Loxmardin Laments: Server Rules & Suffocation

[Reigen]

Are they warned in advance before a ban?

Warnings are always given out unless they breech a 'no tolerance' rule such as plagiarism.

And with Gm's shutting down ideas, but running large scale events of their own and helping a select few do theirs to others this can be misconstrued and can make people feel discouraged

I would like to note that ever GM here are always willing to help with an event if we know ahead, a few days ahead preferably, of time that something is going to happen and you provide us direction with what you want spawned and what you'll need a GM to do. If no one asks us, then we cannot be expected to help. If I get a whisper from someone and I'm available to help, then I'll help, same with other GMs. We cannot read minds. If someone needs help with an event, they need to come forward to us, not expect it the other way around.

At the same time, we can't be expected to drop everything at a moment's notice to appear at a random event to help. We enjoy RPing as well, so if we are in an RP and we get a whisper, we have every right to say we're busy at the moment. If someone gets upset by that...well then someone should have notified us ahead of time.

Edit:

We're caught in the endless dance of trying to please everyone.

We know we cannot please everyone and we're not going to bend our backs to try. We will always do what is best for the server.

[Harmonic]

The GM's are human.

The job can suck.

CoTH isn't perfect.

It never will be.

I don't know what more people want.

You have it ALL.

At this point, they've given you the toilet paper... do they need to wipe for everyone too?








I could go on, and on, and ON about this..

[SachikoMaeda]

I've shared my views on it. I hardly speak out more these days because of the attitude that is approached with it.

"You already have everything, why are you complaining?"
Apparently something is off otherwise we wouldn't be complaining.

We know we cannot please everyone and we're not going to bend our backs to try. We will always do what is best for the server.

I don't ask for bending over backwards. Though it seems there's no real desire for any change.

[Wuvvums]

Are people really afraid of GMs though? I'm just genuinely curious. Because I can't even count the number of times we've had this routine where someone explains that players are afraid of GMs and we have to assure them that the GM team isn't scary and we're your friends and will help you. I know some things can be shameful that you might not want to bring it up with anyone, but I also really wonder how much of the server really is afraid of GMs, or is simply complacent, or apathetic, or do not want to bother with the team.

Are we talking about players not coming to GMs with their problems or not coming to GMs with their ideas? Because I could see some not trying for the latter. This is because it's easy to hear a lot of stories about people who came asking to go with their ideas and getting rejected. I think those situations do pile up until we have a culture where the GM team is just going to say "no."

It's unsurprising then when we encounter players who make claims such as they won't profile any of their characters so GMs don't have to review the more dubious aspects of them... or that they don't care what the GMs say, they'll do it anyways. Some people may just be treating this server as their own rp space. Conceptually anything could go if you form a tight enough clique and no one else finds out what goes on within that group's rp.

Coth has a bit of a drama and clique culture and I find it plausible that some people are simply avoiding GMs because they can make the rp they want and no one else has to know about it.

Also: I don't like the idea of saying that one or two GMs are short. Even if it's true the GM team is such a narrow pool of people, let alone the ones that socialize with the server on a daily basis. It's not too huge of a leap for a statement like this to generate some gossip and players trying to guess who of the few GMs seem to fit that bill. I know I played that game in my head somewhat when it was brought up, I just don't find it too fair. o:

[Harmonic]

Can't say I agree there. People find things to complain about, Sachi. I'm sorry you take offense that I disagree.

Edit: Also, no desire for change? Please, just, go and look at posts from the past four years. CoTH -always- is changing, always trying to please people.

[SachikoMaeda]

Can't say I agree there. People find things to complain about, Sachi. I'm sorry you take offense that I disagree.

Edit: Also, no desire for change? Please, just, go and look at posts from the past four years. CoTH -always- is changing, always trying to please people.

I am in no way, shape, or form offended by disagreement. I can't expect everyone to look t this like I do.

The attitude right now, however, makes it seem as though there is no desire to change.

"You got X, now put a sock in it."
"But I don't have Y."
"Go play with X and leave me alone."

