To Enthoke

[Kinicky]

Enthoke, if you read this, PLEASE don't take this as a flame. This is written with the best of intentions, and I hope it comes off that way.

I know our last battle ended with some very harshly worded feelings, and I want to take a moment to explain what happened (and why), and hopefully clear the air.

I think most veterans would agree with me that when a thief fails an attempt to steal, that is generally regarded as an assault, and more than enough incentive to attack and seek to kill. When I 'caught' you trying to steal, this is why I attacked. When we battled in the mountains, I caltrapped you and you fled without a mount. As a result, when you stopped moving I had assumed it was because you were out of moves (a legitimate assumption, given the circumstances). Had I known you were lagging I would have backed off until I knew you were back.

When you finally did die, I did not loot you in an attempt to take everything. I tried to communicate to you that you rbelongings would be returned as soon as I had a chance to look through them, and in truth, the only things I wound up taking were a werewolf's tooth and a titanium bracer.

I know you said you are new, and were deleting, and leaving the mud because of things like this, but I hope you realize that this was done from a legitimate RP and not an attempt to be a dick. I did not randomly attack you, I did not intentionally continue when you were lagging, and I did not full loot you with the intent of keeping all of your belongings.

With this said, I should warn you that there ARE people who consider it perfectly fair game to randomly attack people (especially thieves), to continue fighting even when someone drops connection, and to full loot (especially if you were a really tough fight, or in a cabal).

I TRULY hope I did not ruin your experience for you, as that was not my intention, and if I did, please accept my sincere apology. I am here to have fun, and I hope others can do the same. I hope you choose to stay on, it would be very unfortunate to lose a person because of a misunderstanding.

And to any of the vets - if you think what I did was dick, please tell me. I don't want that sort of reputation on myself or any of my chars.

[Chayesh]

Just for clarification...

Attempts to steal are considered assault on a character for in-game mechanics purposes. You will find that the laws, even before Tribunal, reflect this in lawful areas.

[Tantangel]

A thief is a thief and if he can't hack it, he shouldn't be playing one. I know with mine I expected whatever came my way and took it no matter what the outcome. I only RPed the way my character RPed and didn't hold regrets in any OOC fashion as it's severely wrong to do so. As for this situation, though I'm not really a 'vet' by standards, just played for like ever with a few breaks between, I wouldn't call it cheap. You took two things from someone who was only lagging. Had you fully cheaped him knowing full well his connection was lost, that'd be something else since it's hard to really fight back (unless bash locked anyways) when your connection is lost. Even when lagging I've taken a 3 on 1 death, but sucked it all up because of Cabal wars, but the fact of the matter is, you were only 1 on 1 and killed them just while they were lagging and left practically everything where other people would have just looted everything no matter if they were new or not. If anything, you were lenient on him, and him jumping out and bursting out in anger saying he was new is a newbie thing to do, way back in the day at the beginning of 2.0 after I'd been here nearly a year and was getting the hang of PK I killed a couple people who said they were new, but I usually tried to help them out (even if they were opposite alignment) by giving them helpful tips on how to face the likes of my class the next time. I regretted doing so a few times, but hey, they got better and stuck around. Then again anymore the PK environment I think is a bit heavier than usual (maybe I just see it happen more often now), but also the skill of some people have gotten better so it's harder for newer players to get used to it.

Maybe a difficulty setting for FL. Easy you hit at a max setting and can only be hurt at a certain max setting from PKs and MOBs and Hard for people who have nothing to hold back. Basically when fighting someone who's on Easy their hit/dam would be dropped to a certain point as well as the other persons staying the same no matter what the EQ and on Hard no drop in anything. Never happen, but would be interesting to see.

[mattrious]

I fully know what I was getting myself into by playing a thief. Seeing as how this is the second thief I've played in my short-term here on the Forsaken Lands. I only hold myself accountable for what happened to Enthoke. I should not of logged in and attempted to play from work. My connection is very unstable and was dropping. I assumed the character that was in persuit of Enthoke was aware of this, but maybe I am mistaken.

I do apologize for letting my OOC frustration shine through. I've just tried multiple times in getting a char to the pinnacle status and have yet been able to succeed. This is the reason why I'm leaving forsaken lands. Not because of what happened to Enthoke. The agony of defeat - I guess you could call it. I've mudded for over twelve years of my life and am about to have my first child with my wife. Maybe it is time I re-evaluate what I do for a hobby. Not saying there is anything wrong with mudding, but maybe it just isnt the game for this twenty-eight year old soon to be dad.

As I stated in a earlier post. Thanks to everyone who helped me with my short stay here at FL. My only regret is that I did not get to truly flush any characters out RP wise. I was always so focused with leveling and trying to stay competitive within my PK range. Regardless, best of luck to you guys. You're a good group of players. Thanks for the fun times.

- Matt.

[Chayesh]

You'll find, despite opinions to the contrary, that real life really is more fulfilling than fantasy. Whether or not FL is the right hobby for you is for only you to decide. Nevertheless, my advice would be not to give up, if you decide that you still have time for MUDding in your soon to be busier life.

I would offer as a suggestion a less demanding class of character than a thief.

If you decide that MUDding, here at FL or somewhere else, isn't in the cards, I wish you good luck with your new family.

[Aulian]

The only problem with thieves is that you will be hated. No one likes to loose equipment to something you cant 'defend' against. (there are means but you get my point. its not like a pk battle).

As such you will be targeted and hated - even by people who have never met you. They will see you and they will assume you are after them. They will attack you if they get the chance.

I hope you come back but if not the best of luck.

[Questioner]

Kinicky, don't sweat. Just keep doing what you are doing and have fun.

[Kinicky]

Regardless of whether you stay or not, I wish you best of luck, and a hearty congratulations on becoming a new father. There is nothing better.

If you choose to stay (and I hope you do - or, at least, choose to leave because real life has new and exciting things in store, and not because of frustration in the game), I might recommend trying a more RP friendly class. I know everyone will hate me for saying it, but clerics have a million different angles you could try for (even a cleric who is an obsessive kleptomaniac - then you get your thief element in as well), are highly survivable, and draw less aggressive PK than thieves. As you learn the lands, this would be a great class to bring you up and an easy one to pinn.

Regardless of what you choose, good luck to you, and again - congratulations on becoming a father!

[mattrious]

Thank you for your warm and congratulatory words. I to wish you the best with your experiences within The Forsaken Lands. As for me? I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do yet.

- Matt.