Druidry Exculsivity

[Fayne]

A few of us were talking the other day on chat about druidry, and enough of us had the same thoughts that I figured I'd start a post on it.

I understand that once Generalization comes out, druidry will still be an exclusive ability reserved for Udemi and Dunwyr. However, a few of us feel this is a really crappy situation, because a lot of us who love druidry really don't fit well in either of these guilds. To be completely honest, the main reason I joined Udemi was to have druidry, and I would love to leave the guild now because of IC situations. But, no matter how much I want to leave, I have to struggle to stay in so that I can keep my druidry, because at this point it is an integral part of my character. And after this discussion, I learned that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

The issues with it currently are characters who want to be druids are confibed to either extremist behavior, or all but ignoring the Gaea in favor of fighting the Resen. This limits our behavior to two completely opposite ends of the spectrum, and leaves no room in the middle. But the thing is, quite a few of us would prefer to play somewhere in the middle, and some of us want to be druids without any obligation to go after the infested all the time, or without wanting to be antagonistic.

As far as I know, there is no lore reason as to why druidry is limited to just Tse Gaiyan or Dunwyr. My suggestion is either we make it an exclusive general ability that can only be taken without any other magical abilities, and also eliminates certain other abilities (A druid would really have no place forging, for instance, and heavy metal armor would be a hinderance to their connection with the Gaea), or create a new guild who is focused on attaining peace and balance with the Gaea, whose only exclusive abilities are druidry abilities. Myself and another character would even be willing to create the guild ourselves ICly if that would be preferred.

[Lysse]

That's sort of like saying "Some of us want Elemancy without paying dues and going to college", or "Some of us want Thaumaturgy, without being a Monk or Templar".

I don't really see why Druidry should be made available through a Generalized ability. It's a form of channeling, and magic generally requires specialized training which tends to be a closely guarded secret.


That being said, I do like the idea of a non-affiliated Druidic Guild, and I was writing up a proposal for one at the moment. But for the most part, it doesn't (in my mind) really add enough to the game to warrant a full guild, other than give people that want to avoid conflict a place to hang around and cultivate plants, which isn't very interesting or story-driving.

[Kiyaani]

Some people would say Snowpine isn't very interesting or story-driving too. Doesn't mean it's a bad idea. Some guilds exist just for fellowship or character-specific purposes and don't have political agendas, world-altering goals, or other things going for them and that's okay.

I agree making it a general ability might not be a good idea, but I do like the idea of Druidry being more accessible to those who aren't necessarily gung-ho about the two guilds that currently offer it. If they are willing to sacrifice joining a different guild to sustain that RP and background for their character then I think the option would be a nice one to provide.

[Rias]

That's sort of like saying "Some of us want Elemancy without paying dues and going to college", or "Some of us want Thaumaturgy, without being a Monk or Templar".

This was the first thing that went through my mind.

extremist behavior,

I think you mean AWESOME behavior!

or all but ignoring the Gaea in favor of fighting the Resen.

Vinnie can correct me if required, but it sounds like you're Udemi-ing it wrong. There's a thing called balance of priorities. A discussion for a different thread, though.

Druidry is exclusive because it's not something that can really just be discovered on one's own. Same as Elemancy and Thaumaturgy, it's a specialized method/discipline/technique/whichever-term-you-prefer that has been honed and handed down through the generations, particularly in specific organizations. Druids tend to only teach others that have, or agree to take up, a specific purpose or ideal. They don't just teach it to anyone who thinks it would be totally cool or useful to have roots tangle their enemies.

I'd love to have a more "pure druidry" guild someday, but they would absolutely have rules and ideals that would need to be adhered to, and would likely be quite strict about it. Udemi are less so because they take a more practical approach to things, finding druidry worth teaching to their members with less reservation because it's worth it to give them an edge against the resen. There's never going to be a guild that teaches druidry "just because we can/because it's cool, and we don't care who you are or what you do with it."

[Rias]

Oh, so to give a clear answer: No, we will not be generalizing druidry.

[Elystole]

Some people would say Snowpine isn't very interesting or story-driving too. Doesn't mean it's a bad idea. Some guilds exist just for fellowship or character-specific purposes and don't have political agendas, world-altering goals, or other things going for them and that's okay.

More than okay, I think. I happen to like the Snowpine Lodge and it'd be great to see them get more love. I was sorely tempted to join them once I stumbled across the recruiter and started some of the tasks, but it wasn't quite the right fit for Elystole. Still, if we could have joined multiple guilds (and I know we can't nor am I asking that we be able to), that would have been the guild he'd have joined. There's an appeal to being an explorer or outdoorsman without the political BS getting attached.

[Lysse]

Some people would say Snowpine isn't very interesting or story-driving too. Doesn't mean it's a bad idea. Some guilds exist just for fellowship or character-specific purposes and don't have political agendas, world-altering goals, or other things going for them and that's okay.

It's totally cool to have small, minor guilds that don't insert conflict or driven story into the game. The key there being, Minor. Druidry is a pretty major thing. It's powerful magic, it gives you access to a LOT of cool commands, and the spells are super nifty.

If you want a character that has access to really, really cool tools, then there should be some kind of sacrifice on the part of the player and the character. OOCly, you sacrifice a LOT of RP avenues when you choose to play a Templar or a Monk, in exchange for being Monks and Templars, and getting thaumaturgy. When you choose to play in one of the Druidic guilds (even the one that doesn't give access to Druidry), you're enrolling your character into a big organization that has global goals, ideals, and rules that your PC has to adhere to, so you're giving up something there, in exchange for the tools that come with that. ICly, in both examples, your PC is pledging themselves to causes, and because of that they're being taught Secret Cool Things for their efforts.

I agree making it a general ability might not be a good idea, but I do like the idea of Druidry being more accessible to those who aren't necessarily gung-ho about the two guilds that currently offer it. If they are willing to sacrifice joining a different guild to sustain that RP and background for their character then I think the option would be a nice one to provide.

Again, I think another Druidry guild would be great. It would be really, really cool to see in action. As long as (as Rias said) it were just as strict in terms of the RP requirements, the rules, goals, etc., that it had to offer. PCs can't access Elemancy or Thaumaturgy through "sacrificing joining another guild", so that argument is kind of a fallacy.

That's pretty much where I have the issue with it. Druidry shouldn't be any more widely accessible than Elemancy or Thaumaturgy, to be frank. It's cool. It's special. And by making it more easily accessible, you remove those factors from Druidry, and you start taking away from people that ARE making IC and OOC sacrifices to have access to Druidry. And that's patently unfair.

[Fayne]

Okay, first, I was more for making a guild than making it available to everyone as a general skill.

Second, how would a guild focused only on druidry not be making sacrifices? If tou aren't making sacrifices, you're a horrible druid. You should be protecting the Gaea, going out of your way to try and heal it, protect it, and make sure it stays safe and balanced. It would basically be the lesser-Dunwyr, the evironmemtalists of CLOK, who spend 99% of their time in the wilderness, hardly ever buy inorganic, man-made stuff, make their own tools and weapons, probably even clothing, and do whatever they can to feel closer to the Gaea and further their understanding of it.

[Lavi]

I would personally like to see a druidic guild that was a very rigid guild like the Dunwyr without it being so difficult to join, but I don't know what that would really bring to the game as Lysse said. I would have a hard time thinking of abilities that would compliment the ideals set up by the guild. So I keep thinking it'd be a lot of cultivation type stuff and things like that. Maybe there's stuff I don't know about though.

[Fayne]

Snipped.

My apologies to the staff and my fellow players.