COMMUNITY - FORUMS - GENERAL DISCUSSION
You will probably have to marry your friends.

Hello, Elyria! Today I'm here to tell you: you will probably have to marry your friends.

It's kind of inevitable, particularly with nobility, who also have the likelihood of marrying strangers. I'll tell you the reasons you will want to consider marriage, and I will tell you why it will be your best buddy who makes the best option for marital bliss.

"But," you say, "as of Down the Rabbit Hole we've been able to marry NPCs--why not skip the risk of player marriage entirely?"

Very good question. We'll answer that, too.

First, let's ask the question: why marry at all? We answer this by looking at what marriage provides. Ideally, upon signing the marriage contract both parties would obtain greater security, greater wealth, greater opportunity for growth, greater fame, and the ability to produce multiple heirs of a particular lineage. If the pairing is between nobility presumably one could extend these gains to some measure unto the respective realms themselves, especially if the two realms are united as one at the following Sedicim. All of this greatly depends on the marriage contract, but in general these benefits will apply to some extent.

The couple also become a family. They gain access to the family chat channel, thereby having an instant and secure means to convey information. They can help extend the lives, or prevent the deaths of the entire family, accelerate the training of heirs, and bolster the stats of one another to achieve more difficult work than would otherwise be possible. With a larger set of shared assets, they can take larger investment risks. With the joined political and economic might of two domains they could alter the course of history.

And these benefits echo through the ages. As the dynasty builds over generations, fame will accrue at a greater rate with more players in the dynasty. You could build a pedigree of sorts, offering a family with wealth, power and prestige to well-known players looking to join a famous noble line. This could propel your dynasty to the very heights of glory.

Of course, all of this comes at risk. You have to be able to trust your family in a great many things. And what if it doesn't work out? Messy medieval divorces never end well. You can't take a child code away from a player after they've used it. In fact, all these crazy players could drain your resources and ruin your fame completely! Probably safer to simply stick to NPCs, right? Maybe.

From what we know, the NPCs will have personality traits, flaws and personal needs, just like players. They can be manipulated into acting against your interest if it is sufficiently in their interest to do so. Who knows how easy this will be, but it certainly represents a liability for which you will need to account. On top of that, we simply cannot expect NPCs to outperform PCs. A player brings much more to the table than an NPC ever will in most cases. While their skills may be top-notch, and their stats a bolstering dream, and NPC is still limited in their ability to understand and anticipate the needs of the players around them. Even so, many will enjoy being an "NPC rancher," and I do not begrudge them this choice. It simply does not carry the same potential for benefit, and I'm not so certain it is any less of a risk.

So, marriage has too many perks to ignore, and players are the obviously better option. At least, that's my conclusion. This is where we have to face the music: I've seen many people express the opinion that marrying their friends, particularly their same-sex friends, is somehow too "icky" to consider. And it may be awkward, at first, to propose a merger with your flatmate, sure. It's by far the most secure option, however. Working closely with players whom you know and trust will only strengthen you, your house, and your dynasty.

Get used to the idea of marrying your friends. No one will make fun of you at ElyriaCon for it. We promise.


1/17/2018 2:55:52 AM #1

"you will probably have to marry your friends."


1/17/2018 3:05:16 AM #2

I'm already married to my best friend.

...

Just kidding, I'm not married. Nor do I have friends. That would've been sweet if it was real, but whatever.

On a serious note, I don't think marriage will be that awkward. Aside from some jokes, I don't think that's a major turn off. It's little more than a game mechanic.


Ehhh.

Friend Code: 9AA6A4

1/17/2018 3:05:30 AM #3

In the kingdom I'm in, a lot of the higher nobles have already started to pair themselves off. Oddly enough all with the opposite sex, if that was by choice or flat our random no idea there. Personally I would take someone I could trust, no matter what gender they happen to be. But I don't see that happening so NPCs seem to be the way to go. Of course that's even if marrying them is even really needed. As you pointed out the cons maybe too great.


1/17/2018 3:59:00 AM #4

Posted By Desophyr at 10:05 PM - Tue Jan 16 2018

I'm already married to my best friend.

...

Just kidding, I'm not married. Nor do I have friends.

slow clap

Welcome to the club.


1/17/2018 4:36:04 AM #5

Maybe if I had any friends in CoE who wanted to play the same tribe and area as me I'd consider marrying them.

But at the end of day I'm just more comfortable personally marrying NPC, I have allot of reasons but I guess it comes down to I trust NPC More than players. Gamers are some of the most awful and dickheaded people so no thanks.


1/17/2018 4:39:00 AM #6

They focused marriage around people to play together that knew each other in RL..I remember during one the Q&As saying they doubt people would actually marry outside of knowing the person in RL.

