Maewyn@Unrest_old wrote:
Rainmare@Oasis wrote:
for some classes, morality is a big aspect of what they are. how they do things woudl get them killed in certain places. your mystic would be exectued in Freeport. simple as that. same as my Paladin. because part of what makes a paladin and what makes a mystic is the fact they are NOT willling to do certain things. there's no grey area between the two classes.
a mystic that forces a spirit to do anything against it's will (and you would have to, in order to live in freeport/neriak) isn't a mystic. it's a defiler. period. the very acts you would have to commit to stay in freeport make you a defiler by necessity.
same with a paladin and a shadowknight. thier moral 'code' and pacts with thier deities require certain acts and behaviors that simply won't fly in the opposing city. in fact they are pretty much not allowed in the opposing city, without someone kicking in your front door or you finding a knife( or several) firmly planted between your shoulderblades.
I didn't realize that a merchant, banker, or guard could tell my morals while I am shopping, banking, or wandering the streets of a city. Who's to say that Bertox wouldn't be amused by a Shadowknight who outwardly bends his knee to the queen and does all that is required to be a citizen of Qeynos while secretly reaping hate and discord outside the watchful eye of the guards? I think he would find that very clever. And who's to say that my Mystic can't walk the walk and talk the talk and plead her fealty to Lucan and all he stands for, while locking away her true motives and morals in her heart where she continues to worship and please her Ancestors that grant her her powers? Oh wait, YOU can't, its my character, but I am unable to do this because SOE decided there needed to be 8 faction-locked classes in a game where faction really only determines where you live and what gods you worship, IF you choose to worship one.
I can lore away a Paladin in Freeport as a true defender of the good, who is willing to do what it takes to bring converts to his cause. If that involves licking Lucan's boots so that he has freedom to wander the streets and find like-minded Freeportians to talk into conversion/betrayal, that's HIS right. I fail to see how a character behaves in battle, away from the cities and the watchful eyes of the guards, should determine what city they can and can't live in. It's silly. There's no reason why ANY class can't earn the right to use vendors, banks, and brokers in any city in which they are willing to work the faction on.
your right, a merchant might not. but we know from the banker text that you have to have 'proper paperwork' to use his services. your mystic would, by necessity, have to belong to the Dismal Rage. you'd have to work with the defilers. you'd have to do what they would expect you to do as a defiler. and telling your superiors no won't cut it. making excuses to get around it won't cut it. they are looking for actions like that as a reason to turn you to the Wraithguard and curry favor.
Your right you 'could' fool people with talk perhaps. but in freeport, your word don't mean jack squat. they don't trust eachother's word. that's why there's two detention camps of people that just happened to say the wrong thing at the wrong time that got overheard by the wrong people. but no, a mystic can't 'walk the walk' among the defilers. when you start forcing a spirit to do your work against its will, your not a mystic anymore. and it's not like you can say to the spirits 'but I have to do this to live in freeport! I didn't mean it!' they don't see your residence as a justification for torturing/forcing spirits.
and it's not just how you 'behave in battle' a paladin's duty is to aid the weak. to help those that cannot help themselves. that's what makes him a paladin. that's what gives him his divine gifts, doing the will of his deity. the first time some militia guard is kicking the hell out of someone for something like daring to talk back about being robbed by the coalitition of tradesfolk, a paladin is bound by his codes to help them. that'll just get him in the same boat...or worse if he defends himself and heals himself...or heaven forbid he uses Lay Hands on anyone. ever. and like the Mystic, he'll be part of the Militia...which means it's highly likely they'll be looking at him for insubordination if he stops a beating. he wouldn't be able to abide the torture going on in Longshadow Alley. or seeing people unjustly thrown into the detention camps. or the acts of defilement in the Graveyard to the paladins that had been laid to rest there.
Lucan HATES the paladin orders. he nearly cost Freeport the battle of defiance becuase of his irrational hatred. if there is a surefire way to get major brownie points with Lucan, it's exposing and turning in a paladin. and even the poor shmuck that was getting stomped on would turn the paladin in because it'll be the quickest way to get him out of that situation and some protection in the future.
Now lets look at that Sk in Qeynos. could he bend his knee to Antonia, while trying to keep his pacts with the evil gods? not likely. the acts he'd have to commit would get him executed. even Kane Bayle, a member of the royal family, couldn't hide what he was. and if there's anyone that would have the connections to do that, it was Kane. bertox requires he spread disease. Inny needs hatred. Cazic needs Fear. and remember these people are divinely touched. they are channeling divine power.
which means I bet any cleric could feel something being 'not right' with you. or any paladin/sk could sense the touch of thier god's ancient enemies on another person. (in fact, this was shown in EQ1, where a dark elf worshipping inny could 'see' through illusions becuase they could sense the touch of other gods) and yes, your point of we as players can't tell is a valid one. yes I can't tell if your character is a sk or a guard.
but this isn't just about what we as players can tell. this is also about what the NPCs can tell. how an npc might react. yes my high elf paladin might group with a dark elf defiler as players, even though I know good and well that an NPC paladin would kill that defiler on sight. I can't sense the spiritual torment and agony that surrounds a defiler, but in norrath, a paladin/mystic/cleric/druid could. I can't tell if that blue armored human is an sk or not, but my paladin would be able to sense the 'touch' of evil on him.
though while I'm sure I could exile myself, not ever complete the betrayal line, and have a house and freeport and play like I'm a paladin in freeport, technically I'm not a citizen. but there's you mechanic way around it the 'restriction' you live in Haven 'officially' and unofficially in the city you want.
I don't think your lore makes sense when an Inquisitor or Coercer can live in Qeynos, the rainbow city of good and sunshine, but shaman arbitrarily cannot choose where to live. Or can torturing victims and the minds of victims be seen as good somehow?
Freeport is far and away better. If Qeynos had a merchant tent with everything accessible right there like Freeport I wouldn't gripe as much.