Grave marker for perm'd character

[Frances]

What are the chances of getting a grave marker placed for Shiff Dragonheart, on the hill above Haven where he was buried (RP-wise)?  I was thinking just a marker or a statue, with a short phrase that could be read if you examined it.

[Dorganath]

You can pay to have one put up.  How much depends on what you want.

[Frances]

I was hoping for a marker with something like this:

    In Memory of Shiff Dragonheart
    Loving Father, Faithful Husband,
    Loyal Friend, Stubborn Protector,
    Master Swordsman, Honorable Man.
    May his spirit forever watch over the people he spent so much of his life trying to protect.

    "Under the wide and starry sky,
    Dig the grave and let me lie.
    Glad did I live and gladly die,
    And I laid me down with a will!

    This be the verse you grave for me:
    Here he lies where he longed to be;
    Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
    And the hunter home from the hill."

[Carillon]

Respectfully, while I have no objection to a grave marker for Shiff or even a grave marker in Haven, I do have a specific concern with the placement of a gravemarker in the pond/benches area above Haven. (Forgive me if this refers to another hill in Haven ... I found the wording somewhat ambiguous and could only assume this is the area Frances was referring to.) I hope the team will consider my alternative view while evaluating the placement of such a marker.

In the past, most tributes to the dead have been placed in areas already dedicated to this, or in private housing such as the Leringard Arms or Angels Guildhall. I've always seen this as a great way to remember characters, but by placing a grave marker in a public area used by the whole server and one of the few quiet and private "parks" type areas on West, I feel this would actually detract from the space by changing the feel of the area.

Let me explain my concern here. Shiff is buried on a hill above Haven ... fine. What more fitting place for a man who lived his life there? However, while there are many RP hills above Haven, only one such area is accessible to player characters. This means this area has to work to represent all of the hills above Haven that it's possible to sit on and talk, which is usually not a problem and just requires a little imagination. I know my characters and I suspect many others have had a lot of great RP in this beautiful space ... but I question whether many would feel the same way about it if it essentially became a graveyard. Would this be a spot used for marriage proposals, intimate conversations and so much more if a grave marker were physically placed here? I know I would feel very differently about this area, and I suspect at least a few others would share my view. For this reason, I hope such a marker would be placed on a non-walkable (but still viewable) hill nearby, or be placed a distance away from the flowers/benches/pond so this area can continue to function as a beautiful and versatile RP space, and not have its identity nailed down and confined to just Shiff's final resting place.

[Marswipp]

It doesn't need to be a gravestone. It could be a plaque.

[Frances]

Also, it doesn't need to by the pond up there... perhaps at the foot of the hill, or partway up it, just far enough that you can examine it, but not have it be in the way?

[Alatriel]

There was only once that I saw this up there, but once there was a rock that you could climb that took you up even higher above the little pond.  having the rock there didn't detract from the place, but it did allow you to get to another location on the same existing board... just an idea.

[Weeblie]

Sedulia on Grief: Robert Louis Stevenson: "Here he lies where he longed to be"

I am sorry, but we do not support the use of texts written by others.

We kindly ask you to make a text yourself.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

You guys like this?

Here lies the Striker:
Husband, Father, Friend
Protector of his People
Master of his Blade

May he find rest in the place he defended.

In loving memory.
Shiff Dragonheart
1490 - 1435

[ShiffDrgnhrt]

Wow...  Shiff was -55 years old?!  , what a tough embryo...

[ShiffDrgnhrt]

Here lies the Striker:
Husband, Father, Friend
Protector of his People
Master of his Blade
 
May he find rest in the place he defended.
 
In loving memory.
Shiff Dragonheart
Jular 29, 1390 - Jular 22, 1435

[Dorganath]

Just as a matter of curiosity, is there a problem with putting his marker in Willow's Weep?  That is of course the intended place for memorials for characters who have permed.

[ShiffDrgnhrt]

No, there isn't, really, and I'd be glad to have one there, but I personally thought having something in Haven where Shiff lived and also where Shiff's life changed dramatically would be more fitting.

Also I don't have anything written that I would feel is appropriate for Willow's Weep, as far as a retelling of Shiffs story

[Frances]

I don't have any issue with that, but...

How often does anyone get up to Willows Weep?  I thought it would be nice just to have a small marker somewhere where most characters get to early on.  That way, the new characters could say, "Who was this Shiff Dragonheart guy?"

[Blackguy]

Just as a matter of curiosity, is there a problem with putting his marker in Willow's Weep?  That is of course the intended place for memorials for characters who have permed.

*smiles* Only one person have ever been buried there, the first character that permed, and 5 years later noone have decided to be placed there, because they have ties otherwhere.

[ShiffDrgnhrt]

The only reason I haven't asked to hve somrething placed in Willow's is I don't have anything written to chronicle Shiff's story.  And yes, also because Shiff has ties elsewhere

[Nehetsrev]

*smiles* Only one person have ever been buried there, the first character that permed, and 5 years later noone have decided to be placed there, because they have ties otherwhere.

Not quite true.  I've got a character that's been waiting to have her epitaph added to Willow's Weep since sometime during V2.  There's a spot here on the forums specificly for players to submit their character's epitaphs for inclusion in the Willow's Weep Hall of Lost Heroes even, with several submissions waiting.  However, adding such things in-game has been counted a low-priority by the dev-team because they'd prefer to add more exciting content (like new areas, critters, gear, etc.) and fix bugs with their time.  The feeling seems to be that since very few folks actually visit Willow's Weep, there's little reason to spend time/resources adding to it.  On the other hand, one wonders if there were more than just one epitaph to see there, perhaps more folks would visit it?

[Dorganath]

Also I don't have anything written that I would feel is appropriate for Willow's Weep, as far as a retelling of Shiffs story

It doesn't have to be his life story.  It's a stone memorial, not a book.

I don't have any issue with that, but...

How often does anyone get up to Willows Weep?

Not often, but only because no one (except for the one guy represented there currently) has requested to be put there or has submitted something for us to put there.

There's no approval process.  There's no voting.  The only thing anyone needs to do is die.

[Dorganath]

Not quite true.  I've got a character that's been waiting to have her epitaph added to Willow's Weep since sometime during V2.  There's a spot here on the forums specificly for players to submit their character's epitaphs for inclusion in the Willow's Weep Hall of Lost Heroes even, with several submissions waiting.  However, adding such things in-game has been counted a low-priority by the dev-team because they'd prefer to add more exciting content (like new areas, critters, gear, etc.) and fix bugs with their time.  The feeling seems to be that since very few folks actually visit Willow's Weep, there's little reason to spend time/resources adding to it.  On the other hand, one wonders if there were more than just one epitaph to see there, perhaps more folks would visit it?

Well crud. That's surely an oversight, or it wasn't recognized as a request to put something in.

[ShiffDrgnhrt]

Well would we be able to put something in Haven, or not?  Thats really what we are asking here.