Morals: Why is Booty Bay full of them?

[Cressy]

Something that has been kind of peaking my interest...

Why are people with morals always hanging out in Booty Bay?

Morals, define by www.thefreedictionary.com, is being "...concerned with the judgment of the goodness or badness of human action and character". My question is, why are morals so strong in a city strong with pirates, questionable trading, inter-faction relations, drug use and gambling? Wouldn't people with morals or standards not want to go to the cesspool of wrong ethics?

In my personal opinion(because I want to state that it is mine and no one else), slave-auctions, drug-use, and gambling should not be something that people are surprised over, but expect coming from the city.

I understand that Booty Bay is the hot spot because of inter-faction relationships, but interfaction relationships are just as morally wrong in this society as having a slave is.

I was going to write more, but I think I have conveyed my point.

So, I leave you with this question again.

Why are morals so strong in a city strong with pirates, questionable trading, inter-faction relations, drug use and gambling?

Leave your opinions, because I am genuinely curious.

[c0rzilla]

Because the playerbase makes the environment.

It really doesn't matter how much the GM team or whoever says X happens in Y location. If the playerbase does not see it, is not struck in the face with it, then it doesn't really exist to them. I suppose I'm guilty of this too, since I have RPed Anna in both Booty Bay and Ratchet. And, yes, this is where I use the excuse that everyone else was there. IC excuse? Same/similar thing. She knows she can't change the city on her own (if she even wishes to), so she hangs with other like-minded people.

It really is easy to forget what goes on ICly in a city when the image we're presented with on-screen is so limited.

At the same time, even if the playerbase sees something awful in a location that considers it normal, don't we bend the world to our roleplaying whim? Or, are those banners at the top of the forum just a tease?

I have to ask, though. Was this spurred by something happening at one of your auctions?

[Uthaniel]

I don't know qhy.

And honestly, it perks my interest as much as it does yours. All I can say is that it stems from a negligence of taking and showing peons the possibilities of starting RP in exotic areas, something that started way back from when I was still a peon myself.

As we age within this community we tend to develop to the more accurate sides of RP (Which is also when our RP falls stagnant for avoiding the "hot spots") and going there only with characters we would go with.

This is honestly my theory, and I might be wrong here, but it's simply something I've observed (and am guilty of).

I mean, just today, I managed to make forsaken RP with seven~eight forsaken (I swear to god) simply because I went around convincing people to join. And it was fun!

[Rosencrat]

Pretty much the only reason people go there is because it is:
A) Neutral
B) Fantastical Construction
C) RP Hot Spot

All in all, that's reason enough for most people (Myself included) to throw away their character bias for the sake of fun.

Also, I will echo a wise man's quote.

Try to never just say, "My character isn't interested in that adventure." A lot of people mistake this for good roleplaying, because you are asserting your character's personality. Wrong. Good roleplaying should never bring the game to a screeching halt. One of your jobs as a player is to come up with a reason why your character would be interested in a plot. After all, your personality is entirely in your hands, not the DM's. Come up with a reason why the adventure (or the reward) might appeal to you, no matter how esoteric or roundabout the reasoning.

I think you're exaggerating the evils of Booty Bay also. Goblins and pirates do dabble in slavery, but to my knowledge most of the slaves they sell are either enemies or criminals, which fall less in the 'evil' category than the 'morally grey' one. While Booty Bay is no saints paradise, it's not the den of evil and wickedness that the Catacombs or Asholme were. It's just unsavory.

All in all it's something a lot of people gripe over. But it's just such a small detractor that it really should only cause people with highly moral characters to role-play slightly differently while in the port.

[Xigo]

Because the playerbase makes the environment.

It really doesn't matter how much the GM team or whoever says X happens in Y location. If the playerbase does not see it, is not struck in the face with it, then it doesn't really exist to them. I suppose I'm guilty of this too, since I have RPed Anna in both Booty Bay and Ratchet. And, yes, this is where I use the excuse that everyone else was there. IC excuse? Same/similar thing. She knows she can't change the city on her own (if she even wishes to), so she hangs with other like-minded people.

TIME TO MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN AND PUPPET BB AS THE WRETCHED HIVE OF SCUM AND VILLAINY IT IS!

(I tease, fret not.)

[c0rzilla]

Simple genius.

What she said.

And, Xigo conquest RP isn't allowed. Do you really want it to be a den of freckles?

