<![CDATA[Conquest of the Horde

<![CDATA[Conquest of the Horde - Reigen's Blog]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/ Fri, 01 May 2026 20:38:54 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[Reigen Ruminates: Guild Bases]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-38340.html Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:14:42 -0700 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-38340.html

Guild Bases

Greetings CoTH! Reigen here with a not so new word combination to catch your attention.

Guild bases are one of the things we hear ever now and then. It gets a loud voice then dies down. Happens every few months every time CoTH gets into a population slump or any such deal. I'd like to say it's a popular topic and one many people have said they wanted at some point or another. Now, before anyone's hopes get up at reading this post: No. I am not saying guild bases are going to be a for sure thing anytime in the near future. However, as per a conversation between the Overseers, Admins and another individual, we decided perhaps a test might be in order. However, before we go though with any sort of test, we wanted to hear everyone's opinions on the possibility of guild bases.

What would the test consist of?

It would be a cut and dry test. In short, we would allow one or two guilds to have a base for a certain amount of time that they could customize to their hearts content. Nothing huge, however. No sprawling cities [sorry noble houses] or personal villages. Think closer to Goldshire size in terms of how much we're willing to give at first. Custom patch could be used, however keep in mind that mac users cannot use the patch and any custom patch buildings cannot be in the open world. These guilds would have to prove to us that the bases will be used and that what they acomplish cannot just be done with the 'first come first serve' areas that we already have.

How will guilds be chosen?

Not yet decided, we want to see community reaction to the idea first. Current activity level will likely be a factor, however.

If bases do become a thing, will everyone get one?

Maybe, maybe not. We'll judge it case by case!

Now, as for wanting opinion, do you think this is a good idea? Do you want this to be a thing? Is there anything you'd want to see during the testing phase, if we get that far?

Personally, I worry that it will only encourage more seclusion and groups of people not open to those beyond the base walls. I don't want to see RP become something that's just holed up into a base because there's no need to visit a city anymore for visual impact. I also worry that bases will be built, then the guilds die and it will turn out to be a wasted effort.]]> <![CDATA[Interest Check: Retroactive Events]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-38336.html Mon, 04 Aug 2014 19:03:18 -0700 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-38336.html
The main one that has me thinking is the initial forsaken siege of Gilneas and going though the events of there to when the worgen first arrive in Darnassus.

Thoughts? Opinions? Any other events in time that you might want to have this done of?]]>
The main one that has me thinking is the initial forsaken siege of Gilneas and going though the events of there to when the worgen first arrive in Darnassus.

Thoughts? Opinions? Any other events in time that you might want to have this done of?]]> <![CDATA[Of Peons and Nobility]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-37132.html Mon, 30 Dec 2013 19:18:27 -0800 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-37132.html
This isn't really big enough to be announcement worthy, however it will be added to the decision archive and the wiki page will be updated.

As everyone knows, special profiles are reserved to grunt only in regards to dragonsworn, demon hunters, Felsworn, high army ranks and nobility. However, nobility can offer a good amount of RP for a person joining the server as well as serve as a great way for them to make friends and gain RP connections. As such, we will be making a little change and allow peons to post special profiles for joining a new family.

This means that peons can, obviously, join with an already existing noble house as a family member rather than a guard or a servant. They cannot make their own house nor can they profile for the special classes, those are still reserved for grunts only.

Remember to read this thread when posting a profile for a noble!

Love,
Reigen]]>
This isn't really big enough to be announcement worthy, however it will be added to the decision archive and the wiki page will be updated.

As everyone knows, special profiles are reserved to grunt only in regards to dragonsworn, demon hunters, Felsworn, high army ranks and nobility. However, nobility can offer a good amount of RP for a person joining the server as well as serve as a great way for them to make friends and gain RP connections. As such, we will be making a little change and allow peons to post special profiles for joining a new family.

This means that peons can, obviously, join with an already existing noble house as a family member rather than a guard or a servant. They cannot make their own house nor can they profile for the special classes, those are still reserved for grunts only.

Remember to read this thread when posting a profile for a noble!

Love,
Reigen]]> <![CDATA[Reigen Requests: Event Times!]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-36166.html Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:45:05 -0700 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-36166.html
Taking this a bit further - I intend to make a graph out of the data collected and posting it so that people can just take a quick look at it and get an idea about what day and time might be best for them to run an event, if they wish.

Thus: Here is the spreadsheet. Anyone can edit it and I already filled a row out so people can see how to do it. ALL TIMES ARE IN SERVER TIME. If a day isn't good, just type N/A. The sheet should be fillable right from here.

Edit: Do not make me regret making this public - please ONLY type what is relevant to the topic.

]]>
Taking this a bit further - I intend to make a graph out of the data collected and posting it so that people can just take a quick look at it and get an idea about what day and time might be best for them to run an event, if they wish.

Thus: Here is the spreadsheet. Anyone can edit it and I already filled a row out so people can see how to do it. ALL TIMES ARE IN SERVER TIME. If a day isn't good, just type N/A. The sheet should be fillable right from here.

Edit: Do not make me regret making this public - please ONLY type what is relevant to the topic.

]]> <![CDATA[Reigen Ruminates: Burning Bridges]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-35857.html Fri, 02 Aug 2013 01:04:10 -0700 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-35857.html
First off is the moment you get told. There is a giddy excitement there. One that feels just like an explosion of butterflies in your stomach once you realize you've been chosen. You get that wise word from an older GM that 'it's not all what it's cracked up to be.' You ignore how stressed the other GMs seem to be, how bitter a lot of them have become since their promotion. I mean, you were chosen. Clearly you can handle it, clearly you won't get sucked down into the deep, dark pit of angst that the others seem to have fallen into, right?

So begins your month-long trialship. It's pretty great at first, you get to hang around the other GMs for tidbits of advice. I know I was the most excited to learn how to build. Everyone's giving you a pat on the back and your friends and hootin' and hollering that their buddy got chosen. Things are going to be sweet.

You might want to make a few memory screenshots. They won't be your friends for long.

There comes a day when...you'll have to tell one of your friends no. Sorry, you're not allowed to give them gold like you used to. GMs can't do that. They want an enchant? You can't do that either, because you can just add the materials to your inventory. What gives, man? You used to gossip with us about so and so and now you're dead silent all the time. Oh, by the way, can you get me this cool mount? No one has to know...

By the time you're promoted to a full GM, you'll notice that your friends list is a lot shorter. Not as many people are inviting you out to RP as they used to. In fact, they seem to act rather strange once you do get into an RP with them. They're must more proper, reserved, as if they're watching everything they say like a hawk, and watching your reactions even closer. You might laugh it off at first, you're the same person after all. Only, to them, you're not. You're now an authority figure. You are the police. You are the one who will eventually swing the hammer. You are no longer 'safe' to BS around with because if they step too far...you'll have to be the one reporting it.

Then there will come a day where you'll have to act on a report against one of your friends. You'll have to invite them to a party and say the seven deadly words:

"Do you have a moment to talk?"

From there on out, it just sinks more and more. You will be exposed to the worst sides of everyone. You will see things that were said by your friends that you can never believe they said. You will be treated worse than customer service the day after black friday. Everything you do will be judgmental in some way. A polite reminder in OOC will come to bite you in the rear end later when there's a dispute. You will no longer be able to hang around a certain group of people without claims of favoritism being made.

And you'll have next to no one at the end of the forth month beyond the GM team who asked you to join. You know, the ones who get to look at you and say 'I told you so'. I think the worst part is the paranoia that comes with it, the worry that every new person just wants to be your friend so they can use you in some way.

