Archived The Chopping Block - Dead And Dying Races And Possible Solutions

[Conflee]

Hello! Im going to be brief and skip the introduction mostly: there are several races in Lore that are hardly played, they are dying, and they are on the chopping block as of last public notice. These would be: Lampar, Rashaq, Wulong, and Maiar. Based on my own census they are nearly unplayed, and most have several issues with generic or problematic niches. This is a brief run down on the races and solutions I think would work for them- barring Rashaq which have already had their culture merged with Avanthar.

Lampar:
The Lampar, previously the Quebo, have always been a problem child. Their traits and lore has always been geared towards operating as a quarantine race, designed to trap off Cutsie OwO RP. This has lead to a pretty poor image OOC in the community for the race, but its clear the race isn't entirely un-salvageable. When more experienced RPers sit down and try to play one properly, to defy the stereotype, the result is usually a pretty solid character.

I think the main issue isn't that Cutsie RP is unfeasible, its more than the race has always been written with that as its sole purpose more or less. Its like in other shittier settings when Elves are just fantastic pure archer heroes or all orcs are dumb brutes with deep rooted honor. Its a decent concept, with poorly handled hamfisted aim.

Instead of Lampar focusing on Cutsie RP, which leads to disruptive RP where new players run up to everyone and talk for like 3 minutes before running away, Lampar's mental focus should be on building tightly knit friend circles, and maintaining them. They becoming the Mediators. Therapists of sorts though all they do is sit and listen. Other traits can be derived from that aim, such as unblinking eyes so people feel like they are always listening and attentive, etc. Their goal stops being "Talk to everyone with food constantly and run around screeching" and more bearable, while not eliminating the cutsie aspect entirely.

Wulong:
The Wulong niche was always as far as I can tell, acrobatic warriors and tricksters. Im not sure what exactly killed this niche, but if I had to toss out a guess I imagine its probably how many Acrobatic races there are. The Marayan, Mu-Allar, Varran and Half-Varran (soon to be) all fill the same niche, plus other benefits. Its over crowded.

One niche we don't really pander to, possibly because its a bit cliche but honestly so is 'trickster monkey race' so who cares, is Monks. I won't labor over excessive details here, but I think some sort of eastern-inspired philosophy and culture, with a focus on monk-esk traits and abilities, would suit them better than their current dead niche.

Maiar:
This one is the simplest: Flesh. These. Fish. Out.

The fact that the only type of Maiar people make despite having literally infinite options for customization and creativity is generic buff shark daddies is baffling. The solution I think would be a more detailed section on evolutionary mutations based on environments, and the mental and cultural differences they bring. Add a Whale type that acts as the kings or the equivalent to the race and slap it behind Trustee. Stuff like that worked for the Allar wonderfully. Doesnt have to be limited to sub species, still a lot of free-form customization would be great, but defining traits will focus people in and present more obvious options, hopefully bringing about less generic Maiar.


Thats it.

 

[FireFan96]

Lampar and Rashaq are gonna become half Varran eventually

Wulong may be part of Sihai lore so wait and see

Maiar are fine as is, and anything they can become visually already exists with their evolutionary physiology. If players want to meme it and just make buff sharks then that's the real problem.

 

[Conflee]

Lampar and Rashaq are gonna become half Varran eventually

Click to shrink...

Half-Varrans fill an acrobatic niche, but they dont seem like they will really do anything to take over the Lampar's current role or design.

Wulong may be part of Sihai lore so wait and see

Click to shrink...

Hopefully.

Maiar are fine as is, and anything they can become visually already exists with their evolutionary physiology. If players want to meme it and just make buff sharks then that's the real problem.

Click to shrink...

There aren't really 'player problems' with Maiar in my mind. People play things based on the impressions the lore pages give them. If the overwhelming majority of people only see Shark Maiar as worth playing then there is something wrong with the writing not the players. Either the others are uninteresting or as I think, theres not enough information on them to hook people.

