#idk what sparked this ask but its something i need to clarify my stance on apparently

[cass-burger]

I haven’t played cyberpunk but did anyone expect something else? When was it that a game that got constantly delayed did not get hyped to hell and then destroyed by reviews because they had imagined a game beyond the actual limits of a game developer? The seizure lights thing is something no one could imagine but still I think the media is punching down a lot on an indie developer that tried to do something new instead of making the tenth game on the series or the third remake of this twenty year old game

did,,,,,,,,,,,, did you just call cd projekt red an indie developer????

ok i was gonna leave this in the tags but its important so im gonna go in depth about this

even if they were (which again... they’re NOT) I think it’s very fair to criticise them on issues they have in their game that merit criticising. it’s not ‘punching down’ to call them out on transphobia, lack of accessibility, refusing to take criticism early on, and actually doubling down on the things they were criticised for so they could pander to more reddit-y centre/right wing fans and painting themselves as edgy and ‘cool’ or whatever the fuck. even if they were an indie these are all issue that very much deserve criticism and need to be called out.

but what’s MORE! is that it’s not being judged harshly??????

bar a few that have rightfully called it out on its issues, it has gotten across the board praise DESPITE the bugs and whatever other issues that plagued its review period. it has a damn 90 score on metacritic BEFORE day 1 patches so from just the reviewers playing it and posting scores it managed to get very high. SO it’s not even as if it’s doing badly because people are being ‘unfair’ or whatever to an “indie”, which again I’m just,,,,,,,,,,,

they produced the game of the year for their last release and now they have had like 2-3 years of uninterrupted hype leading up to their release now which in that time they’ve received endorsement and advertising from like all the big names??? prominently???? they had the main talking point moment at last years Xbox e3 presentation????? one of the biggest events for gaming promotion????????? I’m just so gobsmacked you’d call it an indie I’m honestly reeling hahahaha

which on the note of indie companies if you want a good comparison look at what all the reviewers and media are saying about hades! supergiant are an actual indie studio and hades is an actual indie game. you didn’t see anyone criticising them for their game. you know why? cos there was nothing there to criticise! they had a lengthy period where the game was in an open beta that anyone (i believe) could join in on and help out with the development in the form of immediate feedback on what they were playing and how it was feeling. this lead to a very successful launch this year that has received critical acclaim across the board and the game even came super close to getting game of the year! (at the time of writing this the goty hasn’t been chosen yet but considering it was only at 11% with user votes i doubt the weighted judges votes will be able to pull it up into a win, not up against goliaths like ghost of tsushima or tlou2)

whats more is there’s been a few reports now about how good a company supergiant is to work for! you won’t find any of the issues that cdpr had with crunch there. you won’t find worker abuse. you won’t find buggy games that require extensive delays ultimately amounting to still-buggy games upon release. if cdpr was one end of the spectrum then supergiant would be the other. forced leave, zero crunch, non-ridiculous hours, workers that are spending the time they do spend working on the games because they love it and want to be working on it, not because their boss is telling them they have to. you don’t see anyone ‘punching down’ on supergiant for any of this despite them being an indie. instead you see them getting the rightful praise that they deserve. and if for some hard-to-imagine reason they or some other indie company did do something that wasnt great and needed to be called out you would see them getting called out and criticised like cdpr is now (assuming they had airtime in the first place)

anyway as i was saying for most of this post: cyberpunk has issues and it is right and good to call them out on it.

it’s not punching down.

[theticklishpear]

Hi Pear! I have a question for you. I saw a while back an ask about founding a kingdom? I wanted to know if you would have any advice regarding founding a kingdom with a stolen artifact from the old kingdom? To clarify, my store revolves around a young woman who ended up with a ring that reflects a persons divine right to rule, only the goddess who first granted the kingdom the ring has decided to forsaken it as they forsook her. So MC gets ring and has to run for her life+ group of friends (a)

who are helping her have to run too. I’m debating having a border duchy/county/barony support her and become kinda the basis of operations? Idk I really just need advice I guess? The goddess helps them along a bit, and I really want my MC to kinda be forced into the role I guess? It isn’t something she wants and she thinks she’s going to be awful at it, but ancient goddesses are hard to ignore. I really appreciate anything you can help me with!!!!! forgot to mention it’s set in a hybrid renaissance/medieval world worth strong Italian points. Mostly bc I just really love Italy. Thank you again!!!!

