The Journal

http://wiki.battlemaster.org/skins/common/images/bm-logo.png The Journal

BattleMaster is like a book you can never put down. A book that's constantly rewriting itself actually, and has only become a much weightier, more satisfying tome with the passage of time. As the fifth anniversary of my joining BattleMaster fast approaches, I feel like I'm ready to give a review. Or at least, laud the triumphs, rail at the injustices and generally go on about the finest game on the internet. I'm User 6707 Welcome to the Journal.

Estates

and how they're the root of all evil.

For the very first time recently, I encountered the new system of choosing a realm, the choose by duchy system. An underwhelming experience. Fair enough, the importance of the Duchy is both enhanced and abetted by simply choosing a duchy from a list. No-one disputes the success of that. But alas, you learn nothing about the realm and what you do learn about the region is often flawed. Two thirds of region descriptions in BM seem to be either two years out of date or non-existent. The only saving grace of the entire Duchy-pick system is that you do see where Knights and their estates are needed, but I would say that this is a flaw of BM itself. At least for the less populated continents. Realms in Beluaterra for example, are perennially short of Knights. Without enough Knights, you cannot wage expansionary war or do a great deal of anything really. Considering that BM seems to have a static number of active players (always hovering around the 1000 mark) and how Dwilight continues to suck more and more players into its embrace and yet is still no-where even close to being filled herself, one does wonder at the consequences for the entirety of BM. Perhaps I'm the only one, but in my eyes Estates appear to be our very own BM equivalent of toxic Sub-Prime mortgage debt. Hit the 950 players mark and we may well go into estate recession. 900 and we go straight to estate depression! We are quite literally on the cusp of catastrophe. Though perhaps this is an alarmist view (remember the 1000 mark.) As realms seek to grow however, particularly the more fluid continents of Beluaterra and Dwilight, a common problem begins to emerge even with a stable player base. Where do the Knights come from that can set-up the estates necessary to hold onto new lands and maintain stability in the realm? As Dwilight continues to fill, the drain can only become more pronounced across the worlds of BM. We have on our hands a vicious spiral. New players will come and they will want to see action and war. Yet Rulers will be more content to sit on their hands and their tax income. Our meagre 20 nobles don't even stretch across 10 regions they'll say. Don't even dream of going for Keplerville they'll say. It's rich and all, but there's a region between us and that city. We'll need four new nobles at least bef- Oh, nevermind. They left already. I can see the reasons behind Estates. They're there to help tie nobles to their regions. They reward those who keep a watchful eye on the maintenance of their realm and punish those who do not. They can provide a brake upon the large realms who would devour their smaller neighbours. Yet I must confess to abandoning all pretence of staying in-character at times when young nobles suggest expansion to me. For as a player, I know that there is no-where my realm can go. Estates helped bring in the new culture of serving regions, but now they've outgrown their use. When a game mechanic interferes with the suspension of disbelief, it is a tragedy for the game. Anything that contributes to the players enjoyment of the game is something to be cherished however. Realms being able to function without fretting at how many Knights and Estates they have would be a good step in the right direction.

Snippets

28.09.09

The Name I was tempted to be so much more controversial with the title of this publication. But then, the BattleMaster Gestapo Gazette isn't quite as alliterative as the Giblot Gestapo Gazette, is it? It just didn't fit. Estates To be fair, perhaps it's entirely the point that realms have to scrabble over the limited resource that is the nobility these days. Maybe this isn't even an issue in most places. What do you think? Inspiration The idea for this OOC publication has been rattling around my head for ages. There are all sorts of subjects that I want to discuss. I'm pretty excited about it. Next Article The next article will be about the lives of our characters. Malice has been around for near five years himself now. What do you do with an old, well established character whose options you feel you've thoroughly exhausted as a player? Answers on a postcard please. 'Rotting Bodies' Did anyone else get the image of a Lord being found somewhere with his head slumped into a bowl of porridge? Of course, it might be a little terrifying to stumble across that after two whole months! Surely the servants suspected something?