When to do the (Adult) Rite of Passage

[Oakleif]

In the Delta 142 thread on the Blight board, the discussion about unfactioning the breath weapon improvements has started a slight diversion. Rather than letting that diversion upset Amon, I thought I'd shift it to here. I'm including the slow slide into the diversion so that people can follow the conversation that has already happened.

In my opinion I don't think that the faction breaths should be available to every dragon. Helians have a longer and harder RoP and higher requirements to complete it as well. I don't really feel its fair that we have to work harder to be the same

I agree that Helian RoP is harder, but I don't see why it's an argument not to have both faction breath. I personally don't like the current Breath of Ice, the new one seems much better.

Well, I just feel that why should Helians have to do more work and meet the higher requirements to be exactly the same?

You are right. RoP should become available only if you are 50 ADV and 50 DCRA and playing since 1 month, not within the first 2-3 days of subscribing. I find the "barely legal" power leveled dragons an insult to the importance and life changing event of becoming adult.

Moreover, Lunus should only be able to complete their RoP with exclusively dragon help. They chose not to consort with Nakas, they pay the fee.

*Blinks* That is an RP issue, I think, and should not be mandated by the game mechanics nor by fellow players. If the quest is available at level 30, then, (advisable or not) IMHO there is nothing wrong with taking it at level 30. I'm not much into power leveling, either, but I don't imagine myself possessed of the right to tell someone else how to play a game. (And, this IS a game...remember?) It is life changing to your pixels...(key word, pixels).

The concept of restricting any quest, including the RoP quest, to those who have played a certain length of time (level notwithstanding) seems inappropriate to me. ("Barely legal" implies that there is, in fact, a "legal" and an "illegal" method...is there one? I may have missed that when reading the game rules).

You pays yer sub, you makes yer choices.

As for a no-naka rule for lunus RoP, that is ridiculous. It may be true that the Helian RoP is harder than the Lunus (I would have no idea, lunus all the way), but that would overbalance things the opposite direction. As my mate says, "lunus might not like humans but they are no fools". (I tend to think the "but" should be replaced with "therefore", hehe).

<snip of on-topic items>

Sorry I have to disagree with [Vahrokh's] statment. Not all people who are lvl 30 when they become adults are power leveled to that point. Lan was 31 when he became an adult, took me around 9 months to get there, while I had planned on waiting till 50 (took me another year to get to that point), EI was in control at the time and I wasnt sure there'd be a game around long enough for me to see that lvl.

The game was designed so that you could become an adult at 30 or 100 its up to you, not other players.

The harassment I received because of this issue is what prompted me to quit playing on Order and start over anew on Chaos. That and the lvl 50 hatchling scale, the way some people talk you'd think that it was the be-all end all of scales that'd last you to lvl 100 and beyond...*grumbles*

Tcei, I'm sorry if you received a more rabid version of these points-to-consider on Order. I know that many dragons get very pushy there.

Heck, my dragon has been lamblasted for saying "Glit'sita nien. Greetings all." on channels other than Dragon chat. ((And yet those same players portray their dragons licking each other or being undead in the name of roleplay. *shudder*)) I'm a Helian dragon: I believe that dragons are the rightful rulers of Istaria but that the lesser races have skills to contribute and should be nutured and taught, and as such, bipeds should be taught to understand our more important tongue, even if they can't speak it well.

My saris has also been raked over the coals when attempting to say "Glit'sita nien" to dragons because *non-dragons shouldn't use the dragon tongue*. Right. Sorry, this saris was taught good manners by his mama, and I know part of that is making the effort to speak the language common in the area you are in. ((RL lesson learned as an exchange student - you are not an ugly american if you make the effort, no matter how poor that effort is.))

So, I'll go out on a limb and antagonize the roleplay nazi's on Order even further by apologizing on their behalf for the actions that led you to leave and go to Chaos. (See I even further antagonized them by characterizing them as roleplay nazi's, and fulfilling Godwin's law. )

Ok, now for my contribution on the topic of when to start the adult Rite of Passage.

When I hear someone ask when they should start the RoP, I mention several things:

1. I recommend all dragons speak to Karane the Historian as soon as possible and further explore the roleplay differences between the Helian and Lunus faction beyond what you picked up from Vladtmordt's quests for the hatchling scales. For gameplay differences, I send them to Ranqthas Clawfoot's guide on GamersInfo.net. This gives you time to begin pondering your path.
2. If you want to become an adult just so you can fly, and you don't care about how that happens, by all means do it as soon as you can. Flight is a great tool, and what seperates dragons from bipeds (who end up being stronger after spending the time to multiclass in several schools).
3. If you want to be a participant in your own growing up, then wait until at least level 45 to start the "Become a True Lunus/Helian" quest. Before then, you need others to do the killing and you're mostly trying to avoid being squished.
4. Yes, strongly consider waiting until after getting your third hatchling scale at level 50 to actually ascend and become an adult. The scales are equivalent to level 80 crafted scales. They are not mandatory however, so look at the stats and come to your own conclusion.

As far as when to start the RoP, I'll vote for whenever you feel like it, as long as you have enough information to make an informed decision.