Why Corvus? What will it be?

[Vitello]

The Church on nether according to Rias

The Church's opinion of and stance on nether in general.

Nether is a substance, with no inherent evil about it. The Church's stance is that nothing is in and of itself "evil", just as nothing is in and of itself "good". Those terms are instead used to describe motives behind actions. There is also no church-wide ban on the wielding or acceptance of nether. They do, however, forbid members of certain positions and any officers to use it, such as Templar and Monks, as the nether will hinder or outright prevent their ability to effectively channel their inner light. Not only that, but it is the Church's observation that nether often inspires certain tendencies in people that use it, such as a drive to attain further knowledge or power without regards to the cost. The latter is the issue, not the former - attaining knowledge and power can be used for good means as well as evil. Doing so at the cost of others and one's own standards and morals is the issue.

That said as long as you use nether but aren't a 'villain' it's all sunshine and rainbows.

So why switch to Corvus? If you switch what benefit is there to warrant the animosity of the church and the loss of thau-healing and resurrections? What are the perks of choosing a villain when a large percent of mudders are out to be the hero?

I understand this is Beta and still in development but I challenge staff to think on this heavily as if done right it will be awesome, if done wrong it's just a wedge to split a (currently limited) pbase.

[Rias]

While I agree there should be perks to joining Corvus (or any other faction, for that matter), the main reason one would do so, I think, would be for roleplaying purposes. Not everyone wants to be happy fun time churchgoers who sacrifice for the good of all and care for the needy. Some people want off the beaten path, some people roleplay histories involving anger or hostility toward the Church, some simply enjoy CvC conflict, some people want to be straight up "evil" but still have a place to call home. Corvus exists largely to give these people an option, and to provide town amenities for them, rather than kicking them out into the wild and saying "you're a big meanie, you fend for yourself now, no town for you."

We've got characters in several interesting states as far as faction. There's one who's hostile with every major town, and is unable to enjoy any major town amenities. This wasn't a punishment or done with some large benefit in exchange, they simply wanted to play a specific role that included their being unwelcome in all the major towns. Some unique systems (that are mainly ways to help make up for what they now lack) were added in afterward to help them out, but that wasn't the reason they initially made their choice.

Joining Corvus doesn't cut you off from thaumaturgic healing and resurrection, though it admittedly makes it much tougher to come by. I know of more than one monk that would gladly heal and resurrect (if they are capable) Corvus members, and have done so. You'd be surprised how tolerant many monks and templar are toward Corvus members. For those Corvites who choose not to be civil with the Church and its members, there are still the options of bandages and the infirmary for healing. Rooks will be able to resurrect in the near future, and alchemy is currently being worked on, which will provide additional healing options.

TL;DR: Joining Corvus should be a choice based on character and roleplay, not on benefits. That said, we're not against giving some unique benefits to Corvites. Feel free to suggest some.

[KianTheArcher]

In the end, you shouldn't necessarily choose one path over another based on benefits. While my Rook isn't likely to join Corvus (for RP reasons), she still refuses healing from the church based on the background I came up for her. And even with that self-imposed rule (and keep in mind her skills are all under 50), I don't think she's died once.

If you're finding death to be a problem overall, then the best thing to do is re-evaluate WHY you are dying. If you're dying because your character is making actions that make IC sense for them to make, then that might just have to be something you try to overcome. Poulticed bandages do wonders, and often are more than enough so that one could get back to an Infirmary before bleeding out and dying.