My Thoughts

[Malchaeius]

What statement of mine is incorrect? Aside from experiencing it from many blademasters' date=' and with my own, I've also looked at the critical strike code for solar plexus, which I don't believe (notice I'm not stating fact here) has been changed.[/quote']

I am not trying to specifically focus on the person who this quote belongs to. However, I did not catch it when it first came about, and it has led me to think about how I have perceived things as of late.

Since Virigoth publicly released the code, everyone has been scrambling to get their hands on a copy of it so they can learn the secrets of FL. Since it was one of the last things that Virigoth did before he left, this administration has respected his wish that the code be available. We have not pursued any actions to stop its spread other than deciding that we will not host the download ourselves. We respected his wish, but we also followed our own hearts.

Anyone who has a copy of the code, also got a copy of a READ ME file. In it, Viri explains a few things, as well as making a request of his own.

5) If you activly play FL, please do not mention anything you learned from this source code on its Forums.

We've always respected everyone's right to learn their own advanced info. Please keep it that way.

Yet, I have constantly seen a complete disregard for this wish. What has been done with the code? Players have shamelessly posted about their knowledge of the code. Players have opened up websites and forums for the specific purpose of talking about how qclass/qrace skills and other 'secrets' work. Players have opened their own MUDs with the single purpose of advancing people to 50 so they can play qraces/qclasses.

Some of this has been done out of a desire to know everything without putting in any effort. Some of this has been done out of spite by players, who by their own admission "dont even player here anymore", who want to feel like they are "sticking it" to this administration. Overall, it has been a blatant disregard - nay - a show of blatant disrespect for one of Virigoth's final wishes.

You may think that you do the MUD a service, but you are actually doing it, and yourself a disservice. This is part of an abusive trend/mentality that I sometimes refer to as "Power Gaming". People no longer play the game for its spirit. It is played to maximize every advantage, every shortcut, every bug. Everything else is just done at the bare minimum to avoid getting in trouble. For example:

DESCRIPTIONS

Some people write a description for the reward - and not for the fact that a description adds visual and roleplay depth to your character. If you do not get a dragon, do not complain about it. You were writing the for the wrong reason. On the flipside, if you write a description that is four lines long, do not expect a bonus on your description; not if I am the one approving it. Five lines is doing just enough to cover your a**. Therefore, why do you deserve a bonus? This is analogous to a student complaining about not getting a B for a paper where C work is done.

The argument "What if you're not a native english speaker" does not work. We are talking about effort, and not ability. Most of the Immortals do not mind sitting down and helping people with their description, and most of the non-native speakers have been more than happy to have us help them. No, it is the native speakers who will argue with you about why their description is 'fine' when it is loaded with errors that a simple run through a spell-checker, or a slower read, would have picked up.

Some people wait until 15 to write a description, and then complain about how long of a wait it takes to get it approved. Why not have it done from the start? You have it done, you prayed, you have to leave, and no one was there to approve it? Write a note. It will most likely get approved by the next time you log in.

ATTITUDE

No one enjoys being on the receiving end of attitude. This is a free game. We love the game, and most of the time, we love the players as well. If it is one thing that makes FL not fun from my end is receiving attitude from the very people who I am working to make this game enjoyable for.

If you feel like you have something to report, report it objectively and maturely.

Some Things To Avoid

"This isnt working. Is this how its supposed to be?"

What I am thinking: Yes.... That is how it's supposed to be. What do you think, dip****? Of course that is not how it is supposed to be.

My Response: If you think something is wrong, why would you end your query with 'is this how it is supposed to be'. Of course it is not how it is supposed to be. I absolutely hate it when people ask questions that they already know the answer to. Along the same lines, do not ask misleading questions. If you think something is wrong with B, do not ask about A to try and make a point about B. It is irritating, sophomoric behavior. Get to the point.

"Soandso broke this rule. What are you going to do about it?"

What I am thinking: None of your f****** business.

