the gods must be crazy

[cattoy]

Evidently, they're among the few homeless beings other than dragons, and even that's being addressed, so I've heard...

I am told that there are/were gods in Istaria.

So, where are the temples, then?

Well, the gifted don't have to eat, but maybe the gods do. Bringing food for the gods is a common, nay ubiquitous feature of BC religions. Even if it doesn't accomplish much of anything, at least it gives the confectioners a new market (practicing worshippers of this god or that)

Also, the gods might smile upon those who sacrificed trophys or coin. Who knows, you might have some sort of mechanism where a gods favor might save you from an otherwise awful fate...

Also, you can use gods to generate quests. They do that, sometimes. Or at least their chosen spokespeople do. Either way, it's a source of purpose in a world often said to be lacking in such...

You could have temples sell charms used to make offerings to the gods. Maybe one charm to wish for fortune in battle, one to wish for wealth, one to wish for bounty of harvest, etc. The frequency of purchases might provide devs with a little stealth feedback on what the playerbase wants... Sure there are forum posts, but let's face it, talk (and type) is cheap. This is where you put your money (even if it's virtual) where your mouth is...

Pointless ramblings, really. But sometimes I really do wonder where the gods keep their stuff...

[Safire]

why do we need them we are imortal or thats what the Gift is anyways when you die you just keep comeing back also i think becuse that was the time of the age of dragons they worshipped dragons and didnt even know it yet

[gopher65]

There is an NPC in Dalimond that talks about this. He says that most gifted don't worship the gods because they are "so close to gods themselves".

[Sasantiz]

erh the thingies you use as bind spots are called shrine .. so there are places of worship and if you poke around in tazoon specially in that big domelike building (can't miss it) youre likely to meet a person who tells a bit about a certain nature godess ;)

[Zarcharien]

I would much rather see some elaborate churches and temples then some little shrine statue sticking up from the ground that I bind too. I don't think just because we are gifted (hence somewhat immortal), that gods and goddesses should be obselete.I for one, as a paladin would very much like to know where my god/goddess is, and maybe run a few quests in search of a Holy Avenger type weapon or some other special abilities or spells granted to me by my god/goddess for being such a faithful servant.

Of course you may have to add some type of alignment system in order to really do this properly, but overall adding some gods and goddesses can only make the game more fun and meaningful ... atleast for me. [Y]

[Aquarius]

The Vikings might have had something like the Norse Stave Churches for a place of worship of Odin, Thor, Freja, atleast they have decorations that look very viking.

But since none of the pre-cristianity onesare left its not easy to tell.. but the temples might have looked similar to this one.


For more images and info: http://www.medsca.org/stav_div_portals.html

Maybe some inspiration for an Istarian tempel :-)

[cattoy]

erh the thingies you use as bind spots are called shrine .. so there are places of worship and if you poke around in tazoon specially in that big domelike building (can't miss it) youre likely to meet a person who tells a bit about a certain nature godess [img]/Web/emoticons/emotion-5.gif[/img]

Those are not places of worship, those are endpoints for freeform teleports.

[Sasantiz]

[img]/Web/Themes/default/images/icon-quote.gif[/img]Sasantiz wrote: erh the thingies you use as bind spots are called shrine .. so there are places of worship and if you poke around in tazoon specially in that big domelike building (can't miss it) youre likely to meet a person who tells a bit about a certain nature godess [img]/Web/emoticons/emotion-5.gif[/img]


Those are not places of worship, those are endpoints for freeform teleports.

True thats their game mechanic working of shrines. Flavor it with roleplaying and you have a place of worship.



shrine

n : a place of worship hallowed by association with some sacred thing or person v : enclose in a shrine; "the saint's bones were enshrined in the cathedral"
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.


So you see that shrines are more then bind locations fro free teleportation [;)]

[Jaraiden]

Evidently, they're among the few homeless beings other than dragons, and even that's being addressed, so I've heard...

I am told that there are/were gods in Istaria.

So, where are the temples, then?

This is a very good question.

Throughout history as seen in Istarian lore there are references to sacred places or acts of the gods. It would seem members of the Living Races would have temples and holy places for their gods.

Just because in recent history the Gifted have appeared due to the magics unleased from the Tazoon blast, doesn't mean all temples and shrines and holy places are less important. Not 100% of the NPCs are of the Gifted (due to various chat texts . . . . the "invisible" NPCs that populate the world, certainly Tazoon).

