Planet Toulan: Introducing the Planet Toulan Community Manager

That's easy even I can answer that one. It's a magic carpet so it's fuel is nawa the lifeforce of planet Toulan.

Will magic carpets be upgradeable? is more intresting...

laser guided magic missiles maybe? Technology & magic infuse together to bring us ultimate weaponry :)

 

Upgradeable magic carpets with laser guided missiles are a definite possibility, as are fair maidens with midnight dark hair, thieves in pointy shoes and blue genies putting themselves at your disposal! Actually, maybe we can leave the last out... There'll be something for everyone in Toulan, all levels and interests, and while the planet's design is still under process, the map and continent itself is set to look spectacular, with many different climates and people, just like in the Middle East/North Africa region (-:

The online gaming industry is very much booming in the Arab-speaking world, so we hope with a game that's inspired by local heritage and with a global appeal, we'll be able to attract people from all over. The game itself will eventually be available to play in Arabic language, very exciting as this'll be the first game of its kind to do so!

My personal favourite genre has always been strategy, so the Civ games have given me many a sleepless night (-: Being a part of Entropia and Toulan has given me a great deal to obsess over as well, so maybe time to bring out the coffemaker...?

 

And has anyone read the first Toulan comic book?! What are your thoughts/ideas/impressions of the story and Toulan's history? We're working on the second issue now, so you won't have much longer to wait to continue with the suspense (-;

 

I definitely think it has a pretty interesting history. I'm quite interested to see what the "you" have to do with the story and what the state of the Narians are currently. (In gameplay, would the Narians be good or bad guys?)

I'm actually quite a bit more interested in this planet now. I like Arabic/Indian folklore and I think there needs to be more stuff based around it.

 

I want a tamed camel that can outrun atrox in pvp2 on Calypso!

 

Great stuff, thank you for your feedback...! The "you" bit is very exciting, but I won't spoil anything of the story and let you discover how it all comes together (-:

 

Just finished this comic.. Liking it alot! This is going to be a planet that I will have to visit for sure!

 

Yes I read the first comic. My thoughts were the story presented took a "functional" approach i.e. gave an overview of factual information. Which is good but I think people need more than just facts. To really engage the reader need to have a character whose feelings and attitudes are open to the reader. Something more than just telling a story but sharing the characters victories/successes and losses/defeats. To do that the character would need to be developed and we would need more information about them so that the reader can empathise and relate to the character.

If you look at the mindstar9 series of stories. That achieves this but at an expense of "slow" pace. A story presented through a comic is less likely to suffer from a "wall of text" look which the ms9 series can look like. I haven't yet completed the ms9 series. I find it very difficult ot concentrate through it all in one go and have to read it in small chunks on different days. The strength of those series is characterisation we as the reader do get to know the character in a lot of detail but perhaps those are an extreme and do too much characterisation at the expense of action/plot development.

If you were to take the good points from that kind of approach i.e. more characterisation and combine that with your comic book approach and provided the pace is set right I think you'll be onto a winner. Intrestingly the short teaser video we saw of planet Toulan many months ago was intriguing. It had some characterisation and a story but lacked an ending. That was good in terms of a story but not really what people expected of a teaser for a planet.

 

To add to my last post.This is all very subjective and people like different things. Some people prefer stories which are more about characterisation and they can never get enough of it. Others may be on the other end of the spectrum and prefer the cold hard functional story that get's to the point and gives the facts without any unnecessary distractions.

Personally I prefer a mix of the two. Something in the middle. A story that will have some characterisation, atmosphere and a good pace of plot development. Perhaps this middle path would be more appealing to more people?

Another aspect to a good story in my opinion is to have a sense of mystery or suspense. Personally I always like such stories because then there is a reason to keep reading on to see what the mystery is all about. The mystery aspect I think was also lacking in the first comic.

An example of two good stories of mine are the "Lost" tv series and "Babylon 5" tv series. Both had an element of mystery, which always gets me hooked :)

Both had some episodes which were more about characterisation. Some about story development. With a series of episodes it's easy to mix it up where one epeisode may be revealing about a particular character another episode about a different one. At same time an undercurrent development of the plot line. As in Babylon 5, which had multiple plot lines all progressing at different paces. The Z'hadum planet in that story was intriguing. As well as the different layers of stories. The acting in the programme may not have been the best but the multi-layered stories was very creative imho. Creativity in stories can only be a plus point imho. It's what kept me hooked on Babylon 5 series :)

 

Nice post George. I agree with that approach. It's what really made the Marvel and DC comics really exciting. They had character, suspense and mystery.

I suppose this first comic serves as a quick overview of the setting and so forth. Hopefully we will get to know more characters with conflicts and so forth. That is why I asked what the "you" had to do with the story. Because "you" are walking into the desert and meet this mysterious woman who tells you about the history of the nation. She obviously was one important person as she held certain powers in which saved the nation.

I think the comic has potential for becoming really good and exciting with a really good storyline.

 

Just one question :), Fez or no Fez?

 

Just glad to figure out your not Star's old ava Farha.

And I vote Fez, not no Fez.

 

George and Crue Knight, thank you for taking the time to write your thoughts...! You're right in that the first issue is to give an introduction to the world and show the feel of the planet and its history, but we very much want the reader/future player to be a part of the story as well, so there definitely will be more "character, suspense and mystery" as the story comes together and moves along. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the second issue (-:

 

And do you mean a matching laser-powered fez to go with the magic carpet? It can come in animal print for the more fashion-conscious...!

 

correction it's laser - powered magic hats plus laser-powered magic carpets So got to have special magic properties too


Magic carpet van fly.

Now what would a magic hat be able to do?

 

Toulan's backdrop is based on the Middle East and North Africa's civilisations of the past – even the magic carpet bits. It will have an international appeal that'll host players from all over the world.

Toulan will be part of a greater universe, where all people of a vast variety of age, backgrounds, religious beliefs and gender (well, not a vast amount of gender as such) can live and play and enjoy without risk of being judged for who they are.

What we want to do is create a world of staggering splendour that will be a dazzling addition to the Entropia Universe. After all, we are here first and foremost to entertain (-:

 

Should have stumbled sooner into the thread!
Hey, a world of splendour, refined aesthetics and strong cultural presence?
Count me in! I might even consider depositing for this planet. It depends... ;-)

By the way, didn't the Arabs use to give tax exemptions to those subscribed/converted to Islam in their colonies?
Nevertheless, I would like to see a virtual school with Arabic lessons. One more language to add into my collection! ^_^

 

Just read the comic. Interesting beginning (a few typos and misses here and there). I can't wait for the rest! ^_^

 

That must be a very impressive language collection! Yes, Arab lessons are a definite possibility, tax exemptions less so... Unless maybe you can use your multilingualism in the aid of Toulan? Like, become the planet's bard...? (-;