Grakor's Rambling Rant on the Server

[BountyHunter]

@Grakor

Spoiler:

~♥~

@Prestiges

Spoiler:

I likely will never make one, I enjoy playing non-combat things (Tinker, Tobacconist, Photographer, Artist, etc) quite a bit due to their casual-orientated RP.

[JVNemesis]

Eh. I'm not one to express my thoughts much, particularly if they've been echoed more than once in the thread before me. But I suppose now's as good a time as any to break the mold.

I like custom content. I like prestiges and the options granted by them. I like custom storylines and the RP they generate. However, I don't generally participate in them. But even if I don't use the tools available to me, that doesn't mean I get rid of them.

For example, let's take my painting desk. I have upwards of fifty paint pots in the corner of it, almost every one of them a unique color or shade. I also have around a dozen brushes in a coffee mug beside them. Generally speaking, however, I use a handful under twenty different colors and only two or three brushes when painting a miniature. That doesn't mean I get rid of the paints and brushes I don't use, however. Why limit myself to a base set of red, blue, yellow, white, and black when I could have so many different shades of each color and their combinations? Sure, I could use the white and black to brighten or darken the colors, respectively, but what about the metallics and inks, the varnish and just the right shade of red? Sure, I could get by with just one brush, but if I had a fine detail brush available to get all those hard to reach areas, why wouldn't I use it? My miniature would look that much better as a result of my additional tools.

...I think my metaphor went too far. Let's leave it at 'options are good'.

Something I think more people need to keep in mind is that not everyone likes the same things. I enjoy writing, RPing, and other such nerdy hobbies. Some of my friends can't for the life of them understand what I like about pretending I'm someone I'm not. I'm also a fencer. Some of my friends think I'm bizarre for wanting to hit other people with pieces of metal.
RPing has its own nuances as well. There's no set in stone "this is cool, that is not" sort of thing. It's all personal perspective. Some people like to keep it simple; they RP in taverns, in their comfort zones. That's fine. Some people hate tavern RP and petition everyone AFK on GMI to meet them in the wilderness somewhere to spark something. There's nothing wrong with that either.
Some people like keeping it simple, what's-in-game-stays-in-game-and-nothing-extra. Others like little addons, like prestige classes. Some people like small RP groups with character-to-character, day-to-day stuff. Others prefer epic storylines and slaying dragons. Some like both.
I do pretty regular close friends/family-esque RP with one of my characters, personally, but I love those epic storylines as well. It's why I play, say, Mass Effect, instead of the Sims.
I do agree with you about Asholme, though.

As for enforcement, I understand where you're coming from. In my place of employment, it's my job to make decisions that invariably annoy someone. But I'm not obligated to explain myself; I will, sometimes, but more often than not, I won't. Everyone else really just has to deal with it. There's a reason why I'm the one making the decisions, and that's just the way it is.
I won't pretend I don't make assumptions without knowing everything; I try not to, but everyone does it anyway. When Beltharean was banned, I just put stock in what I knew while everyone else exploded about it; you're a server administrator for a reason, and it's not because you fly into a ban-happy rage every time someone looks at you funny. That's good enough for me.

Honestly, I don't RP much with anyone beyond my own small circle. Partially because I don't feel I can develop any one character well when I'm jumping between seven different ones to RP at any one time, and partially because I simply don't like going "Heeey, someone come RP with me. Please. Please? Someone?"
However, if this thread didn't gather you enough RP requests to swamp you for a year, I have an orc or two languishing in boredom in the depths of my account. I need the practice.

...See this is why I don't post much. I ramble way too much.
I also don't want this to seem like a "NO YOUR RANT IS WRONG" sort of post. It's more...discussion. As this is in the General Discussion section.
So...yeah. There we go.

[Ural]

I agree in every aspect with Jonoth. Custom-content is great. I don't need it, but if it's there I'm going to use it. And thank whoever put in the hard work to make it happen.

@Grakor: I feel the same way with dwarven RP. You get a bunch of dwarves together and all they can think about is. This is why I love RPing Irogh in the Ashrunes, depth.

@Ashomle: I tried to make it work in Duskwood-Raven Hill. The first couple of weeks of RPing Valda there, it was insane. Every day I 'bumped' into a paladin or two. Or hell-bent elf of either kind. Or killer-gnome. Or fel-sworn heroes. Or random angry dwarf? There were good memories there, I still RP those out actually, but mostly I remember the constant conflict RP. It was annoying and to RP there was to see how I could escape Valda's certain doom at the hands of the zealots mentioned. So yes I like Ashomle, it like a breath of fresh air. But I agree with Grakor, we could do just fine without it too.

[Rigley]

I like custom content.

There's a certain rigidness I don't really enjoy with the prestige system, though; much like it has been described before many things in it just don't seem to 'fit' to put it simply, and it feel kinda awkward trying to force it to fit.