However, this aspect of Istarian lore is not fully seen in game except for a few NPC chats (Kirascent and elsewhere) mentioning gods.

Certainly a loss for the RP aspects of playing a race or character seeking to channel his/her god's powers (the non-arcane ones - Life, Nature, Blight?, etc.).

The in game shrines. Those are just objects to bind to for Recalling (per Tutorial). Any character can bind to any shrine (certainly Druulk of the Dralk shrine and?? of the Sslik shrine would not care for some races). Also, the small shrines in Guild Houses are just Recall points. So there is no diety or lore aspect for shrines except for some generic "human" shrine or other racial adjective.

Game design or just something on their "to do list." Don't know and likely won't. Am guessing just something TulgAE cares little else such temples and shrines and holy grounds would be part of the terrain if nothing else.

[cattoy]

[img]/Web/Themes/default/images/icon-quote.gif[/img]cattoy wrote: [img]/Web/Themes/default/images/icon-quote.gif[/img]Sasantiz wrote: erh the thingies you use as bind spots are called shrine .. so there are places of worship and if you poke around in tazoon specially in that big domelike building (can't miss it) youre likely to meet a person who tells a bit about a certain nature godess [img]/Web/emoticons/emotion-5.gif[/img]


Those are not places of worship, those are endpoints for freeform teleports.


True thats their game mechanic working of shrines. Flavor it with roleplaying and you have a place of worship.



shrine

n : a place of worship hallowed by association with some sacred thing or person v : enclose in a shrine; "the saint's bones were enshrined in the cathedral"
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.


So you see that shrines are more then bind locations fro free teleportation [img]/Web//emoticons/emotion-5.gif[/img]

No, I don't see it. They're still just bind locations for free teleportations.

Talk and text are cheap. I don't want flavor text, I want function.

Surely the gods deserve more than lip service. Surely the faithful deserve more than flavor text...

Or perhaps not. Perhaps it's just the gods way of saying that the gifted are not worthy of their attention. Perhaps we are only worthy of the incomplete, dry and barren world we find ourselves trapped in...

[Varangaard]

Actually, an NPC discussion implies (can't remember which, it's been so long) that the bindspot shrines were built after Gifted started appearing. Before the shrines they would 'respawn' where they had first entered the world, at their place of birth, but now they can use the bind shrines to anchor themselves to. (The Spirit Isle, that is the tutorial place, seems to catch freshborn Gifted somehow, but it's workings aren't explained) This same NPC I think offers two contending theories: some claim the shrines are powered by the gods, others say it is the will of the Gifted made manifest (or something like that).

There's lots of lore that hasn't made it ingame. What happened to the Istarian gods exactly? I think some NPCs hint they aren't as active as they used to. Something certainly happened in the past that allowed dragons to pose as gods without meeting the real ones' wrath. Also, many mortals and Gifted feel disillusioned with the Istarian gods for not doing anything about the Withered Aegis. Then the clerics and healers... they use Life magic. This implies their power comes from the realm of life, not channeled from gods. Knights of Creation seem to be the only ones with any type of contact with higher powers, with their blessing of Istara and all.

Why does HZ have an RP server when nobody knows enough about any of this stuff to play it out properly? And no, don't throw around that old beta list of Istaran gods; devs have said already it is not canon any longer.

Which reminds me, as far as I can remember, only four gods are referred to in the in-game lore. Istara herself, Drulkar the dragon god, Niatha the fiend goddess, and the dwarf god (Brobbet?).

[Sasantiz]

Vrangaard its always nice to see one who hold little trinklets of information about the lore of Istaria.

hmm i seem to recall a person in the dome of tazoon (dragons capacity trainer is there aswell). talk about a nature god worshipped by the elves and humans but the elves have more or less turned their back to the godess ( i cant remember her name ) since Feladan was lost to the WA.

But i agree it sorta pointless trying to roleplay when you only have tidbits of information about the world delivered.

[cattoy]

well, that's another of the traditional functions of a temple - it's where the lore comes from.

Theoretically, it originally comes from the gods, but the people whose profession it was to collect, copy and reiterate it for the masses all worked at temples. Which, of course, we don't have.

So is it any wonder why the RP element of HZ is so feeble? I've seen porno movies with more backstory.