My Response: We do not reveal how we punish anyone. Unfortunately, this leads to the notion that we do not punish people. False. This is not a court - you are not bringing in the accused to be judged by us and to be recompensated for your 'mental anguish'. You are reporting a misdeed, and if we find a misdeed was done, we will deal with said person according to the rules. This will range from verbal warnings, slays, denies, bans - depending on the severity of the rule infraction and the character or player's history with rule violations.

"Soandso did this to me and I want something done!"

What I am thinking: Click your heels three times and say please.

My response: If the person is found to be guilty of breaking a rule they will be punished accordingly. Otherwise, it's just rude to demand that 'something to be done', as if to imply we do not do anything.

There are more situations, but the general train of thought is do not behave like an a-hole. Show us the same patience that we show you. I do not ask for anyone to boost my ego, blow smoke up my a**, brown-nose, or anything along those lines. All I ask is that if you feel like you are about to cop an attitude, stop yourself. Because if you do not stop yourself, whatever you will have to say will fall on deaf ears - or even worse, you will find yourself on the wrong side of the slay/deny command.

ASSUMPTIONS and OOC

Next I want to touch on the perception/assumption that the IMMs have some sort of OOC clique that rewards their OOC friends. This is so far from the truth that it is shocking to me when I hear it tossed around. This administration started within a week after the old one reliquished the reigns. In that time, we got a group of players together who had little affiliation to each other through OOC means. Simply based on their history of characters, and what we believed to be integrity and desire to aid the MUD. We sat down(Behrens, Chayesh, Caimor, and myself) and we drafted a list. The first question that we asked any potential candidate was if they would agree to keep their identities as staff members secret.

We are a secretive staff. Why is this? Simple. The previous staff had several leaks. When the MUD started, basically everyone knew everyone. As it grew, circles (cliques if you will) began to form. As players were asked to become IMMs, they continued to communicate with people from their cliques. How many of us knew an ex-IMM? Perhaps have or had them on a messenger of some sort? How many people do you think attained information from these IMMs? One immortal reveals information about a player to a friend, and that friend tells a friend, who tells another friend, and soon everyone knows that soandso plays this character. Maybe that person did not want anyone to know who they were currently playing; their trust is violated by someone who is in a position of power. This has happened and the past, and we did not want that to happen under our staff. In the same way you would not want your doctor talking about your medical files with your co-workers, we do not want to put ourselves in a position were we will violate that trust.

So we keep our identities a secret, not because we want to partition ourselves from the playerbase. Not because we want to place ourselves above anyone. We do this for the simple reason that we do not want IMs from players asking for things. We do not want to be judged by a past character that you may or may not have liked. We want a seperation between the duties of an Immortal, and the enjoyment of a player. I want to be as objective as possible with my rewards, punishments, and the like. I may not like what I perceive about someone on the forum, but if they play an excellent character, I will reward them for it. I may think a person is the greatest, but I will punish them if they break the rules. Thus, if the same people are receiving qraces/qclasses it is not because we are playing favorites, it is because they clearly have the know-how and execution. They can RP, PK, write an excellent application, and put in enough hours. If you cannot do the same, I am not so convinced that they, or the staff are to blame. In the famous phrase of 1.0, "Do not blame others for your own inadequacies."

Personally, if people were a bit more mature with their OOC information, I could not see why we could not all know each other's identities. Yet, for some reason, (and perhaps just innate human behavior), we act differently under that knowledge. If I were to reveal who I played, perhaps some people would avoid me, perhaps others would rush to try to kill me, and perhaps some would act the same. Those who partake in the former are to be reprehended because they are allowing their OOC knowledge to influence their character's behavior. It is along the same line of being killed by one character, and logging on another to seek revenge in the sense that you are not taking your character's behavior into consideration in your actions. Another example: People avoid one character until they hear through the AIM network that said character has been killed. Everyone starts looking for that character to take their revenge now, or they want to know who killed said person to find out about who holds that equipment.