Like I said, I'm not asking GMs to jump through hoops. I just want us to come together as a community of people and just discuss this stuff.

[Micheru]

The list goes on. Every time someone complains like this I hear a child, crying because they can't get their way. If this sounds mean, it's because I'm so sick of hearing people b***h about how CoTH is because this place -as it is right now- when it comes to how players are treated is like being bombarded with marshmallows.

Posts like this are the reason people aren't posting or voicing their concerns.

I'm not speaking about Blind samurais, spaceships, or massive armies. I'm talking heists, robberies, killing sprees, conquest. If we can't do it help us out. Instead of saying no. Say "Well instead you could do this" or work an idea out so that it fits. I went back an forth with Rigley for an idea I had on my new Novalight storyline and there were things I couldn't do. But he worked with me to get the concept passed and I got to enjoy my fun. Often times more than not a GM will just say no dice, because of this reason. Leaving the player dejected and feeling as if they can't do anything.

I know, I've seen this happen, and that's what this thread is about. The issue is really an Umwelt issue:

The Umwelt theory states that the mind and the world are inseparable, because it is the mind that interprets the world for the organism. Consequently, the Umwelten of different organisms differ, which follows from the individuality and uniqueness of the history of every single organism. When two Umwelten interact, this creates a semiosphere.

Basicly - We all see the world from our own perspective - we can try to be objective and try to see from other stances, but our ability to perceive is based around our own background, nature and nurture. The GMs and the players who interact with them have their own.

No. This I disagree with. There's no reason for people to talk crap about another person when we're here RP. This is another possible reason people would refrain from interaction.

People who have mentally straining jobs (cops, surgeons, etc) go to psychologists because they need an outlet, it enables them to let out the build up that naturally occurs when dealing with people. GMs do a hard job, and they do it for FREE - I'm not saying that our playerbase here is purposefully hard on them, but it's the nature of the game. Rather than burning out the GMs, they need a place to let it out.

I wouldn't be happy knowing that the GMs were making angry posts about me, so it would only make sense for it to be done in private - still, penting up your emotions leads to a lot of dark roads.

I disagree because it already takes 3 months to get Demon Hunters, Felsworn and Dragonsworn. There's not really a reason it should take that long.

With the new system, it shouldn't, if I understand it correctly.

[JTJP770]

[quote='Rensin' pid='269849' dateline='1351279095']
The list goes on. Every time someone complains like this I hear a child, crying because they can't get their way. If this sounds mean, it's because I'm so sick of hearing people b***h about how CoTH is because this place -as it is right now- when it comes to how players are treated is like being bombarded with marshmallows.

Posts like this are the reason people aren't posting or voicing their concerns.


^ This. The attitude that came with this thread about people not being open with GM's is appalling. This is the exact reasons I don't like making threads. The negative attitudes that come with them.

[Harmonic]

The reasons I say this, is because it's... how do I put this? It sort of offends me in a way that people -want- even more leeway than what they get. This place is -loosing- some of the strictness that made it CoTH, that provided it with structure. Without reverting back to me saying "back in my day" once again, I want to put it on another way.

It comes off, -to me-, as almost disrespectful for what's been provided to say that things are bad now. I've seen Rigley and other GM's work their butts off to provide for CoTH, and knowing MYSELF what it's like is sort of heart-breaking. This GM team gives CoTH -so much- that every time something pops up that says that things still aren't good enough...

I just have to say that I don't know what else could be provided. Open profiles? No profiles? I see the call for nicer GM's, but, at what point do we phase out GM's and make everyone a player? They enforce rules! Standards! More so, they are -human-!

I've been on Teamspeak with these people. The hard part about being a GM is that people think that if you're in a higher position, you're going to know everything about it and execute it flawlessly. This expectation is unrealistic.


A lot of CoTH's rules aren't spelled out, and are sort of fly-by-the-ear, and that makes it difficult, and leaves things up for interpretation. Human nature dictates that others can come off mean, or short, or even hostile without meaning to be. SUCH IS THE CASE of non-verbal tone, set by typing on the internet.