 

[AtticCat]

I think they should do an update to the Maiar like they did with the Allar, like you said. That certainly boosted their likability.

 

[Conflee]

I though the Wulong was removed from lore.

Click to shrink...

The page still exists and its listed on the Races page but its apparently soon-to-be chopped.

 

[Conflee]

I think they should do an update to the Maiar like they did with the Allar, like you said. That certainly boosted their likability.

Click to shrink...

I would rather its not super sub-divided with sub-races, but categories based on Ocean, Deep ocean, Salt/Fresh water, etc would be a good way to divvy it up culturally.

 

[soapboxstage]

Maiar:
This one is the simplest: Flesh. These. Fish. Out.

The fact that the only type of Maiar people make despite having literally infinite options for customization and creativity is generic buff shark daddies is baffling. The solution I think would be a more detailed section on evolutionary mutations based on environments, and the mental and cultural differences they bring. Add a Whale type that acts as the kings or the equivalent to the race and slap it behind Trustee. Stuff like that worked for the Allar wonderfully. Doesnt have to be limited to sub species, still a lot of free-form customization would be great, but defining traits will focus people in and present more obvious options, hopefully bringing about less generic Maiar.

Click to shrink...

The maiar aren't doing too bad right now, we've got a good tribe going. If they rewrite us, they should add more culture, not change aspects of the race or change the concept entirely. That would do nothing but make people have to rewrite their chars, which would continue to discourage it. Flesh it out, don't change it like they did with the mekket, which completed changed the original concept

 

[soapboxstage]

There aren't really 'player problems' with Maiar in my mind. People play things based on the impressions the lore pages give them. If the overwhelming majority of people only see Shark Maiar as worth playing then there is something wrong with the writing not the players. Either the others are uninteresting or as I think, theres not enough information on them to hook people.

Click to shrink...

You'd be surprised how few people actually play sharks maiar. I think it's a bit false the rumor that maiar are powergamed, the only time I've ever seen this was with noobs. But this is obvious, they see a cool new race, and are drawn to it, but they aren't good at to cuz they noobs. That isn't the writings fault, or the players fault, just the way noobs migrate to the cooler looking races

 

[AtticCat]

The maiar aren't doing too bad right now, we've got a good tribe going. If they rewrite us, they should add more culture, not change aspects of the race or change the concept entirely. That would do nothing but make people have to rewrite their chars, which would continue to discourage it. Flesh it out, don't change it like they did with the mekket, which completed changed the original concept

Click to shrink...

Perhaps people don't really see your maiar then? I certainly haven't seen any Maiar save for one around lately, so maybe be more public- they could try having some sort of event at the park lake, everyone likes going there.

 

[soapboxstage]

I also don't believe the subdivisions between different type would help. I think we should focus on region and region alone. Give each region a different type of culture. Ie the north worships sea serpents differently. Or the east have commonly different adaptations. I like the current evolution model though, because it allows different types of maiar without having too many limits. I've made a squid face, a whale, a thing that vaguely resembles a turtle. I think they should explain more about the racial evolution though and explain it a bit more. The way it currently is is a bit pre-darwin evolution where "limb is used more" to "limb develops more" and I think this should be explained more. We need more creativity, not less.

 

[soapboxstage]

Perhaps people don't really see your maiar then? I certainly haven't seen any Maiar save for one around lately, so maybe be more public- they could try having some sort of event at the park lake, everyone likes going there.

Click to shrink...

The Sul'rai tribe is currently working on applying for a district

 

[Rinus]

Personally, I think that keeping the lampar as unintelligent or incredibly forgetful will only lead to more cutesy roleplay. I also do not think that they should be ugly and wrinkly as was suggested because we had that with the Crelin and they were then redacted from the lore. Honestly, I'd love to see a dynamic close to the Children Of The Forest from GOT, with a more tribal, primitive, shamanistic society. Maybe they have their own religion and beliefs that are alien to the religions that the rest of Aloria practice. Maybe their religion is based in a more witchcraft/voodoo inspired route, where divination and active prayers and rituals are important.

