berserk and are an excellent example of brute force, showing the power and destruction within them and using it to claim what they deem theirs. They are at war with the Frost faction, and will do anything to make them pay for their hypocrisy and accused murder. FROST is the youngest and most defensive of the four base elements. Their main combat strengths are passive, protective shelters armed with magnificently destructive ancient weaponry, using slow, defensive tactics to repel all who oppose them. They are highly protective and can take a lot of hits before being defeated, in exchange for low damage on their own. They are known for their invincible walls and devastating defence mechanisms, and are considered impenetrable. They are at war with the Fire faction, and will keep their forces out with all their might to prove them the best offence is indeed a good defence. NATURE is a naturally rebellious and protective element. Their main combat strengths involve sustainability and control through powerful healing and hexing spells. They attempt to control their enemies and keep themselves alive in order to survive, in exchange for a balance between attack and defence, and generally being peaceful. They are known for their protectiveness and are a beauty to behold, but do not let this beauty blind you, you are tricked before you know it. They are at war with the Shadow faction, and will try all they can to bring justice to those sneaky, pesky creatures of darkness for attempting to murder their leader. SHADOW is the oldest of the elements, consisting of followers of darkness. Their main combat strengths involve sacrifice in order to grow ever stronger and cast destructive, immensely powerful ancient spells upon their enemies. They weaken and manipulate their enemies through dark forces, in exchange for a lack of stability and being far less powerful without armies of death and sacrifice at their disposal. Shadow takes many risks and converts it into pure dominance. They are at war with the Nature faction, and will attempt to utterly desolate those filthy, tree-hugging rebels for accusing them of murder. THE TWILIGHT were not supposed to exist. They were supposed to be eradicated from the world after the Skylords of the old days cleansed the Twilight Taint from the lands of Nyn. But alas, the Twilight have hidden in a secluded cavern system underneath the Southern Wastes, waiting for the opportune moment to strike again. The Twilight are immensely powerful, formerly Elemental beings that have been infected with a curse rendering them to suffer in agony and pain as they brutally destroy everything that gets in their way. The Twilight are not dumb, though... with all the chaos and destruction going on between the four Elements, they have their eyes set on revenge and power. They are considered as Hostile to ALL. THE STONEKIN are warriors of the old, and lords of the Earth itself. They combine earthen resilience with the control nature, their offspring, offers. Long have the Stonekin been awaiting to take back what was theirs from Nature, and reserve their rightful spot among the elements. Similarly, they worry about the Forge's instability and mean to fight for overall order to maintain the world, their earth's stability. After all, who wants their kin to cease to exist? Stonekin are considered as passive-aggressive and Neutral to ALL, with the exception of their hostility towards Nature. THE BANDITS claim what they deem theirs, ergo: everything. They are a cunning faction, combining brute force with cleverly-made traps and infernal machines. Their attacks are slightly unstable but immensely powerful provided that they are in numbers. Bandits are generally interested in power and wealth, and will do anything to acquire what they want. They are particularly greedy, but as long as nobody bothers them in their plans, they have no interest in senseless battle... unless of course a considerate payment is offered... The chaos around the elemental wars have sparked the interest of the Bandits to acclaim more land, and perhaps be able to plunder some unsuspecting villages, and perhaps get a glimpse of what the Forge beholds... Bandits are considered as cleverly aggressive and Neutral to ALL, depending on their demands. THE LOST SOULS are wandering spirits of the dead that have not found their peace, have not paid for their sins and have not loosened all their ties with the mortal world. Their souls are corrupted, and are extremely varied in their desires and ambitions. Good souls refusing to pass and fighting along their friends for their cause, rebellious souls that want to storm the lands for power on their own, wandering souls that cannot find the way to the heavens and haunt those who killed them, hungering for revenge, or corrupted souls, having a will on their own, using their spirit form to exert deadly force to pursue their former dark schemes. Lost Souls are extremely dangerous and varied in purpose and alignment. Proceed into this faction with great caution and preparation. Rules and Guidelines There are quite a few rules each player should stick to in order to create a clean, coherent