But, I'm actually in support of having -something- like prestiges there, in the very least. In terms of custom areas I've actually come to loathe the places, ironic when you consider my absolute love for building. I think it was just my experience with the Anchorage-- Create something on request, then get flak for not going the extra mile. I've always been rather bitter towards both the Anchorage and custom areas in general since that; Idunno, the experience has kinda ruined it for me.


I believe what bothers me the most is the scale of power being pulled into play with many storylines and custom content, though. No longer are you an adventurer that battles through minions up until a big bad-- instead I see players practically fighting an army of monsters. I remember when an abomination might be called a decent boss, but in some events I see today those things are practically on par with cannon fodder.

There's what ThePharoah described, and then there's saving the world from what on all counts would qualify as a lore-like figure. I just don't get why such extremes are needed when there's so much already there to work with.

...I need to stop rambling! It is getting late, and dear god I hope some of this made sense.

[Ben]

Prestiges: Don't own one.
Judging: I avoid it, after previous events
Custom RP: Afore it, would love to see more. I adored the Sin'Sholai and want more. Everything but Stromgarde that I've seen while here was good and fun.
Krent's 'cool kids' comment: Invalid. If anybody feels like it, they can always get RP. I've had no arcs this year, no big groups, and have RPed on my time here when I liked it. Truth is, I don't so much anymore. We need more custom things that're interesting to let me get into the mindset of my characters.
RP avec tu: It's fun. I don't have any kind of inhibitions about RPing with anyone much anymore. Except a little with elves, I just don't get what goes on there anymore. If someone explains it to me I'll be grateful.
Now? I'm going for a haircut.

[Kaghuros]

Except a little with elves, I just don't get what goes on there anymore.

And you probably never will. It's baffled me since long before I stopped playing Elves altogether.

[Psychyn]

stuff

I just have to ask ; Why did you have to spoiler everything to make your entire post a pain in the rear to read? What's wrong with just normal typing without mis-using the code like that?

Any way, I only read half of it due to that but have to express my doubts to people posting one thing before doing another. Regarding prestiges, yeah. But there are more points in the thread then one, and I don't think people would actually post "Right on" just to forsake it a minute after.

But hey, I haven't been in-game that much. Maybe my faith is misplaced, who can tell? I know I always post what I think, and as such one post may contradict the other because my thoughts changed. But nonetheless, I try to always be honest and stick with what I write down.

Regarding this ;

I think the custom content is awesome and we need more of it. I disagree with you completely there. Blizzard doesn't know, or really care, about their own lore anymore, and its up to us 'supar hardkore nerdzz' to carry it on.

Who are we to say? Blizzard contradicted itself a few times, but have you ever seen the GM team? Have you ever asked flat out to the team that works on it? Have you ever seen a daily schedule of what they do, what they discuss, and what their plans are?

Perhaps due to the switching of the original WoW team to Diablo 3, things changed a little but despite not being a core RP game, if you actually contact the GM's on RP servers about grievers and bad names and the like, they actually deal with things.

Thing is, you have to contact them which is what many people don't do, and thus lead to the assumption that nothing is done.

And, it has been proven over and over that custom content dies off rapidly after it's gone through it's "new phase." First three weeks it's awesome (or less), then it's just normal and average and people don't really give much any more. Sure, there are exceptional few people that do and try to drag RP there, but they do not always succeed. That's life, almost everything that's new is awesome till it gets the first dust bits on it.

Also, with custom content.. I get the feeling it's never enough. If something is granted to someone, somebody else gains ideas from it and wishes to see those in-game as well. When that's denied for whatever reason, that person is most likely bummed out. The natural paranoia of people, leads to believe the other people are more favoured because they did get their custom content granted.

Frankly, I'd say get rid of it all and return to the Vanilla roots. Major events that have been held in the past are fun, but like all, were temporary and that's how it should be. Temporary things to spark up life and RP, grant moments of awesomeness before the world returns to normal. Then people can share battle stories, experiences that others haven't had through RP and keeps custom content free from dust and thus from becoming common.

Like Terraria, you don't want an goblin army each night, but those nights that it happen, spark up excitement and awesomeness. After it ends, your glad it's over.

... I played too much Terraria last night. <3

[Karunzo]

Whenever I see a thread like this pop up, I feel a little sad. I have always been able to enjoy the server. There are things I like and there are things I don't like but the things I didn't like never felt like they hampered my enjoyment to such a degree that I felt it neccesary to make a thread about it. It makes me sad to see that this seems to be the case for you, Grakor.

