Prestiges and Powers Thereof

[Arrillion]

Well to be quite honest I'm not entirely happy about the all-powerfull prestiges, while it is only fair to give people who really spent loads of time on profiles and whatnot an advantage. But since it we, without prestiges are unable to attain such ranks makes things abit unfair.

[hiddengecko]

Also, a valid reason is to be expected. I was there when Astus was threatened by the Priest, and I was extremely annoyed because at the time I was having an important IC discussion with him.

The Priest in question had absolutely no reason to do so (In fact, he was just sitting at a table with some of his friends or allies or whatever) and it was interrupting my RP. Astus did not even know him IC, and neither did I. Additionally, it was in the middle of freaking Booty Bay, right next to several Bruisers, and in plain sight of almost everyone in the bar.

I was under the impression that a character warning was something like, "Hey, if you keep beating on your slave my character is going to rip your soul out through your urethra" or "Hey, don't interrupt my character during his ritual or he will try to kill you," not "Hey I'm gonna attack you in public in a neutral town even though my character doesn't know yours, isn't interacting with yours, has never interacted with yours, and has no reason whatsoever to do so."

[FlyingSquirrel]

Well, ICly, they would have more of an advantage. But time take's some toll, too. If a 10,000 year old Sentinel is facing off against a 24 year old Gladiator, then the Sentinel would most likely win.

[Aphetoros]

I do wonder if actually trying to conceal one's prestige ICly and reserving it for when the time is needed would help alleviate this problem? I've seen many prestige characters be quite blatant about their role, leaving no mystery.

Well in theory, but I've been acting normal in Booty Bay and people get spluhsishus.

[ToxinDoctor]

A good rule of thumb that pertains to most situations is simply this: If they don't say something specifically or if it isn't emoted you shouldn't assume that your character sees anything out of the norm. There are a few instances where this obviously doesn't apply but... those are usually being handled how they should or within agreement of the people involved. In Booty Bay, I'll agree there's more bullying than should be allowed to go on, but stuff will happen so we just have to pick apart the good from the bad and settle.

[Knock]

I do wonder if actually trying to conceal one's prestige ICly and reserving it for when the time is needed would help alleviate this problem? I've seen many prestige characters be quite blatant about their role, leaving no mystery.

Indeed. At first when I RP'd with Fala'thorei I used to have him in a hooded cloak with a shirt to conceal his tattoos. Unfortunately, the glaives gave it away and people spotted him as a DH from a mile off. After a while, I just stopped caring OOCly (And Fala did ICly).

In reference to prestige power, I'm definitely of the opinion that they shouldn't be all powerful. I know Fala acts invincible when he's angry, but the reality is he's most certainly not.

Of course, he can feel fear like anyone. But in situations where he's in combat (most likely against a Fel-sworn or warlock), his hatred of them generally overpowers his fear. Were he to face off against a group of gladiators or something, he'd be wetting himself.

In relation to people targeting prestiges, it doesn't happen to me half as much as it did a few months ago, when the system was much more locked up and there were only a small handful of us. Though Fala wasn't involved in too much combat RP at the time, he got threatened all the time in public. Not even from NElves who had a viable racial stigma against him. Just random humans and BElves who'd size him up and insult him, as if looking for an excuse to get into a fight.

The reality is that while many prestiges are subtle in appearance (Necromancer, Dead Shot, etc), many are also much more conspicuous. If your character saw a Fel-sworn or Demon Hunter out in the wild, they'd more than likely head for the hills. For me, Fala's an exception, but my other characters certainly wouldn't try to stand their ground or engage. Especially alone.

One of the main reasons CoB moved out of Raven Hill (both ICly and OOCly) was the fact that we'd get random people dropping in for RP. While it's alright to have random RP with people out in the wild, how many characters would really just decide to up and travel to an abandoned town next to a graveyard teeming with undead, for no other reason than they wanted to check it out? *shrug*

I'd like to take this opportunity, (though not really relevant to the OP) to commend Delta's RP of Valsera. Fala first bumped into her in Raven Hill, where the character was maintaining a vigil for a blood knight. I'd often log on and Val would be the only character in the zone. She wasn't there to stick her nose into random RP out of boredom, it was a real IC reason that was kept up, even when there was no RP nearby for miles. For days at a time.

EDIT: I called Delta Scout. My bad :3

[Etmosril]

The lack of fear is a bit bothersome. Maybe because I'm a hypocrite. Whatever the reason, I try to put a healthy dose of cowardice into all my characters - if they've survived to their respective ages while living their lifestyles, you'd better believe they have no problem with fleeing to save their rears.

My question to everyone here is: how do you discern a truly seen-it-all character who has nerves of steel from a character who's only roleplayed as such to appear badass? Or someone who's genuinely chivalrous enough to want to protect others from all harm possible? If they're a paladin or warrior, it's quite likely they were trained to do so. If not.. then.. well... you probably have to think about whether the people in question even gave a damn about the others before that. Even a coward might try to save someone he/she values.

A nice little game you can play with those stone-cold characters is continually trying to faze them. Go on, try it. It's fun.

Edit: As a sidenote here, if you approach a 11' tall set of steam armor with a crusher mouth, stompy feet, grabby hands, and rifles mounted on the shoulders and challenge the person in it without batting an eye, I humbly suggest you visit my resident doctor, Thani. She'd be very keen to find out what's wrong.

[Grakor456]

My question to everyone here is: how do you discern a truly seen-it-all character who has nerves of steel from a character who's only roleplayed as such to appear badass?

Cast a Fear spell on them.

No, I'm serious. Someone who plays fearless just to appear awesome will shrug it off. People who play it more realistically know that bravery is meaningless before a mental compulsion, and will allow it to happen.

[Aphetoros]

Quite so.