Unit descriptions - What is needed?

[Maeglin Dubh]

Ok. Let's be frank. My contributions to the game itself are equal to the subset of zilch. I aim to fix that.

This is to see what units need their descriptions written or revised. This is open to all eras, UMC's, and mainline units. I will choose what to write, but give me the complete list so I know what I have to choose from. If it is user-created, give me an idea of the faction background so I have a bit of basis.

I know I can't draw, but a perfect English score on the SAT's has got to be good for something.

Arendian Archer
Arendian Feather Bow
Arendian Arrow Wind
Arendian Hunter
Arendian Slayer
Arendian Swordsman
Arendian Warrior
Arendian Battlear
Arendian Wanderer
Arendian Hero
Arendian Bowrider
Arendian Bowknight
Arendian BowMaster
Arenidan Mounted Marksman
Arendian Boltrider
Aragwaith Archer
Aragwaith Captain
Aragwaith Flagbearer
Aragwaith Greatbow
Aragwaith Guard
Aragwaith Guardian
Aragwaith Lancer
Aragwaith Longswordsman
Aragwaith Pikeman
Aragwaith Scout
Aragwaith Shield Guard
Aragwaith Silver Shield
Aragwaith Slayer
Aragwaith Sorcerer
Aragwaith Spearman
Aragwaith Strongbow
Aragwaith Swordmaster
Aragwaith Swordsman
Aragwaith Warlock
Aragwaith Wizard
Elementals

[Chris NS]

Try going through the extended or imperial eras. They have loads of cutsom units with either no unit description (and, useful though they have been to me, many units' descriptions are lacking in proper punctuation and grammar).

[Maeglin Dubh]

I know. What I want here is a list of things the developers/maintainers -want- descriptions done for. Then I can copy paste them all into a list in my original post, with red for the ones I'm not doing yet, green for the ones I'm working on, and blue for the ones I've finished.

((Apologies for those who feel terror in their gut at the green text of the Forum Sith. I just noticed that's actually my title now.... Cool.))

[torangan]

I think all mainline units should have a unit description which is not awfull. But not bad doesn't mean good in every case, so maybe you'd like to simply skim through them and look out for bad ones. Of course, if someone can point to really boring ones that could be nice. I'm quite sure there are some of the "<insert name> is a unit which does bla" for quite a few names left. Shortly before 1.0 many units got new descriptions written but not all.

[Ranger M]

((Apologies for those who feel terror in their gut at the green text of the Forum Sith. I just noticed that's actually my title now.... Cool.))

Anyway, I'd appreachiate it if you looked over the Arendian ones and fix any errors (I have a feeling in my gut that Chris NS has spotted most errors in them) or make them more interesting (the current ones only, I could and probably will give you a basic description of the others to work with in a while, but I don't have time to write a proper and accurate description of the faction and the units roles in it yet)

that means (for your list)

Arendian Archer
Arendian Feather Bow
Arendian Arrow Wind
Arendian Hunter
Arendian Slayer
Arendian Swordsman
Arendian Warrior
Arendian Battlear
Arendian Wanderer
Arendian Hero
Arendian Bowrider
Arendian Bowknight
Arendian BowMaster
Arenidan Mounted Marksman
Arendian Boltrider (assuming that it remains in the faction)

and to be added later (when I give you a background)

Arendian Horseman
Arendian Mounted Warrior
Arendian Horse Master
Arendian Chief
Arendian Warlord
Arendian Druid
Arendian Shaman
Arendian Warlock

[Noyga]

This reminds me there is a lot of this stuff in my Extended Era, and i've be so much lazy / busy on other things that none have been fixed yet.

Here is a quick list for the Extended Era :
- Aragwaithi (also in the Imperial Era): no unit has a description, through some might be available in the Aragwaith thread in Art contribution.
Through their background is a little unclear, thet are supposed to be noble humans

- Dwarves : i added a few units and i haven't added them a description yet.
Those are :
- the helicopter line : Dwarvish Gyrocopter and Steamcopter
- the wagon line : Dwarvish Steamwheel, Thunderwheel and Warwheel
- An extra advancement for the Thunderer : the Dwarvish Flamethrower (i miss frames for this guy too)

- Chaos : some unit don't have a description, i need to check
This faction is a hell faction with includes:
- humans (dark knights, invokers and possessed humans)
- demons (which include the mutations)
- some hell hounds
I'm also not that happy whith the name of a few units of thiis faction, so they can be changed too.

- Kalifa : the Falcon / Elder Facon description might have to be fixed

I don't remeber any other missing descriptions in this era.

[JW]

And I'll post up the EOM units when I get the chance.