Personally, I've always been able to find ways to enjoy the server. Be it through new characters, meeting new people or just hanging out on GMI for some chatter. I agree that the custom stuff like prestiges isn't really neccesary, but people seem to enjoy them. I know I have been having fun on Asholme and others have too, from what I've seen. The prestige system isn't perfect but I feel like it offers an excellent chance at character progression, a new way for others to enjoy their older characters. As long as the custom stuff can be enjoyed, I do not think it is wrong for the server but contributes to it.

In the end I think the problem really comes down to the people. Each community, each society will always have a few bad eggs. Some things bring out the worst in people, others the best. But you can't change people. There will always be those that feel the need to throw rotten fruit at people in places of power. There will always be those that feel the need to criticize you, be it publicly or in hidden circles. You can't change that, that's just the way people are. People are jerks, really.

The best you can do, in my opinion, is stick to the people you like and avoid the ones you don't. Seek comfort in your circle of friends and make the best out of the situation. That's what I've always done and I've been able to enjoy myself.

[Hawk]

Prestiges? As much as I love them, if this system fails as well, I'm going to be in 100% agreement of beating it with a sledgehammer. There's only so many times you can try fix something before you have to accept that it's broken. When we were trying to make the system I was getting a little sick of it, which is confusing considering how eager I was in the beginning. Things change, I guess. I think the reason I like them is similar to Kaghuros' reasons. It's nice to have characters progress and achieve, and overall it's just fun!




Custom content? Well, as much as I like seeing other people's creativity take place, often with impressive results in the case of custom zones... I hate them. Not because I dislike the concept. As I said, places like Asholme and the Anchorage are just amazing. It's because a GM (or several) can put months of work into a zone, and then players will enjoy it.

... for about a week or two. Then they just go back to Booty Bay for their tavern roleplay. It just infuriates me when people cry out for new zones, achknowledge one for about 3 weeks, then just go back to what they were doing before and letting the cycle repeat itself. It's just ridiculous and quite frankly, I don't know how the other staff members even have the effort to custom build still.




Enforcement? Ho-boy, I agree. I don't like the idea of giving all the details of why they were banned, because I don't think it's fair to further beat the dead horse (the banned player, rather) by having their old friends dislike them. Some limited info should be given, I reckon, but maybe not the whole story.

But on Beltharean... well, do bare in mind he WAS only given a 3 day suspension initially. Then he decided to go poke the bear and challenge Grakor to ban him permanently, so he did. Then everyone flipped out. I can't fathom why everyone was crying about it. The man asked for a permanent thus he got one, and combined with being a dick, I would've banned him too. It wasn't because he was criticising Grak. To quote from The Mist, "Are you really being willfully dense?"


RP: You know I'll RP with you anytime, Grak. But I hear Mahanu's gone into therapy after the cook-out. He still has nightmares of that tiny Elf squeezing him.



Overall, though... I'm with Anski on this.

[Uthaniel]

Booty Bay for their lesbian roleplay (seriously, fellas?)

Am I the only one that thinks this constant bashing at lesbian characters is yet another thing getting really, really old? Some people may be offended, folks. You never know.

[Krent]

stuff

I just have to ask ; Why did you have to spoiler everything to make your entire post a pain in the rear to read? What's wrong with just normal typing without mis-using the code like that?

cuz I'm Krent. Really, that's the only explanation that makes sense. Yeah. I don't get it, either. Just roll with it.

Any way, I only read half of it due to that but have to express my doubts to people posting one thing before doing another. Regarding prestiges, yeah. But there are more points in the thread then one, and I don't think people would actually post "Right on" just to forsake it a minute after.

Oh, but they will. And I appreciate your honesty.

But hey, I haven't been in-game that much. Maybe my faith is misplaced, who can tell? I know I always post what I think, and as such one post may contradict the other because my thoughts changed. But nonetheless, I try to always be honest and stick with what I write down.

Regarding this ;

I think the custom content is awesome and we need more of it. I disagree with you completely there. Blizzard doesn't know, or really care, about their own lore anymore, and its up to us 'supar hardkore nerdzz' to carry it on.

Who are we to say? Blizzard contradicted itself a few times, but have you ever seen the GM team? Have you ever asked flat out to the team that works on it? Have you ever seen a daily schedule of what they do, what they discuss, and what their plans are?

Perhaps due to the switching of the original WoW team to Diablo 3, things changed a little but despite not being a core RP game, if you actually contact the GM's on RP servers about grievers and bad names and the like, they actually deal with things.

Thing is, you have to contact them which is what many people don't do, and thus lead to the assumption that nothing is done.

You're...absolutely right on this point. I can't say, 'cause I'm just some dood who hasn't played retail in like, 6 years. The last time I signed up for legal-WoW was back in 2005, and I ended up quitting because of them assumptions. I have no idea. What the hell was I talking about? Jeeze.

