#but i have played the aideen quest

[kotakunnn]

Gals that will probably never see the light of day. ever maybe.

hello and goodnight, Penacony / Gallagher.

[doveshovel]

anon is right, more hunter lore.

he's very fun. love your ideas.

Do you mind if I ask what goes on regarding all the magic stuff? Is he Aideen-adjacent or just kind of vibing? Somewhere in-between? I know there's some drama going on with Sabine 🤔

I wasn't expecting my guy to get this much attention, thank you guys!

Going to be completely honest here: I'm a very new player who only really started playing SSO in January of this year, and took about a month's break from the main quests in March. As a result, I've almost definitely forgotten a lot of important lore surrounding Aideen/soul rider magic, and don't have many of the magical shenanigans in Hunter's story fully thought out :'))

But! It has definitely been on my mind. Hunter's specific role among the soul riders + his relationship with the different circles of magic are works in progress so here's what I've been working with so far!

(Content warning for some (pink) blood in image!)

Lately, I've been messing with the idea (just for fun) that Hunter's a conduit for Aideen, rather than a descendant or reincarnation. He has almost no magical power of his own, and relies pretty much entirely on the whims of an incorporeal, deity-like being to perform any kind of soul rider magic. Essentially, he gets partially possessed every now and again when what remains of Aideen's soul decides that it would be beneficial to the fate of Jorvik and/or its inhabitants. During this "possession", Hunter functions as a point at which her soul (which I think was supposed to be scattered among the horses, people, and nature of Jorvik? correct me if I'm wrong. Hunter's lore google doc is in dire need of revision and organization anyways) can condense enough to produce magic from any of the four circles, and create the illusion that he's the mystical fifth soul rider.

Other bits of this idea from the google doc:

The four runestones in Valedale respond to a concentrated "presence" of Aideen, rather than to Hunter himself.

He's aware of this. Aideen's not of this world in cannon (emerged from a falling star), and practically dissolved into the entire island of Jorvik. Containing even a fraction of her soul in a human body is a jarring experience that can cause a lot of issues for the "host" ranging from minor side effects (cold sweating, shortness of breath, dizziness, headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, mild nausea, etc.) to more severe (short memory gaps, nosebleeds, migraines, loss of consciousness, insomnia, severe nausea, visual disturbances and/or hallucinations, auditory disturbances and/or hallucinations, etc.).

Maybe losing so much of his memory and original personality in the process of getting to Jorvik counts as losing part of a soul? So it creates a kind of "empty space" that Aideen's own soul is able to fill whenever she so chooses, and that's why Hunter works as a conduit/vessel, rather than a reincarnation. Idk. May have to workshop this.

The soul riders, valiant reincarnations of previous soul riders. +This one guy who has a weird thing with the local deity

Hunter and Aideen have a similar relationship to roommates who butt heads frequently but have no intention of leaving to seek a better roommate. but in Hunter's brain/soul/body. Bodymates. Soulmates (derogatory) (not romantic) (not platonic either). Symbiotic relationship. Both parties benefit and Hunter recognizes the necessity of it for saving Jorvik but he's still having a very bad no good time with the side effects, and he's still mad at her for letting him die.

This is the idea that I like working with the most so far, but I'll update y'all if there's something better in the works! :^D

As for Sabine: I was in a weird headspace while making that little comic of Hunter and Sabine up in Dinosaur Valley. At the time, it was just intended to be the end of Hunter's story. He'd be a spooky character who haunts the forest up in the valley as a ghost and that's that. Maybe the world's doomed by Garnok now, maybe the keepers find someone to replace him. Hunter doesn't know, he's dead on a mountainside and doomed to spend eternity wandering in search of an escape from Sabine.

A couple weeks after making that scene, I decided I didn't want that to be the end of his story. Just because it's kind of sad :( As much as I delight in making Hunter's wildly out of place string of crimes for a backstory, and making him experience endless horrors, Star Stable's very much a happy game for me. It's something I couldn't afford as a 10 year old but desperately wanted, and bought for myself with adult money a decade later to live out some old horseboy dream with beloved pixel horsies. :) To end my first (and so far only) player character's story there feels like a disservice, so I've got that scenario tucked away as a sort of AU/alternate timeline thing. It's still very fun to draw and think about because I love giving characters horrors to experience, but I want him to keep going on horse adventures in Jorvik :D

I decided that he does in fact die there in the Hidden Valley though. Not many people can survive that kind of thing after all. Aideen, however, decides she doesn't want to lose her vessel just yet, and Hunter's resurrected through a combination of the power of horsies and friendship Aideen's connection to the star circle and WizardEgg's (Starter horse) Starbreed magics. Magical resurrection results in the ability to channel more of Aideen's magic, but also the worsening of side effects, and a glowing star-shaped scar on his forehead that appears when using said magic.

^Old doodle from when I was playing around with negative side effects of magic :)

The whole scene creates a point of tension between he and Aideen. Hunter thinks Aideen could have done more to prevent it, and isn't particularly fond of the new, worsened magical side effects. Aideen isn't mortal and so doesn't think the way mortals do. She sees her vessel as having gained more power, and knows he'll come to understand the value of that power in the future. She's right, but he's still going to be mad about it.

As for Sabine? Hunter's still scared of her! Her and all the dark riders! They're spooky 👻 and he's a bit of a coward! Hunter lost a lot of his nerve/confidence with his memories during the boating incident, along with coordination and a couple other odds and ends.

[nisaconite]

so i was playing through the new tutorial quests with an alt account, and kind of thought it was odd that all the soul riders just happened to be there? like, lisa first got back into horseback riding all the way in sl. and anyway, she trained at jorvik stables with herman, nowhere near moorland.

so: headcanon that the mc's power signature from all four circles + aideen's light was so strong when they arrived on the island that everyone with even the most minimal magic ability immediately sensed it. the druids, knowing that the dark riders would have felt it too, immediately sent the soul riders to 'coincidentally' be there to greet the newcomer.

aka why alex says "long time no see, lisa!" - this is their first soul riding mission since the novels, since they last parted ways. if not for the mc's arrival, none of them would have been at the riding camp that day in the first place. maya probably helped them orchestrate the whole thing, too, hence lisa and the mc's 'lesson' together.

