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The current implementation of Artifacts, meaning, the one before this one, represents maybe the "weakest" Artifacts have ever been in terms of what they do. This existence came about because of a period in time during 2021-2022 and into late 2023 where Artifacts were at their most powerful. Each Artifact had its own unique Abilitiy, or abilities, that were generally considered combat-warping and "meta-defining" in what they did, or allowed. Coraveau especially was the litmus for this, with an Ability that allowed for generalized flight (back when that was a thing we still even allowed, which we don't anymore, largely because of Coraveau). It was during this time that the sheer drama, discontent, and displeasure that arose from these items reached their apex, even amongst staff members, and the executive decision was made amongst Lore Staff Direction (myself, MonMarty, and Okanara) that the best thing to do would be to just outright remove the source of the issues, that being, artifacts with incredibly powerful and useful abilities. All unique Abilities were removed from Artifacts, and they were down-graded to versions with much more muted Mechanics.
We are now in the middle of 2024, and have generally come to the conclusion that we swung a little too far in the opposite direction. Artifacts are, now, as we perceive them, generally "low impact" and not something that players frequently contest over, wherein artifact sparks are considered more desirable because of their use with certain event NPCs/Gods/Arken etc. So, the decision was made to "try again" with giving Artifacts stronger Mechanics, free packs, and the addition of a new tier called "Legendary Artifactsparks." This all, however, comes with the caveat that if it happens again that the mere existence of Artifacts becomes a source of drama for players, of displeasure, and otherwise "bad vibes," we are more than ready to revert this implementation, and not try again. It has happened before, in multiple documented instances, that players have outright quit the server when their artifact was taken from them, or admitted to the fact that having an artifact makes them not want to log on to RP because they are afraid of losing it. These things are unequivocally net negatives to us, and if something we made to encourage people to RP, is making them not RP, or worse yet, making them fully leave the server, it is a bad thing and we do not want to see it exist. If it comes to pass that this happens again, we will pull the plug, without hesitation. It is our hope that players will, with these new rules, treat Artifacts with the expectation that they will generally be passed around, and to not worry too much about losing them, or their sparks.
This update also includes a way to remove Artifacts from circulation when they haven't passed hands for an extended period of time, called artifact "tenuring." Tenuring applies when the same character has had the same artifact for roughly four or more months. At this point, we would like to say: alright, this is your artifact, it is tied to your character. When an artifact is Tenured, it is "removed from circulation" and we plan to write a new one to roughly replace it. So, for example, since Sangria (a Unionist Sword) is Tenured with this update, we'll be looking at releasing a Unionist Weapon or a Unionist Set of Armor with similar theming. This reflects the opposite end of Artifacts that frequently pass hands, which is, Artifacts that land with one person and then (for one reason or another) do not change hands again, and become synonymous with that character. It is our hope that this will represent a natural progression of "retirement" for an Artifact, where it becomes tenured to a character, and then retired when that character is.
We are now in the middle of 2024, and have generally come to the conclusion that we swung a little too far in the opposite direction. Artifacts are, now, as we perceive them, generally "low impact" and not something that players frequently contest over, wherein artifact sparks are considered more desirable because of their use with certain event NPCs/Gods/Arken etc. So, the decision was made to "try again" with giving Artifacts stronger Mechanics, free packs, and the addition of a new tier called "Legendary Artifactsparks." This all, however, comes with the caveat that if it happens again that the mere existence of Artifacts becomes a source of drama for players, of displeasure, and otherwise "bad vibes," we are more than ready to revert this implementation, and not try again. It has happened before, in multiple documented instances, that players have outright quit the server when their artifact was taken from them, or admitted to the fact that having an artifact makes them not want to log on to RP because they are afraid of losing it. These things are unequivocally net negatives to us, and if something we made to encourage people to RP, is making them not RP, or worse yet, making them fully leave the server, it is a bad thing and we do not want to see it exist. If it comes to pass that this happens again, we will pull the plug, without hesitation. It is our hope that players will, with these new rules, treat Artifacts with the expectation that they will generally be passed around, and to not worry too much about losing them, or their sparks.
This update also includes a way to remove Artifacts from circulation when they haven't passed hands for an extended period of time, called artifact "tenuring." Tenuring applies when the same character has had the same artifact for roughly four or more months. At this point, we would like to say: alright, this is your artifact, it is tied to your character. When an artifact is Tenured, it is "removed from circulation" and we plan to write a new one to roughly replace it. So, for example, since Sangria (a Unionist Sword) is Tenured with this update, we'll be looking at releasing a Unionist Weapon or a Unionist Set of Armor with similar theming. This reflects the opposite end of Artifacts that frequently pass hands, which is, Artifacts that land with one person and then (for one reason or another) do not change hands again, and become synonymous with that character. It is our hope that this will represent a natural progression of "retirement" for an Artifact, where it becomes tenured to a character, and then retired when that character is.
