Journeys with Jaye

Parleley, parlelellyleloooo, par le nee, partner, par… snip, parsley…

Parley!

National “Talk like a Pirate Day” is September 19th, and the timing is perfect, because I’ve been busy doing parleys myself. No, not the pirate kind, the diplomacy kind!

I haven’t written about my adventures in Vanguard lately, mainly because I haven’t done much adventuring. I’m still playing just as much, but I’ve been busy trying to get our guild hall constructed. Part of that effort – a big part of it actually – involves doing diplomacy parleys to gather up hundreds of pages, which are then turned in to the appropriate continental NPC for a commission that allows you to purchase the plot.

For those who aren’t familiar with diplomacy, it’s one of the three spheres in Vanguard (crafting and adventuring being the other two). It is a card-based strategy game within the game, and, if you have patience to learn it, can be very fun to play. I did a little checking around, and according to my very precise calculations, only about 7 % of the population has played diplomacy to level 5 (which is mainly the tutorial), and only 3 % has made it to level 7, which is when it really starts to get interesting. That’s too bad, because it’s a fresh and unique feature in Vanguard, and in MMO’s in general, and it deserves a closer look by the player population.

Having said that, I have had a love hate relationship with diplomacy. When I first started doing diplomacy, I had the constant urge to throw my wireless mouse across the room. There were markers moving all over, little dots coming and going, angry harp music blaring in my ears, and lots of rude gestures being thrown at me from the NPCs. I read somewhere that Steve Williams (Aruspex), the head guy for the diplomacy sphere, was a former science teacher, and that made complete sense to me. Diplomacy reminded me of science lab. I’m a cut to the chase kind of person – I don’t needs tutorials and instructions, just let me dive in and get to the end. That kind of mentality doesn’t work well for science labs (I think I had to do titration about 12 times before I finally gave up and actually read the lab instructions), and it doesn’t work well for diplomacy either.

I finally had a moment, though, where it all clicked. It was a Matrix moment. All of a sudden, the board made sense to me. It didn’t look like scrolling green numbers and letters, or colored dots, in thic case. I could SEE the game. I was able to figure it out because A) I had to in order to help the guild with the guild hall plot quest and B) I got a lot of help from guildies (Thanks Faunis!)

If you are someone who hasn’t tried out diplomacy yet, or if you tried it and gave up in frustration, I’d recommend a couple of things. First of all, make sure to visit the VG Tact site. It’s the best diplomacy site, not only for the amount of information, but also because it’s so nicely organized. You can find answers to any diplomacy question there in a matter of seconds. Also check out this post over in their forums, because it gives a nice perspective on what to do as you level up. The other thing I’d recommend is to join the dip channel (/join dip). Diplomats seem to be overwhelmingly positive and more than willing to answer questions.

Why bother doing diplomacy? There are several good reasons why you should try now, and the list is growing with every game update.  High level diplomats are finding that they have lots of new best friends all of a sudden.  Once you’ve figured out the mechanics of diplomacy, here are ways to use it in game:

Civic Parleys - If you see a marker board in the center of a town or outpost, it means you can do civic diplomacy with various NPCs in that area. Civic NPCs usually require you to have a certain amount of presence before they will parley with you, which you can get from doing parleys or from the many choices of diplomacy clothing. Doing civic diplomacy can trigger levers in the town or outpost, which will provide various citywide buffs. In addition, doing civic parleys rewards you with information, which is turned in to informant NPCs for some nice rewards. Lastly, if you are in a guild that is planning to buy a plot, you’ll want to become intimately familiar with civic diplomacy. The commission that’s needed to purchase the plot requires tons and tons of information pages, from every tier of diplomacy skill. Set up a sharp deck and make sure to do the 7′s and 0s!

Revelry and Honor, just after we turned in our civic information pages to the Sultan of Ahgram for our guild hall plot commission.

Bartender Parleys - You can also engage bartenders in parleys, which give you experience as well as rewards that vary from expendable stat items, to riftway shards, to clothing, and even diplomacy cards.

Here’s Faunis showing off a rare reward from a recent bartender parley – The Officer’s Hookah.

Diplomacy Quests - There are a few different types of quests that involve diplomacy. There are tutorial quests, which are a must-do for any new diplomat. Visit your starting area to find your diplomacy trainer and get your tutorial quests. These instruct you on the mechanics of diplomacy, and they also give you a nice storyline about your particular race’s background. As you explore Telon, you will also come across many other diplomacy quests, including some nice ones that give out rewards like diplomacy cards and mounts. Again, check out VG Tact for a full list of quests.

There are also diplomacy “Web Quests,” which are more lengthy questlines that involve travel to various locations throughout Telon. These were added to the game after launch, and are nice for the lower to mid level diplomats who want to parley and explore at the same time. As you work through a web quest, you can get some nice clothing rewards that are upgraded the further down the line you go.

The New Targonor Noble Houses - If you are a higher level diplomat (I believe it’s level 30 and up, with a high presence), you can work on parleys at one of several Noble Houses in New Targonor. As you increase faction you can acquire coins, which are then used to purchase various types of items. See VG Tact for a full rundown.

Here is Drax showing off a sword he got from House Hilthorn. Yes, those are sparklies floating around the sword, and it certainly sends a clear message when doing parleys!

And here he is, showing off some beautiful barding from House Hilthorn.

Faction - A side benefit from doing parleys is that you are also building up faction with the nearest city. This can help if you’re trying to become non-kos in a particular area. I worked on some parleys recently in Lomshir, and I was actually increasing my Pankor Zhi faction. So someday, I’ll be able to walk around safely among the dark elves.

Rewards - Speaking of rewards, if you’re someone who likes to stand out in a crowd, diplomacy gear has some of the most interesting clothing and items around, which not only look cool, but can sometimes be very useful. For example, if you plan to be a career diplomat, one thing you want to make sure to do is work on building up your prestige. Prestige is basically diplomacy faction, and when you reach 1,000 prestige in a particular city, you can turn it in for a title. If you can reach 1,000 in all nine prestige centers (Khal, Ahgram, Pankor Zhi, Martok, Tanvu, Cai’al Brael, Bordinar’s Cleft, Leth Nurae, and New Targonor) you earn the title of Exemplar of All Telon, as well as the stat-heavy Sign of the Exemplar of All Telon. I know this because Faunis has linked his every night since he got it.

Faunis, sporting the Sign of the Exemplar of All Telon. More sparklies!

Adventure Content - Right now, I believe there is really only one adventuring dungeon where diplomacy comes in handy, and that’s in Nusibe Necropolis, a level 45-50 dungeon. If you have a high level diplomat in your group, he can disable certain traps inside, making your dungeon crawl much easier. However, there are more plans for diplomacy to be in dungeons and raid content in the future. The upcoming release of Ancient Port Warehouse is supposed to include gnomes that provide helpful raid buffs if you can beat them in a parley. Personally, I’m against talking to gnomes, but if it helps a raid I guess it must be done.

In the future, there has been talk of allowing diplomats to parley with the dead, which would give an adventuring diplomat a chance at new rewards. There’s even been mention of diplomats being able to give out quests to other players down the road.

For now, I’ll be happy just filling up my wardrobe with cool clothes and weird items.

(Thanks for Faunis for help with the dip details)

Happy Pirate Day! Now go talk like one!

Posted by jayernh under Archive | Comments (3)