Rats Nest

Quick Summary:

• Largest Open PVP Player Owned Town (POT) in the game.
• Over 500 Lots!
• Owner will NEVER ban a resident for ANY reason.
• Directly connected to Verdantis Shardfall, the location of many of the rarest resources.
• POT Lore has been created to directly explain PVP and integrate it with the canon of the game.
• POT designed for solo players first and foremost. It is intended that you won't have to join a guild to survive.
• Rat's Nest, The Horned Society and Corvus Peak will all be connected together in a show of PVP solidarity!

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Penshire (aka Rats Nest*):
*Rats Nest is a Metropolis that will likely be in an Island/Swamp biome.


Song approved by Lord British!



The City of Penshire, known both affectionately by its inhabitants and infamously by outsiders as Rats Nest; is planned to be located on an island to the east of Verdantis Shardfall (Northwest Quadrant of Novia). Focused on FREEDOM, the city has a reputation for letting its residents solve their own problems without the heavy hand of local government getting in the way.

Governance for the city is simple. There are ONLY two laws:

1. Do not attack the town owner, Baron Drocis Fondorlatos.
2. Pay taxes in full and on time.

Quotes:

“No one lives in Rats Nest because they want to. They live in Rats Nest because they have to.”
- Remmington Remly, Rat's Nest Town Crier

"We are who we are. lad. If it's in your nature to kill, then you kill. If it's in your nature to bake bread, then you bake bread. There are not a lot of people baking bread in Rat's Nest."
- Badear Scourge, Rats Nest Bank Guard

"Boreas, the Titan of Truth is an interesting construct. On the one hand he shows you everything in his open palm. On the other hand he shows you nothing as his hand is resting unseen behind his back. This is how real truth works, we are constantly wondering what's in the other hand. Rat's Nest is partial to both hands."
- Baron Drocis Fondorlatos, Owner of Rats Nest

"No watchers, no spies, no riddles, no lies."
- A common Rat's Nest greeting and goodbye.

"Death in Rat's Nest is like the seasons, no winter is too long, no spring is soon enough, no summer lasts forever, and there is always a fall."
- A common Rat's Nest saying.

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The following town layout is an early conceptual draft of Rats Nest submitted to the Portalarium design team. It is subject to change.

Rats Nest FAQ's:
1. Will Rats Nest have PVP? Yes.
2. Why are there so many guard towers in a PVP POT? The support of secure banking and trade is important to everyone, even people that like pvp. It simply doesn't make sense to have a bank without being able to BANK there (free from non-stop gankage). The guard towers are meant to "help" facilitate having a chance in hell to actually use the bank from time to time. I'm counting on the developers to make this investment in guard towers a meaningful one. Obviously this will have to happen over time.
If more guards are made available in the add-on store, I will purchase them to patrol streets nearest the areas of the town that are most likely to support trade (player vendors), like the town square. It is worth noting that the current design has a total of 26 guards in a condensed area. I believe that will be enough to at least enter and leave Rats Nest in relative "safety" if your path is directly to the or from the bank.
3. What type of shrine will be in the Town Square? TBD Right now the Titan of Truth is a clear favorite of mine.
4. Why only one shrine? TBD. This is subject to change. There may be less guard towers and more shrines, as of this moment we don't know what shrines do exactly.
5. What happens if someone takes this location before you can get it? Then they take this location and I pick a new one. There are several that would be just as good. The key factor for me is that this POT will be as close as possible to a Shardfall. There are three Shardfalls. I picked this one because it's in a swamp - I like swamps. UPDATE: We have the location.

