@Alexis wait, what? 😬

@Alexis@beepboop.one you have to make a sacrifice to your instance admin

@Alexis But unlike all that, you have actual free association and you're able to move from one instance to another if you disagree with how it's run.

@Alexis so, actually, we will make our own game of thrones but we can call it game of mastodon servers. Hope it doesn't get that messy, bloody and violent though ..

@Alexis Sometimes a joke is also a near-perfect analogy.

@Alexis this is so much closer to reality than any new users will ever fully be able to appreciate. Bravo

@Alexis given what we know/think about ethnogenesis now, this comparison is spot on

@Alexis pledging your alliegence to one of the many great Houses of the Mastoverse! The spice most flow!

@Alexis does that make each server admin a minor king? I like that. King Mike

@Alexis The key is backing the right antipope

@Alexis that also sounds like the the plot of a Fire Emblem Game 😀 or an Anime

@Alexis 🤣🤣🤣

@Alexis you had me at “blood rituals.”

@Alexis Or one of the houses in #GameOfThrones

@Alexis

House TootCat abides.

@Alexis also there are dragons flying about

@Alexis OH.

@Alexis if only it was better integrated :D

@Alexis When I joined, most of the instances that looked interesting to me were closed. Honestly, I'm glad for that. Starting in a small instance meant it was easier to figure things out and meet the locals, as it were.

@Alexis I think I"m getting the hang of it. But fediscience is probably not going let me into the clan.

@Alexis I pledge undying loyalty to House Zirk.us

@Alexis Pretty much. I expect counting coup raids any moment.

@Alexis ok but which instance has the best blood rituals?

@Alexis what happens when you sign up for two ...

@Alexis it's like picking one of the splats for playing an old World of Darkness game

Tooter: the Federation

Sons of Ethernet
Children of Gaia (Online)
Uranian Chorus
The Techbrocracy
Black Sun Dancers

...we can pretty much import the Malkavians, Verbena and the Black Furies as-is

@Alexis but how do you find them to choose? I changed to one that some like minded people seemed to be on.

@Alexis *hastily builds own castle*

@Alexis Strangely Accurate.

@Alexis is there one that's like a quiet monastery for those of us not into blood sport?

@Alexis Finally! Someone who gets it!

@Alexis Yeah I just chose the first American server I found.

@Alexis I just went with the one with “party” in the name

@Alexis I am an annoyingly competitive person, so I started saying "WARRIORS, RAISE OUR BANNER!!! CRUSH THE ENEMY SERVERS!!!" to friends joining the gamedev server roughly five minutes after I joined Mastodon. 😅

How many fly under your lord's flag, Alex of beepboop.one?

@Alexis My name is Inigo Montoya. You joined the wrong server. Prepare to die.

@Alexis Cool. Cool. Um. Where is that book- u know about the sides and stuff? 😳 😶‍🌫️

@Alexis Or like, "Hey, this server is called LoL.CaTs! Lets join there!

Oh wait, I am supposed to follow a theme?

@Alexis proposing to Lord Admin a #fediblock of instance visi.goths

@Alexis
Bran: “Words: A sysadmin always pays their debts.”
Maester Luwin: “No. A common phrase, but not their words.”

@Alexis is there a way to easily look at server rules from the Tusky app? And do servers have descriptions that are easily accessible? I'm new to Mastodon and sort of feeling my way around in the dark.

@Alexis That makes choosing much more fun! 🤩 ⚔️ 🛡️ 💥

@Alexis As long as mas.to isn't House Frey, I'm ok with that.

@Alexis

@Alexis @maxkennerly Well, I wouldn’t go that far! Heh heh!

@Alexis this is a very cool way of thinking about it!!!

@Alexis when i create my own instance, it will be a henge of standing stones.

@Alexis wich one is the kpoppers guild?

@Alexis Ha, yes very much so! And at the same time, it feels a bit like picking your team/colour in Pokémon where you can choose to join one of three teams: Instinct (yellow), Mystic (blue), or Valor (red). The new Explorer doesn’t know the difference, or how it will impact every outdoor activity from now on or if you will get the blessing or the Evil Eye from your kids…

@Alexis Game of Instances does not sound very appealing.

@Alexis Beautiful.

@Alexis and who am I, Merlin in the woods?

@Alexis Thanks for clarifying that! LOL

@Alexis sounds like Italian Renaissance. Feuds, art, science. Hopefully not wars

@Alexis I pledge (one of) my sword(s) to House mastodon.nz…

@Alexis and taxes :blobcattea: @ionchy

@Alexis yes. Nice analogy. LOL

@Alexis it’s those blood rituals that’ll get you every time

@Alexis How do I get appointed spymaster so my plots have a higher chance of success?

I should come up with a good blood ritual...

@Alexis So you’re telling me Mastodon is real-time CK3? @garius

@Alexis

Mastodon as a Crusader Kings ARG

@Alexis blood rituals here

@Alexis Do you bite your thumb at US, sir?

@Alexis @rtyler oh, damn!!

@Alexis infosec.exchange requires a blood sacrifice to @jerry

@Alexis kinda like email

@Alexis This is the way.

@Alexis can you imagine servers that use the same names as the Game of Throne great families?

LOL

Like mastodon.targaryen and mastodon.stark... i'm sure another bump in signups will ensue

@Alexis wish I could pin this one 🤣

@Alexis blood rituals 😂ah yes, altars, styles of crucifixion…the list goes on

@Alexis I tend to think of it like choosing a polis in Greg Egan’s Diaspora’s world…

@Alexis That's one way to look at it!

@Alexis
Lonesome no More
“And how did we then face the odds,
of man’s rude slapstick, yes, and God’s?
Quite at home and unafraid,
Thank-you,
in a game our dreams re-made.”

- Kurt Vonnegut, Slapstick, 1976

@Alexis aaaand dramas

@Alexis now i only need a DnD like rulebook (collection) to decide which cult I shall make my home

@Alexis I know no king but the King in the North whose name is Stark. The North Remembers.

@Alexis yes but where are the histories written. It’s almost a quest to find the facts of each faction

@Alexis Blood Rituals? Count me in