CONCLUSION

We have an opportunity with FL that we have not had since 1.0. While regrettably a large portion of the playerbase was lost when the game and forum was shutdown, it has given us the opportunity to be a smaller tight knit community that has the potential for great expansion. Whether it is through advertisement, word of mouth, or older players returning, we have the chance to build the playerbase to what it was. However, we also have an opportunity to do it right:

We can embrace the spirit of the game

We can behave maturely with each other

We can teach each other

We can let our character's actions not be influenced by poor OOC motivation

We can re-build this playerbase

We can do all that and more, but it will take a concerted effort. We need to be on the same page. A community that respects the game and each other enough to not only play within the scope of the rules, but to strive for excellence not for the sake of rewards, but for the sake of a fun gaming environment.

Anyhow, these are just my thoughts. Congratulations if you went through it all.

[Evangelion]

Very well said, especially on the matter of OOC contact. As much as I enjoyed the days where everyone could know who played everyone else and, at least superficially, not have it drastically affect their gameplay, and as much as I wish those days could return, it's simply not practical at this point and time. That's why I (among others) have deleted our FL contact lists on instant messengers, and have minimal interactions with other characters outside of the game and the Shout Outs forum.

With some IMM actions clarified, primarily the constant need for identity-secrecy, I think everyone who reads through your entire post will find a lot of their (largely unasked) questions answered.

To those who have asked the questions (some more politely than others), I think this should clear things up a bit.

Hats off to you, and keep running the fantastic program that you have now.

[Icor]

This is part of an abusive trend/mentality that I sometimes refer to as "Power Gaming". People no longer play the game for its spirit. It is played to maximize every advantage, every shortcut, every bug. Everything else is just done at the bare minimum to avoid getting in trouble.

I love this, because it's true. Roleplay, for example, isn't something you should have just to fall back on when your "trash-killing" gets questioned.

[tassinvegeta]

I'm usually not one for words so i'll just say I agree, and on a personal note great thanks regarding your dedication to fl, esp with what I've seen recently.

[Iyorvin]

It's funny how we can all agree, but its actions that will speak.

I disagree with the power gaming aspect. I live for 50 life, I want to RP at 50, I want to PLAY at 50. I hate pre-50 gaming. I can't stand it. I lose RP on my character because I strive so hard to get 50, and it probably does me harm. I will never change it though. I will power game to 50 for the rest of my FL career, and you can judge me a poor player because of it, but I just do not have fun pre 50. I dont' like training, I dont' like pre-50 pk, and I hate pre-50 RP(for the most part).

Everything else I agree with. I don't care about OOC contacts, I just don't agree with players having them active while their characters are logged in. I love a community, the benefits the IMM's friends get are the same as all of ours, and that's getting to play the game period. I don't know any single current IMM, I don't need to know either, and I have never had a problem getting any single qrace/class I have ever applied for. As Malch said, just takes work.

With regards to that latest website. I almost puked seeing it. It was just as bad as halloween madness(no offense), but I spent many many hours learning a lot of secrets that did separate me from the average pbase. You can argue that I just didn't want challenge, but you can also argue that I wanted someone else to take that step too.

I'll post more but I am going out. So peace.

Thanks Malch,

[Aulian]

Hrmmm I suppose the best thing I can say is its made me think about my own actions and whilst perhaps many would agree they are minimal to the detriment of the playerbase/game it only takes one seed from which a mighty tree will grow. (Watcher at <3)

My thanks.

-Aulian

I disagree with the power gaming aspect. I live for 50 life, I want to RP at 50, I want to PLAY at 50. I hate pre-50 gaming. I can't stand it. I lose RP on my character because I strive so hard to get 50, and it probably does me harm. I will never change it though. I will power game to 50 for the rest of my FL career, and you can judge me a poor player because of it, but I just do not have fun pre 50. I dont' like training, I dont' like pre-50 pk, and I hate pre-50 RP(for the most part).