and pleasant storytelling environment. Below, the Rules and Guidelines for this RP are stated. Please read these carefully! This RP is meant for ages 16 and above. These are guidelines, if you are younger and still wish to participate, do so at your own risk. This RP may contain: Violence, blood, profanity, death and dark/morbid themes. Yes, I will allow RP posts to be excepted from the "No Profanity/Vulgarity" rule of our Global Forum Rules. You are obliged to post AT LEAST once per week. This is to keep the story running properly. If you have a reason to be gone for a prolonged period of time, please contact me through PM. This is a guideline, though, I won't frown upon posts made in 8-9 days, but try to stick to a week minimum! You can AT MOST post twice a day. This is to prevent a wave of consecutive story entries. The GM can give exceptions to this during lengthy combat sessions. Although this is a fantasy universe, remember that Rule 1 of the Forum Rules should not be ignored too much. If you mean to say something outside of the story, use "OOC: [Message]". OOC means Out Of Character and points out you are talking in the real world. Place your message between any form of brackets to mark the OOC beginning and end. Death does exist. Although the chance, depending on your actions, may be slim, it could so happen that your character dies. Upon death, it is for you to decide whether you stop with the RP or join the Lost Souls and pursue your goal regardless. Do mind that this may take some risks and that once a Lost Soul has been completely destroyed, there is no way back. Actions and Decisions. When a key event in the environment is triggered, an ability is used, or when two players interact with each other, a random-number generator will determine the outcome of said action or decision. This is based on how likely and reasonable it is for the chance to succeed. An example: A Juggernaut attacks a Battleship and tries to slam it out of the sky with its fist. Both juggernaut and battleship are in a fine condition and therefore I roll a D6, 1-3 makes the juggernaut succeed, 4-6 will make it fail. A 3 was rolled, the juggernaut heavily damages the ship's hull. The Battleship player then decides what to do next. Players can decide on actions between their own creations on their own. A Northguard who lives in his home and attempts to cut a cake does not need to roll for a success because the player created the cake and it is irrelevant to other players' decisions at that moment. A Lyrish knight attempting to pick up a Forge artefact would have to roll, as it'd be a key part of the environment. This also counts for ability usage. I hope that makes sense. The GM. The Game Master is me as of now. I will roll the dice for every player using RANDOM.ORG and will write help some players out with the story if they need help or guiding. I decide whether something is against the rules, and whether a post can be approved or not. I reserve the right to remove characters from the RP at will. PM me if anything bothersome between player interactions happens. Write Your Story. The best thing about RPs is that players have an enormous amount of creative influence. You can create the town in which you belong, add characters that are not controlled by anyone, join up with another player to co-operate within a story, make your own interactions with each other. I will not tell you to write towards a specific, expected, detailed storyline I have in mind. This is our story, and we will create it in our own way. If you and a friend within the RP want to tell the tale of two northguards looking for clues, go ahead, but know that another player might be an executor just waiting for you to make the wrong move... Be reasonable. Think realistically. If your opponent in a fight wins a dice roll for a brutal blow to the face, don't make sure your character barely feels it. Be sensible, be realistic, and perhaps think of a way to come back, such as getting hit brutally but trying to kick your opponent in the nuts while they are off-guard. The possibilities are many. Consider losing a fight, consider letting your opponent win every once in a while. Be reasonable yourself about a combat outcome. The GM does not need to be the one deciding who wins or loses a fight, if you are reasonable enough to do such things the game will be a lot more enjoyable in general. Your character MUST be a BattleForge card unit or related to one. All cards with the exception of Amii Phantom and Legendary cards are fine. You are allowed to create a unit based on a building, i.e. if you want to be a Worldbreaker Gunman or a worshipper for the Altar of Chaos, this is fine. There are great differences between units. You can easily pick a strong, XL unit or a weaker, S unit with strength in numbers. Feel free to play whatever you want, and realise the advantages and disadvantages of your unit type. Small units often come in numbers and armies and societies, whereas larger units are more scarce and easily zoned out. We will find a way to make this fair for all of you, and it causes some story variety and decisions to be made. After all, a northguard