[writingonjorvik]

What do you think about the main story ending after playing the game for so long?

The story isn't ending. That's not like a denial response, the story isn't ending. That would be an incredibly poor financial decision on SSE's part.

Look, maybe it is. Maybe SSE is aiming to wrap up SSO and shut down the servers on the end of the story arc. We don't know the pace of "Beginning of the End" coming out, it may give SSO three more years to finish telling the one story they wanted to tell. But on account of SSE finally redesigning early gameplay, it makes very little sense to overhaul all of SSO's gameplay and then shut it down shortly after. That kind of change should set SSO up for many more years to come. But I don't see ending the story and making SSO a social hub kind of MMO really being good for retention. I'm sure there are some, but if the story ends completely, then a chunk of folks are going to get caught up and stop coming back. And when those folks start to dwindle, so will other groups of folks because there are less and less people online.

What is happening is the end of the Garnok arc, which I've already said, needs to happen. This story has been being told since 2005, almost two decades at this point. It needs to end so the story can stop getting written into a corner, particularly when it comes to introducing new NPCs. And after Garnok gets defeated, SSE is open to telling all kinds of stories and introduce new characters, just some of which being:

What's up with the witches and their coven politics? How do they feel about the Vala? Are there more Vala? Is their magic affected in any way by not having access to Garnok or Pandoria?

If the Soul Riders and druids lose their powers after the Garnok fight because the connection with Pandoria is severed as Ydris said had to happen in the quests, how are they going to handle new threats? How does not having their powers affect the Soul Riders as people?

What does happen to Pandoria after Garnok is gone? Defeating Garnok doesn't remove all of DC or the damage they did, so what happens after?

What happens between the druids and DC afterwards? Like in actual politics, there are massive explosions going on in the modern era, someone is going to report that. There are going to be legal battles for both sides, how do those play out?

Most recent story snack has introduced morally gray trees, what are they going to do when the connection between Jorvik and Pandoria is severed? Do they still have access through the Brambletween or do they need to seek out new worlds? Can they survive without a source of magic to sustain them?

We're only seen 1/4 of the island of Jorvik, that's 3 more massive zones to be added (I will circle back to this one).

Half a dozen other portals we don't know where they go to like the Doors and the Icendell portal, not to mention other worlds like the Cloud Kingdom and wherever the Caprans are from. And anything else the Between or Brambletween is connected to, all possibilities to explore.

The politics thing again, DC getting overthrown leaves a massive power vacuum, assets, and probably some of the generals behind. SSE can handwave killing goons all they want, but I doubt they'll have the PC kill any of the generals, so what happens to them after? Do they die when Garnok dies? Who tries to step in to fill the void? Sure there's no Garnok, but there are all of the resources DC had and bound to be another world full of magic that can be manipulated. If it's just power they're after, I'm sure whatever rainy day magic DC had could still give someone quite a bit of that for a while to come.

Ok, but what does happen to Jorvik when the connection with magic gets severed? There is so much magic infrastructure built into the island now, what happens when it fails? What parts of it are native to Jorvik at this point? Do those things start dying? Does Jorvik establish its own source of magic? Does it bring back Aideen? Does it fully cut Jorvik off from Aideen? That could hypothetically kill the magic horses, and I don't think SSE would let that canon happen, so where is that new magic?

What happens to the MC after? Like do they lose their magic? Like, congrats, you got dragged into this quest after coming here for summer camp, like 3 months later you've got no magic and trauma. One of those I don't see SSE tackling, but where I can see the Soul Riders retiring or being more cyclable characters in the story, the MC has to be in the story. So what happens to them after? How do they reestablish themselves as important when their chosen one task is complete?

Secret other option, there's so much lore, I'm sure y'all can find another thing from the new lore that I don't remember.

I think the most set up story arc after the Garnok arc would be to start the Witch Wars arc. We know witches don't get their magic from Pandoria, so following the defeat of Garnok and the loss of Pandoria's magic, it makes the most sense for the druids to try and take some pointers from Mrs. Holdsworth. Which opens up the politics in the fallout of the druids vs DC battle and the sudden shift in magic between covens. And with the Vala making a very big play in the end of the Garnok arc, I'm sure there are some other witches with some feelings. Established NPCs there to introduce us to new NPCs, follows through on questions left over from the previous arc, lots of potential for new gameplay. That also sets up perfectly for a new 1/4 of the map, the northwest corner, as we know the shadow witches are in Northern Jorvik, and the fallout with DC very reasonably could take us to Pine Hill Mansion to make sure there aren't anymore loose ends/contingency plans Sands has set up.

I think also that folks should start working through the idea that the quarters of the map will be locked behind a paywall, like an expansion. There are plenty of buy to play MMOs who have this model, and I think realistically, it's one SSO will follow. Also following other MMOs, $20-$30 USD for several years of expansion is well within a reasonable ask in my opinion. It's not a microtransaction, it's a permanent add on, and I think holds way more value than what that amount of SC can get you in game currently.

But yeah. It would be a very poor financial decision to keep SSO going and not continue the story, and I think SSO is making too much money to not continue keeping the game going, so that would need a new story. There's going to be a new main arc, some archthreat comparable to Garnok, and a new way of looking at magic, which would time perfectly with SSE's promises of letting us use magic more actively. Start a new magic system, don't worry about adapting over the original one into mechanics.

[thecedarchronicle]

getting anne von blyssen brainrot again on this fine autumn night

you ever think about how like. in the public eye anne von blyssen got on a plane to france and never got off. and besides the soul riders just kind of vaguely looking for leads nobody really cares about it. like its all very recent at the start of the game and i can understand lisa because besides the soul riders she's not really that in the public eye and i can see a small scale investigation being launched or even the keepers of aideen feeding her dad information about her having run away or something. but with anne von blyssen shes a literal celebrity. and there's just. not any mention of it. people talk about her like they talk about years and years old cold cases like jon benet ramsey or the zodiac. not like a girl who hasn't been missing more than 1-2 months.

her parents are tycoons in the equestrian world (at least as of anne's horse training hangout quest) and there's radio silence? there's nobody in jorvik looking around for her? not even authorities?

of course if im missing anything (havent played the main storyline in years and i also have not read the books) let me know but wow. anne von blyssen you deserve to burn the world down you would be correct in doing so actually

[jorvikzelda]

Also, I think one really weird part of SSO marketing themselves as a "girls' game" and sticking to that really really hard is their rock hard refusal to let the player character be a boy.

