- Joined
- Apr 12, 2014
- Messages
- 97
- Reaction score
- 409
- Points
- 0
- Age
- 34
Massive is not so easily summarized no matter how much you've seen or played, its a mercurial yet welcoming thing, a lot like a good book of infinite pages. This server is built well, the towns are massive, the worlds are beautiful, it's all architecturally stunning and holds well into both realism and fantasy. Walking down Regalia's streets feels timeless, and I consistently find new places, little nooks and crannies dispersed among the city, whether in the Merchant's quarter, low town, the sewers or among the estates of nobles. It is to be blunt, a giant piece of eye candy. Everything is amazing, the builders and World staff are skilled.
The lore of Massive does not stagnate, although it can be a little slow to expand. However what is added, has been observed, and I'd not hesitate to say, shaped masterfully for it's purpose. The racial lore is sensible and for the most part playable, although expansion could be nice. The races are diverse, and while certain fantasy staples are present, they usually have a tasteful twist in some regard. My favorite example is that humanity is generalized into numerous divergent subgroups, from desert dwelling mage-swordsmen, to the stout and enduring dwarven inventors. Anyone can write lore, and make an impact. While that could be taken negatively, it's not meant to be. The lore can be shaped, by anyone. A single article, a single event, can branch off exponentially. Growth isn't feared. We've got articles on everything from poems and diseases, to battles that characters that are currently being played partook in. The lore is amazing, and while not every eventually has been noted, lore Q and A and creative freedom can fill in the gaps. The server doesn't fall over lore wise do to a minor hiccup, and when sledgehammered and forced to rewrite extensively, it doesn't even slow down.
While I don't necessarily agree with the political layouts all the time, it seems to produce a sort of slow intermixing between societal levels. Its not all consuming or destructive, it's..measured, stable enough, and not as ostracizing as it could've been. A noble will often have commoner allies, friends, and even rivals. It's rather heartwarming when even at the peak of personal trouble, a noble defends your deeds, your name, and your species, even at cost to themselves. It may be a game, but I honestly felt something warm in my heart at that moment. Nobility isn't bad, it's just another flavor of role playing. The same can be said for criminal, guard, and other more exotic forms of rp.
Characters can be damn near anything semi-realistic (Or semi-fantastic from some points of view). Want to be a breadmaker by day, pub brawler by night? Go ahead. Want to make a kindhearted scholar or absolutely immoral, villainous criminal? Go for it. Heroes and villains, interacting. It's free-form enough for personalities, epics, tragedies, or just random stories and bragging in the bar. Aloria in my opinion, and once again that of some others, is a primarily gray moral landscape, interspersed with white gleaming light sunlight, and motes of the deepest black. As well as a few other colours. The greatest hero has a dark side, and the worst of villians have soft spots. Characters given development and growth feel like people, less simple drones but people. Investiture is impossible to dodge. We want them to succeed, to achieve goals, to be happy. Some of us get there by making as many friends as possible. Others go on quests, more than a few fight in wars, or master weaponry in the sewers. And for an aberrant few, they cobble together scientific contraptions that defy any accusation of medieval stasis. Whether said devices work or not is another matter.
Magic is suprisingly balanced, yet flexible. You can do a lot with it, and it's easy enough to make a mage while still being something beyond "Just a wizard". While the lore is extensive, it isn't stiff, it isn't choking, there's plenty of room to move. The rules are surprisingly fair, and there is no shortage of people to help you understand something.
My favourite thing in Massive, the thing that keeps many people here, the thing I saw on many chats, throught many conversations, the thing that made all the problems real or imagined become irrelevant, was the people. We rp through characters, whether idealized selves, or aliens. We live their lives, yet, in each character is a bit of ourselves. It's impossible to escape this, something in the self will imprint into each new identity. As a person interacts with others, over time, and through sheer investiture in that communication, something happens. We begin to appreciate the others. We start to see them as important in some manner. This may result in deeper rp, maybe marriage rp, maybe making a best friend. Or, even striving to know the person behind the mask. While tentative at first, a few quick pms while looking for each other, a light joke or two, can start an actual friendship. You empathize, you learn about each other. Some have even gone so far as to travel to their Massive friend's homes, whether across a city, or across an ocean. Skype chatting, sending gifts, or just the realization. that you made something, and someone took the time out of their lives to appreciate it, and interact with it. It touches you, as a person, we get to grow to know people, to like people, to argue and make up, to see differing viewpoints, to expand out own worldview. You meet people from across the planet, different cultures and ideals. You get to make a story with people, you get to learn of them, and know them. You gain a bit of worldliness from it all. Massive is a place where one can fly, dream and grow, and know that you aren't alone, people are with you, riding the same ride, enjoying themselves. You get to dream, to ponder, and to build something magnificent with but words typed into a chat bar.