And as for that, I think what Malch was trying to say there are people out there who abuse bugs, AKA the request bug or things of other nature that allow them to be overpower or hold some power over teh rest of the player base. I in no way think he is saying that he doesnt want you to be the best you can be by conventional methods..

[Evangelion]

Iyorvin, I think Malch was referring to power gaming AT 50, not power gaming (ranking) TO 50.

[Iyorvin]

Oh.......well my mistake then. I get pretty cruel to rank with though. You don't kick dirt and I'll kill you!

[Hegemon]

Malchaeius,

Someone's going to bring it up, so I may as well since I'm respectable, and I'm coming from a neutral (read:flat) position on this.

If you are barely reigning in your Demonic Tendencies while dealing with the mundanes, is it a giant leap to assume you are an unstable maniac and not terribly well suited to deal with the situations you mentioned?

Your Quotes:

"This isnt working. Is this how its supposed to be?"

What I am thinking: Yes.... That is how it's supposed to be. What do you think, dip****? Of course that is not how it is supposed to be.

My Response: If you think something is wrong, why would you end your query with 'is this how it is supposed to be'. Of course it is not how it is supposed to be. I absolutely hate it when people ask questions that they already know the answer to. Along the same lines, do not ask misleading questions. If you think something is wrong with B, do not ask about A to try and make a point about B. It is irritating, sophomoric behavior. Get to the point.

_________________________________________________________________

"Soandso broke this rule. What are you going to do about it?"

What I am thinking: None of your f****** business.

My Response: We do not reveal how we punish anyone. Unfortunately, this leads to the notion that we do not punish people. False. This is not a court - you are not bringing in the accused to be judged by us and to be recompensated for your 'mental anguish'. You are reporting a misdeed, and if we find a misdeed was done, we will deal with said person according to the rules. This will range from verbal warnings, slays, denies, bans - depending on the severity of the rule infraction and the character or player's history with rule violations.

_________________________________________________________________

"Soandso did this to me and I want something done!"

What I am thinking: Click your heels three times and say please.

My response: If the person is found to be guilty of breaking a rule they will be punished accordingly. Otherwise, it's just rude to demand that 'something to be done', as if to imply we do not do anything.

_________________________________________________________________

See, the idea here is that without the ability to be able to let our emotions carry through verbally, we can really paint each other any way we want. It's a cold an imperfect form, text. As such, I think it's best to give people the benefit of the doubt.

"Is this working as intended?" may, in fact, mean just that. It may be Johnny B@d@$$ screaming at you with impotant nerd rage from behind the mountain dew cans in front of his monitor.

Otherwise, what the hell is the point?

[Venom]

I dont' like training, I dont' like pre-50 pk, and I hate pre-50 RP(for the most part).

How do you understand the weaknesses of your class if you don't train and SEE the difference? You wish from one 'bum' you to have ready char at 50lvl and to play with a char that you don't understand ?.. you MUST build your char from 1st lvl to feels it and to make it's proper rp, you must train, loose your time but knowing that it shall be very goo char and once you become 50th to understand that you've trained hard and this is not easy-sacrificed char, to love this char.

[Venom]

I must say that also, that I love this mud and I thank you all the ones that cares of it, the ones that are trying to make it better and the ones that plays it for making fun, making enjoyable fights and making others happy by giving their lives Seriously, I thank you all that you are here

[Malchaeius]

RE: Hegemon

Perhaps I did not clarify what I meant with "Is this how its supposed to be" question. There is a difference between not understanding a skill and asking how if this is how it is supposed to work, and knowing that something is wrong and asking that question just to be a prick. For example: "I seem to be having trouble sleeping this elf, is this how it is supposed to work?" vs "I have -50 saves mal and this shaman is landing every spell on me, is this how it is supposed to work?" It is hard to really give an example without further background of the situation. I suppose you will just have to trust me on the fact that I have seen a lot of different notes, and heard a lot of complaints in my time. Enough so to have a good idea of when someone is being a prick, and when someone is genuinely confused and they think something is wrong. Another one of those prick questions is "Well, dont you think you should fix that?" There is a not so subtle implication that you are inept. However, I am human, I can misinterpret a situation. This is why I prefer to give someone enough rope to hang themselves rather than jumping to conclusions. I am not so sure I understand what you mean by the maniac comment though - I feel as if I usually control my emotions well when dealing with people.