TL;DR because this got long: It is not progressive to, in a game about horse riding (a very stereotypically girly hobby), exclude boys.

(Spoilers for Saving Concorde and the Light Ride, but only in the first paragraph.)

We all know SSO's decision to only allow for girl player characters isn't about being Aideen reborn or the game being about sisterhood or only women being Soul Riders. Had that been the only problem, it would've been solved the second Rhiannon explained how Concorde could've been reborn as a mare - I quote, "A soul is not defined by the gender it's born into".

I absolutely do not mean to through this post make it seem like boys' inclusion in SSO is a priority over gender equality in gaming, and obviously I understand that women and girls have historically been excluded from gaming and have not had games catered to them. However, a) (as other people have pointed out) that isn't even NEARLY as much the case today as it was 10-15 years ago. b) I would honestly argue that not allowing the player character to be any other gender than a girl in SSO furthers that inequality. Also, this post doesn't even really touch on the full consequences of not having truly diverse body shape options and some variety of pronoun customization in a game that's "for girls", but in short: if you exclude all non-girls, you also cannot include all girls.

I've seen the (mostly community, to be fair) argument that "boy characters would lead to more problems with romancing", and that's bullshit. People already do that. Start reporting the daily weddings happening in Silverglade if you're seriously concerned about that.

I've seen SSO's argument that "in many games, girls are forced to play as boys", and I would really buy that argument if this was a single-player game with a premade player character, but do you know what games never ever do that except for SSO? Massive-multiplayer online games. That's right: that thing SSO is (or at least calls itself, but that's a topic for another post).

I've seen SSO's argument that boys can play Star Stable, they can play with the girl avatar just fine, but do you know which demographic of children interested in horses isn't going to look at SSO's website and go, "oh, that's all right, I'll play as a girl and it'll be fine and fun!"? That's right: preteen boys.

That's where we get to the next part of this conundrum: there are horses involved. Yeah, you know, that hobby that boys have never been shamed or bullied for partaking in! /sarcasm, obviously. If a boy is interested enough in horses to want to play a video game centered around them, it is more than likely he's been mocked and more than likely that mocking included insults aimed at his perceived femininity for partaking in equestrian sport and/or insulting him for enjoying a "girly" hobby. No 12 year old boy, especially not if he is being bullied a little bit, is going to look at SSO's character creation screen and go, "Oh, what a great feminist initiative! I feel just fine and dandy leaning into the perceived traits that I am being mocked for".

Horse riding is not traditionally seen as a "boys' hobby", and SSE is only furthering that perspective by actively choosing time and time again to not allow SSO's player characters to have physically masculine attributes or for SSO's players to choose their pronouns in game.

It's weird. I don't understand why they're doing it.

Part of me earnestly suspects it's a coding limitation: if SSE wanted to properly include non-girls in SSO, they would have to work for an amount of time ranging from many months to several years to change the way quest text and pronouns work.

I never truly expected them to care about true inclusivity enough to do that. I shouldn't be disappointed. It's easier to keep up the image of this being a grand feminist mission than to say, we would like to do this but our code is flawed and it would take so long and it's just. not. important. enough.

[corinne-eaglebridge-sso]

My thoughts on the new update:

(I will be highlighting negative and positive with corresponding colours, and try to give ways to fix the negative ones if possible)

1. I like the new starting area! It feels cozy and like a real riding camp, and I like that it gives more areas for horses! It’s perhaps a bit small, but that’s understandable, and it does remind me of an actual riding camp I’ve been at. (In that case we travelled from accommodations shared with other types of camps to a stable, but still).

2. It feels weird to me that it’s not Justin that is giving you the horse, since that is an important part of his character. This could perhaps be fixed by having Maya mention that Justin picked this horse for you?

3. Similarly, Anne and Lisa being there feels weird - depending on how fast you play through storyquests, Lisa and Anne will be in Pandoria for a very short time, when before it was more ambiguous how long they were in there. The absence of a lot of dayblockers worsens this.

4. I actually really like the dream sequence for the most part! It feels like a good representation of a moon circle dream and it’s a good hook!

5. However, I do think the dream falters at the end - it would be more effective to also show the soul riders in silhouette, as to not immediately spoil everything. It’s not like you can’t piece it together yourself - you just met them and their silhouettes are recognizable enough. (Lisa and Anne not being in the intro would also cause more mystery here)

7. Similarly, it feels weird for Linda to immediately start talking about magic around you. This could maybe be solved by her telling the story of the soul riders and Aideen as a campfire story instead?

8. Linda having a sort of deja vu, recognizing the MC because she has probably seen them in a moon circle dream? I LIKE THAT. More of that! It is slightly unsettling and mysterious without being obvious - it is easy to pass off as you looking similar to another camper if you don’t know she has magic.

9. This is more of a bug/inconsistency: the original runestone quest is still there, and Alex and Linda still introduce themselves as if you didn’t just meet them. This is even more aggravated by a lot of the early game day blockers being removed, letting you access Fort Pinta that first day.

10. So. Much. Camera. Panning. This happens a lot in early game and after a certain point it gets very tiring and annoying.

11. I like the new intro quests! It gives you the basics of riding and jumping in a way that feels more consistent with the riding camp story.

I really didn’t intend for this to skew so negative; I do really think this new intro has a lot of potential with some minor tweaks and overall I like it!

[kate-embershield]

17, 25, 32 for the Asks?

Hi anon!! Thank you for the asks!

17 - Which Quests were your favorite? Why?

As basic as it is, I’d have to say the Main Quests are my favourite. I’m an avid lore reader, and I’m so interested in where the story is going, and with every new update (scarce as they are), I build up on my own theories and guesses (Sabines going to be the first to change and I know it!)

25 - Do you prefer Aideen & the Druids, or Dark Core & Garnok? Are you neutral/indifferent? Do you like both?