-------------------------------

I hear from a lot of people how much they would love to become a GM, and I just don’t think they know just how draining the job is. It’s not all fun and games, and while there are perks to the job, I think what most all the GMs have lost outweighs the little good that has come from it. It’s not a job for the weak-willed, nor is it one for people who try to be everyone’s friend. That’s just not going to happen and you’ll burn yourself out fast trying to be everyone’s BFF.

Let’s face a fact. When a GM is in an RP, you act different than you would if it had been all non-GMs. I did it, I know a lot of people who admit this because it’s true. It might not be intentional, but it’s one of those things where a GM enters and the back of your mind goes ‘there’s here to enforce the rules’. I think that’s one of the main reasons we don’t get invited to RP as well, because we will enforce the rules and we will call things out. No one wants to be told they can’t do something, or joke a certain way or anything like that.

I don’t say this because I’m whining. I say this because that’s just how things are, and I think it’s high time people understand the flak we get for doing our job.

We will, at some point in time, ban your friend. However, you will not think that they deserved it, but we will have logs upon logs about just what type of person they are that they kept hidden from you. There are things that go on that only the reporter, the banned player and the GMs will know. We will see the most vile sides of a person that they do not show their friends and we will act upon that side. It will not matter how much sunshine they spread for their group because we will focus on the shadows they cast over others. No, we will not make warning threads public because that takes away the anonymity of those who send in reports. Not only are we protecting them, we are protecting the image they wanted you to see.

If I’m to be disliked for that, so be it, but I will never betray that trust the reporter had in me.

Yes, I am suspicious of anyone who tries to be my friend because I have been used and will be used again by those who just want a GM connection. This is nothing against you as a player, nor is it your fault at all. Others have come before you and prove time and time again that we are nothing but a road from point A to B for them. We’ll be their go-to guy for anything iffy. We’ll be the one they complain to about every little thing. We’ll be the one that they’ll hint at about their profile that’s been up in the Private Discussion a few days now...

Yes. I am paranoid of meeting new people on the server because I worry that it will be another burnt bridge down the line.

What’s the point of all this?

I’m hurt. I’m angry. I’m upset at the way the GMs are treated and I’m furious that we cannot defend ourselves. I’m depressed that I have to separate myself from the players to be safe. But they told me so, the ones who invited me in warned me about this and I went ahead with it anyway. Am I giving up? No. I’m not going to let this get the best of me.

I am, first and foremost, a GM. Friendships take a secondary role. When it comes to what is best for the server, I will burn any and every bridge that I cross.

-------------------------------

So there you have it. A look into the mind of a GM. This isn't to represent all of them, but it does describe my experience and the experiences told to me by others. They can speak for themselves however.

I don't want drama in this thread, in fact I'll be locking it to prevent that. I don't want pity. I just want to tell it like it is.]]>
First off is the moment you get told. There is a giddy excitement there. One that feels just like an explosion of butterflies in your stomach once you realize you've been chosen. You get that wise word from an older GM that 'it's not all what it's cracked up to be.' You ignore how stressed the other GMs seem to be, how bitter a lot of them have become since their promotion. I mean, you were chosen. Clearly you can handle it, clearly you won't get sucked down into the deep, dark pit of angst that the others seem to have fallen into, right?

So begins your month-long trialship. It's pretty great at first, you get to hang around the other GMs for tidbits of advice. I know I was the most excited to learn how to build. Everyone's giving you a pat on the back and your friends and hootin' and hollering that their buddy got chosen. Things are going to be sweet.

You might want to make a few memory screenshots. They won't be your friends for long.

There comes a day when...you'll have to tell one of your friends no. Sorry, you're not allowed to give them gold like you used to. GMs can't do that. They want an enchant? You can't do that either, because you can just add the materials to your inventory. What gives, man? You used to gossip with us about so and so and now you're dead silent all the time. Oh, by the way, can you get me this cool mount? No one has to know...

By the time you're promoted to a full GM, you'll notice that your friends list is a lot shorter. Not as many people are inviting you out to RP as they used to. In fact, they seem to act rather strange once you do get into an RP with them. They're must more proper, reserved, as if they're watching everything they say like a hawk, and watching your reactions even closer. You might laugh it off at first, you're the same person after all. Only, to them, you're not. You're now an authority figure. You are the police. You are the one who will eventually swing the hammer. You are no longer 'safe' to BS around with because if they step too far...you'll have to be the one reporting it.

Then there will come a day where you'll have to act on a report against one of your friends. You'll have to invite them to a party and say the seven deadly words:

"Do you have a moment to talk?"

From there on out, it just sinks more and more. You will be exposed to the worst sides of everyone. You will see things that were said by your friends that you can never believe they said. You will be treated worse than customer service the day after black friday. Everything you do will be judgmental in some way. A polite reminder in OOC will come to bite you in the rear end later when there's a dispute. You will no longer be able to hang around a certain group of people without claims of favoritism being made.

And you'll have next to no one at the end of the forth month beyond the GM team who asked you to join. You know, the ones who get to look at you and say 'I told you so'. I think the worst part is the paranoia that comes with it, the worry that every new person just wants to be your friend so they can use you in some way.

-------------------------------

-------------------------------------------
Character Warnings

Today's topic is one that's been coming up a lot in recent discussion. Most people know that a character warning is something given out when a character might be put into a dangerous situation if they proceed with their current actions, however I've found there's been some confusion on what actually justifies a warning. No two people are able to give the same description of a character warning nor what sort of situation would call for one. Some find vague warnings to be okay while others want it to be expressly stated.

Personally, when I think of a CW, I think it needs to be explicitly stated and applies to any situation that will alter a character physically [death, maiming] or cause major mental trama [Assult, injection of IC drugs].

Under the current policy, blanket character warnings are not allowed and they must be given out per situation. There is no 'If you interact with this group, things can happen', it has to be stated each time a new situation pops up. For example, a group of assassins would have to re-issue the warning every time they come in contact with their target, so that the player can leave the situation. When a CW is issued, it is also automatically accepted by the person issuing the warning. You cannot give out a warning while refusing the death of your own character.

So, my question to the players is thus: How have you interpreted the character warning policy? What might you change about it? What would you add to it? Discuss your thoughts on the policy and remember the disclaimer. This goes hand in hand with the resurrection policy, but please keep all discussion on resurrection in the other thread.

Annnnd go!]]> Disclaimer: This is a DRAMA FREE ZONE. There will be no bashing of each others opinions. There will be no getting snippy. There will be no out-right posts saying 'this rule sucks'. This is a discussion. If you do not like something, discuss it, offer ideas on how it can be improved.

If I see even a little bit of drama, I will lock the post faster than @Xigo and @Spiky can get First Blood in LoL with Blitzcrank and Alistar and promptly stop posting these discussions. Be civil.

-------------------------------------------
Character Warnings

Today's topic is one that's been coming up a lot in recent discussion. Most people know that a character warning is something given out when a character might be put into a dangerous situation if they proceed with their current actions, however I've found there's been some confusion on what actually justifies a warning. No two people are able to give the same description of a character warning nor what sort of situation would call for one. Some find vague warnings to be okay while others want it to be expressly stated.

Personally, when I think of a CW, I think it needs to be explicitly stated and applies to any situation that will alter a character physically [death, maiming] or cause major mental trama [Assult, injection of IC drugs].

