[Nottage]

4. Economy – 60/100

This is a segment of the game that is severely lacking in some aspects and has some fantastic areas in others. To begin with the in game currency of silver and gold; so far from playing I have found this to be near dead, currently one of the only ways I have seen to earn the currency is to either teach a profession or work in a guild, This is detrimental if your character can not find any places of work or not in a guild as the income is near enough dead. On top of this I have found very little need to have coin at all, all clothing you will need can be found in Chargen with enough planning and there is really very little in the terms of buying/selling, Currently I have not found anything other than ale and a language lesson to spend it on. As for income am yet to receive anything in that regard.

OOC currency however is well thought out, this comes in the form of QP and whilst difficult to come across can be used for a wide range of things, including RPA, whereby you can exchange it for reasonable assistance, for example if you are in jail for 10QP you might be able to have a lockpick smuggled in. However for 50QP, you might be able to have the brotherhood break you out. Initially I thought this to be a bad thing but once I figured out how difficult it is to obtain QP I noticed 50QP was a respectable amount to have and is unlikely to come across in the first month or so if not more.

Some other things QP is required for include character applications to positions of power; this is good as it allows the player applying to have sufficient experience and understanding of the game world to be able to effectively roleplay the position being offered. QP is also exchangeable for IC coins.

5. Back-story and Theme – 90/100

Now to the penultimate aspect of The Burning Post, it’s back-story and theme. The game has an indepth past including the war and consolidation of King Dav, and the founding of the Order and its sub chapters. It includes racial backgrounds and personality traits, as well as the physical appearance. The history of the world such as the Vavardi opposition to King Dav and the help/opposition of the various races gives a good launch pad for the in game racism and events.

In short King Dav formed the Order and declared the Lithmorran the superior beings, Mages were outlawed as were the Cultists of Vavard origin. It is suspected had King Dav not done this the Vavard region would be vastly Cultist. The order teaches that the god that the cultists worship is in fact a demon that promotes sinful desires and action. As a result most have been swayed and subdued into the orders faithful, and any action against the order is punishable as heresy and will result in subsequent burning on the fire. (This is not to say the order always gets the bad guy, or that there is no cultists/criminals left.)

The RPI is set in a small island and town “New Yarsith” For this reason from what I can tell the game world is relatively small compared to some of the other RPI’s out there, however this does not detract from the actual world. The staff and players work deligently to form an atmosphere that gives the feel of a large world, for example posts on the stories board include actions from the Queen and her emissaries, also subsequently the Royal family of Dav and the Order dominate most of the known world, with incredibly rare exceptions of criminal activity but even then they are still recognized as the ruling governance.

The game world boasts the offer of any character role you want based on its theme and the time period of the Inquisition. Without spoiling it, I will not comment on the theme any further other than to say that the politics are in depth, and any action in game has sufficient consequences, want to know more? I advise trying it for your self! (Important to note, all power positions are not played by the staff, but all players.)

6. Final Verdict – 78/100

Pro’s –

1 – Fantastic theme and back-story.
2 – Optimal character development, with very little in ways of restriction.
3 – Roleplay can fit to anyone’s style, there are no strict rules on OOC methods of play.
4 – Integration for newbies is well planned and fantastically presented.
5 – No excessive waits for Application process.
6 – Extreme trust in the player base and maturity from them
7 – QP System to ensure integrity of game world.
8 – Systems in place to ensure the maximized enjoyment for the player, without OOC disturbances.

Con’s –

1 – In game Economy is lacking.
2 – Chargen can be confusing for New players.
3 – Item restring may appear confusing, as well as some of the code.
4 – World is small, to reflect the player base.
5 – New Players may suffer with bad choices in character creation. E.g – Beginning as a Vavardi.

Details:

burningpost2.co.uk:4321