Everyone, can build something beautiful with but words in a chat bar. Everyone is author, and reader. And it is good. I, and many I know, don't plan on leaving, anytime soon.
The lore of Massive does not stagnate, although it can be a little slow to expand. However what is added, has been observed, and I'd not hesitate to say, shaped masterfully for it's purpose. The racial lore is sensible and for the most part playable, although expansion could be nice. The races are diverse, and while certain fantasy staples are present, they usually have a tasteful twist in some regard. My favorite example is that humanity is generalized into numerous divergent subgroups, from desert dwelling mage-swordsmen, to the stout and enduring dwarven inventors. Anyone can write lore, and make an impact. While that could be taken negatively, it's not meant to be. The lore can be shaped, by anyone. A single article, a single event, can branch off exponentially. Growth isn't feared. We've got articles on everything from poems and diseases, to battles that characters that are currently being played partook in. The lore is amazing, and while not every eventually has been noted, lore Q and A and creative freedom can fill in the gaps. The server doesn't fall over lore wise do to a minor hiccup, and when sledgehammered and forced to rewrite extensively, it doesn't even slow down.
While I don't necessarily agree with the political layouts all the time, it seems to produce a sort of slow intermixing between societal levels. Its not all consuming or destructive, it's..measured, stable enough, and not as ostracizing as it could've been. A noble will often have commoner allies, friends, and even rivals. It's rather heartwarming when even at the peak of personal trouble, a noble defends your deeds, your name, and your species, even at cost to themselves. It may be a game, but I honestly felt something warm in my heart at that moment. Nobility isn't bad, it's just another flavor of role playing. The same can be said for criminal, guard, and other more exotic forms of rp.
Characters can be damn near anything semi-realistic (Or semi-fantastic from some points of view). Want to be a breadmaker by day, pub brawler by night? Go ahead. Want to make a kindhearted scholar or absolutely immoral, villainous criminal? Go for it. Heroes and villains, interacting. It's free-form enough for personalities, epics, tragedies, or just random stories and bragging in the bar. Aloria in my opinion, and once again that of some others, is a primarily gray moral landscape, interspersed with white gleaming light sunlight, and motes of the deepest black. As well as a few other colours. The greatest hero has a dark side, and the worst of villians have soft spots. Characters given development and growth feel like people, less simple drones but people. Investiture is impossible to dodge. We want them to succeed, to achieve goals, to be happy. Some of us get there by making as many friends as possible. Others go on quests, more than a few fight in wars, or master weaponry in the sewers. And for an aberrant few, they cobble together scientific contraptions that defy any accusation of medieval stasis. Whether said devices work or not is another matter.
Magic is suprisingly balanced, yet flexible. You can do a lot with it, and it's easy enough to make a mage while still being something beyond "Just a wizard". While the lore is extensive, it isn't stiff, it isn't choking, there's plenty of room to move. The rules are surprisingly fair, and there is no shortage of people to help you understand something.
My favourite thing in Massive, the thing that keeps many people here, the thing I saw on many chats, throught many conversations, the thing that made all the problems real or imagined become irrelevant, was the people. We rp through characters, whether idealized selves, or aliens. We live their lives, yet, in each character is a bit of ourselves. It's impossible to escape this, something in the self will imprint into each new identity. As a person interacts with others, over time, and through sheer investiture in that communication, something happens. We begin to appreciate the others. We start to see them as important in some manner. This may result in deeper rp, maybe marriage rp, maybe making a best friend. Or, even striving to know the person behind the mask. While tentative at first, a few quick pms while looking for each other, a light joke or two, can start an actual friendship. You empathize, you learn about each other. Some have even gone so far as to travel to their Massive friend's homes, whether across a city, or across an ocean. Skype chatting, sending gifts, or just the realization. that you made something, and someone took the time out of their lives to appreciate it, and interact with it. It touches you, as a person, we get to grow to know people, to like people, to argue and make up, to see differing viewpoints, to expand out own worldview. You meet people from across the planet, different cultures and ideals. You get to make a story with people, you get to learn of them, and know them. You gain a bit of worldliness from it all. Massive is a place where one can fly, dream and grow, and know that you aren't alone, people are with you, riding the same ride, enjoying themselves. You get to dream, to ponder, and to build something magnificent with but words typed into a chat bar.
Everyone, can build something beautiful with but words in a chat bar. Everyone is author, and reader. And it is good. I, and many I know, don't plan on leaving, anytime soon.