Under the current policy, blanket character warnings are not allowed and they must be given out per situation. There is no 'If you interact with this group, things can happen', it has to be stated each time a new situation pops up. For example, a group of assassins would have to re-issue the warning every time they come in contact with their target, so that the player can leave the situation. When a CW is issued, it is also automatically accepted by the person issuing the warning. You cannot give out a warning while refusing the death of your own character.

So, my question to the players is thus: How have you interpreted the character warning policy? What might you change about it? What would you add to it? Discuss your thoughts on the policy and remember the disclaimer. This goes hand in hand with the resurrection policy, but please keep all discussion on resurrection in the other thread.

Annnnd go!]]> <![CDATA[Reigen Revisits: Resurrection]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-35206.html Sun, 16 Jun 2013 17:35:01 -0700 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-35206.html Hello and welcome, good people of COTH.

Something that's been on my mind for a while is what the player-base thinks of the server policies that are currently in place. With permission granted, I'm going to be doing a series of blog posts that opens discussion about what is currently in place, revisiting them so to speak, so that everyone can offer their opinions. Now, do note that this does not mean anything is going to change. Can it? Perhaps. This is mostly for my own curiosity.

Important Note: This is a DRAMA FREE ZONE. There will be no bashing of each others opinions. There will be no getting snippy. There will be no out-right posts saying 'this rule sucks'. This is a discussion. If you do not like something, discuss it, offer ideas on how it can be improved.

If I see even a little bit of drama, I will lock the post faster than @Xigo can get First Blood in LoL and promptly stop posting these discussions. Be civil.

---------------------------------------------------------

Resurrection

Today's topic will be on the Resurrection policy. Currently the policy is as followed:

Quote:If it happens OOCly, then it stays OOC. Otherwise, read on...
There is no limit on how often a character can be resurrected ICly. However, if the character's life is tossed away (the character kills themself, has another murder them, etc.) or they are killed by one of their own alts, then there is no resurrection. If the character is to be resurrected an IC post MUST be made in this forum. [Link not there for this post] Why? We've had some ridiculous deaths and resurrections in the past. You are not allowed to retcon a character death once the death has happened.
If we feel the resurrection is... bad, for lack of a better term, we reserve the right to deny it pending a better post.

Drawbacks
A character must be dead for one week before he can be revived. During this week you must think of what drawbacks come from the death. The drawbacks should be listed at the end of the post. If no drawbacks are posted in the RC thread it will automatically be denied.
Keep in mind that if your character was simply murdered in cold blood (No warning, etc.) you should PM a GM about it, as this is a breach of policy on the murderer's part. However, if this was done in a zone known to be dangerous, or in the threatening or harassing of a guild or player known to have a predisposition for violence, you should accept the consequences (Keep in mind that metagaming and powergaming fall under a separate rule from this.).

Resurrector & Killer
Another addition to the Resurrection post must be the addition of who the character was killed by, and who resurrected them.

---------------------------------------------------------

Resurrection

Today's topic will be on the Resurrection policy. Currently the policy is as followed:

Quote:If it happens OOCly, then it stays OOC. Otherwise, read on...
There is no limit on how often a character can be resurrected ICly. However, if the character's life is tossed away (the character kills themself, has another murder them, etc.) or they are killed by one of their own alts, then there is no resurrection. If the character is to be resurrected an IC post MUST be made in this forum. [Link not there for this post] Why? We've had some ridiculous deaths and resurrections in the past. You are not allowed to retcon a character death once the death has happened.
If we feel the resurrection is... bad, for lack of a better term, we reserve the right to deny it pending a better post.

Drawbacks
A character must be dead for one week before he can be revived. During this week you must think of what drawbacks come from the death. The drawbacks should be listed at the end of the post. If no drawbacks are posted in the RC thread it will automatically be denied.
Keep in mind that if your character was simply murdered in cold blood (No warning, etc.) you should PM a GM about it, as this is a breach of policy on the murderer's part. However, if this was done in a zone known to be dangerous, or in the threatening or harassing of a guild or player known to have a predisposition for violence, you should accept the consequences (Keep in mind that metagaming and powergaming fall under a separate rule from this.).

Resurrector & Killer
Another addition to the Resurrection post must be the addition of who the character was killed by, and who resurrected them.

Now, what do I think? [I have opinions too!]

I personally think the system is a little too lax and the drawbacks are not played out enough when a character does die. Most of the time the character in question gets up after an hour of playing out that they were alive again and start heading right back into battle. In fact, once I had a character resurrect someone who promptly jumped out of bed, started to cheer and ran off. My own character was more tired than the one who had just come back from death.

I also feel that resurrection posts ought to have a stamp of approval on them before the character can be played again and that for each constructive death that happens, the drawbacks should become worse and worse. If a character dies four times and is just peachy...that just strikes me as very odd. I wouldn't put a limit on resurrections, but I would like them to make more sense...well. Some sense.

Will I ever support 'no resurrection/one resurrection only'? No, I don't think that should be a case UNLESS the character has done something extremely stupid to earn it...like punching Deathwing in the face. I do agree that suicides should result in a perma-death, as then the character just would not want to come back. I also agree that when a player is directly involved in the death of the character, then it should result in a perma-death, though I'm willing to make an exception if approval is gotten beforehand.

Anyway, that's what I think. How about ya'll?]]> <![CDATA[Decrease in activity inbound!]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-34739.html Sun, 05 May 2013 16:33:12 -0700 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-34739.html I was not going to attempt to find a double R title for this.

Starting tomorrow [Monday the 6th], I will again be a college student and taking online courses as I still lack a vehicle. It's been a long time coming to get back into education, and everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong when I was trying to register. Now, for once, everything is done and over with and there is nothing holding me back from starting monday. I've got all my books, my paper and my over-abundance of free-time to get this done with hopefully relatively good grades.

As you may have guessed from the title, this means my activity is going to drop a bit. No, this isn't a full-blown absence, hence why it is not in the absence section. No one pays attention to that section anyway. It is more here to explain why I might not be seen as often as before. I won't be staying up as late and my mornings will be composed of doing my work before I log onto the server for anything such as events, building or RP. I likely won't be idling on there as much, so when I am free and someone wants to RP, best way to contact me is over skype!

My Skype name, for anyone who doesn't have it yet, is: dminuyasha

Make sure that when adding me, you tell me who you are and where I know you from. [It's X from COTH!]. If you don't, I likely won't add you.

I do have events in the planning however, one of them being Twilight Hammer related, but those will be done on days I have plenty of time and little homework to distract me. Thankfully all my classes allow me to work ahead of schedule, so I'll be able to set aside days for this.

Anyone who sees me up past 12:00 AM server time is free to yell at me to go to sleep. I'm looking at you, Psycho.]]> I was not going to attempt to find a double R title for this.

Starting tomorrow [Monday the 6th], I will again be a college student and taking online courses as I still lack a vehicle. It's been a long time coming to get back into education, and everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong when I was trying to register. Now, for once, everything is done and over with and there is nothing holding me back from starting monday. I've got all my books, my paper and my over-abundance of free-time to get this done with hopefully relatively good grades.

As you may have guessed from the title, this means my activity is going to drop a bit. No, this isn't a full-blown absence, hence why it is not in the absence section. No one pays attention to that section anyway. It is more here to explain why I might not be seen as often as before. I won't be staying up as late and my mornings will be composed of doing my work before I log onto the server for anything such as events, building or RP. I likely won't be idling on there as much, so when I am free and someone wants to RP, best way to contact me is over skype!

My Skype name, for anyone who doesn't have it yet, is: dminuyasha

Make sure that when adding me, you tell me who you are and where I know you from. [It's X from COTH!]. If you don't, I likely won't add you.