(ask referenced, I think)

Hi there! I’m going to start off by doing some inferring about the situation so frame my own understanding--hopefully I’m getting things right, or if not, at least sparking some thoughts for you. This is long, and I apologize. You’ve got a lot of moving parts here!

In your world, gods are real. And I don’t just mean that people believe in them, but that they are corporeal entities who can choose to be physically present in your world. They actually exist outside of people’s beliefs. A particular goddess has historically been occasionally present in the Original Kingdom, and at one point bestowed a ring to them which was to indicate that an individual had her favor to rule. At some point and for some reason, the Original Kingdom decided the favor of a goddess wasn’t sufficient or an acceptable way to choose their leadership and so ceased to believe in the ring’s indication of the right to rule.

What caused this? Was it a wholesale split between the people and the goddess? Do they no longer believe the goddess exists, or were they more interested in establishing separation of church and state? Was the ring lost and they had to make do with a different system for choosing rulership that they no longer recognize the ring’s meaning? Have they begun to believe in different gods and goddesses, leaving worship toward this goddess particularly diminished? Is it just the Original Kingdom’s authority figures who have left the goddess behind, or is it the entire population?

You say: “...a ring that reflects a person’s divine right to rule, only the goddess who first granted the kingdom the ring has decided to forsake it as they forsook her.” What does “it” refer to? The Original Kingdom or the ring? I assume it means that she’s forsaken the Original Kingdom, since later you say that the goddess has been helping along your main character and her friends, but I’m not sure.

What does the Original Kingdom look like (in terms of culture) since they’ve forsaken this goddess? How have they changed? What did their beliefs and culture look like when they were still following her? How long has it been since they decided to break with the goddess?

I know that’s a lot of questions about history in your world, but I think it’ll be important for you to understand so that you can see a couple of important threads for this story. Let’s take a look.

1. The goddess has an agenda.

According to the goddess, the ring’s power and meaning is real. The goddess, while she’s displeased with the Original Kingdom’s actions, still believes in the essential good of its people. That she hasn’t revoked the ring from existing in the world and that she’s assisting those who have it in their pursuit of its original meaning tells me that she still believes the kingdom can be saved. But what does that mean to her?

Why does it matter to her that the kingdom believe in her authority to appoint a ruler? Why is it important to her that this kingdom continuing in the tradition of allowing the ring to symbolize the right to rule? Why doesn’t she just step in physically, remove the ruler she sees as unfit and place the ruler she wants on the throne?

From her perspective, the right of the ring is the right path for the kingdom, and by forsaking it, the Original Kingdom has veered onto the wrong path. What makes her path right? Why is she here? What’s she after? What’s her agenda?

2. The Original Kingdom has an agenda.

Do the authority figures of the Original Kingdom care about the existence of the ring? If they’ve decided not to follow the goddess’s decisions any more about who should rule, how are they handling those who do still believe?

Are they concerned about the ring? Do they know where the ring is? Are they aware that your main character has apparently been chosen by the ring? Are they actively trying to obtain the ring to hide it away or destroy it?

On what basis are they now claiming the right to rule? What made the idea of the ring so distasteful to them? How are they enforcing that belief throughout the kingdom?

What are they doing? What are they up to? Kingdoms never simply exist without striving toward some kind of goal. How is the rulership using their power and resources? What are they doing?

3. The duchy has an agenda.

(I know you haven’t decided what exactly you want it to be/call it, but I’m going to call the place your main character and friends go a duchy for now.)

A duchy (or frankly, any of the other options you listed) are still a part of the Original Kingdom. They’re still under the rule of whoever is on the throne, and the duke’s continued power in that place is dependent upon their power to repel any attacks made by the throne.

If the ruler on the throne got wind of the duke doing something the throne didn’t agree with and wanted to remove the duke from power, it’s possible for the duke to rebel and choose to stay in their land, but then it’s up to the duke to also be able to repel any attacks the throne makes against them.

The duchy is only an effective ally to your main character’s group if the duchy can defend them. That’s a lot of resources and manpower you’re talking about, so what’s in it for the duchy? What’s making them cooperate and help out? What stakes do they have in this fight? What do they want, and how far are they willing to go to help your characters?