RE: Iyorvin

When I talk about "Power Gaming", I am not talking about Power Ranking. That is understandable through many reasons - Your character wants to be as strong as possible, your character wants to learn everything his guild can offer, etc. While I can understand your prefference for the 50 range, the game does start the moment you log on. There is no real difference between "Pre-50 RP" and "50 RP". At least, there should not be. However, I will not fault you for your prefference of the 50 range.

Power Gaming, the way that I refer to it, is an abusive mentality. For example, if you notice a bug, and it has not been fixed, you will abuse it until you are punished, or until it is fixed. God forbid anyone use the honor code. Here is an even more concrete example. People know about the shout outs forum bug. Yet instead of just not going out of your way to abuse it, several people do. Why? If you know it is supposed to be an anonymous forum, why would you do that? It irks me to no end, and I would honestly rather shut down that forum than have Lunicant fix it.

I think some dialogue would benefit us all.

[goldbond]

i want to say that i pointed out that the general environment here is incredibly civil considering how overdramatic past forums were, i mean be serious. that being said, when this forum is more civil because because many older players are considerably older in age, a lot of unspoken tension and thoughts are supressed at the same time and that's just normal, but it's still unhealthy.

i know this, behrens has his own life, decided to pay for this game without saying a f****cking word about us helping him, stills manages to keep a staff around. malchaeious was correct in his outlook in many ways, and the proprietary wish is founded on the reason that this game is around in the first place. at all, whatsoever. it's hard to argue that much, but i feel other ways about it too.

[Venom]

I wish to say that is quite easy to make ranger or paladin and say 'Yeah, hell, I rock .....I am doing it alone', if anyone thinks that way there shall be noone to hunt with the other classes that is QUITE HARD to experience by themself.

[Ex-D&Der]

Regarding power gaming, I would say that abusing bugs and so forth is cheating. Power gaming is doing things like obtaining 50 protection scrolls, keeping a list of all the items in the game with their ids for use with every character, running the clockwork gauntlet at warp speed with any groupmates you can find whether or not they know the way, locating red potions and then just blinding someone until they run out, etc. etc.

None of these things is against the rules, and most would simply describe them as smart play. But I think they arguably circumvent the intention of the game. I remember I tried to lead a group to Winter once with a character played by Zaen. I claimed I knew the way, and he wouldn't lift a finger to help, and even got impatient--per his role-play--when I couldn't find the door.

[Malchaeius]

My use of the term "power gaming" was not meant to be congruent with current understanding of the term. I use the term to invoke an image of someone trying to squeeze out as much from the game as possible while putting in minimum effort. I do understand that the term can also carry connotations of efficiency - but that was not what I was aiming for.

[Kyzarius]

Personally I love playing here BECAUSE of the secrecy, the mysterious mojo involved in the game. That some "newbie" cant walk up read a walkthrough and have 48 quests done on his/her character makes me feel good that I have uncovered them myself.

Power gaming, walk through's and anything else that cheapens the experience of playing this game really just pisses me off. Though at times I am sure, even I have expressed inpatience or frustration (hehe sorry anithraril ) over my own dumb moves the staff has always been passive aggresive in handling my own rare outburst and the outbursts of others from what I have seen.

Malch has an excellent point, and I am glad that the imm staff is oriented and managed with the concept of preserving the "spirit" of the game at all times through their methods of enforcement.