I do have events in the planning however, one of them being Twilight Hammer related, but those will be done on days I have plenty of time and little homework to distract me. Thankfully all my classes allow me to work ahead of schedule, so I'll be able to set aside days for this.

Anyone who sees me up past 12:00 AM server time is free to yell at me to go to sleep. I'm looking at you, Psycho.]]> <![CDATA[Reigen's (Cata) Renovating]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-34669.html Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:28:42 -0700 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-34669.html Considering my old thread was mostly -all- custom patch items, I figured a new thread was in order for any building that I'm doing on the Cataclysm server. So far all I've been going in sprucing up existing areas. So far this is what I have done:

Re-decorated the Azshara mage tower
Made many NPCs in Ironforge, Silvermoon and Stormwind homeless. If it had a bed in it, I likely moved the NPCs out.
Decorated the RIGLEY SPAWNED buildings in Hearthglen and around the Western Plaguelands.
Dawnstar village has been respawned and decorated. The yelling NPCs should also all be gone. As before, Dawnstar is Horde only.
Chapel outside of the Catacombs. I rearranged the chairs to make it look nicer. I figured it could make a nice rundown church area that's still in use by...whoever.
Magisters Terrence. The location is mean to be a replacement noble house due to the loss of the custom patch. All guards are marked as 'friendly' to all factions, however, it can only be claimed by horde as it is very clearly a blood elf place.
Sunwell Raid. DO NOT ENTER IF YOU ARE ALLIANCE. I figured this will make for a good location for belf political stuff as well as pilgrimages to the Sunwell. It's about as done as I can make it, but if you have suggestions, please let me know.
Twilight Grove - Turning this into a nelf/worgen area.

Here are my current work in process builds:

The Netherstorm tower. [I'm making it a more 'evil' vision of the mage tower].
Zeramas. Currently a lot of the items that were there before are gone. I plan on respawning them close to how it was on the WOTLK server.
Custom patch area.

]]> Considering my old thread was mostly -all- custom patch items, I figured a new thread was in order for any building that I'm doing on the Cataclysm server. So far all I've been going in sprucing up existing areas. So far this is what I have done:

Re-decorated the Azshara mage tower
Made many NPCs in Ironforge, Silvermoon and Stormwind homeless. If it had a bed in it, I likely moved the NPCs out.
Decorated the RIGLEY SPAWNED buildings in Hearthglen and around the Western Plaguelands.
Dawnstar village has been respawned and decorated. The yelling NPCs should also all be gone. As before, Dawnstar is Horde only.
Chapel outside of the Catacombs. I rearranged the chairs to make it look nicer. I figured it could make a nice rundown church area that's still in use by...whoever.
Magisters Terrence. The location is mean to be a replacement noble house due to the loss of the custom patch. All guards are marked as 'friendly' to all factions, however, it can only be claimed by horde as it is very clearly a blood elf place.
Sunwell Raid. DO NOT ENTER IF YOU ARE ALLIANCE. I figured this will make for a good location for belf political stuff as well as pilgrimages to the Sunwell. It's about as done as I can make it, but if you have suggestions, please let me know.
Twilight Grove - Turning this into a nelf/worgen area.

Here are my current work in process builds:

The Netherstorm tower. [I'm making it a more 'evil' vision of the mage tower].
Zeramas. Currently a lot of the items that were there before are gone. I plan on respawning them close to how it was on the WOTLK server.
Custom patch area.

]]> <![CDATA[Reigen Requests: Event Etiquette]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-33608.html Sat, 19 Jan 2013 17:37:29 -0800 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-33608.html Most everyone who plays on this server knows that events are an important part of the server for spurring up RP, getting characters to meet other characters and all around keeping us busy when we’d otherwise be sitting around the OOC zone. They happen often, at least once a week and can be run by anyone.

Running events can sometimes be hectic. The DMs have a lot on their plate, such as remembering where things are, boss dialogue, keeping track of rolls and making sure no one gets a turn skipped. It’s not as easy as some people tend to think. It gets even harder when the DM is bombarded with questions and suggestions by players, or when players refuse to follow rules.

It can be very frustrating when a DM is trying to run an event and people keep assuming things and pestering the DM with what they think is right. I’m not sure about everyone else, but in my events, there is some etiquette I’d like the players to follow.

A character is not the big damn hero.

This is copyrighted to Immy, but I’m going to use it anyway. Nothing irritates me more than someone trying to play the big hero who snips out cheesy one-liners at the boss and expects to be a big deal in the event. It can get annoying and it can make the DM spiteful to the character. Everyone is equal in an event unless otherwise said. Everyone is the hero. Please stop trying to make the character more important than anyone else.

‘Last one out’

We’re all guilty of doing this at one point in time. The room was a trap, everyone has to flee the area before the monsters get them or the roof falls down on our heroes. However…everyone wants to seem the tragic caring hero and wants to be the last person to leave the situation. This gets to the point where people just stand around waiting for someone to move first so they can be the last one out.

This is annoying to no end. It does not make someone look a hero…it makes that person hold up the event. When the DM gives a queue that it’s time to leave…please just leave. Don’t hold up the event to be the last one out.

‘My character is a big deal’

Another thing I see a lot is players trying to get the DM to have event NPCs recognize a character. Please don’t ask people to do this. If they’ve heard of the character, then great. If not, don’t act like the character is a huge deal, most of all if the event contains lore figures. As far as they know, the character doesn’t even exist. This can also distract the DM from the event when they have to respond to whispers asking if a character can be important.

Telling the DM how to run their event

This has happened to me a few times, and let me say, it sours the whole mood for me. Let the DM run their event. If anyone thinks it could have been done better another way, post in their feedback thread. Do not whisper the DM during the event and start telling them how they should do it. Frankly, it’s rather insulting. Unless it’s a huge deal, such as skipping over turns constantly/ignoring someone, just let the DM run the event the way they want to run it. If a person dislikes how an event is run, then the best thing to do is not attend future events. Don’t try to control what the DM does/how they set it up.

This also goes for giving the DM ‘advice’ for how to run the event. The DM had something in mind well before the event started and changing in the middle of it is not something that can be, or really should be done. Once again, if advice has to be given, do it in the feedback thread after the event is over.

Bragging about ‘getting the kill’.

This is something I see in almost every combat event ever done. There is a big baddie who the group has been working on getting too and taking down for almost the whole event. This is the end boss, the guy who sticks out like a sore thumb. After a long battle, the DM calls for everyone to roll and that the highest roll gets the honor of striking down the big bad. Someone rolls a 100 and emotes their kill, no matter how epic or simple it may be…

And then they start to brag about it both ICly and OOCly. Several people have complained to me about this, which is one of the reasons I try not to say who exactly kills the big-baddies in my events. I can understand what they’re getting at too. It really gets upsetting that someone is essentially rubbing it in your face because the Random Number Generator [RNG] gave them a better number. It’s not cool, yo.

Taking down the villain is a group effort, not one person should ever take credit unless they were up there soloing it with no help from anyone else. If the character is one who would take it that way and brag about it, so be it, but know it’s not going to earn them any friends. Bragging about it OOCly is just something that should not be done, it’s kind of degrading to everyone else who was involved in the event.

Not listening to event rules

I’ve seen this happen and have heard about it far too often. Players will be given IC instructions; sometimes this comes OOCly over Raid Warning messages. Everyone gets out into the event zone and…someone starts to do something that the event isn’t even about, or they just don’t follow the rules. Soon after the other players get irritated that someone isn’t listening to the rules, and the event fades into a whole mess up OOC chatter of trying to prove each other wrong.