4. The population has a say, too.

How much sentiment remains in the population toward the goddess? Are there people who would believe in the legitimacy of the claim of someone coming forward with the ring? The longer it’s been since the Original Kingdom decided to forego the use of the ring, the fewer people will still believe that A) it exists, and B) is legitimately goddess-blessed and still a good way to choose rulership.

Does your main character have a chance of making a claim and being accepted? The answer to that lies not at all with your main character and lies partially with the goddess (and her willingness to step in and act, and what her power is like) and partially with the people. If they don’t believe in her, it’s entirely possible for them to throw their own coup in response.

5. Your main character must make a commitment, one way or the other.

What’s her stance on the goddess? Sure, she’s physically seen the goddess, but does she agree with the goddess’ agenda? Does she agree that the ring is the right way to choose a ruler? Does she think the path the goddess is trying to put the Original Kingdom on is also the right path, like the goddess does?

Regardless of whether she thinks she’ll actually be a good ruler or not, she first has to decide if the premise of this thing is even one she stands behind. And yes, that is a choice. The presence of the goddess does in no way prove that this ring and this path is right for the Original Kingdom. What makes her believe? What future does she see the ring giving the Original Kingdom? How does she come to agree that whoever has this ring should be on the throne?

Only once she agrees to the legitimacy of the ring’s decision can she then begin to understand her own place in all of it. Is she the right person? Maybe not, but was every single one of the previous rulers chosen by the ring perfect or good rulers either? Probably not. Are there people around her who can help her make good decisions and understand the things she doesn’t understand about how the kingdom works?

What happens that helps her come to terms with the fact that she’s been chosen? If she believes that the goddess’ intentions are good for the future of the kingdom, then it follows that she’s been chosen for that same reason: she is good for the future of the kingdom. How can she see that?

What happens or who says what in order to help her understand that despite her feelings of inadequacy, there is reason to believe she will be a force for good. Is being a force for good even important to her? What happens if she says no? Will the ring simply move on to choose someone else? Can she pass the metaphorical cup by?

What kind of message about free will and the power of individual choice are you trying to make with the story?

6. Founding a new kingdom while the original kingdom still exists is unlikely without a bigger, much lengthier battle.

Even if the duchy was able to repel attacks from the Original Kingdom, your main character and her group of friends have many of the same problems as the people in that previous ask linked at the top of this post. They have to have people to rule, which requires accumulating people who believe in the legitimacy of the claim and are willing to put their lives at risk to see it into fruition. The Original Kingdom will always see this New Kingdom as a risk, even when they’re small.

They’re threatening to secede with a whole big portion of land (the duchy) that’s proven itself to be fairly powerful (if it can indeed throw off any attacks from the throne), taking not just the land but also the military, the general population (plus any people who choose to leave the other areas of the kingdom and move to the duchy of the new kingdom in order to support it), and the resources of the area with them.

That’s not a small blow to the Original Kingdom, and the New Kingdom won’t thrive until they’ve dealt a decisive blow or otherwise shown themselves capable of sustaining themselves to force the Original Kingdom to recognize them as their own entity.

Until that happens, they’ll be just trying to survive. They’ll have some advantages over the group in the other ask because they could conceivably (depending on how the story goes) have the framework of the duchy already built for them to use as foundations. They have agriculture already going, they have houses and structures and roads and settlements already established. They actually have borders and land carved out for them.

They’ll probably function very similarly to how the duchy functions in terms of legislation and settling of disputes, but they’ll have some advantages over those trying to establish a kingdom from scratch. They’ll still have to figure out how money, how to handle class or any stratification they wish to continue enforcing, law enforcement in general, and how they’re going to address/incorporate/honor the goddess in with all the new proceedings.

The Kingfountain series by Jeff Wheeler might be of some use to you, too. While certainly not the same, it does deal quite a bit with the right to rule, how physically-present religion plays into that, and personal identity.

I know this is a lot, so take your time sifting through it. Hopefully you’ve already answered some of these questions as you’ve been writing and/or planning, so now it’s just time to think about how it all comes together and be put into practice. Good luck! -Pear