Hey all,
We came to our first ever event at E3 and absolutely enjoyed it, however choosing a nation on costume alone appears not to be the best choice. I also don’t think we played enough to get involved in plot etc and we’re really nervous about knocking on tents etc to join groups so missed out on lots of stuff I think. Everyone we met and spoke to were really friendly and helpful but are wondering what the most friendly and welcoming nation is?
Which nations have communal areas where people without ic tents would be welcome during the day?
Thanks all
Which Nation did you join?
No one nation should be friendlier than the others; did you talk to your nation’s Egregore? The egregores are a great point-of-contact for new players, they can point you to activities and introduce you to groups, etc.
I suppose it depends on your own preferences. Different camps have very different approaches.
For my part, I only really saw the League in detail. There were taverns, with gambling and brightly-coloured drinks, where nobody seemed to mind if you dropped in and had a chat. My wife and daughter sat with me beside a fire while we talked to the family who seemed to own (or at least oversee) the Carta Notturna. Across the plaza was the Temeschbar, which also seemed quite busy. If you have the money, you can even hire a cicisbeo to help you meet the right people and keep you company while you explore.
To be fair, there are two big factors here; the League wants your money, so they’ll welcome you into their place of business with roaring fires and lively conversation, and it was raining enough that nobody would turn you away from their covered spaces.
I did visit Navarr twice, with their fires and their woodland vibe. It looked nice, but I don’t know how welcoming they would have been of strangers sitting down to join them. The Brass Coast seemed friendly as I wandered past them, but I never stayed long enough to get to know anyone. The orcs… they were described as ‘hard mode’ Empire, even without the make-up requirements, so possibly not for newbies.
In the end, I think there is no ‘friendliest’ nation for newbies. What you will find is that chatting with Egregores gets you involved, carrying and sharing mead makes you friends everywhere, and any open tent-like structure is an invitation to say hello.
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Each nation will appeal to a different style of mentality a little, so it all depends what you want from a game. Read the ‘hearth magic’ of each nation to best understand what each nation wants from the lowest interactions.
Other than that, repeat the above, all the nations should be friendly, it just depends how you want to get into game.
Each nation has a different culture and atmosphere, it really depends on what you prefer. What kind of game are you interested in? Politics? Magic? Economy? There are several bars around Anvil, many of which have places to sit and meet people. Temeshbar and Orphans arms in the league, Brazen Parador in the Brass coast, Artisans Arms in Wintermark. Joining an existing group is a good way of making getting to know people and you sort of inherit their contact network in a way. There are plenty of groups looking for members so you’ll have an easy time.
I just realised you were in Highguard. Sorry you didn’t feel involved, normally Highguard prides itself on being friendly.
We briefly spoke on Sunday, just as Highguard were gearing up to go into battle. I chatted to you about ritual magic.
I know that walking up to a strange group of people and introducing yourself can be intimidating, but everyone in HG really are very friendly and welcoming and no one will turn you away if you tell them you’re new to Anvil.
We actually had a national ‘street party’ at the event on Saturday afternoon, did you manage to come along to that?
I’d really recommend giving Highguard another go. You can always come by the Suns of Couros (my chapter) and we’ll take you around the other chapters and introduce you.
I think LARP’ers pride themselves on friendliness, but we forget how intimidating we can be.
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Thank you all. It wasn’t that people were not friendly, everyone we spoke to was very welcoming and we did enjoy ourselves very much. The lack of involvement was very much down to us. We felt very awkward coming into tents with already established groups and also not really knowing what was going on or what is acceptable in terms of pushing and joining in. I was very aware of not spoiling someone else game and so was probably more hesitant than I would be normally.
It’s definitely our issue and not highguards, I honestly didn’t mean any offense to anyone.
How do people join chapters? Having a base would definitely help in the future, as would an IC tent or at least awning, but that’s something for the new year I think.
I remember, You were very helpful and very informative.and the people of highguard we spoke to were very friendly, I think the rain and our inhibitions were our problem. We didn’t feel we could just walk up to a tent full of people clearly playing and involved and interrupt.
Honestly just walk up to a tent and ask if you can intrude! Most people will welcome you, on the odd occasion something private’s happening you’ll be asked to come back later. No one will mind though, or resent you for asking.
As to joining Chapters, ask either on Facebook or here, or in the field.
Tents are daunting, I still get that. However, I’ve been playing long enough to know that if people come up to my tent I’m happy to say hello, so therefore the reverse is probably true. On the odd occasion that it isn’t OK people will usually politely tell you that now isn’t a good time.
One thing to consider is having an idea of why you would be are approaching; if you are introducing yourself make sure you know what you and your group are about (e.g. We are new to Anvil and are mages, would you be able to point me in the direction of a fellow Summer coven?). If you area looking to trade, have an idea of what resources you want and have. 
In general people are happy to roleplay with others but it can be very easy to get wrapped up in what you are doing and forget that newer players (and some experienced players!) may need an invitation rather than getting stuck in straight away.