Noone would guess how I have a goofy-high-pitched-teenage-boy voice at the age of Twenty-Six, and being that I'm a being of pure beard... but I do. I joke around a lot, and I'm -seldom- serious. This is just how I am. HOWEVER, when typing things on the forum, I probably come off as a jerk. I know I do!

The only thing I ask... is cut them some slack! Talk to the GM's, these turds are friendly! More friendly than what was previously acceptable for the GM team on CoTH. If there is a problem, it's because people are too timid to pet the kittens of GM's that are on this team now, for fear that they'll bite with their widdle kitty teeth, or claw with their savagely sharp kitten-razors... but truth is these guys will listen. They will do their best. Loxxy is proof of this. She's the freakin' GM Patron Saint of Listening to others issues.


Am I saying it won't change? Most likely it will. She's expressed that desire. Am I saying you should feel bad? No, but I am saying you should have a broader view of the issues presented, and know a bit of the history that is behind this server. What should you do?


COMMUNICATE. Like we are doing. And less complaining! That's not direct communication!


Edit: Micheru, if my posts really make people clam up that hard, something MORE is wrong here than just the issues stated.

People need to stop being afraid of -nothing-. It's silly.


Edit 2: And yes, I still stand by that, because again, people aren't COMMUNICATING they are COMPLAINING, Micheru and JTP...---Guy with the Avatar... Avatar! I think it'd be MUCH better again, if people talked instead of whining.

Whining=/=Constructive Communication

[Rigley]

"You got X, now put a sock in it."
"But I don't have Y."
"Go play with X and leave me alone."

The issue is that depending on the matter at hand this can come off less as neglect and more as "We've already said we don't want to have Y. You have the rest of the toybox."

Again, depending on what's at hand. Though I've got a bit of another thing to talk on than getting into the hypothetical stuff or getting into a debate about previous decisions and the like right here;


Something I've found increasingly demoralizing is how hostile the server's population seems to have grown in general since I've joined. It wasn't fantastic when I joined; I will say that in this time lots of restrictions have been loosed and in general administrative action is taken much less often.

It seems to me though that people are either itching for a fight most of the time or just desensitized to what they're typing to others. As much as we try and encourage a positive environment I've seen simple discussions flare into arguments, and what could be a normal debate erupt into rather blind battles of 'us vs them'.

Where does this tie into the discussion on fear? A few ways. Mostly in how problems are often handled with the GM team. This isn't new, but having been here a good while I've found that most times a problem is presented to us, it's because it's welled up within a small group of people until a vocal one has exploded in outrage at the team, or it's when someone is caught and questioned about the matter in debate. In short, it seems more often than not we have problems presented to us when it's stewed for a time-- sometimes this can happen with many GMs not even hearing about the problem.

When it does come up though, the argument is usually fierce. And inevitably you'll have people speaking in inflammatory ways on both sides of the argument. Since that's how a lot of big debates seem to have been conducted in the past I believe some people might just feel that a big debate is the way GMs discuss things. In reality it could be a lot easier; it's just that it's rare we're actually presented headlong with a matter for us to review instead of being approached and baffled when someone claims that there's a problem they've been having for months and that several people have agreed with them and that we're just not listening-- when only one or two have been told, and failed to relay the message in a meaningful way.


I may not make too much sense here, because I've only just awoken from a nap and my head is a bit foggy, but I guess there's just an increased sense of hostility here for me lately, even with some GMs. I think it's a bit of a cyclical thing between players and staff at this point, sometimes. Idunno.


Tl;dr: Why is everyone so angry?

[Delta]

I don't ask for bending over backwards. Though it seems there's no real desire for any change.

Forgive me the arrogance of quoting myself, but...

There is no progress without change, but not all change is progress.

Now, with that said, I would very much like to see CotH progress. Progression means getting better. More freedom is a good step forward, as we've seen in CotH's recent hop from Prestiges to Variants. As a rule of thumb, you can't have too much liberty, but you can misuse it.