The druids are fine (so far), the keepers can get fucked though!

When it comes to dark core, I’m still on the fence. There’s been some great theories about Garnok, and I know SSE’s probably not going to follow through with them, but I like to know most of the facts before forming an opinion.

32 - What server & region are you playing on?

Sunbeam palace babey!! I’m the local Aussie🇦🇺🇦🇺!!

[courtsnort-sso]

Questions 20 through 25 for the ask game :)

STAR STABLE ASKS : GET TO KNOW THE PLAYER

20. What part of the Main Story is your favorite? I'm going to be really honest, I don't remember much about the main story other than the most recent stuff lol. I enjoyed a lot of the quests having to do with Ydris and the circus, mostly because I enjoy his character (Ydris enjoyer). I think he's neat and I love learning about the Pandorians hehehe

21. Which Soul Rider is your Favorite, and is there a reason behind it? I'll be super blunt, I don't like the Soul Riders. They fall short with character development. I guess if I had to choose, it'd be Anne, if only because her design is pretty neat and with the Concorde quests, I agreed with her. She had her reasons lol

22. Which Guardian Horse is your favorite? Does it belong to your favorite Soul Rider or not? Starshine, I can't remember if it's canon or not but I saw a thing about him being a Jorvik Wild Horse and I think that's neat :)

23. Which Druid Circle do you prefer? Is there a reason for your preference? Is it tied to the Soul Rider of the Circle? Moon Circle! I liked the quests where we were able to view the past with Linda, but anything that helps give backstory I'm always going to be a slut for tbh. Definitely not tied to the Soul Rider, I just like the powers.

24. Which Dark Rider is your favorite? Why? Sabine bc I like to imagine her getting irritated with Altair (OC) in an AU that I've dabbled in, and just. Throwing him over her shoulder when it's time to leave. But yeah her personality is fun to play around with. I suppose that could go for the other Dark Riders too!

25. Do you prefer Aideen & the Druids, or Dark Core & Garnok? Are you neutral/indifferent? Do you like both? idc about Dark Core or Aideen and the Druids. GARNOK THOUGH??? HELL YEAH BROTHER

[inkowl13]

I feel like I've seen more than once on tumblr someone talking about the updated ice gate graphics. But I compared what is now with the image of 2020, when I started playing SSO, a couple of old videos like 8 years ago, and I don’t see any difference at all.

Also, here's what I noticed. The developers wrote in a blog (one of those that came out in April) that they have plans to update the Hollow woods “ Something that has been in the new layer but we didn't share in January is the revamp of...dramatic music...Hollow Woods! The reason why we didn't share this news already in January is that we don't just want to do a graphical update, but we also want to take the opportunity to include more engaging content and things to explore. We want to do justice to the mystical Hollow Woods and also give it meaning and purpose to visit. ”. 

In the last blog (May), talking about the end of the Concorde arc, "From a broader perspective, this quest represents the end of one story arc and the beginning of the next. After all, we haven’t spoken to the Keepers of Aideen in a while… And what is Sabine planning to do with Rúnhammar? ” So I was wondering if it's possible that we'll see an updated Hollow woods and Valedale in one of the next quests? Unlikely at the end of this year (although who knows), but maybe next?

[centeris2]

#i mean when and HOW did they meet#one day they just paired off together in game#I Think it’s discussed more in the books but my good sir i should not have to read books first to understand in game story plot points

I just realized how out of the blue that is in game. Doesn't help that SSO's story consistency is a tangled mess since you can play quests out of order now.

So Alex and Maya meet in Clouds Over Silverglade, a comic that did not get published in English but was handed out at a convention in the USA, if I recall correctly. It's OLD stuff, before the soul riders got redesigned. That's where Alex's blue and white hair comes from, if you've ever seen those pics or the references to when she had dyed hair.

Alex and Maya meet at the Silverglade Winery when Maya accidentally dumps a wheelbarrow of manure on Alex (and Linda). They bond over sneaking into the GED drilling site at night and blowing up machines. After that Alex has to do Something, so Maya follows and finds out about magic and Alex gives Exposition about Aideen and Soul Riders. Maya then follows Alex again and sneaks into the Secret Stone Circle.

The comic also shows how Lisa and Linda went missing, and where Tin-Can and Meteor went off to.

thinking back... it's a wild comic and snapshot of SSO from like, 7 or 8 years ago?

pls i cannot be the only one who dislikes alex and maya's relationship. yuri so bad its hetero

[pandoricpies]

Theory: Garnok and Love

gotcha with that strange title didn't I

and no this isn't a Sands love story get outta here

The importance of love in our beloved Jorvik universe is an idea that has been stressed throughout the storyline and canon Soul Riders book trilogy (god im dying for the rest of Helena's books to be released in english, my brain is lore starved). We see this especially through the Catherine's Memories quests and generally sprinkled throughout characters' dialogues. This heavy focus on the idea of love is formed from the 'magical' qualities that Jorvegians place on the bond between horse and rider; a bond that their goddess and creator shared with her steed which ultimately led to the creation of Jorvik. Yes I am going to continue referencing the memories quests in many of my theories because good god they were filled with so much information.

This idea was expanded on in Catherine's memories, as in the last scene we have with her, Justin, and Linda at Doyle's Abbey, she describes her love for the island and her family living on, a powerful force that cannot be swayed by darkness; this was akined to Aideen's love due to Catherine's connection with the goddess. As a matter of fact, that great love that Aideen had for her creation was what led her magic to still exist and be carried on through two other girls. As was also mentioned in these quests, even the Wild Warden trees on Jorvik know the importance of love; the love that the tree in the Forgotten Fields had for the other Wild Warden was enough to keep them connected by their roots even after the trees had passed, hence why Thomas and Catherine chose to marry under it (someone in sse was feelin real angsty when they wrote that questline).