6. Wouldn't it be better to have a non-pvp town where players could run back and hide without fear of being held accountable? No, that's not a good solution if you really enjoy pvp and you're not some kind of exploiter. The way Rats Nest is designed (conceptually) I'm assuming that non-pvp players will not want to walk into a "rats nest" and "hold people accountable" for whatever it is they may be doing in the outside world. Why? Because the POT may have as many as 500+ players that love pvp and are strong enough to live here. Do the math, that's bigger than 95% of any other guild that will be playing this game. It's going to be dangerous and safe at the same time.
7. Are guilds welcome to live in Rats Nest? Yes, anyone that pays their taxes can live in Rats Nest, no questions asked.
8. How much are taxes? TBD. Taxes will likely be at 40% of whatever it would normally cost someone to own a lot (with a one month deposit). So if Portalarium charges 2000 gold per month, you pay 800 to me for the right to live in Rats Nest for that month.
9. How will you collect taxes? I will collect taxes manually in a secure location once a month. Yes you can pay as far ahead of time as you wish.
10. Why so many row houses? This gives me the best town layout for solo pvpers. By having a dense urban sprawl I'm able to create hiding places, back alleys, and nooks that will allow players (solo players) to escape from other players. I'm very much a solo player and I dislike that most MMO's force you to join a guild to survive. Rats Nest is designed specifically to allow solo players to pvp and survive without joining a guild. At least that's my hope. Wish us luck.
11. Why not have more NPC buildings? Most of the buildings you can get in a POT are kind of stupid and a waste, economically. Although there are valid social and roleplaying reasons to have these NPC buildings, the NPC's will always be gold sinks, and so this is money in your local economy that will never come back into your local economy.
So yes, it's nice to have a magic shop (for example) to get basic magic supplies. But some player will just create a vendor with magic supplies in your POT, you don't need the NPC's to do that. Players will run to an NPC town, get the stuff on the cheap and then run it back to your town to sell them...that's how supply and demand works. Don't believe me, watch it happen.
12. Didn't you announce another POT like this before? Yes, you can see the old thread here. I changed my mind and upgrade to a Metropolis. It's bought and paid for, I'm now just waiting in line for the day when Portalarium calls on me to enter Novia officially. Based on my place in line, this should happen sometime this year, before launch.
13. What are your thoughts on the Oracle? Rats Nest is Free from the oppression of the Oracle, Rats Nest will be built on the sole founding principle that we make our own fate in New Britannia. No religion or machine will tell the people of Rats Nest what to do. Over time I believe this will be proven to be a smart way to "live" within the game.
14. Are you open to connecting with other towns? Yes, I've been in talks with several towns that are interested in connecting. If you have a PVP town and wish to connect to Rats Nest, please let me know. Yes, PVP only.

Update: I'm very pleased to announce that The Horned Society will be connected to Rats Nest. Here is our intended placement. Please keep in mind that these locations are subject to change, regardless The Horned Society and Rats Nest will continue to work together to find a new location if need be.


Update: Rat's Nest, The Horned Society and Corvus Peak will now be connected together!

15. Are you interested in forming trade agreements? Yes, but keep in mind that this is a PVP town. I will never agree to anything that requires more rules or more laws of the residents of Rats Nest. So if your idea of a trade agreement is "don't attack my caravans", please accept my decline of that request now.
16. What happens if someone breaks one of the laws? They are removed immediately from being a resident of Rats Nest. This shouldn't be a difficult request to comply with. There's only one person you can't attack (me), and you have to pay your tax on time.
17. Do you have a waiting list for lots? No.It's premature to start a list like that. When the POT is created in game and closer to launch, I'll begin taking names of those that are interested in living in Rats Nest. Until then, please share any ideas or ask any questions you may have.
18. What are those black circles inside the keep lot (on the concept map)? My City Level Wizard Tower.
19. Why is one of the laws that you can't be attacked? Because I need to be able to walk around my own town to conduct business without being shot at 24/7. Obviously I'm going to have a nice target on my back regardless.
20. What is the green and red circle around the keep lot (on the concept map)? A circle of swamp trees.
21. Are you concerned that lag will be an issue? Yes. In the past, Ardoris (which is currently the closest thing to Rats Nest in the game right now, with 188 total lots) has been a lag fest for some players. This has improved GREATLY overtime however it still poses some challenges to players will lower end PC's. But I'm confident the developers will make Rats Nest an enjoyable place to live for everyone that meets the minimum system requirements. Rats Nest will be more than twice as large as Ardoris (even if no but me lives there)!
22. Will you ever BAN a player from Rats Nest? No. I'm not interested or responsible for policing the game for Terms of Service violations. That's Portalarium's job. No player will ever be banned by me as a POT owner. However as a good citizen of New Britannia, I would strongly suggest that all players read and understand the Terms of Service so they may follow it in spirit as well as the letter to avoid entanglements that might result in a ban by Portalarium.

 

I look forward to not only visiting your Metropolis but conducting buisness there as well.

 

Love it!

 

if anyone ever read the sanctuary series the "Maze" come to mind. love the idea!

 

Yes, this is inspired in part by Thieves World, Sanctuary and "the Maze". Good catch.

 

Update: I'm very pleased to announce that The Horned Society will be connected to Rats Nest. Here is our intended placement. Please keep in mind that these locations are subject to change, regardless The Horned Society and Rats Nest will continue to work together to find a new location if need be.