When a DM states what the event is about and how it should be done, follow these rules. There should be no argument about it. Saying a character would do something that way is not an argument, it just means the player should have brought a different character to the event that would follow the instructions. Disobeying the rules will frustrate the DM who is trying to keep things going, frustrate the players and just slow the event down in general and make it hard to enjoy.

If a DM lists rules for the event, please follow them, no matter what the character would do. This also goes for if the DM tells you to whisper/whatever them when special items/attacks/someone investigates something. Following emotes can be hard.

Infighting

I’ve only seen this happen a couple of times, enough so that it’s not really a big deal, but I feel it should be mentioned anyway. When trying to host an event, the last thing a DM should have to worry about is two players attacking each other in the middle of it. If two characters really need to duke it out, wait until after the event, don’t give the DM another headache to follow and fix.

This is all I can think of for now. Everyone is free to add to it or make their own. I know I’ve covered most of the things that have bothered me or bothered those who I talk to often enough.]]> Most everyone who plays on this server knows that events are an important part of the server for spurring up RP, getting characters to meet other characters and all around keeping us busy when we’d otherwise be sitting around the OOC zone. They happen often, at least once a week and can be run by anyone.

Running events can sometimes be hectic. The DMs have a lot on their plate, such as remembering where things are, boss dialogue, keeping track of rolls and making sure no one gets a turn skipped. It’s not as easy as some people tend to think. It gets even harder when the DM is bombarded with questions and suggestions by players, or when players refuse to follow rules.

It can be very frustrating when a DM is trying to run an event and people keep assuming things and pestering the DM with what they think is right. I’m not sure about everyone else, but in my events, there is some etiquette I’d like the players to follow.

A character is not the big damn hero.

‘Last one out’

‘My character is a big deal’

Telling the DM how to run their event

Bragging about ‘getting the kill’.

Not listening to event rules

Infighting

I’ve only seen this happen a couple of times, enough so that it’s not really a big deal, but I feel it should be mentioned anyway. When trying to host an event, the last thing a DM should have to worry about is two players attacking each other in the middle of it. If two characters really need to duke it out, wait until after the event, don’t give the DM another headache to follow and fix.

This is all I can think of for now. Everyone is free to add to it or make their own. I know I’ve covered most of the things that have bothered me or bothered those who I talk to often enough.]]> <![CDATA[Reigen Rants: Open Office]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-32366.html Thu, 27 Sep 2012 11:06:14 -0700 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-32366.html
However...

I've noticed, as have a few other GMs, that the moment we announce an open office and sit at the table...the table gets swarmed with players who don't even have a question. People jump around, spam emotes, sit on the table, sit on -us- and have a massive 'inb4 the GM' fest when someone does ask a question. Normally we ask that players leave us be during the time and sometimes they comply. This has not been the case recently. It is getting to the point where we have to threaten people with muting and kicks from the server so we can run an open office undistracted. When we have to ask someone to stop about ten times, then something is clearly wrong and we have started to become very agitated by it. It's hard to ask nicely anymore.

Below are some things that everyone should keep in mind when an open office is announced. These are by no means official, but suggestions on how to make the process much smoother on everyone involved. The last thing everyone wants is a bunch of irritated GMs trying to answer questions, only to get drowned out by the amount of spam that goes on when an open office happens. Each GM's preference may be different and each GM has a different point where enough is enough. The ones I listed are what I would like when I host an OO.

Open Office Manners

When someone asks a question, let the GMs answer. It's nice that you want to help, but let us do our jobs. If we need help, we will ask for it. This is our chance to bond with the players asking the questions so they are not afraid to come to us. If we get shut out, it hardly helps our ability to show that we are not evil and scary people just waiting to ban someone.
If you do not have a question, please stand away from the table. If you come up with a question then you are free to come over and stand in line if there is one.
Do not jump around the table/Sit on the table/Sit on the GM. It's really just distracting and does not make our job any easier when we are constantly having to ask people to stop.
When asked to stop something, do so. We do not want to resort to muting/kicking people from the server for something so trivial.
Do not swarm the GM with emotes. This is also very distracting when we are attempting to read and respond to the players asking a question. We're not asking you to stop the general chatter you were doing before-hand, just that we do not want you to add to it by /hugging or /arming the GM after the announcement.
Only ask serious questions. I personally get tired when someone comes to the table after an announcement, and other people are in line behind them, to ask things that have no relevance to the server. If no one is around the table and no one seems to be using the chair, then you can come up and be silly if you want.
Do not argue with the GM over an answer. If you really disagree with it, just go to the PD about it to get a second or third opinion.

Once more, I beg of you to keep these in mind and most of all respect when a GM asks for something to stop. That's all I have to say on the matter, other GMs are welcome to come up with their own standards for when they run an open office, or just use mine if they want. Comments from all are also welcomed.

/end rant]]>
However...

I've noticed, as have a few other GMs, that the moment we announce an open office and sit at the table...the table gets swarmed with players who don't even have a question. People jump around, spam emotes, sit on the table, sit on -us- and have a massive 'inb4 the GM' fest when someone does ask a question. Normally we ask that players leave us be during the time and sometimes they comply. This has not been the case recently. It is getting to the point where we have to threaten people with muting and kicks from the server so we can run an open office undistracted. When we have to ask someone to stop about ten times, then something is clearly wrong and we have started to become very agitated by it. It's hard to ask nicely anymore.

Below are some things that everyone should keep in mind when an open office is announced. These are by no means official, but suggestions on how to make the process much smoother on everyone involved. The last thing everyone wants is a bunch of irritated GMs trying to answer questions, only to get drowned out by the amount of spam that goes on when an open office happens. Each GM's preference may be different and each GM has a different point where enough is enough. The ones I listed are what I would like when I host an OO.

Open Office Manners

When someone asks a question, let the GMs answer. It's nice that you want to help, but let us do our jobs. If we need help, we will ask for it. This is our chance to bond with the players asking the questions so they are not afraid to come to us. If we get shut out, it hardly helps our ability to show that we are not evil and scary people just waiting to ban someone.
If you do not have a question, please stand away from the table. If you come up with a question then you are free to come over and stand in line if there is one.
Do not jump around the table/Sit on the table/Sit on the GM. It's really just distracting and does not make our job any easier when we are constantly having to ask people to stop.
When asked to stop something, do so. We do not want to resort to muting/kicking people from the server for something so trivial.
Do not swarm the GM with emotes. This is also very distracting when we are attempting to read and respond to the players asking a question. We're not asking you to stop the general chatter you were doing before-hand, just that we do not want you to add to it by /hugging or /arming the GM after the announcement.
Only ask serious questions. I personally get tired when someone comes to the table after an announcement, and other people are in line behind them, to ask things that have no relevance to the server. If no one is around the table and no one seems to be using the chair, then you can come up and be silly if you want.
Do not argue with the GM over an answer. If you really disagree with it, just go to the PD about it to get a second or third opinion.

Once more, I beg of you to keep these in mind and most of all respect when a GM asks for something to stop. That's all I have to say on the matter, other GMs are welcome to come up with their own standards for when they run an open office, or just use mine if they want. Comments from all are also welcomed.

/end rant]]> <![CDATA[Reigen's Renovating.]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-32181.html Mon, 10 Sep 2012 18:11:06 -0700 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-32181.html I can't think of anything related to building that starts with an R.

Right so, as you may or may not have noticed, I've not done too much to the public eye. But rest assured, I am doing -something-! What this something is? I'll give everyone a little sneak peak of a project that's taken up much of my time for the past month and a half. Hopefully everyone likes it.