And, it has been proven over and over that custom content dies off rapidly after it's gone through it's "new phase." First three weeks it's awesome (or less), then it's just normal and average and people don't really give much any more. Sure, there are exceptional few people that do and try to drag RP there, but they do not always succeed. That's life, almost everything that's new is awesome till it gets the first dust bits on it.

Also, with custom content.. I get the feeling it's never enough. If something is granted to someone, somebody else gains ideas from it and wishes to see those in-game as well. When that's denied for whatever reason, that person is most likely bummed out. The natural paranoia of people, leads to believe the other people are more favoured because they did get their custom content granted.

Frankly, I'd say get rid of it all and return to the Vanilla roots. Major events that have been held in the past are fun, but like all, were temporary and that's how it should be. Temporary things to spark up life and RP, grant moments of awesomeness before the world returns to normal. Then people can share battle stories, experiences that others haven't had through RP and keeps custom content free from dust and thus from becoming common.

Like Terraria, you don't want an goblin army each night, but those nights that it happen, spark up excitement and awesomeness. After it ends, your glad it's over.

... I played too much Terraria last night. <3

It is never enough. I feel like that's one of the biggest problems with everything. No matter what we're given, we find a problem with it. I'm even content to say that the player base doesn't know what it wants, because I can say that I don't know what I want anymore. People are fickle and once the dazzle wears off, they'll complain about something.

I'm convinced that the GM team could give everyone the most perfect prestige system ever, and people would still whine about it. Its the dark nature of innernetz. But, having said that, I'd still disagree with you on the custom content, mainly for the same reason why games like Minecraft and Terraria are cool. To re-iterate, everything regarding custom content is a labor of love. Some doods and / or doodettes have to sit down and build all of that crap from the ground up, and I really dig that. Every time a new area, city, tavern, etc opens up, I'm always taken back by the "Wooooooooooooooow" factor. Maybe I'm stupid like that. With all of the custom NPC's and pretty lights and buildings and all of that. I think GM's need to be praised more when they throw together a good custom-content area.

Its the same kinda factor that always floors me whenever I see people's awesome bases in Minecraft / Terraria. I'm just like "Dayumn, you made a whole golden-brick castle with lava pits and stuff. All I ever did was throw up a 6-room wood building...".

Of course, all the pretty lights should facilitate RP. And they do sometimes, for a week or two, before everyone moves on to something else. Does that mean we should scrap it all and keep everything vanilla? I say naaaawww mang. Even if it gives us that fat and bloated feeling, lets keep ordering new flavors at the ice cream shop. Cookie-nut-hazel-crunch. Chocolate-with-almonds-and-rainbow-sprinkles. Kiwi-with-banana-lime-daiquiri.

Lets try every crazy combination until one of them make us go "Mmmmmmmmmmmm~" really, really loud. 'cause ain't that what eating ice-cream is all about?

(I don't know what I'm saying anymore I'm like the Mad Hatter on this server wtf man).

[Hawk]

Booty Bay for their lesbian roleplay (seriously, fellas?)

Am I the only one that thinks this constant bashing at lesbian characters is yet another thing getting really, really old? Some people may be offended, folks. You never know.

I actually edited my post before you replied. I realised someone was gonna comment on it and tried to nix it. Seems I was late.

EDIT: Krent... u so crzy.

[Uthaniel]

Booty Bay for their lesbian roleplay (seriously, fellas?)

Am I the only one that thinks this constant bashing at lesbian characters is yet another thing getting really, really old? Some people may be offended, folks. You never know.

I actually edited my post before you replied. I realised someone was gonna comment on it and tried to nix it. Seems I was late.

EDIT: Krent... u so crzy.

It's because Ryu will always be faster than Blanka, Hawk.

Such is the fate of the green brazillian eletric gorilla.

[Wuvvums]

Booty Bay for their lesbian roleplay (seriously, fellas?)

Am I the only one that thinks this constant bashing at lesbian characters is yet another thing getting really, really old? Some people may be offended, folks. You never know.

I personally adore girl-mance but it peeves me that so many lesbian relationships are there for the sake of being a lesbian relationship, with both partners being hyper-sexualized or stereotyped, and both being played by men. I don't mind what people do with their rp, but I would call more of the lesbian rp on this server more of a fetish and stereotype than in actual support of lesbians.

To offer some perspective have you ever seen the circles of yaoi fangirls? Despite yaoi being full of heavy stereotypes and made for the appeal of a female audience, you're considered a bigot or a homophobe if you dislike yaoi. I think it actually does a disservice when you associate support of a fandom of gayness with supporting the gay community, and vice versa. There's a difference between bashing lesbian roleplay and bashing lesbian relationships.

And that's my two cents.

[Hawk]

Another reason why I edited the post - didn't want an entirely new topic being brought up. ._.

DAMMIT WHAT HAVE I DONE