GM's and their "Favorites." Why this really isn't a big deal, and event making.

[Kage]

Now, the title may seem like this would be a rage, hate, <Insert the like here> post, but it's not. In fact, this is quite the opposite. This post is meant to be informational, not the prior.

We all know that GM's have their favorites, and those who aren't part of this group of favorites usually don't like how that works. I myself and not a favorite with many, let alone the GM's, but I understand why it is they have these players they prefer to RP with. Everyone does, and to say that a GM shouldn't because they're a GM is rather unfair. Now, that doesn't mean you can't become a friend or "Favorite" of the GM's, we all know that doing so can be quite helpful with event running and planning, and that the GM's themselves are good people.

"I just joined on this server, why does no one wish to RP with me!?" I was like that to be honest. I was confused at first, unsure whether I was wanted or not, and I struggled for a year trying to find my place, only leaving when I couldn't, and when I could, my computer would crash. but now that I'm back and my own personal life is in order for once, I see why it is. I never really tried to make a connect OOC, which is possibly one of the best parts of this server. We're all one big family, and that in itself quite enjoyable. But people sometimes can't find where they fit in, or they mess up and others resent them for that, or even the group their with. But this doesn't make you a bad person.

Be humble

You may want to have that awesome character, the one in which no one can defeat, and you can run around saying "Bow to my amazingness!" This, however, is one way to annoy everyone on the server itself. Your first character really shouldn't be an amazingly powerful person. I would say make your first be a character you can test with, try out different RP's, different styles, etc. But it doesn't mean that this character can't become awesome. You'll never be able to make the awesome uber powerful character that kills others with just a glance, but it doesn't mean your stuck with the wimpy pathetic ones. Just be humble. Have your character come in peaceful and start of with tavern RP, make some friends ICly. And always remember to treat others with respect OOC. That is a large rule on the server, and it's my personal favorite.

Try joining other's events/RP

That's rather simple isn't it? I'm not saying jump into someones RP screaming bloody murder, but ease your way in. I love events, their quite entertaining so long as you have the patience to deal with them. But their a good way to meet new people. Actually, this makes me wonder if they're ever going to have another meet and greet.. But that's besides the point.

So you've made friends, and they want to make an event. What do you do?

Support them, help them out. Offer to help DM if they don't know how. I personally have DMed twice, so I'm still learning. But I'm perfectly fine with it. I know at some point I'll be able to DM effectively and host massive events like I want to. But everything is a learning experience on here, so don't try to rush yourself.

This post says GM's and their "Favorites" right there, and you only talked about it for a limited amount of space. What gives?"

Oh yeah.. That is the title. Weird huh. But there is a reason, and with most of it explained above, I think most would get the point. But to recap,

-GM's are people too! Just because they're more likely to RP and help with other event's that aren't yours doesn't make them bad people! It just means that they don't know you well enough to know if your idea would work or not.

-Start small, start humble! If your new or just returning, don't try anything big. I did, and it didn't go well. But if you start small, people will end up liking you more as a player and a character then the "UBERPOWERFULNESS!" we all have locked inside.

-What is this respect you speak of? Repsect is a big one, largest small rule anywhere and everywhere. The unspoken rule that everyone know's to follow. So just be nice, suck up a couple of mishaps and calmly say "I think your lore there is a bit off, could you check so as not to cause a problem down the road in this RP?" And even then, some small ones only happen once, perhaps it was a misspelling. People have been known to replace important words with other words on their mind.

-Who cares if your a favorite or not? It doesn't make you a bad RPer, all it means is that your either well known or not so well known. Times change, your character could end up becoming rather important, so when you as a player say you want an event, people come running to help, or the need for your character goes away, and when you want a big event, people are much slower to start, and sometimes don't. Don't get discouraged however! Keep at it, make new idea's and keep trying! Eventually an idea will be liked right?

-But.. I have been trying.. Everyone avoids me.. If that's how you feel, you could be going to big. I learned this lesson after my third absence. The idea I had (I wont go into detail, but I know a couple of you remember it) was too large of a scale, and it was somewhat offensive to others. I didn't care however, it was my idea, I loved it, and I thought everyone else could. I got angry and left for months, only to come back to this place changed, which angered me again and I left until I came back two months ago. But I learned to be humble, and I did so. Now I'm getting the RP I want, maybe it's not the large scale war I wanted, but It's fun, and possibly much funner then my idea's ever could have been.

-But I haven't even made a large idea.. And my character is humble.. What should I do Kage? Well, it could just be the time zone your in, or your on when those who would RP with you aren't. But don't get discouraged! Try going to OOCC to have OOC talks, make friends, eventually someone will want to RP with ya.

And if your still unable to get RP, just add Krest or Bormus. I love to RP with anyone willing, and explore new idea's as much as possible.

But all in all, this is the first time in my almost two years on this server in which I posted something like this, and I hope it was helpful to some.

Cheers! :beer:

(And no, it's not a rip off of Jonoth's. I made sure to avoid thing's he had already said, so hopefully people wont say so <.<)

[Clovis]

-GM's are people too! Just because they're more likely to RP and help with other event's that aren't yours doesn't make them bad people! It just means that they don't know you well enough to know if your idea would work or not.

It doesn't work like that. GM's don't decide who they rp with or help with events based on how well they know the person (Though it plays a small role). They decide based on how plausible a persons event is, and if it seems like it'd need a lot of spawning/puppeting to be done.

Too little GM effort needed for an event is pointless, while too much is a waste.

As far as who GMs rp with, that's up to them as individuals.

