Few questions before I start

[Kantall]

This game seems really interesting but there's a few questions/concerns I'd like to ask about beforehand.

1. Whenever I've heard the game mentioned in the past it's been very complimentary save for one point, it has a reputation for griefers, groups of people who will play specifically just to wreck your stuff with no clear motive. Is this justified, or is it exaggerated? I'd like to know a little about this if possible.

2. I understand permadeath is in, which is fine. If you die though, is it starting again in the sense of being a completely fresh character identical to the one you first created, or is there a little carryover?

3. Is it still active? I know I'm super late to the party, will I be able to find a load of people? Specifically English speaking as I don't speak any other languages.

Really appreciate any help on these. Thankyou!

[DoctorViper]

1. Whenever I've heard the game mentioned in the past it's been very complimentary save for one point, it has a reputation for griefers, groups of people who will play specifically just to wreck your stuff with no clear motive. Is this justified, or is it exaggerated? I'd like to know a little about this if possible.

This sort of thing does happen, and there's been salt over it. This is the most recent example, and even then, this was the result of human negligence and the victim was only dealt the equivalent of a slap on the wrist: viewtopic.php?f=58&t=58997

2. I understand permadeath is in, which is fine. If you die though, is it starting again in the sense of being a completely fresh character identical to the one you first created, or is there a little carryover?

It's in both the first and second camp; you have to make a fresh character, but there's an ancestor system in place. What this means is that when you die and go through the usual character creation, you need to look around for a fenced off area with gravestones. You click on the one matching your previous character to get a portion of their stats back, and you can get even more of your stats back if you manage to recover both your body and your skull (good luck with that) and bury them both in a gravestone.

3. Is it still active? I know I'm super late to the party, will I be able to find a load of people? Specifically English speaking as I don't speak any other languages.

Yeah, it's active, and the majority of players do speak English. The majority of us are on Discord servers, so definitely get yourself a Discord account if you don't have one already! Then, if you look around, you should find some links to those servers in Dwarves & Thieves. Here's two threads in particular to check out: viewtopic.php?f=60&t=54330 and viewtopic.php?f=60&t=53938

[MagicManICT]

1. This is a problem in any online game. Why would it be any different here? I'd say it's more obvious here because of the rules, and it is significantly less here than other online games because of the rules. First part is due to the amount of damage to work that can be done, though rules changes recently have made this a bit harder to accomplish. The second part is that anyone that commits a criminal act (vandalism, murder, theft just to name the big three) can be tracked down to their home from the scents they leave behind when the act is committed. What can be done from that is up to the players. (Go to a game like EVE and see how much worse the griefing is.)

2. What DoctorViper describes is the inheritance system. If you choose, you get a portion of your ancestor's stats back immediately, ownership of all personal claims, and hold true to your ancestors credos. What this means is that you can pretty much pick up right where you left off minus some of your character stats, which aren't that hard to regain once you establish yourself. You can gain more of your stats back by burial, yes, but there is also an ancestral worship mechanic in the game that allows you to gain them back without the body, so you're not completely lost, and the community can help with this, too.