The GMs of CotH do not actively seek to stifle creativity. We look at concepts and decide whether or not they're fit for our server, a server that is grounded in a particular setting and a level of fantasy that can be defined.

As it stands, we let people borrow from Warhammer 40K and certain parts of popular culture (I see your mythological, legendary, video game, visual novel, anime and movie expies! Don't think I don't!) to a limited extent, but we tap them on the shoulder when those ideas dip into the realm of being too silly, too overpowered, or too Mary Sue for CotH.

I can see where the stigma with coming to a GM about a concept may arise from. You develop a character with a strange background or ability, and you come to us, and we decide that it needs a bit of tweaking to fit into our lore. I get why that may make people fearful of approaching the greens for approval. Look at it from where we stand, though. You were, most likely, aware that the concept was a bit off if you felt compelled to come to us in the first place. Consider what makes you unsure about an idea and then ask yourself if you would, in the position of those who strive to uphold the quality of roleplay on the server, approve of seeing it running rampant on CotH.

I believe CotH could stand to loosen certain restrictions while others ought to be tightened. I think some races, classes, and abilities could be pulled off by the right people, but it's far above me to declare who is fit to play X, Y, or Z, so instead, I try to make sure things are as fair as they can be.

Personally, I have almost 4 account-fulls(that's nearly 40 characters) of people. And I've only done Blood Elves, Night Elves, Draenei, Humans, a Forsaken, a Gnome and a Troll thus far - I've -barely- scratched the surface as to what the World of Warcraft has to offer, and I'm conscious of that fact. Trust in the fact that -many- unique characters, even of the same race and same class, can be made, whilst still remaining in the boundaries of Lore and the Society of your chosen people.

Whether we smother creativity or not depends on your point of view, but I don't think we're being as militant as people claim.

[Loxmardin]

I think what Rensin has been meaning to touch upon is the "give an inch, take a mile". The community is far from perfect and, frankly, I can't really say we're striving for perfection either. We're striving for improvement and progress as Delta so eloquently put it, and both of these things usually have to happen pretty slowly. Immediate and quick changes cause more problems than they solve, in my experience.

We'll never be able to completely please everyone. The server itself has had a philosophy for a very long time when it comes to what it wants (especially concering conquest and the stance towards in-game lore, and most recently the debates regarding the RPG books as well) and it's not very easy to change such things. First of all, we've got to decide if it needs to be changed in the first place, and then you have to see for yourself just what consequences these changes would have. Saying "go ahead!" to something we normally wouldn't have allowed before for reasons X and Y won't work unless there's proper ground work for it. Because there's still the reasons X and Y that detail exactly why it wouldn't work, the way the server looks right now. And even if the server would change its philosophy tomorrow, there's no guarantee reasons X and Y would've changed at all. Plus, you might even have to add reason Z to the mix, since new problems, as I said, arise with new changes.

The recent change to the Special Profiles is a change. Perhaps one that isn't so appreciate by everyone at this time, but still a change. Hopefully for the better, from what we've wanted to do with it since our discussions at length in private. Changes happen all the time in the community and to the server as a whole. There was a time when we couldn't build custom areas, for instance. Look at all the custom areas we have now (that mostly aren't used, either---which was the reason we didn't want to build them in the first place). So to say that the server doesn't change isn't entirely correct. Changes just happen slowly and with care. And not necessarily where they're being sought after, and there may well be numerous reasons for why we do not want to change this at this time. Give us a convincing suggestion and we'll probably consider it, however. Just don't expect immediate change, because you'll just be disappointed. No one should ever expect change to happen just because they want it to, and definitely not right away.

If the lack of immediate response is the reason some are hesitant to approach us, maybe you should consider why we don't immediately respond. Some things simply take time, and sometimes we have to consider amongst ourselves before we can come back to you since, more often than not, one GM doesn't want to express themselves before they know what the rest of them think. Since, when we communicate separately, there's a big possibility we'll just be speaking for ourselves and it will cause misunderstandings and, unfortunately. misinformation. These things are really troublesome to deal with, both for us GMs and for you as players. It gets confusing, people get frustrated, and it all turns into a jumbled mess if we don't know what we're doing. So, we take our time so we're sure we do know what we're doing. At least, for the most part! We goof it up real good from time to time, as well, but if we recognize that we do... well, we are generally good enough to apologize if we made mistakes. Just got to make us realize we did make a mistake if we can't figure it out on our own. (Like, me. I'm pretty dense sometimes. Plus, I'm Swedish. And English is an incredibly silly language. :P I WENT THERE. YES, I DID.)

