Gor

Many of you have known Bane, Torolf and I as members of the Gorean community for years, specifically Torvaldsland. Many years ago, we moved away from running Gorean sims because the introduction of storylines and conflict was met with ever-increasing RP restrictions and sim to sim bans. To be fair, some of the pushback was based on legitimate criticisms; unrealistic raid reasons, too few fighting men, and ungorean behavior. Just as often, however, the difficulties stemmed from the nature of conflict roleplay in Gor - players didn't want their apple cart upset.

What attracted us to Gor was the fiction written by John Norman in his books. To an avid fan of Gor's many novels, the master-slave relationship was only one aspect o a long running story filled with epic adventures, wars, heroism, exotic locales, unusual people, and the daily struggle for survival in a harsh world. In Gor might made right and the clash of cultures was very entertaining.

Yet, ask your standard Second Life roleplayer what Gor is and you'll be met with far much less flattering descriptions. At best, many would write off the fiction as a poor excuse for a BDSM dating service.

We have always felt that such an attitude toward the fiction was unfair at best, but it did ring painfully true in some ways. Gorean role-play is at best little more then slice-of-life role-play centered around tavern role-play, erotic match making, and the occasional merchant or doctor scene. Where are the city states of Ar and Koraba with their legions of warriors and tarnsmen battling for dominance? What of the dreaded black caste where a common person could buy the justice their own sword arms could not obtain? The initiates and their crusade in the north to convert the wild men of Torvaldsland to the religion of the Priest Kings? Could it really just be that Gorean roleplayers weren't interested in the fiction and it's possibilities outside of the whole slave/master relationship? Is that all Gor would ever be good for?

We tried for years to push the boundaries of what was on offer on our sims. While some successes were had, we found that true conflict roleplay, especially that on an epic scale, was just a bit too niche for the average Gorean. So, what's a team of old hands to do when confronted with a desire for that which did not readily exist? Make it ourselves!

Arcovia, while intended to be its own fiction borrows from some of the elements that made Gor such a fascinating story. We have a wide selection of ancient cultures that are familiar enough for Goreans to adapt to. The political structure is centered around the conflict between city-states where the boundaries are not herititary but living and breathing borders bred from conflict. Instead of focusing on the slave, they are part of the backstory where they belong, and the owner's rule is all that matters. Add more politics, a little more underhanded deceit, continual threat to life and limb and you have our brain child.

If you love low fantasy fiction, like Gor, and wished there was a way for epic conflict to be portrayed and sustained, we invite you to join us in Arcovia.

See Also

Slaves