"I was hunting in dalimond, the wolves were getting nasty this time of year, therefore the Imperial Legion Commander in Dalimond sent me to thin their numbers out. The sweat from my body mingled with the blood I had spilled, I dispatched another group of ravenious wolves when I first heard the rumble. I glance into the sky, and for the exception of the eastren sky was seemed strangly brown, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, I climbed a nearby hill and looked to the east....thats when I saw them....an ENTIRE BATTALION of the Withering Aegis' Forces was marching toward Dalimond. Fear clutched at my heart as I saw them coming, I ran toward Dalimond,I ran till I wanted to die, and then ran some more, I burst into the commanders office, sputtering and choking, breathless and smothered with dust, after spending a few seconds catching my breath, I told him everything I saw, after several attempts to tell him clearly, he rose to his feet and yelled, "Sound the alarm! Send Couriers to the other commands, we are under attack! Ein, I want you to muster a group of men and move to this point here." He points to an already laid out map on the table. "Yes Sir!" I replied.


An example of what we could do in HZ, the game was designed to have players involved, then dangit! Let us be involved completely! The Kion Militia was a good idea, but lets use that idea to a larger scale, say...an entire Imperial Army. We already have an Air Force (dragons) and enough Naka-duskael (non-dragons) for ground troops, organize WA attacks on the cities and other communities. But instead of announcing the attack, let a player discover it, as you saw, soon as Ein saw the attack, he reported to the imperial commander in Dalimond, in turn, the Commander could automate a World-Wide Annoucement, something to the effect of "A community in Istaria is under attack! Report to your nearest Imperial Command Post to recieve orders." Now I understand it'll be hard to make an NPC know exactly whats going on, therefore, we should use maxed high-end charecters as the commanders. A selected group of people, (far larger then needed due to who's on or whatever or even have WM's pose as commanders.) And everyone a part of the Imperial Army (or chair force for them dragons) respond to the attack, failed or succeeded....(dont make it to where we can win every battle...thats freaking boring) Participation in the event will have the empire pay you for the job. (after the event, your charecter gets paid XXXcopper or Silver for kicking butt in the defense of the empire. Same for crafting, world projects, empire has an interest in building mines and bridges and all that stuff because that means more revenue, so...crafters can build all these things and the empire will pay what was contributed. (PB prices) but however use a quota, meaning a crafter can only contribute enough to make cash but not take up all the work from other players. You stuff like this will make time in Istaria more enjoyable, and can and probably will become the selling point of the game. (Make the world, build your own home and business on a plot, wage war against the Withering Aegis! Serve the Empire and come to her defense!)


Side note, I've seen something like this before, in Neverwinter Nights on a player-made module, and I had a blast...I was a Corporal in the Town Militia, kicking butt in the name of the City-Kingdom, and I was a Carpenter. It truly was one of the best gaming experiences I ever had. Like that module-server, Horizons has a loyal and dedicated player-base and community. A system like I described would solve alot of problems, and as much as I hate to admit it, it might cause some as far as lag is concerned. But make emblems for the Army, and have ranks, old old veterans whos been around since AE Gods made Istarian Dirt high ranking, poor wittle newbies trying to get their feet wet privates. Gain rank by involvement, striving for the good of all. Does NOT have to be based off Level, Rating, or whatever, just how much that person is involved with the world. Now if you need someone controlling WA forces and understaffed...I have NO problems turning evil and attacking other people...mwahahahaha! Seriously though, I want the devs to consider this idea, I think it would really truly improve the game experience and of course bring them golden days back.

Very Respectfully,
Kael Morbane.