With the custom patch, there is a Horde and Neutral area. I decided to give the alliance a little love and, noticing that Nelf RP has been on the uprise, I chose them as my target for my first building project. Nelfs have very little in the way of town options for them to sit down and RP in that isn't on a cramp island, they have even less for housing options. [I know Dreanei also get the short stick, but even the custom patch sadly does not have much to offer them. Sorry Dreanei lovers

]

The screenshots do not show everything, mind everyone, but is a way to show everyone my progress with the village thus far.

Before:
[Image: PevXjl.jpg]

After:

This area is still very much a work in progress and has been great in teaching me how to spawn items and NPCs. I've come a long way with it since I started and have hit a bit of a stump with the area for decorations on the inside of homes. Nelf housing has so little in it and the spaces are a bit odd with how everything is designed.

What the area has so far:

Housing [small and large]
Forge
Inn
Druid Tree
Area for elune worship
Hunter's lodge
Caved off druid den
Walls!
A possible storyline
Moonwells!
Start of an Alliance Embassy. [Will be finished with storyline~]
Infirmary

I am more than welcome to suggestions about things you may want to see in the town, though do note that does not mean I'll add it. If I like something well enough, I'll consider it. This thread is also partly to gauge interest on if people even want to see this zone released.]]> I can't think of anything related to building that starts with an R.

Right so, as you may or may not have noticed, I've not done too much to the public eye. But rest assured, I am doing -something-! What this something is? I'll give everyone a little sneak peak of a project that's taken up much of my time for the past month and a half. Hopefully everyone likes it.

With the custom patch, there is a Horde and Neutral area. I decided to give the alliance a little love and, noticing that Nelf RP has been on the uprise, I chose them as my target for my first building project. Nelfs have very little in the way of town options for them to sit down and RP in that isn't on a cramp island, they have even less for housing options. [I know Dreanei also get the short stick, but even the custom patch sadly does not have much to offer them. Sorry Dreanei lovers

]

The screenshots do not show everything, mind everyone, but is a way to show everyone my progress with the village thus far.

Before:
[Image: PevXjl.jpg]

After:

This area is still very much a work in progress and has been great in teaching me how to spawn items and NPCs. I've come a long way with it since I started and have hit a bit of a stump with the area for decorations on the inside of homes. Nelf housing has so little in it and the spaces are a bit odd with how everything is designed.

What the area has so far:

Housing [small and large]
Forge
Inn
Druid Tree
Area for elune worship
Hunter's lodge
Caved off druid den
Walls!
A possible storyline
Moonwells!
Start of an Alliance Embassy. [Will be finished with storyline~]
Infirmary

I am more than welcome to suggestions about things you may want to see in the town, though do note that does not mean I'll add it. If I like something well enough, I'll consider it. This thread is also partly to gauge interest on if people even want to see this zone released.]]> <![CDATA[Reigen's Rescues.]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-31987.html Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:06:20 -0700 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-31987.html By now, everyone knows that I adore cats. I talk about them often enough and people comment on it often enough. I own four, but take care of many more of them and do my best to socialize the strays to other cats, dogs, people and children so I can say with confidence that they'll be have. Sometimes, if I fail to do so, I can categorize what sort of home these cats will need and try to find suitable accommodations.

My last thread was a very chaotic mess because of the hurry I was in when I wrote it, so I figured it would be best to start a new one with 'profiles' of each cat that I take care of. With any luck, maybe word can be spread around and I can find homes for the remaining cats around the area.

I'm always getting new cats and working on taming others in the area. Stray cats are a big problem in my neighborhood. After the last fiasco in which cats were taken to a kill shelter, I figured it was time to be more active.

Cats that are available for adoption will be marked as such. If you're in the state, or have friends/family in the state looking for an elder feline friend, I'd love to know. I'll try to do an update on the cats each time I get one.

Cat Profiles

Dusty:

Spoiler:

Gizmo

Spoiler:

Dinah [Aka Eris]

Spoiler:

Neko:

Spoiler:

Eljun:

Spoiler:

Spencer:

Spoiler:

]]> By now, everyone knows that I adore cats. I talk about them often enough and people comment on it often enough. I own four, but take care of many more of them and do my best to socialize the strays to other cats, dogs, people and children so I can say with confidence that they'll be have. Sometimes, if I fail to do so, I can categorize what sort of home these cats will need and try to find suitable accommodations.

My last thread was a very chaotic mess because of the hurry I was in when I wrote it, so I figured it would be best to start a new one with 'profiles' of each cat that I take care of. With any luck, maybe word can be spread around and I can find homes for the remaining cats around the area.

I'm always getting new cats and working on taming others in the area. Stray cats are a big problem in my neighborhood. After the last fiasco in which cats were taken to a kill shelter, I figured it was time to be more active.

Cats that are available for adoption will be marked as such. If you're in the state, or have friends/family in the state looking for an elder feline friend, I'd love to know. I'll try to do an update on the cats each time I get one.

Cat Profiles

Dusty:

Spoiler:

Gizmo

Spoiler:

Dinah [Aka Eris]

Spoiler:

Neko:

Spoiler:

Eljun:

Spoiler:

Spencer:

Spoiler:

]]> <![CDATA[Reigen Ruminates: Reporting]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-31859.html Thu, 16 Aug 2012 01:26:58 -0700 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-31859.html Quote:Ruminate:

ru·mi·nate - Verb

1. Think deeply about something
- we sat ruminating on the nature of existence
I'd like to think that everyone who ever crosses path with CoTH is a well rounded individual who would never resort to rule-breaking or harassment, but I would be lying to myself if I said that CoTH does get it's fair share of...less than savory people. The fault is no ones, of course, as we can never know a person's intention when we accept their introduction and welcome them into our server. Sometimes we get pleasantly surprised, but other times...

There may be times that you come across a person who just enjoys making others feel awful about themselves or says things to make others uncomfortable. Many times these things go unreported to the GM team and the bad behavior goes on. We would like to think that every time someone does something to hurt another, that it would get reported to us. This is not always the case.

Nothing kills the GM team more than hearing about vile behavior and having to sit by helplessly because we can do nothing without the action being reported. We want to help, we beg of the CoTH population to let us help, but we are powerless unless we see the actions ourselves or receive some sort of report.

I think I've managed to narrow down a few reasons as to why we don't get these reports.

Not knowing a way to prove the actions are going on.

When I first joined CoTH, I let a lot slide by me because I had no idea how I was supposed to report someone because I didn't have a way to prove things were going on beyond screenshots, and uploading a lot of screenshots can be very tedious.

How then, do I prove something is going on?

There are two wonderful addons I would like to advertise in this spot.

1. Elephant

Elephant is a chat logger that keeps track of every chat you happen to be a part of, even custom chats. I highly recommend that everyone get this addon. It's easy to sort though, easy to use and the logs are as simply as copy and pasting the text into a PM to the GM of your choice. Once you get this addon, you go to options, fiddle with it how you like and set the log line to 1000 lines as the default is 250.

2. WIM

WoW instant Messanger is another good addon. It tabs all your chats that you use it for, mostly whispers/party/raid/guild chat, and logs them as well. The logs are held longer and are sorted by people and the date the chat was started on. With this addon, it's easy to go back though the history, find the day in which you experienced upsetting behavior and copy/pasting the relevant text to a GM in a private message.

Note: Outside methods of communication are generally not a reliable source. Beyond the official coth chats, we cannot really control what is said and done outside the server. The best thing to do in these situations is to block the person from your list and delete them from your contacts.