[Maeglin Dubh]

Excellent. I assume the original Arendian descriptions can be gotten by downloading the Invasion of Arendia campaign? Everything else I think I have.....

Going into a class now (Old Testament Survey) so I'll edit the first post later.

[Ranger M]

Excellent. I assume the original Arendian descriptions can be gotten by downloading the Invasion of Arendia campaign? Everything else I think I have.....

nope the Arendian units come from the imperial era, so you'll need the latest svn imperial era version of that for the lastest descriptions, but to save you from having to find the imperial era svn and download them I've attached them as a .tar file.

[Maeglin Dubh]

"Any Arendian clan only supports and upkeeps the best archers out of war time. Training neww archers is never a priority. This means that any archers who do join the clan's army in times of need are usually hunters from the clans or towns, those already familiar with their weapons. They have little to no armour, and whatever bow they use at their homes, typically a handmade hunting bow, or a family heirloom. They are also normally expected to hunt for their own food, and supply their own arrows.
But in the end all of this is worth it, for any archers who do get accepted as regulars are treated well with good pay and food."

"A result of a rigerous selection process, they are, as a result of this, among the best in all the land. Feather bows have gained their name by the tassel of feathers tied to the upper and lower parts of their bowstring, a combination of a badge of office and a silencing device for the bowstring. It is also said that when they fire, the sound is like that of a feather falling... until the arrow strikes home. Different clans use feathers colored with different dyes."

"Arrow winds are the best archers in all of Arendia, able to notch and fire arrows extremely quickly and with great accuracy. Their name originated from an old folk tale in which the most skilled archer in all of Arendia, was challenged to prove his prowess by firing arrows repeatedly in an outline around his his wife, and yet not kill her. When asked about this later she likened it to a gentle breeze. Because of this the most skilled archers are known as arrow winds. Nowadays the appelation has come to refer to the sound of their arrows. Capable of putting three arrows in the air before the first has hit the target, the sound of so many arrows in flight is likened to a rushing wind of death over the battlefield."

Alterations made to the Feather Bow might inspire some artistic alterations.... I can lose that if need be, but I thought it a bit better than carrying around a bundle of feathers. The Arendians seem to be a very practical people.... I thought their badge should serve a purpose. Team colored tufts on the bowstrings would do the trick, if you're up to it. Your choice.

[Ranger M]

*a bunch of truely awsome improvements to the dscriptions*

Alterations made to the Feather Bow might inspire some artistic alterations.... I can lose that if need be, but I thought it a bit better than carrying around a bundle of feathers. The Arendians seem to be a very practical people.... I thought their badge should serve a purpose. Team colored tufts on the bowstrings would do the trick, if you're up to it. Your choice.

actually, this is a great idea, I'll make the changes tonight (it's not much to add anyway), and your right about the practicle part, you grasped the character of the faction quite well.

Anyway, I'll post a general faction character description (although you should be able to get most of it from the current descriptions) and mini descriptions of the other two saying their purpose, etc tommorrow so you can change them into awsome ones like the two above.

[kshinji]

Ill take a look at your descriptions, and if youre really as much good as you say, i hope youll find time for my factions. Since youll have pretty lot of work now, i guess ill manage to do 0.1 ver. of Arachnoids before youll have some time for them.

[JW]

For right now I'll just put up the Elementals. I plan on writing up the Shifter and Celestial descriptions sometime, and I don't know if Jester wants to do his, so I'm uploading only the Elemental .cfgs here for you.

Note: some of them have weak descriptions right now that I'd love to have expanded.

Note 2: They aren't really written into the EOM storyline yet, so feel free to use your imagination.

Note 3: If you actaully want to play them to see more abot them, you'll have to dl the Era of Myths from the campaign server. I didn't want to include all the images, etc and have this upload be really big.

[Maeglin Dubh]

"Hunters are an ancient cult in Arendia. These men used to go out, usually with only the cloaks on their backs for protection, and hunt the dragons that lived in and around Arendia. They were known as hunters for they had not yet found their prey. When they did, and had single-handedly killed it, they became known as slayers. The Arendians have no word for one who has found a dragon and slain him, for all such combats were required to be to the death, but the closest word would be 'fodir', which translates roughly as 'food.'
Of course these days there are no more dragons and so nobody can hunt or kill one, but the hunter cult lives on as an unofficial segment of Arendian clan armies. They operate as advance infantry in special situations. They do not take orders, but must be asked to assist. They are typically glad to wield their blades in Arendian service."