Or maybe they're a society that despite its small stature has become powerful in their own ways, for example with things like crafts, a specific form of warfare like stealth or something like that. Maybe they're creative and have the ability to become great artisans, just not great warriors.

You could also take them down a more halfling-inspired route. I never really understood why focus was put onto the annoying, bratty, rp-disrupting A'rafa Q'urebo that became the lampar, instead of on the Ersin Kleinfolk, who had a more interesting dynamic imo due to being sane, if a bit strange, halfling people.

 

[Legoclub22]

Lampar could be a vicious tribal speciese whose mental state is to kill, conquer and raze.

...Only they're 2 feet tall rats who everyone finds adorable.

What if Lampar despised being called cute? If they wanted so badly to be like a Varran, big, deadly and respected, but are physically incapable of doing so.

I play my single Lampar as a travelling salesman sort thing. He, uh... 'borrows' shiny stuff from open windows(or maybe utilizes nearby rocks to create open windows,) and then drags it around in a sack heckling people to buy his shinies. Imagine a car salesman, but a Lampar with stolen candlesticks and plates.

"Is hey! Yous! Yous is buy I'rieth shinies! Is give good deal! Is listen! I'rieth is give two shiny fire-sticks is for only... Five ray-eah-gullz! Is if buy fast, I'rieth is give soft napkin only three ray-eah-gullz!"

 

[Conflee]

Lampar could be a vicious tribal speciese whose mental state is to kill, conquer and raze.

...Only they're 2 feet tall rats who everyone finds adorable.

Click to shrink...

Naw that was basically the rashaq and that creates the same disruptive issues just instead of "Is hi!" its "Is stab!"

 

[Kibaa]

In my opinion Maiar are one of the most intriguing races and are incredibly well-written. They adhere to the typical archetype of underwater creature warriors while still pertaining to their own individual concept, lore, and traits created by our very own lore staff. From my observations one of the main problem with them is that they can hardly ever be played in regalia due to lack of location for them. The tavern no longer has a pool for them, the harbor is relatively underused compared to other hotspots, and the park pond is not super practical for them. I'm not saying game staff should create new locations simply only for the sake of the very few Maiar roleplayers that do exist- i'm simply saying there's little drive or incentive to play a Maiar in Regalia which constitutes a good old shelving for now until lorestaff decide what more to do. In retrospect water is not even entirely needed for the cultivation of maiar roleplay-- many of the present ones often just play their characters out of water. Honestly' I'd just leave this one up to Lore Staff.

@Levers 's iteration of Wulong, while initially one of the most well-received and hyped additions to the race lore, were unfortunately just too instinct-driven and animalistic to find a proper place in Regalia. Their complex mentality and behaviors meant that most roleplayers would either have a run in with the law and guards eventually, totally butcher the way wulong were supposed to be played, or simply not be able to find or even create proper roleplay in Regalia. They were just too difficult to both roleplay with and as(not to mention it was impossible to have a Wu-long and Chi-enji in the same room, which tended to get annoying. Sorry for attacking you 3 years ago, Dr Fong.). Early last year, hydralana and other lorestaff gave Wulong lore a decent update and a bit more playability. However in my opinion this change was way too combat oriented, specially when considering the new ability that Wulong have which is essentially being able to transform into a Super Saiyan Ape at the exchange of your consciousness and energy for a little while afterwards. This basically just made Wulong be seen as completely combat oriented characters with no value to their other roleplayable habits, which is why the only Wulong characters we see nowadays are just combat warlords only used during fights. I try to roleplay my Wulong character casually in the slums, which more often than not rends some comic roleplay interactions-- But it's very difficult to attain normal, serious roleplay with Wulong because they're simply not built for a setting like Regalia, neither ICly nor OOCly.

As for Lampar, everyone else above me has basically covered it.