WHY NO LOVE FOR THE ASCENDED?

HEY ALL

It's no surprise that in terms of our site's lore the ascended are very important. They're most often seen as the 'bad guys', but this isn't necessarily the case. Overall site-arc wise, they're hella important, but our numbers are dwindling! So we'd like to know from YOU what it would take for you to make an ascended? Or, what are the things holding you back?

Our thoughts?

1. "I don't want to play a baddie!"
2. "I want to write SMUT"
3. I want to be GOOD
4. "I don't think I like the Voice very much."

But tell us! For those of you who don't have an ascended, why has it never interested you?

I know I tried to write one but due to the character I had created, I never could get into it.

Right now, I don’t have any ideas for another character? Let alone an Ascended in particular. I feel as though that’s what holding me back. I love their dynamic honestly, I have zero problem with the four things you listed. I love playing Baddies, no smut is fine by me, I don’t have to write a good characters and finally I’m actually fine with the voice!

Maybe if I come up with an idea I’ll try again at making an Ascended c: but that’s why I haven’t made another one.

Personally, I absolutely love the ascended, and I’m super glad I’ve ascended Nate, it’s given me a lot of good story beats and like, though I might have wanted it at one time I definitely don’t want him to unascend anymore.

That being said tho, I think the ascended are kind of difficult to level and break into? Yes they have the same general requirements as the other races, but due to the lower numbers and greater difficulty of using tech to fulfill roles, it seems a lot more difficult overall. Maybe that’s something on us, and people should be trying for more utility upgrades/tech, maybe something else, I don’t know, but right now they feel kinda awkward to level, and it only gets worse as you go to higher levels. Like, looking ahead I’m already planning out MP to skip certain steps because they’ll be near impossible, which kind of sucks because I’d love to be able to do these things in character and in a thread, it’s just difficult.

Regarding the points y’all have brought up, the only reason ne I think would probably actually be a barrier is the Voice, but I dont think for the reason y’all have thought? Like, doing bad but being good is a cool character struggle, smut is still possible if you’re creative, so it’s not like those are actually barriers. But I think with the Voice it feels almost limited? Like, the other races have six gods to choose from, plus more specific spirits, and I understand why on the god front, but some new god feeling spirits might be kinda cool? Even if it’s not intentional, and they’re not meant to be aligned, it still feels very weighted towards the old gods? And with the Voices reach growing shouldn’t there be signs of that somehow?

Actually I had another thought about the tech focus in levelling, it’s not that it’s supposed to be more difficult, but it’s more difficult to organize set goals because there’s such variety across tech, as opposed to like being shifted to an animal and doing stuff, if that makes sense

I love the Ascended! But I do think there’s a few points to be brought up. Feeling/Basics, upgrades/tech, restrictiveness.

I think that part of it is the whole not feeling and not having a lot of the basics that people do and the other races that can be daunting? Like, the uncertainty of what can and can’t be done that ultimately puts it on admins to have to think about and respond with. I know I asked a bunch of questions when I started with my Ascended and much of it I’ve just kind of made up which can be hard. Maybe it’s worth having all the people that’ve played Ascended kind of get together and create a common do and donts as an Ascended start guide in a sense?

Upgrades and tech can be a bit more difficult like Johnny pointed out, where some of them are just completely useless when it comes to it, but fit the character if that makes sense? I think maybe that req would be easier to accomplish for the PQ+ specific leveling if Ascended’s could maybe use stolen abilities to satisfy that req rather than just the tech/upgrades? It could work for their other leveling stuff too.

In terms of it overall, I guess it feels a bit more restrictive? I’m not sure it has anything to do with being the villains but I also think that a lot of people aren’t sure what can and can’t be done when it comes to the Voice and the Ascended which makes it hard to ask for or suggest ideas when they can range so wildly? Like, a shift for Sunjata is just… an animal. A magic usually is just a magic? But for the Ascendeds the tech can be almost anything and I know when I had Rex I struggled with that immensely on getting ideas. (following up on johnnys idea)

Maybe if they were a bit more laid out like… This level you get an offensive upgrade, this next one you get a passive or aesthetic one, this next one is a healing/supportive one it might make it easier for people to have a kind of guide to go off and see what fits their character the best so they can pose the ideas they have for approval?

Going off that last point of sky’s, even like a ‘suggested’ route, or broken up like the demigod abilities are? It would just add a kind of focus that I think they’re lacking

I have been tempted at times to try making an Ascended, usually because I actually do enjoy the 'bad guys' aspect of them. And vampires are cool.

But aside from preferring to have only one character at a time, I am slightly put off by the technological aspect of them. It's only a personal preference, but I am a little uncomfortable with the mechanical stuff, for some reason. It's why I usually go for fantasy over sci-fi, and Abandoned/magic users over normies. I do enjoy the concept in general because of how unusual it is, but it's not something I vibe with and I don't know how I would write it. Magic to me is intuitive, emotionally driven, while tech... requires logic? And precise understanding of what's going on, and to me it somehow feels a lot more stiff and rigid. Not sure if this makes any sense, lol. It's mostly a matter of how easy it would be for me to wing a description and relate to what's going on with the character.
I guess the whole thing with not having functioning senses makes it harder too. I wouldn't know how to find purpose for a being that doesn't eat, sleep or have the basic needs that drive most creatures. What do you do with all that time? Why do anything at all, and how would they not go insane? I don't understand it, can't wrap my head around why anyone would want that kind of existence, and that of course makes it very difficult to play that kind of character, lmao.