He said She said information

Sometimes you hear of things from a different person, like your BFF Jill heard Sandra talking crap about you in the school bus and decided to tell you about it.

This is the hardest thing to report for a few reasons. The main being that unless Jill tells us about it herself, we can't take he said she said for truth. If we have no proof that something is being done, we can't really do anything about it. Action cannot be taken on assumptions. If a friend is the only telling you of foul behavior, ask them to take logs of it and send it into us. It's best we have it from the source.

The second reason it's hard to report is that often time it is just another player stating an opinion to a group of friends. Opinions are welcome on the server, we don't want to make people feel like they can't talk about things with their friends because they might have a disagreement about another player. If a Jack is telling Jill about how much he dislikes Bill, Jack is doing no wrong by expressing his opinion so long as it's being done in a respectful tone. However, is Jack is telling Jill and Jess and Bob about how they should stop being around Bill and just flat out trash-talking Bill, then it is an issue because Jack is attempting to harm the reputation of Bill.

Fear of GM Bias

It's no surprise that the GMs have friends on the server, some of which we've known for a while. It's also no surprise that people may encounter an issue with one of our friends. The sad part comes when a victimized player is afraid of reporting a player out of fear that the GMs will side with their friend over the rules.

The fear is something I understand, I had a similar issue before where I thought that doing something against a player that was so buddy with the GMs would do nothing but get -me- in trouble. I let things go on way past what they needed too because I was terrified that nothing would happen and that the GMs would just shrug it off and tell the player I was having issues with so they would have more fuel for the fire.

I want to say how wrong this is. If rules are being broken, we want to put an end to it. We all have our friends on the server, we have people we enjoy talking to as friend to friend.

However.

When it comes to our job as a GM, friendship has no place in making a decision on what is right for the server. As heartless as it sounds, our duty to the server comes before the friends we have made on coth.

And lastly...

Guilty Conscience

A fair warning: This is personal to me. It's not mean to be a sob story, it's meant to show that I can relate.

Someone is being mean to you, harassing you or making you feel downright uncomfortable. No matter how many times you tell them off, it keeps happening. Anyone from the outside can shake their head and say 'Oh, just report them and move on', but it's not that easy and it never is that easy. This person is someone you know better than the others, you know their story, you know that they're really a nice person in other situations and the thought of getting them in trouble even though they do bad things...

It can leave a bitter taste on the tongue.

Yeah, I've been in this situation not once, but twice. Two times I spent the time getting to know someone. I would talk late to them and listen to their troubles, their fears and what they hope for their future. I had friendly conversations and RPed with them and they were great friends. Over time, however, I noticed that they had started to get a little...clingy to my characters.

Clingy to me.

In both cases, things started to shift from a friendly tone on their part to a more...suggestive tone. In one case, one of them started to question about why my character wasn't choosing their character over another, they started to bring their alts into it in an attempt to sway my character's opinion...and got upset when I started to refuse to have any relationship RP with them. They started to message me over MSN, trying to engage in 'Cybering' and refusing to stop when I said no. I said no a lot, but it was never acknowledged. I would simply ignore them, but I would never block them because in the back of my head, "he's not so bad...he'll get the point next time."

In another case, I was starting to get trapped by threats of suicide. Threats that made me stay up all night because I feared that if they did it, that it was going to be all my fault. I would get in-game mail about how they would never be on again, how they just wanted to be with me and how they swallowed pills. I was told if I ever went to someone about it, that they would go though with it, that it would be my fault.

I didn't know what to do, I was afraid. I didn't want to hurt either of them, even if they were making -me- feel uncomfortable. One knew I was a sucker and they took advantage of it.

It went on for months.

I reported them once I started to get wind that they were doing it to other people. I snapped at that point. I didn't want -anyone- else to feel the way that I had been feeling for a long time. I reported them, action was taken and all was said and done. They are no longer on this server.

And I still feel bad about it too, only more so because I now feel like if I had reported them sooner, had spoken up sooner, that I could have prevented another from feeling that way. I felt like I failed the community by being silent.

It can be hard to report people like that, but I can only beg that if you encounter this to let us know. It's unhealthy for you, it's unhealthy for others. If you can't do it for yourself...

Do it for the other people who your harasser might target next.

In Closing...

The GM team cannot be everywhere at every time. We have lives. We need to eat, sleep and get out of our house when Kretol and Grakor let us out of our cages to do so. We cannot always be there to see bad behavior for ourselves, so we rely on reports from our players in order to keep the server community up to the standards that everyone expects when they hit 'Submit' on their introduction.

It kills us, kills me, when we know by word of mouth that something is going on, but we cannot stop it because we don't have proper proof of the situation.

Let us help you.]]> Quote:Ruminate:

ru·mi·nate - Verb

1. Think deeply about something
- we sat ruminating on the nature of existence
I'd like to think that everyone who ever crosses path with CoTH is a well rounded individual who would never resort to rule-breaking or harassment, but I would be lying to myself if I said that CoTH does get it's fair share of...less than savory people. The fault is no ones, of course, as we can never know a person's intention when we accept their introduction and welcome them into our server. Sometimes we get pleasantly surprised, but other times...

There may be times that you come across a person who just enjoys making others feel awful about themselves or says things to make others uncomfortable. Many times these things go unreported to the GM team and the bad behavior goes on. We would like to think that every time someone does something to hurt another, that it would get reported to us. This is not always the case.

Nothing kills the GM team more than hearing about vile behavior and having to sit by helplessly because we can do nothing without the action being reported. We want to help, we beg of the CoTH population to let us help, but we are powerless unless we see the actions ourselves or receive some sort of report.

I think I've managed to narrow down a few reasons as to why we don't get these reports.

Not knowing a way to prove the actions are going on.

When I first joined CoTH, I let a lot slide by me because I had no idea how I was supposed to report someone because I didn't have a way to prove things were going on beyond screenshots, and uploading a lot of screenshots can be very tedious.

How then, do I prove something is going on?

There are two wonderful addons I would like to advertise in this spot.

1. Elephant

Elephant is a chat logger that keeps track of every chat you happen to be a part of, even custom chats. I highly recommend that everyone get this addon. It's easy to sort though, easy to use and the logs are as simply as copy and pasting the text into a PM to the GM of your choice. Once you get this addon, you go to options, fiddle with it how you like and set the log line to 1000 lines as the default is 250.

2. WIM

WoW instant Messanger is another good addon. It tabs all your chats that you use it for, mostly whispers/party/raid/guild chat, and logs them as well. The logs are held longer and are sorted by people and the date the chat was started on. With this addon, it's easy to go back though the history, find the day in which you experienced upsetting behavior and copy/pasting the relevant text to a GM in a private message.

Note: Outside methods of communication are generally not a reliable source. Beyond the official coth chats, we cannot really control what is said and done outside the server. The best thing to do in these situations is to block the person from your list and delete them from your contacts.

He said She said information

Sometimes you hear of things from a different person, like your BFF Jill heard Sandra talking crap about you in the school bus and decided to tell you about it.

This is the hardest thing to report for a few reasons. The main being that unless Jill tells us about it herself, we can't take he said she said for truth. If we have no proof that something is being done, we can't really do anything about it. Action cannot be taken on assumptions. If a friend is the only telling you of foul behavior, ask them to take logs of it and send it into us. It's best we have it from the source.