Lovebird trees and goddesses aside, love (or a bond) is known to be a very powerful force in Jorvik and is held very highly by Jorvegians, whether they label themselves as 'religious' or not. This led me to think about Garnok, who is essentially an anti-love being; instead of spreading love and life, he feeds on the loss of love - this is his main power source. I've listed a few evidence points below:

John Sands and Rosalinda (Soul Riders: The Legend Awakens) - This is a perfect example of Garnok taking advantage of those who have an absence of love in their lives. When John lost Rosalinda, he lost the woman he had felt the greatest love for in his entire life. As far as we know, he had no other family to turn to after her death. In his journal entries, he describes hearing a dark voice at Rosalinda's funeral, a voice that told him that he could get revenge on mankind, the one's who had hurt her. This 'break' of love in John's life essentially opened a gateway for Garnok - Sands was rendered defenseless against Garnok's tainted promises in his weakened state. This is where my theory of a possible Sands' redemption arc comes into play, as he was seen to display some regret as Justin flew away with MC and their horse, stating "...now that HE has seen you, you will never be safe on this island." So is Sands finally realizing his mistake, the love that he has for his grandson (however twisted) making him partially 'wake up' from Garnok's trance? Who knows, but now I'm rambling and getting way off topic per usual.

The Dark Riders - We can guess that the Dark Riders each have their own 'coming to evil' tragic stories similar to Katja's (the ice witch, possibly being put through a form of the witch trials), since sse is tending to move away from the whole 'alien' idea. In Katja's case in particular, so much hatred was directed toward her after she was found to be dabbling in witchcraft, whether with evil intent or not. Hatred - the exact opposite of love. This again created that void that allowed Garnok to seep in, whispering promises of revenge and power over the ones who had caused so much damage.

Shari (from Soul Riders: Shari's Mask) - Shari, who Alex once thought was a legend, was a young girl who lost her beloved horse. Overcome by grief (and potentially Garnok's influence), she became a sort of pandoric-corrupted creature who's face consisted of a wooden mask with purple slits for eyes. It's never explicitly stated in the book that she is working for Garnok or has any ties to him, but the 'needing Alex and the others (Soul Riders)' lines and the general creepy vibe gives me the sense that there is some form of connection there - the loss of her horse left a deep wound that Garnok was once again able to infect, corrupting the grieving individual. Whoa I'm finally done rambling - hoping I'll eventually have more to add on to this theory once we get more Dark Rider content (..plz..).

[jorvikcity]

well i just did the saving anne quests and. :)

(spoilers)

in my version of canon, the story takes place over several years. vivien tennfjord (toadhome) is a danish freelance photographer and journalist who travels to jorvik on a summer vacation and ends up getting ensnared with druid business and finding out she's the fifth soul rider/some kind of reincarnation of aideen (is the theory at least)

she ends up staying on the island for way longer than originally planned, however due to the pandoric energy gathered on jorvik she only thinks it's been a year or so when it's actually been three. she eventually stops returning her family's calls.

vivien (she/they) is in her mid-late 20s and had never ridden a horse before she came to jorvik. she's laid back, responsible, easily distracted and a little old fashioned. she doesn't have a specific place in jorvik she stays at, instead she hops around camping sites and motels all over, she finds it more convenient that way - she doesn't have much to her name.

she feels kinda bad about farting around with a bunch of 18 y/os but its like her cosmic destiny or whatever so its not exactly like she can do much about it. she feels very bound to her duty as a soul rider, but they're also a naturally flighty and non-commital person. she just hates feeling out of her element

they're often the one bailing the others out of trouble, or providing a shoulder to cry on. she feels like it's become her job as of late, and that she can't let anyone down at this point

her starbreed autumnbreeze, autumn for short, is her voice of reason and probably what keeps her grounded. he's the only one who can really tell when she's upset, and is there for her when she needs it. he's a bit of a bombastic ego-maniac when things aren't as serious, and they play off eachother that way, with viv being too flighty and autumn being too vain

some quick fire stuff:

she becomes a more relaxed older sister figure to alex and mainly sympathizes with her

pandoria and all that comes with it scares her, she likes order

she wants to beat up ydris soooo bad

her and anne often end up at odds with one another, their attitudes tend to clash

her favorite places to be are goldenleaf forest and valedale

i have absolutely no clue about what her love life is like

girlie just wants to take a nap honestly

also she blames herself for being unable to save elizabeth from her death, but pushes past her own grief to be there for alex. she has very little patience with herself

[starbornsoulrider]

OH GOD OK OK OK I HAD A SAD IDEA FOR THE FINAL BATTLE W/ GARNOK LISTEN HEAR ME OUT

So. There’s a theory that our starter is going to die at some point right? Bc our starter has files called “horsedeath” or something. I think about this theory a LOT bc it haunts me so here’s my idea for how this could possibly play out

After Garnok is finally defeated, MC and their starter horse get transported to this weird empty void space (think like the place in Latios’s death scene from Pokémon Heroes). MC asks where the Soul Riders are and what happened after they landed the finishing blow on Garnok, and starter horse reassures them that the Soul Riders are fine and Garnok is gone, then proceeds explain what’s going on.

Basically, starter says that the essence that flows throughout the island left behind by Aideen was completely snuffed out during the final battle. The magic that brought Jorvik to life and connects riders and their horses is gone, and soon everything will die out with it. The magic, the special bond jorveigans share with their horses, even the island itself until it returns to the dead rock it Aideen found it as.

MC panics over this for a second, until starter tells them that there is a way to save it. MC has Aideen’s light within them, and the only way to revive Jorvik’s magic is if MC sacrifices themself just like Aideen did eons ago. That’s what Aideen had planned, like idk maybe she knew that Garnok would succeed in destroying Jorvik’s magic so planned to come back in a new body and sacrifice herself again to bring it back after Garnok was gone. (Or I guess just send a rider with her powers if Catherine is right and we aren’t actually Aideen herself.)

Before MC can completely process this and accept their fate, starter continues. He explains that he is Nimbus (supposedly our starter’s true name), the horse that Aideen once rode to Jorvik on. After Aideen died, she left Nimbus behind and tasked him and the other guardians with the responsibility of protecting and assisting the next generations of Soul Riders. (I guess Nimbus isn’t reborn as many times as the other guardians bc supposedly there isn’t always a fifth soul rider, maybe a fifth rider only appears when a chance to get rid of Garnok arrises and that’s when Nimbus is reborn.)