1/17/2018 4:52:34 AM #7

But ... but ... I'm the most eligible bachelor! Who wouldn't want to marry me!!?? Step right up ladies. Don't be shy. Show me what you've got ... and I'll show you mine.


1/17/2018 4:52:51 AM #8

Posted By Deftly at 8:39 PM - Tue Jan 16 2018

They focused marriage around people to play together that knew each other in RL..I remember during one the Q&As saying they doubt people would actually marry outside of knowing the person in RL.

Unless it requires knowledge of social security or something outrageous like that, its far more likely most of us would have more trust and comfort with our e-friends having our backs in an mmo whom we've known for years than most people we know in rl.

1/17/2018 5:32:20 AM #9

Posted By Vucar at 11:52 PM - Tue Jan 16 2018

Posted By Deftly at 8:39 PM - Tue Jan 16 2018

They focused marriage around people to play together that knew each other in RL..I remember during one the Q&As saying they doubt people would actually marry outside of knowing the person in RL.

Unless it requires knowledge of social security or something outrageous like that, its far more likely most of us would have more trust and comfort with our e-friends having our backs in an mmo whom we've known for years than most people we know in rl.

I guess it's possible to be different per person..I don't really call people E-friends if I know their names and if I know your name you would be the person I would trust to marry if I had to pick between them and a random guy in my guild I just know via his online handle.

1/17/2018 6:43:10 AM #10

Posted By Deftly at 9:32 PM - Tue Jan 16 2018

Posted By Vucar at 11:52 PM - Tue Jan 16 2018

Posted By Deftly at 8:39 PM - Tue Jan 16 2018

They focused marriage around people to play together that knew each other in RL..I remember during one the Q&As saying they doubt people would actually marry outside of knowing the person in RL.

Unless it requires knowledge of social security or something outrageous like that, its far more likely most of us would have more trust and comfort with our e-friends having our backs in an mmo whom we've known for years than most people we know in rl.

I guess it's possible to be different per person..I don't really call people E-friends if I know their names and if I know your name you would be the person I would trust to marry if I had to pick between them and a random guy in my guild I just know via his online handle.

Hanging up on the name of someone is a pretty weak argument. I know my cousin's real name, and i know the handle of my best friend of 9 years online, and ten out of ten times I would trust my online friend with way more of my life (and certainly my mmo accounts and mmo endeavors) than my cousin.

The point being, this is a video game online. It will be dominated by crews of people who have been tight with each other through past online games, so it makes sense that marriage will be dominated by crews of people who have been tight with each other through past online games.

1/17/2018 6:59:26 AM #11

Posted By Vucar at 01:43 AM - Wed Jan 17 2018

Posted By Deftly at 9:32 PM - Tue Jan 16 2018

Posted By Vucar at 11:52 PM - Tue Jan 16 2018

Posted By Deftly at 8:39 PM - Tue Jan 16 2018

They focused marriage around people to play together that knew each other in RL..I remember during one the Q&As saying they doubt people would actually marry outside of knowing the person in RL.

Unless it requires knowledge of social security or something outrageous like that, its far more likely most of us would have more trust and comfort with our e-friends having our backs in an mmo whom we've known for years than most people we know in rl.

I guess it's possible to be different per person..I don't really call people E-friends if I know their names and if I know your name you would be the person I would trust to marry if I had to pick between them and a random guy in my guild I just know via his online handle.

Hanging up on the name of someone is a pretty weak argument. I know my cousin's real name, and i know the handle of my best friend of 9 years online, and ten out of ten times I would trust my online friend with way more of my life (and certainly my mmo accounts and mmo endeavors) than my cousin.

The point being, this is a video game online. It will be dominated by crews of people who have been tight with each other through past online games, so it makes sense that marriage will be dominated by crews of people who have been tight with each other through past online games.

That's why I said it's different for some and not the exact same for everyone..Of course, I know my family member's real name and you also left out when I said "random guy" and not someone I knew for 9 years..For me, e-friend is more like saying online acquaintance, people I call e-friends I wouldn't consider them anything more than an acquaintance. No matter how I melt someone I call them friends when they get to a certain point. We're just splitting hairs lol.

1/17/2018 7:50:25 AM #12

Me trying to convince my friends to join COE and Marry me:


1/17/2018 11:04:12 AM #13

My friend and I already plan to get married if we don't find better options. In-game, he's married irl.


KS Backer 750 Friend Code: 8FF2A7

1/17/2018 11:59:08 AM #14

Despite SBS's stance on multiple accounts, I think there will be quite a few people who create a second account just to have someone to marry/have kids with. They will do this in order to remove all risk from the situation and keep all resources to themselves.


1/17/2018 12:18:50 PM #15

My spouse is planning to play, so I will have a ready-made in-game spouse. However, neither of us are comfortable with our characters having incestuous relationships, so that may throw a wrench in things after the first generation.


Shieldwall Strong!