The second reason it's hard to report is that often time it is just another player stating an opinion to a group of friends. Opinions are welcome on the server, we don't want to make people feel like they can't talk about things with their friends because they might have a disagreement about another player. If a Jack is telling Jill about how much he dislikes Bill, Jack is doing no wrong by expressing his opinion so long as it's being done in a respectful tone. However, is Jack is telling Jill and Jess and Bob about how they should stop being around Bill and just flat out trash-talking Bill, then it is an issue because Jack is attempting to harm the reputation of Bill.

Fear of GM Bias

It's no surprise that the GMs have friends on the server, some of which we've known for a while. It's also no surprise that people may encounter an issue with one of our friends. The sad part comes when a victimized player is afraid of reporting a player out of fear that the GMs will side with their friend over the rules.

The fear is something I understand, I had a similar issue before where I thought that doing something against a player that was so buddy with the GMs would do nothing but get -me- in trouble. I let things go on way past what they needed too because I was terrified that nothing would happen and that the GMs would just shrug it off and tell the player I was having issues with so they would have more fuel for the fire.

I want to say how wrong this is. If rules are being broken, we want to put an end to it. We all have our friends on the server, we have people we enjoy talking to as friend to friend.

However.

When it comes to our job as a GM, friendship has no place in making a decision on what is right for the server. As heartless as it sounds, our duty to the server comes before the friends we have made on coth.

And lastly...

Guilty Conscience

A fair warning: This is personal to me. It's not mean to be a sob story, it's meant to show that I can relate.

Someone is being mean to you, harassing you or making you feel downright uncomfortable. No matter how many times you tell them off, it keeps happening. Anyone from the outside can shake their head and say 'Oh, just report them and move on', but it's not that easy and it never is that easy. This person is someone you know better than the others, you know their story, you know that they're really a nice person in other situations and the thought of getting them in trouble even though they do bad things...

It can leave a bitter taste on the tongue.

Yeah, I've been in this situation not once, but twice. Two times I spent the time getting to know someone. I would talk late to them and listen to their troubles, their fears and what they hope for their future. I had friendly conversations and RPed with them and they were great friends. Over time, however, I noticed that they had started to get a little...clingy to my characters.

Clingy to me.

In both cases, things started to shift from a friendly tone on their part to a more...suggestive tone. In one case, one of them started to question about why my character wasn't choosing their character over another, they started to bring their alts into it in an attempt to sway my character's opinion...and got upset when I started to refuse to have any relationship RP with them. They started to message me over MSN, trying to engage in 'Cybering' and refusing to stop when I said no. I said no a lot, but it was never acknowledged. I would simply ignore them, but I would never block them because in the back of my head, "he's not so bad...he'll get the point next time."

In another case, I was starting to get trapped by threats of suicide. Threats that made me stay up all night because I feared that if they did it, that it was going to be all my fault. I would get in-game mail about how they would never be on again, how they just wanted to be with me and how they swallowed pills. I was told if I ever went to someone about it, that they would go though with it, that it would be my fault.

I didn't know what to do, I was afraid. I didn't want to hurt either of them, even if they were making -me- feel uncomfortable. One knew I was a sucker and they took advantage of it.

It went on for months.

I reported them once I started to get wind that they were doing it to other people. I snapped at that point. I didn't want -anyone- else to feel the way that I had been feeling for a long time. I reported them, action was taken and all was said and done. They are no longer on this server.

And I still feel bad about it too, only more so because I now feel like if I had reported them sooner, had spoken up sooner, that I could have prevented another from feeling that way. I felt like I failed the community by being silent.

It can be hard to report people like that, but I can only beg that if you encounter this to let us know. It's unhealthy for you, it's unhealthy for others. If you can't do it for yourself...

Do it for the other people who your harasser might target next.

In Closing...

The GM team cannot be everywhere at every time. We have lives. We need to eat, sleep and get out of our house when Kretol and Grakor let us out of our cages to do so. We cannot always be there to see bad behavior for ourselves, so we rely on reports from our players in order to keep the server community up to the standards that everyone expects when they hit 'Submit' on their introduction.

It kills us, kills me, when we know by word of mouth that something is going on, but we cannot stop it because we don't have proper proof of the situation.

Let us help you.]]> <![CDATA[How may I help you?]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-31808.html Mon, 13 Aug 2012 11:06:13 -0700 Reigen]]> https://www.conquestofthehorde.com/thread-31808.html [Image: mynameis.jpg]

Before I get into the heart of this post, I'd like to go off on a little tangent. I've been on COTH for a little over two years as of July 23ed and have enjoyed this server a great deal. I've adored most of the community here, have seen friends come and go and have had many great sessions of role-play. I've been to many events and have dipped my toes into running events myself. The first major one I ran didn't have a big turn-out, but I hope those who did show up enjoyed themselves.

For the first year on COTH, I was your typical grunt. Going about and depending on the GMs or those I knew to make events for me to join, approve my profiles and answer my questions when I had them. Not long after my one year COTHversiry, I was promoted to a FH in the first batch of them.

I did my job as a FH, checking profiles, doing introductions and answering questions as they came to be. It was shaky at first, I felt afraid of messing up so I always did research before I'd comment or answer on any thing. There was a set list of things I had to do and I followed that to the T. This went on until just a month ago, where I was given the rank of Trial and now, GMness.

There's no great book of GMship for me to check. There's no set list of things I should do in order to please the players of this server. I have ideas, but I have no idea how well they will be received. Thus, I am pleading to those who read this to help me become the GM that you want to interact with. In short:

How may I help YOU?

Event types

One thing I know is always craved is an event of some sort. That much is obvious to me. However, the type of events everyone likes is vastly different from what another person would want to do. I seek to try to run events that people will want to come too and to run events that they will not find themselves so bored that they alt-tab to browse reddit in-between roll turns. My question to everyone is:

What type of events do you personally enjoy? Why? What about this type of event draws you to it?

I'm not going to post a poll because a poll will not help me judge wholly what it is someone likes. The most popular vote may be combat. Well, that's good and all, but what about combat is it that makes you want to go? Is it a thrill putting your character in possible danger? The more I'm told, the more I can do to help make an event something that people will want to crop up again.

Please, let me know what you enjoy.

Storyline vs Random

On the subject of events, there's also another factor that goes with them. Storylines tend to be multiple events that relate together and in the end, form some sort of climatic conclusion that leaves everyone feeling like a big hero. Random events tend to have no plot to them and you'll likely never see the NPC again after they server their purpose. There's also a happy middle of a light-storyline fueled by random events, where as the NPCs don't matter and you don't form any attachment to a certain area, but there is some sort of big ending. My question in this section is:

What would you rather have, storylines or randoms?

Once more, I request detailed answers if you can give them to me.

My Motives

I'd be silly to say that I didn't have a goal as a GM, and I do have one. I want to bring RP to the many zones that are available for players to go to. The GMs habe built many awesome areas that sadly go unused or unnoticed, and I'd really like to fix that. I will fully admit that most of my self-planned events will have a purpose of bringing RP to these zones so that they can get the exposure that they deserve. I still do want to see if the player-base agrees with this, however, thus I ask:

Do you support events in the unused RP areas of COTH or would you rather them be focused in 'popular hubs'?

In Closing

What does everyone expect out of me as a GM? What can I do as a GM to make sure everyone is happy, be it running events to start RP in an area, holding more open offices or just making myself generally available?

I hope that in the coming months that I can uphold the expectations that everyone has on a GM and that I am someone you're not afraid to come to for help. I'm new at this, so forgive me while I get into the swing of things. I can only improve though your feedback, suggestions and comments and I hope that I get them often.

Thank you for reading, and hopefully answering some of my questions.]]> [Image: mynameis.jpg]

How may I help YOU?