Every time there has been a fifth soul rider though, they ended up failing and dying in some way. Nimbus has lost his rider countless times, Aideen, Catherine (idk if starter is actually Nemo or not but he must have formed a bond w/ her at some point in her life), and every other fifth Soul Rider before MC. No matter how hard he tried, even if he learned from the mistakes in his previous lives, he could never save them. Then, right before being reborn into this life where he met MC, he realized something. He knew that if this rider managed to survive all the way to the end, they would have to sacrifice themself to keep Jorvik’s magic alive. Whether or not he managed to get his rider to the end, he’d lose them anyway. However, he realized being Aideen’s soul steed, her light is just as strong in him as it is in MC. Maybe, just maybe, he could sacrifice himself in MC’s place. It should work, he carries Aideen’s power as well, right? If it means finally keeping his rider alive, he’ll do it.

So, he made a plan. Before being reborn into the life where he meets MC, he decides that if they really can stop Garnok this time, he would sacrifice his soul instead of his rider’s. Of course, he doesn’t remember this plan until later, either some point after meeting the druids and learning of MC’s destiny or he just remembers after defeating Garnok.

His plan ends up working. The island accepts his soul instead of MC’s. He starts to fade away, and he says goodbye to MC, saying this was the best life he’s lived so far and that even though he didn’t want to leave he’s happy MC will get to live instead. MC returns without their soul horse, devastated and explains everything to the Soul Riders once they find them.

Of course, starter does end up coming back at some point. Maybe MC and starter’s longing to see each other again is powerful enough to bring the starter back, maybe MC and the soul riders find a way to bring him back and cue a quest line leading up to his return, etc. ANYWAYS I’m crying also I hoped ya’ll liked reading this theory/idea/whatever bc it physically hurt to write this

(might turn this idea into a fic... who knows...)

[aloeverawyvren]

My personal theories/predictions/rewrite of the story, long post. Also, I haven't played the newest story quest yet. Also I'm really bad at explaining things.

One of my biggest pet peeves is the lack of personality and involvement of our starter horse, they should have a way bigger impact and talk more. Maybe reflecting the answers we choose in dialogue, or maybe even disagreeing with us at some point.

I think we need to update and make the timeline make more sense.

My personal theory is that Justin is Aideens reincarnation, it makes sense to me. I think our MC is something else, maybe we're a separate entity, a physical representative of Aideens light itself.

Our actions are kind of the catalyst of everything Justin leaving, finding the lost soul riders etc. we're the guiding light, so to speak. Yes, even if we weren't there everything might have happened the same way but I doubt it.

Our MC, isn't from Jorvik, or at least they don't originally live on the map we play on. we came over for riding camp. But why? Why this specific riding camp? Possibly fate I guess, maybe we felt drawn here. Who's the first person we meet? Justin. he introduces us to our first horse, he fosters the bond between horse and rider, which is basically Aiden's whole thing.

I think a few more story quests need to be made to better flesh out our early interactions with the soul riders and druids, you can't tell me they don't have more trust issues, especially Alex. Maybe Anne or Lisa might be bitter about us 'taking their place'. making the quests a bit longer or something.

I think from here on out we need to start killing people. I know that sounds bad but there needs to be higher stakes. Make the baddies more evil. More kick the dog moments. Stick to the more gritty things. More events like the time the pandoric cracks showed up in Sliverglade.

There should be more conflicts, internally and externally, maybe some switching of sides. Characters that sit on the sidelines are forced to choose a side. Maybe Mr Sands finds he regrets what he's done.

Gathering information and possibly not liking the answers. Technically we still work for G.E.D, exploring the offices and stuff could confirm or disprove any theories we have lorewise.

the MC at this point should be pretty powerful at this point, and the game should reflect that, making real changes to the game world.

we could go around and start doing other things, like possibly start learning witchcraft from Mrs. Holdsworth which could open up more abilities and flesh out the different witch factions.

I have more thoughts about stuff but this is getting long.

If you take over SSE, what would be your first changes that you make? Like immediate things you want to do?

And what’d be your long term goal, how would you achieve it?

- ro-sso

this is the best ask ever thank u but u might not be prepared for this essay........ sorry :3

first off id need to find out exactly who are the current ppl for game director, art director, etc direction positions, and who of them are making the crazy decisions. is it directors and managers, is it the CEO, etc. ofc there might be many parts in this chain from an uncaring CEO down to a confused director down to a struggling game designer down to a coder/writer/artist that doesnt get enough time and resources, like, i understand its a complex chain but that doesnt change the fact that someone (or several) have been fucking shit up for all of sse's history. so i would do a lot of talking to staff respectfully and finding out whats really been going on in the chain, and who is not working in the best interest of the game's quality and the company's stability. map out where in the company theres the most and least problems.

(this to me is easy, im analytical and resistant to lies and manipulation as a person. i see through shit very easily and i have a long history of self-studying and analysing stuff related to running companies and making games, since thats my life goal... so to some ppl it might sound like "thats harder than you think" bc theyre just not me. some ppl arent passionate about running good healthy ethical game companies - i am!)

sse clearly has basically never had good directors with good direction, or if they did, those werent given enough power and resources. they shouldnt have been changing artstyle several times, they shouldnt have been abandoning storylines and areas, they shouldnt have been ignoring bugs in general, they shouldnt have been ignoring bugs and cheats in racing and champs, etc. so, its very important to get a good game director, art director, and so on, in place, whether its an existing staff member who just needs more power and resources, or its someone new who is a good fit.

then ofc take a look at all staff hired and see what everyone is there for. after the layoffs im not sure if they have many passive workers left but id get an overview and do some interviews w staff to find out how the efficiency situation is and if more/less ppl are needed in diff areas to actually pay ppl to work on the game itself. (as an example mb u need one less social media person and one more programmer, one less team manager consultant or other middleclass word salad jobs... etc.)

then overview of salary differences. this is a huge point to me. was the CEO that im assumably taking the job from, earning a lot more than everyone else a month? then thats not happening anymore. all salaries within the company would become more balanced, setting in place a system where the minimum salary and max salary at the company are tied together in a ratio so that to raise the top u must also raise the bottom. this will instantly lower much of the top and assumably raise some at the bottom (how much, i dont know from the outside). this ratio system would be clearly outlined and from now on a pillar of the company's structure. also, check that skilled senior staff has appropriate pay for their experience, etc, make sure salaries seem fair.