[Uthaniel]

Try to never just say, "My character isn't interested in that adventure." A lot of people mistake this for good roleplaying, because you are asserting your character's personality. Wrong. Good roleplaying should never bring the game to a screeching halt. One of your jobs as a player is to come up with a reason why your character would be interested in a plot. After all, your personality is entirely in your hands, not the DM's. Come up with a reason why the adventure (or the reward) might appeal to you, no matter how esoteric or roundabout the reasoning.

I think you're exaggerating the evils of Booty Bay also. Goblins and pirates do dabble in slavery, but to my knowledge most of the slaves they sell are either enemies or criminals, which fall less in the 'evil' category than the 'morally grey' one. While Booty Bay is no saints paradise, it's not the den of evil and wickedness that the Catacombs or Asholme were. It's just unsavory.

All in all it's something a lot of people gripe over. But it's just such a small detractor that it really should only cause people with highly moral characters to role-play slightly differently while in the port.

Regarding this. While he is indeed a wise and really, really, really really old man, I actually don't -mind- Booty Bay. I'd just occasionally enjoy roleplay elsewhere. (Something I consider myself really lucky for finding almost daily.)

And Anna, you'd just die.

I mean, you died as much as Astus. Only that people didn't know that. Your name should be a mix of Anna and Astus. Ann..- Nevermind.

[Krent]

Hrm. Booty Bay, or most of the goblin-controlled areas for that matter, isn't necessarily "evil". It's not a place that would allow deranged warlocks to walk around on a carriage pulled by miserable babies. More or less, its an area full of "questionable" content. A sin city that operates on, in my opinion, and objectivist philosophy. While the other races would see the Goblin ego-centric approach to social policy and economics as selfish and wrong, they don't see it that way. They simply see competition and the fulfillment of the self as the natural modus of operation. Its not something ya can categorize as "evil".

Of course, this is just how I see goblins. The whole society thrives on the sense of ultra liberty, be responsible for yourself and no one else. I'd like to see such RP explored more from the playerbase. I think its far more interesting than the usual "Good" and "evil". Booty Bay operates in that nice shady area of grey, where ya can't swing an opinion one way or the other.

....having said that....

Yeah, its wonkers on how people with obviously such high-standard morality hang around there. Its also bonky how so many people play the whole "I'm open minded to other races despite the many decades of intense hate-fueled warfare" card.

But, really, what can ya do?

[Cressy]

To be honest, The Catacombs and Asholme was never truly evil.

Not that I think Booty Bay should be evil, but I won't explain my feelings till I am on the computer tonight.

For now, I must check my stew.

[c0rzilla]

To be honest, The Catacombs and Asholme was never truly evil.

Not that I think Booty Bay should be evil, but I won't explain my feelings till I am on the computer tonight.

For now, I must check my stew.

I may be wrong, but I remember the Catacombs being specifically designed as a refuge for evil. Unless the dark magic circles on the floor were for making candy. The necromancer guards handed it out.

Insert long-winded and pointless discussion on what constitutes "evil" here.

[Aphetoros]

I mean, you died as much as Astus. Only that people didn't know that. Your name should be a mix of Anna and Astus. Ann..- Nevermind.

...

qhy.

My point has been made.

[ImagenAshyun]

I've made Booty Bay, alongside Ratchet, the base of TLE because of the inter-factional access. I COULD use Dalaran, but I'm not willing to deal with the lagfest. And Shattrath makes no sense (and gets little RP attention outside the Draenei Pilgrimage).

[Rigley]

I don't really buy the idea that the group rping there should dictate the mindset (though that may not have been the argument presented); to me this seems similar to saying that if we rolled a bunch of warlocks and RP'd in Stormwind that it would become a fel hub. There are general customs evident in certain areas, and they should still be regarded as the norm for the region.

And to note, I don't think that the Cartel lands are evil either, but that wasn't the point; they're morally gray. Heck, Kezan has tons of slaves in the hobgoblins and trolls, so it makes sense they would be acceptable in the cartel cities.

It isn't so much people RPing moral characters though, but that they pretty much snap at any character that would actually fit the typical Steamwheedle fare. RPing someone different isn't necessarily bad, but having them lash out like the normal people are the oddities is a bit... strange. Comparable to if I were to make a troll who went up to others and asked "I say my good chap, what kind of ridiculous accent is that? Stop that right now, you're embarrassing your people!"

[Cressy]

That is exactly what I mean, Rigley. But, I will elaborate later when I'm not on my phone.

[c0rzilla]

"Hanging out" and "snapping at the normal folk" are two completely different points.