From the points brought up above, my only objection is rather that I don't want to be forced to write smut, and since biting is arousing and also part of level requirements, I would have to dive into that kind of scenario whether I want to or not. Either that, or pay a lot of MP to skip that requirement, which I really don't want to do.

Another thing I've been bugged by is the agelessness, or rather the fact that I'd love to write the more ancient kind of Ascended, if I ever were to try. But for any newly made Ascended, it won't be something that even matters unless this game continues on for ten more years or so, right? And I might be remembering wrong here, but supposedly there weren't any old Ascended left outside the barrier, and it feels a bit late to make an old one from within the Grounds, because where have they been all this time? I don't know.

In other words, I feel the Ascended are cool! But. Would I write one? Eh, meh, nah... probably not at this point in time.

Just going to address a few things scattershot here, in no particular order of importance.

1. LOVE the suggestion of having stolen abilities as part of the levelling. Why the fuck didn't we think of that sooner.

2. Chan - The smut point is a really good one, actually. Does it make a difference to know that like..if the bite is quick and it's just purely to satisfy levelling or whatnot, that most people hardly mention anything more than just like...feelings of arousal before moving on? Either way, it's a good thing to note. Also - you absolutely can have old ascended. My character 108 was 108 years old, and we have someone on the site who is...300, I think? Usually we just say they were in hibernation.

3. Interesting thought Sky, about having a plan laid out...or maybe we could just offer up more sugestions? Like instead of having "here or some ideas" it's "here are some healing ideas" "here are some defensive ideas" "here are some aesthetic ideas"

I mean... In a way, yes, it helps? But doesn't take away from the fact that the character is still required to get in that situation at all. Or rather, I still have to deal with the reaction of both my character and the response of whoever's been bitten, and... I don't know. It's not that I can't write smut, I just don't feel comfortable with it being something I'm expected to do? Just because I choose to play one particular race.

Sooo, I love Ascended, I got two of the nerds! They're my favourite race on the site and I really like the inclusion of something a bit more tech-y in the fantasy universe, it makes this interesting new vs old conflict.

The smut thing doesn't bother me too much; you can write smut with Ascended if you get creative and they do have the Boner Room~ I've never really seen them as 'baddies' strictly, maybe...misguided? But not exactly villains, so that doesn't bother me either. The Voice is my favourite Goddess so that's for sure not a problem.

The two things I would suggest for improvement are pretty similar to things Sky/Johnny have said:

1. It's difficult to level up when stuff is dependant on tech quests etc because there isn't much guidance on how you do that/where to find tech, and you have to go through an admin/mod to do it. Also, 'Tech focused PQs' are very difficult to get for levelling.

2. While the Ascended do have a general set of plans (or at least, the Voice does) and they occasionally get more short term goals, I think knowing what the Voices 'endgame' and overall plan looks more like would help. I get that her being secretive is cool and mysterious, but playing an Ascended your character gets a lot of questions that are difficult to answer, and without a definite way to respond or motivation for your character to proceed, it can kind of hit on your motivation to play them.

I do also think, and this isn't really a problem anyone can 'fix', but they're a bit more lore-intensive and have more limitations than other races, so people are less likely to choose one, especially if they're just joining the site. I'm not sure if there's anything that can be done about that one, really.

Maybe some little fine tuning would be useful, but I think the Ascended are really interesting and I love playing my two and the ideas/concepts that come up from it.

LAM ALWAYS FISHING FOR THOSE SEKRITS.

I've kind of wanted to write an Ascended but I just don't have much in the way of ideas for one, plus I'm too busy at the moment to take on another character (as shown by the fact that I've really only had the time/inspiration to write Juniper lately).

But Chan actually makes a really good point that I hadn't considered about the arousing nature of the bite. That's not necessarily something I'd enjoy writing, as smut is very much not my thing.

Also, it kind of feels like the existing Ascended are a tight-knit family with a strong history together, and the idea of trying to break into that with a new character is a bit intimidating?

Plus, the Ascended seem much more personally involved with the Voice than other characters necessarily are with the Old Gods, which can be a bit more challenging.

I don’t necessarily agree with the smut thing, because it really doesn’t have to be a focus, apart from the fact that it happens. I’ve had more than one thread where a bite was a means to an end and the side effects were totally ignored, it’s not like it has to be overwhelming at all! Every ascended can respond to it different

Regarding the family thing though, I think it should be made clear that it’s not necessarily tight knit and close in the way it might seem? It’sa matter of convenience, and the ascended are very eager to include others in the fold and help newer members. It’s more to give you an immediate connection to a group that can help and that understands what you’re going through

I'd love to add a question to the discussion -

If there were a specific Ascended-lore centered write up, other than what's on the Race and FAQ pages of the Guidebook, would you find the race as a whole less intimidating to dive into? Which is not to say that you'd make an Ascended character, but you'd look at it and say 'Yeah, I feel like I understand them better.'

Questions like: "I see they're referred to as a 'family' what does that mean?"
or
"How involved do I have to be with the Voice and the site plot if I make an Ascended?"
or
"I want to make a 300 year old Ascended! What should they know?"
or
"I have an idea, does it fit with this lore or not?"

(Sorry if I overstepped, Odd)