"In the days of Dragons, when a hunter fought and single handedly killed a dragon he became known as a slayer. Any slayer could be recognised as such by a crimson red cloak, a colour which nobody else could wear, for they always wore one cut from the dragon's wing as a token of their victory. A right-handed slayer would take his cloak from the left wing, and a left-handed slayer would take his from the right wing. The unused wing was typically made into a tent, or a battle flag. Teeth became arrow-heads. Horns became daggers or drinking horns. No part of the dragon went unused, and none but a slayer could own anything crafted from the corpse.
Today there is no man in all of Arendia that could match the old Slayers for skill, simply because there are no dragons left to practice on. However, once a hunter is considered to be amongst the most skilled of his kind, and after rigorous trials and testing, he is awarded a crimson red cloak; but not a dragon one. For the last one of them is stored in the palace, and was won by the first king of Arendia, when he killed the greatest dragon to ever have blackened Arenida's skies."

[Ranger M]

"Hunters are an ancient cult in Arendia. These men used to go out, usually with only the cloaks on their backs for protection, and hunt the dragons that lived in and around Arendia. They were known as hunters for they had not yet found their prey. When they did, and had single-handedly killed it, they became known as slayers. The Arendians have no word for one who has found a dragon and slain him, for all such combats were required to be to the death, but the closest word would be 'fodir', which translates roughly as 'food.'
Of course these days there are no more dragons and so nobody can hunt or kill one, but the hunter cult lives on as an unofficial segment of Arendian clan armies. They operate as advance infantry in special situations. They do not take orders, but must be asked to assist. They are typically glad to wield their blades in Arendian service."

good, although I'm slightly confused about this sentence, "The Arendians have no word for one who has found a dragon and slain him, for all such combats were required to be to the death, but the closest word would be 'fodir', which translates roughly as 'food.'", the origional said that there is no word for a hunter who had found but not killed a dragon, this one seems to be saying that once you kill a dragon you are known as food.

"In the days of Dragons, when a hunter fought and single handedly killed a dragon he became known as a slayer. Any slayer could be recognised as such by a crimson red cloak, a colour which nobody else could wear, for they always wore one cut from the dragon's wing as a token of their victory. A right-handed slayer would take his cloak from the left wing, and a left-handed slayer would take his from the right wing. The unused wing was typically made into a tent, or a battle flag. Teeth became arrow-heads. Horns became daggers or drinking horns. No part of the dragon went unused, and none but a slayer could own anything crafted from the corpse.
Today there is no man in all of Arendia that could match the old Slayers for skill, simply because there are no dragons left to practice on. However, once a hunter is considered to be amongst the most skilled of his kind, and after rigorous trials and testing, he is awarded a crimson red cloak; but not a dragon one. For the last one of them is stored in the palace, and was won by the first king of Arendia, when he killed the greatest dragon to ever have blackened Arenida's skies."

Nice, I like the improvements.


Anyway, there are two things in those two that mightget changed, but they are just pieces of information, not part of your improvements.


Oh, and here is the faction description that I promised:

Most Arendians live in nomadic clans which roam the Arendian plains either hunting or hearding some form of cattle (wilderbeasts, buffalo, something like that, it will probably end up being one of them, or a name which I invent), living in tents and most of them riding horses most of their waking lives, they are known as the Clannate. There are of course Those who don't either because there aren't enough horses, they live in a rugged area which isn't suited for horses, or they don't move around (the clan graneries being a good example where clannate people live in one place all year).

However there are Arendians who don't move around in the clans, there have always been permiment settlements, the two main ones being the Creaton, which for most of the year is just a group of houses surrounded by a wall with a nearby fort (think motte and bailey) with a large flat area around it. But during autumn merchants, nobles and anybody with spare cash from the clans descend on the area and set up camp buying and selling between the clans, it is the one time when clans that are sworn enemies will ever talk, where as normally they kill each other on sight. The other is port Tarshen, where the Arendians used to trade with the Dardoni and the Lavinians untill the Dardoni left and the Lavinians were Wiped out, after that happened it got alot smaller and became a fishing settlement. There is also the capital of Arendia, Anafors, which came into existance for the convinence of the Lavinians when they annexed Arendia (they needed somewhere to send their emmisaries when they needed to speak to the new king of Arendia) and dissapeared soon after (after IoA).

The Arendians are obsessed, to the point of what the Lavinians would consider madness, with honour, exileing those who act dishonourably (the wanderers and heroes), and to them the clans are the most important thing. If you live in Arendia you are first a member of your clan, and then you are Arendian. Because of this they have been known to be morally flexable, within the bounds of their honour, when it comes to their dealings with other countries, their king, and other clans.

Aside from that they are a very adaptable people, using any advantage that they can get and rarely clinging onto old traditions, although they would prefer not to change their way of life because it works. They also hate dragons in any form (this includes wryvms, dragons and if they encounter them, drakes.), which is why the hunter cult was first formed (and was then adapted when it became essentially obsolete).