Apologies for the delay.
The Culture Review
by Gerrick
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Link to image)
This is the eighth installment of the Culture Review, written by me, Wintreath’s Jarl of Culture. I’ll be talking briefly about some events going on in the cultural areas of the forums, such as Ministry news, forum games, and contests that took place from late September through November.
Wintreath’s Finest is the name for Wintreath’s citizen of the month. Nominations are for those who stood out as contributing or showing dedication to the region or having been extra active, caused activity, or been a good influence on others. The winner of September 2018 Wintreath’s Finest was yours truly for helping lead Wintreath's faction during this year's Nuke Day (where we ended in 19th place) as well as my work as Jarl of Culture. The October 2018 Wintreath's Finest contest saw our first four-way tie of winners:
North for his work as Thane of Roleplay in revitalizing forum RP;
Saerien for his enthusiasm and efforts in RP, especially as a relatively new citizen;
Wuufu for his creation of the Discord bot Zaphyr, which was instrumental in Wintreath's Z-Day fight; and lastly,
everyone who helped with Z-Day this year for helping us get 3rd in Most Survivors + No Quarantine and 17th in Most Survivors. The winner of November 2018 Wintreath's Finest was
taulover for "wrangling the plebs and getting shit done with the Orendi".
Avatar Theme of the Month is the theme (or themes) nominated and voted on by citizens who then incorporate the winning theme(s) into their avatars for the month. Themes are often related to current events, though they may also include themes nominated at the random whims of citizens. October’s winning theme was
Wintreath in celebration of the region's 5th anniversary of being founded. November's winning theme was
Werewolves because of the game of Werewolf that took place that month. And lastly, December's winning themes were
Greco-Roman Paganism and
Sleazy Businessmen, which resulted in several citizens sporting avatars of sleazy Greco-Roman pagan businessmen.
Werewolf (aka Mafia) is a forum game where the few undercover werewolves attempt to kill all the other players, who try to in turn try to kill the werewolves -- and while the werewolves know who each other are, the other players do not. Werewolf XVI, which took place from Halloween to mid-November, was hosted by
Laurentus. This game of Werewolf, which was played by 14 people, was more of a back-to-basics one with just the four original roles. It was set in a small town in medieval Scandinavia where Count Dracula and his vampire cohorts (this game's werewolves) preyed each night on the townspeople, whose only hope of survival were Van Helsing and a pair of twin vampire hunters. In the end, though, the vampires --
Pengu,
Wintermoot,
Almonaster, and
Kane lives -- prevailed and fed on the townspeople and leveled the town. In a moment of mercy, however, Count Dracula left Van Helsing and a young girl alive, so look forward to seeing a sequel game in which Van Helsing returns with an army of vampire hunters to finally destroy Dracula and the vampire menace.
Shortly after that game's close, Werewolf XVII, the third "Choose Your Own Werewolf" created by
Pengu, started up. 13 players signed up and answered the eight CYOW questions that had hidden meanings, which resulted in a Christmas Star Wars-type theme, the four basic roles plus an adventurer, weaker guardians, and a Wheel of Fortune mechanic. The game was set in a galaxy far, far away where the Jolli Lords, leaders of the empire who strive for peace and happiness through force, infiltrated the headquarters of the Joieux Masters, leaders of the resistance who attempt to overthrow the empire so that they may hold on to their free will and power. Two of the three Jolli Lords were steadily revealed by a particularly lucky/talented Joieux seer, spelling a quick end for the Jolli. However, in an interesting turn of events near the end thanks to the choices of the adventurer (who had chosen to side with the Jolli), the final Jolli Lord switched roles with a resistance fighter to prevent him from being found out and killed. This led to some confusion, which resulted in a player accidentally revealing their role as an innocent resistance fighter, so the remaining players agreed to ending the game in a draw. The story Pengu wrote to accompany the results of each phase totaled an impressive 17,523 words.