won't fight a grinder all on his own... BattleForge card values do not matter. You may interpret your own way of using BattleForge card abilities to make them fit within the story. As of the current stage of the RP, there will likely not be health points, specific damage values, percentual weaknesses, buffs, and so on. Card attributes like "unit takes 15% less damage" can for example be changed into "my character is resilient and sturdy and is capable of taking more hits due to his ability". Be creative and change the interpretation of the abilities to your liking. No Mary Sue/Gary Stu-ing. No OP characters. We all want our heroes to be invincible and undefeatable, but that doesn't help a good RP progress. If nobody can win a fight, then we'll be going nowhere. Be reasonable in your character design. Each character has strengths and weaknesses. If you don't know a weakness, have a look at your opposite faction or your counters in BattleForge itself (check http://cardbase.skylords.eu/). Be creative, make your character sensible and balanced. You should write in the third person. Do not use the "I"-tense in your posts, as this will make it confusing for others to distinguish who is who within the story. Instead, use your character's name. An example: "It's the shoes!" Rogan said happily. "I finally found what I wear on my feet!". All characters are able to speak English. No exceptions. Make a Character Sheet. It is mandatory to post a Character Sheet (CS) in this thread before being allowed in the story. A CS is a description of who your character is, what they do, personality, what strengths/weaknesses they have, history, etc. Let us know about your character! You will not be accepted into the RP if your character has not been approved by the GM or whoever he assigns to check the CS. A CS must contain the following (feel free to add your own fields to be more descriptive!): Full Name Age (in years) Card & Faction (Which BF unit are you?) Appearance and Gender (Does your character look different from the usual model? State here how special and different you are) Alignment (State with whom you ally, and/or what faction is your sworn enemy. You can be creative with this.) Abilities (Imagine up to a maximum of 3 special abilities your character can use. This may or may not be related to the actual BattleForge card. Be considerate, take penalties when an ability is strong, state conditions in order to be approved more easily) Stengths (What is your character good at? What are they known for?) Weaknesses (What is your character's weak spot? Can be mental or physical issues) Personality (what makes your character unique? How do they behave? what makes your northguard stand out from other northguards? You don't necessarily have to reflect your faction in this!) History (explain a bit about your past, how you came to be. This can be as extensive as you want it to be) New entries are ALWAYS welcome! You can partake in the RP even if it already started! If your CS gets approved you can write yourself in, no problem! This thread is NOT the RP. Once the RP starts I will make a separate thread. The RP contains posts from RP participants. No exceptions. Any post made in the RP without permission or without being a participant will be removed without warning or consideration. Respect the GM's decisions. If your CS gets rejected, feel free to edit it or make a new one. If a post does not get approved, take your time to change it. The GM is not biased and can be trusted. He rolls for himself, please, you can trust me alright Player List (Accepted - 11) Araxes - Lost Dragon @MrXLink Avatrostkol - Avatar of Frost @anonyme0273 Bloodsucker - Nature-sided Shadow Worm @5MERTN1K Chronos - Stone Shard @Defqon Dzodin - Shadow Giant Slayer @Dzodin The Great Warrior of Justice - Defender @Malzawar Ish'Faithal - Timeshifter Spirit @DragonOfTime Kaylen Storm - Kobold Engineer @Eddio The Last Whisper - Forest Elder @Lukegriffin02 Xyalas - Promo Swamp Drake @Kiwi Vasdohr - Dreadcharger @veryhasted Player List (Inactive - 1) Fumetsu Kyofu - Lost Warlord @BionicReaper Player List (Pending - 5) Currently awaiting Character Sheets from the following members: @Lorddaggon @Mrgenki @Ruben @Sensei Faction Division (Pending and Inactive included, Twilight Infected Split) FIRE - 0 FROST - 2 (Avatrostkol, Kaylen) NATURE - 4 (Bloodsucker, Ish'Faithal, The Last Whisper, Xyalas) SHADOW - 2 (Dzodin, Vasdohr) THE TWILIGHT - 2 (Dzodin, The Great Warrior of Justice) THE STONEKIN - 1 (Chronos) THE BANDITS - 0 THE LOST SOULS - 2 (Araxes, Fumetsu) When will it start? The RP has already started, check out the thread! Questions and Additions Welcome! Feel free to ask about the RP, I am only human and I might have forgotten some rules or have perhaps not made all the guidelines clear enough. Feel free to suggest and comment on my current storyline and faction descriptions! There is more than enough time to improve before and while the story is going on! Have fun, let your creative juices flow, and I hope to see your CSs soon! I will make my own CS once this has been posted

His name reminds me of an animated red cat. Also tiny blue people.