along with this ofc a good overview of costs, loans, earnings, the current office and all of this to know the situation. i think thats obvious but ill say it anyway to be clear. have a complete grasp of the economic situation, talk to the economics staff.

with staff interviews and salary checkups it would also be relevant to see if theres any gold star workers who should shift up in positions, for example a very good animator could become lead animator, stuff like this. sse has already done things like this fairly often (sometimes maybe not with the right people) so im not too worried about it but i would do another check. also just general talk w staff to find out who has hidden potential that might not be getting used. (i want to know my workers and be able to help them shine, this is good both for the workers, the work environment, and the company results.)

at this point, we should have balanced out some of the leaking money at the top (and hopefully made a few leeches jump ship while at it), boosted the happiness within the company (balanced salaries etc), and have a great overview of whats going on from the more economic and hierarchy standpoint. we should have gotten rid of some potential leeching staff that didnt actually help create a good product and run a healthy, ethical company, and we might have gotten new people in positions where we needed more skills (direction, programming, whatnot). compared to sse's 10+ years of being a chaotic mess, the company structure should look pretty good now, even if not perfect.

i would have a lot of talk with the directors and team leaders and senior staff to make sure everyone is on the same page from now on: we are making a good quality game, we are being consistent, we are not adding new random shit just bc ooh shiny or cashgrabs, we are going to impress the players and make them feel "oh god, finally sso is consistent and living up to its potential". everyone at the company needs to understand this goal and why the loyal players are disappointed with the game. there will still be new horses and item recolors etc ofc, we do need a certain degree of "ooh shiny" from the player side of things (hopefully good gameplay and good stories would also be ooh shiny though), but there needs to be a new focus on the Actual core and Actual pillars of the game, which sse failed to do bc they have bad direction.

most likely, we would change the weekly update into bi-weekly or monthly, maybe starting with bi-weekly to test the waters. in order to deliver a good quality main storyline and also good quality stories and updates to tie up loose ends, there needs to be enough time to do that. there would be very solid goals on the cadence at which major updates are released and no long stretches of time without main story, and no long stretches without other significant updates.

an important part of that is also the seasonal events - i think the 4 seasons of events is a good thing, but they need to be properly bug fixed and have some design and writing improvements, one new fun (more challenging) race for each of them, etc. so hopefully we can afford enough staff that we have a few ppl working on updating and finalising the 4 seasonal events to their more or less final form.

each seasonal event needs to have a cool and challenging race (similar to cloud kingdom rainbow race or some other recent races) that HAS A HIGHSCORE BOARD. this is a key thing to me. all event races should have highscore boards (and some crappy event races may be removed, or combined into a better version of all of them together). *everyone* playing would be able to just better their own score for a generic gold/silver/bronze score, which gives specific rewards for reaching the medal score on the event race(s), and those who are at the top of the leaderboard among everyone, would get a non-exclusive prize, like 1000js. its not a huge win - not to encourage cheating to get to the top - and mostly based in the existing "daily best" system. it would still encourage players to actually try their best at the event races and feel like there's some stakes in it. (active human moderation of suspicious race results is also necessary - we should be able to afford that now.) i also think, if someone has won the daily best, they should then not be able to get the daily best for at least another week, leaving place for other people... but this becomes a problem with alt accounts, so it needs more consideration, i dont have the full answer to that yet.

also, all the tack and clothes need a stats overhaul. the random top stats we currently have are stupid and they seem like they just didnt think about this at all. this is partially a dress up game, so you need to be able to dress up cute and still have top stats and be able to win champs. if possible, i would set staff to work on letting you upgrade any piece of equipment to max stats (which would be something like 5-10 in each stat i guess). this system might require starcoins to upgrade - a way for the company to earn money from cosmetic changes, that seems fair enough to me. (maybe there would be a way to pay with shillings and collectables, but just an easier way to pay with sc, it would be considered.)

we'd also need to sit down and take a good look at what all horses stats are, which horses seem to be boosted or nerfed in races for no reason, and make sure all horses at least function fairly and as intended. after that, to consider whether you should be able to train all horses to have the same max stats, or if we want to keep breeds unique and different, then those differences should also be well thought out and actually matter. right now, and for a long time, some horses are just better at races than others (pintabian, etc), and some (ardennes) seem to be shit for no real reason (other draft horses dont necessarily have the same problem). so it needs to be properly looked at and fixed so all horses at least have good reasons to be different, if they are different at all, and no bugs or unintended boosts and nerfs. horse stats should make sense for gameplay.

all the champs need to get their updated forms, so i also hope we could afford enough staff to have a few ppl working on updating the champs consistently until thats done. i do think a lot of sso's races also should be overhauled, because racing is the main gameplay we actually have (collecting light in hollow woods is not challenging and not really gameplay) and it should be satisfying, fun, and challenging, like playing a mariokart race (that doesnt mean it should play *like* a mariokart race, just that it needs to be fun). the highscore boards and the gold/silver/bronze medal systems are really, really neglected assets of sso's player motivation. if getting a gold medal score on a race was consistently actually difficult and required practice, and getting that gold medal also gave you a good reward (shillings, items) that motivated you to aim for it, then players might actually have fun challenging themselves for higher scores! the same goes for daily best / etc scores that should be looked into, what rewards they give, etc.

also, there should be a ban on adding any new npcs to the game if theyre not extremely necessary. sse has been adding new npcs left and right all the time, and it just clogs the game with random irrelevant characters that dont add anything to the game, it takes time and resources to make their model, give them a name, write their dialogue, and so on. instead, focus all that energy on actual relevant npcs and ones that players want to talk to and find out more about, hear their storylines, etc, and let races be handled with either existing npcs or with new and improved highscore board objects (make it obvious you click them to start the race).

