Ive been
waiting for someone to mention this. Let me start off by saying, first and foremost - Say what you have to say, and if people don't like what you have to say on your personal opinion or give meaningless -1's that should be of 0 concern to you. Let your voice be heard and screw the haters.
Second, when people say "It isn't how it used to be" - It was not based just on roleplay. It was based on two facts:
- Powerful alliances at the time had a thing called standards
- Loka itself had more of a risk factor imposed on its players due to prior mechanics
The biggest thing that hurt Loka, in my opinion, was the removal of beachheads to control actual territories on foreign continents. Limiting conquest, created a funnel effect with unforeseen consequences. The choice to remove such a pivotal mechanic scarred the diplomatic system of Loka and has been a result in why Lokan diplomacy has plummeted. There can be 6 rivinas, 4 balaks, but nothing will change the risk factor of people being FORCED to work together to prevent an invasion onto their continent.
Back then, part of the reason why alliances had such high diplomatic standards is that the risk factor was high. If the capital of Ascalon didn't keep strategic diplomacy with other key powerful towns on Ascalon, it put the continent at risk. Why? Because if Kalros wanted to invade Ascalon, then the capital of Ascalon faces a war on two fronts, one from that enemy town on their home turf and the other from a foreign invading army. So why does this matter? It matters because it FORCED players to keep good diplomatic ties with other cities so that they can fight off foreign threats without having to worry about fighting a war on two fronts, foreign or domestic. In this case, small mini towns like yours that wish to be peaceful weren't seen as a hunting ground because there were bigger fish to fry in the eyes of the bloodthirsty warriors. This is exactly how the biggest war on the server started between Garama vs Kalros and Ascalon.
Then there is the duality of diplomacy, I will draw from a realistic event that has happened on Loka but makeup a scenario. So lets say a town wanted the capital of Kalros but they didn't have enough people to win the war. However lets say this town was friends with the capitol of Ascalon, and their alliance wanted to help you fight on Kalros to help you win cap because they want more influence. Now you have more cross-continental diplomacy. The best part about how it was, it was that it was in the fate of the player to decide what roads to take. They had the freedom to choose, there was more risk involved and most importantly, players had control over their own destiny of their mark on Loka.
Then you have multilateral diplomacy that players used to do without even knowing it was an actual thing. Continents and alliances used to have peace talks and ceasefires because maybe they were dealing with something on their own home continent? I mean there is so much to explore here but I will keep it short, somewhat.
These powerful alliances like Covenant, Iblis, Garaman Confederation, Asmund, and so forth all had one thing in common, diplomatic standards of how they would treat people because of the risk factor. It mattered due to conquest not being put on a leash. Lots of these alliances ruled for very long long periods of time, whereas now, an alliance cant even own a continent for a month because their members get bored once they own the continent plus owning ravina and balak this is what I mean by being put on a leash. It also opened the door for 'Capitol Sharing'.
Before, if you had this much power, alliances used to turn their eyes to other continents because they had lots of ambition, this allowed for them to want to leave a legacy which sparked good ol roleplay. This is because the players were in control. However .... part of the reason why people don't stick to these diplomatic titles anymore is that continents are practically locked internally on further conquest. The current beachhead mechanic doesn't do much, its really no different than being on Ravina or Balak besides the point it is on another continent *
somewhat*. I saw this happen with Elysian Pact, members started getting war hungry because they already controlled the continent, and on top of that, they couldn't invade elsewhere and actually hold territories on other continents.
I could go on, and on. The bottom line is, this is what happens when you play with the fate of limiting conquest (I agreed with capping the number of territories you could own on a foreign continent, that made sense)
. It was fine before. That is my opinion and I will die on this hill. What is wrong with the diplomacy mechanic has nothing to do with roleplay either, it has entirely everything to do with the two facts I stated above. The diplomatic mechanic truthfully needs to be updated because it was used in a time when it meant something a lot more than it did now.
Your statement has a much deeper meaning and impact than you can imagine or even know, this 'friendly' , 'enemy' , 'neutral' , mechanic factor worked when risk was a major factor in the game. Its not about battling on 6 islands to get world cap, more needs to be put at stake here for this to mean something. People have begged for years for this mechanic to return but it hasn't, and it probably wont ever return like it used to be. Unless more risk is brought into Loka, this issue will continue to happen. A decline is roleplay, diplomacy, and other things didn't just happen out of thin air. There were events that took place that led to these unforeseen circumstances. There is nothing right now arguably that really FORCES players to have to engage in diplomacy. If they bring back continental invasions like they once were...things could change a lot.
Loka was a game of chess when in the realm of diplomacy. Now its a game of checkers when in regards to that mechanic.