I think I can speak for Abydos (The Horned Society Owner) when I say that we are both hopeful that more PVP POTs will connect to our towns in the future.

 

We are proud to be part of this great adventure with you Baron Drocis Fondorlatos.

 

Wow, that's a lot of row lots, it'd be cool to see this town in-game, like a maze almost, very cool!

 

It pleases me to see all the new ideas that are coming out of the woodwork as the game (and POTs) are further developed. I look forward to the possible business ventures BMC will conduct with and within the Rats Nest.

 

You will notice my alternate tag in the sig "ShadowSpawn" I shall be lurking about...

 

My first attempt at this contained a number of Taverns and Inns I had created that were inspired by The Vulgar Unicorn (from Thieves World). I had all kinds of backstories written up for them and was very excited about the potential for roleplaying.

But as I thought through the mechanics of the game, I realized that NPC buildings would weigh the town down, and the very best places would be run by players (like Woody's Tavern). My hope is that taverns and other businesses will turn up organically. I've tried to design the city to support this. I figure anywhere along the trail of guard towers should do. Although, out of the way places that get a reputation for being rough and tumble will also be quite popular.

Likewise, because all player housing types can have player vendors, I decided not to have NPC Vendors. So Rats Nest has the potential to be not only a huge PVP playground of danger and intrigue (like Sanctuary) but also the largest trade hub in the game (think potentially 525 Player Vendors!).

We'll see how it turns out. Right now it's all potential. But I like the idea of looking out my wizard tower into the dark night of the city wondering where Shadowspawn might be.

 

These books sound interesting - I would like to read them. Could you post the authors' names? There seem to be a number of books with Maze or Sanctuary in the title. Thanks!

EDIT: or maybe they are films?

 

Cool to see your project back up and running. Also an interesting choice of location (if you get it): near Verdantis Shardfall and another large PVP town. That will probably be a hotbed of PVP activity, a bit like Vengeance and Grundvald in the east. There are plans for a large Tantalus town in that region of the map too, so I'm sure there will be a way to conduct trade.

Will the town be registered as Penshire (i.e. on the map and in the HUD) ?


Also, I wonder if you will get your lot arrangement to be close to the image above or if you will have the same restriction of having city lots (which are then sub-divided).

 

Good luck, Your Excellency. It will be an interesting experiment.
Thank you for editing out the tacit implication that any owners who put NPC merchants in their POT is stupid.

Edit: Oh, I'm wrong. You didn't edit it out.

 

Well said Rufus D`Asperdi.

 

Good luck for your Metropolis, Baron Drocis Fondorlatos!

 

It's going to be hot

 

They're books, part of the Thieves World series.

I've read a couple of anthologies based on this series, but mostly I went to Green Ronin publishing and purchased all of the roleplaying supplements I could find as part of my research for the design of this city. I recommend all of them, the anthologies, the supplements, the world is top notch.

BTW, I never set out to "copy" Thieves World, Sanctuary, or "the Maze", but there are obviously strong aspects of this concept that mirror parts of those things. Within the world of SOTA, I consider Rats Nest to be a very unique and original idea that I've spent a lot of time working on. Beyond Thieves World there are other inspirations I had as well, the Dragonlance Novels by Hickman and Wise and specifically the Towers of High Sorcery, The Ancient Blades Trilogy by David Chandler (specifically Cutbill, a gentleman that has great influence in the Free City of Ness), the Braavos Tower of Black and White in Game of Thrones. There are many others that have contributed to this vision - too many to list.

 

I'm looking forward to exploring options.

No, I think Penshire will be a part of the backstory/lore of Rats Nest. I'd like the NPC's to talk about it as if those two things are interchangeable. But I think Rats Nest is more memorable and easy to remember. That's important if you're trying to build a reputation and make a mark in the world - which I am. So for the people (like me) that enjoy a bit of history and mystery about player backstory, it will be there. But for people that may only see the POT on the map or know the town by a single name - Rats Nest should be the best way to distribute the brand, so to speak. I hope that makes sense.

I hope I will get my lot arrangement, it's a key part of the city. I'm very flexible, and I don't expect all the row lots to be exactly as I have them in the picture. But I do want twists and turns and nooks and back alleys - however they (the devs) make that happen I don't care. But it will be a key theme to the city so hopefully they can work some magic there.

If that fails to come to be, I have a backup plan that will "help", but that too may be a challenge. We'll see what happens.

 

Thank you for the kind words. Best of luck to you and all the other POT owners. We need not agree on the goals, choices, or execution to still have respect for each other. I wish you and your POT much success.