of course, the art style of sso should never again change. art direction from now on is consistent and solid with an art director who understands their job, lead artists and lead animators who 100% understand what the goals are. directors who make sure that the quality of art, design, animation are up to the standards of the style we are using, that things fit together in the game. new models should not actually be "better" than the old ones - you end up in a destructive cycle where the art keeps changing. the style should be consistent with only relatively minor refinements over time. so, the art directors and leads need to make sure the style continues to be consistent, and update things that need to be. (im not sure how many areas of sso should really get the complete overhauls like silverglade village anymore - at some point you're also wasting resources on something less important than the gameplay and story, but some areas also look really outdated, so careful consideration needs to go into which areas to update and *how* to update them. maybe jarlaheim doesnt need a complete overhaul but a partial one. etc.)

the gen 4 horse needs to have very solid planning before release, which seems to have been the case so far from the little ive heard about it. if players can finally get a more custom horse with custom markings, mane and tail styles (preferrably available across breeds), and ability to pick coat, mane and tail colours separately, i think this would be great. it also relates to the whole thing with horse stats and just making sure that horses function properly and have reasons to actually have different stats and such, if theyre going to have that.

there also needs to be a decision made about sso's future - specifically, should we keep developing this game on this crappy messy engine for another decade, or should we eventually say, "this is sso 1, and we're finished with it (the story is finished, game isnt buggy, etc)" - and then go on to create a new game (while still keeping sso 1 running!) on a new, modern engine, where there is good direction and good planning from the very beginning? i dont know how far they got with project curie before cancelling it, whether theres much work to salvage, but i think that creating a new horse mmo set in jorvik (curie was supposedly not a horse game) as a more or less "sso 2" is a fair idea. the potential of customisable gen 4 horses might not really be that relevant for sso 1, or customisable player character faces and bodies like the sims. maybe this is stuff that should be in sso 2 from the very beginning, rather than patches trying to fix the mess that is the current sso? i think a lot of players wouldve been happier to see the old avatars and stuff remain in sso 1 and see the new, current artstyle we have be a separate game as sso 2 instead. (runescape classic etc.)

so, i would want to very carefully consider what really should be in sso 1 versus if we should be making sso 2. its possible to decide, actually we do want to just keep updating sso 1 and make it the best it can be, to basically keep adding expansions to it. but even if we decide that, the thing is, its hard to save the original story at this point due to the careless updates that have already been made for years. my question is, is it possible to give the loyal, old players a satisfying ending to this story and these characters' stories and this world's lore, within the current state of sso? or is it just too far gone off the track? so this needs to be carefully considered. maybe sso 2 could be a sort of remake of the story, starting with elements based on SSL, rather than the haphazard "uh these girls saved the world a while ago and now youre here i guess" that sso did start with. maybe its not too late to give the loyal long term players a satisfying end to the story. but its a complex issue that needs a lot of thought. (which should never have happened! the story shouldnt have changed the way it did, things shouldnt have been abandoned randomly, added randomly, changed randomly, all of this is just bad shitty direction and management without respect to the players, which is especially frustrating bc it goes right into "girl gamers dont matter, girl games dont matter,".)

there are more things, like a weather system, that i would have loved to see in sso but ultimately might be better to save for sso 2. or maybe sso keeps going with major updates and major expansions and then it would be relevant to consider for sso. the same thing for customising our home stable, getting a player home to customise, there are lots of fun ideas like this that i could talk about but that ultimately im not sure how much time and resources should be sunk into when sse have chosen to fuck themselves over for this long and caused this many problems with the game that need immediate attention to make it playable and enjoyable. so in this... essay... i focused mostly on solving problems and making the game a solid and fun experience, and what to prioritise to keep it that way, while these bonus new content like weather or customisable horses or customisable player faces/bodies and all that, would be great updates (or sso 2) but have to come as a bonus when everything else is under control.

so yeah thats covering both a lot of immediate stuff and long term considerations. this is like, a fraction of the stuff i've thought about. i have a lot more to say about a lot of things to fix in sso and other things that have to do with running companies too. and ofc theres a lot of things i just cant know from the outside, and so on, im not a perfect person who knows everything and never pretend to be (i have to say this bc ppl like projecting things on me just for being confident in my skills). getting to take over sse would still be a learning curve with finding out exactly where the problems are and how to solve them. i view this realistically. there are always unknown variables and things i'll have to figure out when i get to it, but you can do that if you have a strong core and strong direction that wont be swayed by capitalism or ooh shiny. i just know a lot about prioritising and directing and about ways to run healthier, better companies, and ways to be ethical and create good products instead of cash grabs - and i also value the skills and knowledge of others, which matters in finding the right people to work in the right positions. these are specific interests i have and spend a lot of time thinking about, analysing, studying, practising, etc.

if you or anyone else actually read all of this (im shocked) and want to discuss more about it or have questions about it, im all ears :D

[daineic-art]

The Wild Woods - Opinions & Ideas

Okay I’m writing this like, a couple minutes before I have to go to work so sorry if this is all over the place but I’m gonna try to ramble while also trying to have it make sense lol

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE NEW WILD WOODS QUEST AND STORY QUESTS!!!!

Bro??? That fuckin TREEE????? Also woods lady who went lost is 100% the wild woods deer. 100%

Anyway; I think personally Daine would have a very strong draw to the wild woods, especially The Sentinel Tree. It has a lot of theories running through his head (basically mine just put into his head lmao)

these theories include: Why does the tree emanate Pandorian energy? Why are there Pandoric Crystals here? If Aideen planted the tree and there’s this fuck-ton of Pandoric energy, does that Aideen was actually a Pandorian?

It’s a lot for his brain to handle since he just started to get his life back together. This is a bit of a spoiler for my story; (but also not because I talk about it all the time) Daine attempted to kill/burn Ydris to death when he found out Ydris captured Concorde. The thought that he literally tried to kill someone haunts him and put him into a huge rut that he’s only starting to get out of thanks to Starshine Ranch and Josh. This rut also had him questioning whether he was meant for this destiny or belonged at all and knowing what he does about the Sentinel Tree is giving him hope. Maybe this is how he’s connected to Aideen? Is this why she chose him? There are a lot of questions but questions that don’t throw him into a spiraling depression like it used to.

Daine now likes to visit the herds often with Raven, letting his Pandoric form show instead of draining his energy trying to hide it, and playing guitar at the roots of the Sentinel and letting his voice ring throughout the woods as he sings.