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I cringed internally every time I did it, but I forced myself to walk up to people (starting with the egregores if I could find one) and repeating the universal greeting.
“Bah weep grah-nah-”
Wait, not that one.
“Excuse me, I am new to Anvil and I was looking for…”
On Friday afternoon, I was looking for adventure. By the evening, I was looking for a mercenary company to join. In both cases, I found that the magic phrase “I am new to Anvil” led to enthusiastic invitations. Just… be careful letting Harlequin know that you are new if you wander too close to the League tents.
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Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong to your self.
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Can I recommend making use of the Egregores, they’re usually quite happy to take people around and introduce you to people and if you tell them what you’re specifically interested in they’ll usually be able to point out people in those fields. It’s their job to help new players find a place for them in the nation so don’t be afraid to use them .
You join chapters in the field by basically making yourself known to people and asking which chapters are looking for members. It’s also something the Egregores can help you with too as they’ll know who’s who and who’s open to folk joining them.
Oh other stuff that might help I know there’s a “magisters” (Highborn involved in magic) meeting and I’m reasonably sure the Benefactors do too, there’s also the National Assembly meeting as well to start knowing who’s who. If you set up your own chapter (which is an option as then you could hunt new players yourself ) your Exarch would get an invite to the Exarch’s meeting too.
Hope you have better luck at getting to know us all next time.
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Ah, that moment when you approach a tent and it’s full of people who all know each other and are obviously in the middle of something and you make a strangled squeak and they all look at you with a subtitle of “What the hell do YOU want…”
Actually, quite often the subtitle is “thank god someone new to roleplay with”, or in extreme circumstances “please rescue me from this meeting.”
Other nations have been discussed, but Dawn has a tournament square in the middle of it, with a lot of open tents, and a couple of bars, facing it. That’s pretty good for “wander round and ask questions”, and all are welcome, especially if they have good stories.
In many cases, it might be easy to take a single bit of setting and run off that to start with. Where does your character come from on the map?
https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Highguard_Maps
Ask around to find groups from the next town over? Across that border? And introduce yourselves as “Hi we’re your nieghbours, funny how we don’t really meet much except at these things, how are your lot doing?”
Or you can go on a walking tour of Anvil, asking questions like “What group is this and what role do you play in your nation?”
Or you could make up a problem and ask around to see if anyone can solve it. Can you get a personal resource enchanted? Who could do that? What prices would they do it for? Wander out shopping!
Failing all else, head to the tavern, prop up the bar, and ask people buying drinks which nation/group they are as a way of starting conversations. Most gamers are happy to talk about their characters (usually, the joke goes, the trick is to get them to stop), so asking someone what they do, or what they’ve done “over the last season” (ie, in downtime) is a good start.
And if all else fails, you can find someone on the Empire forums and arrange an IC grudge against them, so you have someone to track down and have an argument with
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I felt a bit too intimidated to get involved in a lot of stuff my first time at Empire too. Stuff I found worked for me:
- If you don’t mind/like drinking, go to the bars. There tends to be a lot of people hanging around them, especially later in the day. Grab a pint and chat to the bartender while you’re at it, or sit down near some people and listen in on their conversations. I’ve found that, in general, people at Empire aren’t quite as fussy about strangers butting in as they might be otherwise, because everyone’s looking to tell people about their characters and IC deeds, have a chat about the lore and setting, etc.
- Join a group that isn’t nation specific. This helps a lot because, for the most part, the national camps are organised around IC groups and OOC friends. With my first character I wasn’t too sure how to get involved with national stuff, but I was also a Synod member and managed to have a good few friendly chats by starting up conversations at the Synod notice board in the hub and going to my assembly meetings. This character I’m a member of the hospital.
- Get a service to offer. I started off my current character by walking around the field trying to sell people fruit and vegetables, and I found it way easier to approach groups of people when I could say “hello I am here to sell [thing]” compared to when I wasn’t really sure how to approach people or what excuses I’d have for it.
I’ve only been in two nations so far so I’m not an expert on every group and I can’t say ‘oh yeah this group is definitely the friendliest.’ However, I’ve had a lot of fun in the Marchers and found it to be very friendly. There’s a muster (a big meeting) atleast once a day during events, and anyone is free to put up their hand and ask questions, speak about stuff they consider important, etc. At the Friday muster at E3 we even had new people introduce themselves and say if they had groups or not, so people would know who to look out for, chat with, offer help, etc. 
We’ve also got a community hall where you can shelter from the rain and meet people, and a pub which usually has people hanging around it throughout the day which is run by the group I’m part of so come give us some money why not
Ah, that moment when you approach a tent and it’s full of people who all know each other and are obviously in the middle of something and you make a strangled squeak and they all look at you with a subtitle of “What the hell do YOU want…”
aaaaAAAAAA
That is the absolute worst
And if all else fails, you can find someone on the Empire forums and arrange an IC grudge against them, so you have someone to track down and have an argument with
I love this idea!
I understand your feelings as I too will soon be going to my first event.
Hope you find your home soon though!