(...To be honest, I kinda feel like this guide is in poor taste, but maybe the GMs will see it differently.)

[Kage]

Well I was simply looking at it in a more human to human like post.. Ah well, Learn and move on right?

[Dae]

Now, that doesn't mean you can't become a friend or "Favorite" of the GM's, we all know that doing so can be quite helpful with event running and planning, and that the GM's themselves are good people.

I don't understand what you're getting at here. Being a personal friend of a level-headed moderator shouldn't garner any extra privileges, nor should it require a title denoting blatant nepotism like "favorite." The only IC advantages that it might bring someone is the fact that a user and a GM are more likely to discuss RP ideas with each other, thus making an event less of a chore to handle.

If a user comes up with a well planned proposition for an event, I'm sure they would be just as dutiful in working with said person. The key here is being proactive in communicating with the GMs, and that is up to the individual to make happen.

At least, this is the sort of behavior I have come to expect from the GMs on CotH from what I have seen and read. Correct me if I'm wrong here, because I haven't actually hosted an event of my own nor do I know any users here on a personal level.

[Xigo]

My friends wouldn't be my friends if they expected special privileges just from being close to me. :P

'Favorites' is kinda degrading when people are concerned.

Sure, I might have my favorite flavor of ice cream.

But I don't have a 'favorite friend'. Nor do I have a 'favorite player'. We try not to be biased when we act as GMs.

[Kage]

Eh, seems I still have a ways to go when it comes to posts huh.

[Dae]

Eh, seems I still have a ways to go when it comes to posts huh.

To me, it seems that you have spoken your mind, rather than expressing these ideas in some sort of universal treatise on this topic.
The fact that you've put effort into your writing, have not been inflammatory with your words and that the sentiment that if one works to be a good member of the community, their efforts will be reciprocated is clear... is a good thing.
(bluh bluh weird sentence, bluh)

Not everyone has to speak for everyone else; your take of the situation and the cumulative discussion following it can be just as informative as an objective essay.

[ChampionMouse]

Don't get too discouraged. Your heart was in the right place! In fact, you did touch on something important: getting to know people OOC. I wish more people would talk to me and be like "OHEY COME RP." 'Cause I don't get to that often anymore. If I'm not throwing an event, nobody from my main guild is on and it makes me a sad panda. It can be pretty discouraging sometimes.

I say, getting to know people is fun!

[Grakor456]

Aye, this was a well-intentioned thread.

To say that the GMs are completely without personal bias is silly. *Everyone* has personal bias. There are some folks I like more than others. There have been times in the past, though, where I've ruled in favor of folks I don't necessarily care for, and it'll likely happen again in the future. The biggest thing here is approaching everything in the right way and being friendly and respectful.

[Kage]

Aye.. So.. For anyone who has read dis, ignore the GM subject, it was misplaced all and all.

[SachikoMaeda]

I thought it was a pretty good read. I can understand where people may be intimidated by our lovely GM staff and they just need to be reminded they're people just like all of us. They're not going to lolban us and you should only fear them if you're doing wrong.

And everyone's got their bias. I know I sure as flip do. And I'm sure everyone (even our GMs who will try wonderfully to not show bias in judgement and I think do quite well with it) has their own favorite ideas and least favorites. It may dictate what RP you play, but probably won't effect some things. Like lore. But anyways. Good read nonetheless.

[ImagenAshyun]

I will highly recommend you change this some, because personally, while this thread is well-intended, I did feel it's in poor taste. Mostly because of the implications it has.

Besides the obvious (everyone has their bias and taste), there are those of us in the team who tries to make efforts to do everything they can equally to the server. This is especially true for me. I cannot claim I have bias, but I do try my very best to do everything I can to make RP accessible to everyone, new players and old. In other words, I try my very best to not have any favoritism.

Maybe this can be a guide to how to interact with GMs, or something. But as well intended as this was, I did feel a bit hurt. I apologize.

[Kage]

Well my intention was not to insult, so I would have to say that there is no reason for you to apologize at all Ash, I was just saying it from a different stand point. Where as you try to show an unbiased opinion, at times people will still feel as if their idea wasn't chosen based on the fact that they think a GM was biased rather then think their idea was too large or too unorganized. I will reword this better, but seeing as though I'm in school, this was all I could get out. I am sorry to the GM team, I did not mean to insult.

[Bovel]

As for event hosting I can only say from personal experience it is about having a GM present or being lucky enough that a helpful GM with some time on their hands are online during the event. I've tried to reach out beforehand to make plans and such with GMs, that however has never worked.

I'm glad Nexi as so invested in the Draenic Pilgrimage that I rarely was without a GM.

[Kaghuros]

Bovel's got a good point. GMing is like a side-job that you take on because you want to help, but GMs don't always want to be working on stuff. They all RP too, and they all have friends they like to RP with and certain characters who they really really enjoy. It's just a fact of circumstance that some events will have more GM help simply because the GMs are personally interesting in RPing in them. Like Nexi was with the DP, like Grak is with Orc/Horde events, like Kril is with the Crusade, they have favorite characters and RP they like because that's a way to have fun and relieve the stress of real life (and administrative work on the server).

Also let me just say that I guarantee most of the event ideas the GMs receive are either too work-intensive, don't need their help, or are straight up not going to be good for the server. It's hard to make the call whether an event is worth your time or not (Because a short event can often turn into a 4-hour mass combat slogfest, as I've learned more than once), but when you know a player who's hosting it and can talk to them more intimately ingame, outside of your position as a GM, it's easier to plan with them and you can gauge better whether or not a seemingly outlandish idea would work with them at the helm.