---

As for when we snap. Yes, that happens. We aren't patience incarnate many times, but this is natural. Just like many of you can explain yourselves with having outside factors affect your behaviour, so can we. This isn't an excuse for bad behaviour, however, and we know that much. I know I always try to apologize if I feel I've been behaving badly and said something out of line, though that rarely happens for me. I try to keep my cool, but some days... that just doesn't work. Sometimes you're simply pushed way over all your limits and you can't hold it in anymore. Other times, we fail to keep our cool because we feel pushed against a wall. We get defensive. The other party pushes back. We push back. And suddenly everyone's at eachothers' throats and the environment gets unpleasant. It goes all the wrong ways, way too quickly.

... Getting into too much rambling, though. Long story short; yes, I know we sometimes snap out. This has many reasons, and none of them are really good excuses for it. If there's truly a problem with the way any of us choose to approach players when they bring ideas and such to us, the best guy to speak to is Kretol or another GM you trust who can speak to him for you if you don't feel like taking it to higher ground on your own. But, Kretol's very approachable if people bring him constructive criticism in a good and polite manner, so that shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure you know what you want to say when you approach him and you should be just fine. If you're not sure, then talk to someone else who can help you refine your complaint a bit so you'll be as prepared as you can possibly be. That said, it isn't a big deal. Either muster up the courage to speak to the GM in question (preferrably, you should adjust your timing; speaking to them immediately after or when you know they're having a bad day is generally ill advised, just like you wouldn't like to hear that on your bad day), or speak to Kretol directly or indirectly. Or another GM, who can probably help you along the way as well and tell you what you should do, or help you solve the problem without going to Kretol at all. We could potentially speak to eachother about these things, as well.

I'll type up more if I can think of anything else. I lost my train of thought.

[flammos200]

...Very good topic. While it's sad that issues like the one proposed exist, I am still quite thankful for the problem being discussed out in the open, rather than being hidden away somewhere. It promotes cooperation and reaching a middle ground much faster, as oft' communication does.

Personally, I'm as stubborn as a mule sometimes, and changing my own views in certain respects depends strongly on whether I agree with the new opinion I'm shifting to, or not. And I have always been of the opinion that, regardless of position, any sort of authority figure you encounter in life, be they online or offline, is still only human. As such, I've involuntarily seen them as at least somewhat reasonable people you can talk to. Heck, some of the people that originally helped out my RP quite a great deal were the ancient GM Monolith and Co. I remember back when Loxy was a Trial GM and she helped out when I and a few others got stuck in mid-air over Dragonblight because the flight paths could still be attacked by mobs and thus you could die mid-flight. It felt really nice to know you could ask for help if something went wrong.

Thing is, when you've been around for nigh-on three years, it makes you think on how things've changed. The Rules haven't changed all that much since then, to be frank. If I compare the revisions of the rules and policies pages, well... I'll find pretty much the same things, with Kretol gently tweaking wording here and there so it makes more sense and the language is more understandable. What, then, has changed?

Well, the things not included in the Rules and Policies on that Wiki, for one. The amount of unwritten(more rarely), or unspoken rules on CoTH can be staggering, I imagine, for a new player. I've had the luck of easing into it, and having an absolutely superb and helpful community when I joined. I won't blather on and on about how X or Y was great to me and everything, but I have noticed one thing: Back in my day™, I spent less than half an hour in the OOC zone. Per week. Compare that to nowadays' near 50% of the time(which is admittedly while I'm tabbed out or something; Life gets busier as you get older, 's just the way of things, I suppose), and you've got a few issues.

Speaking of change, though. There are a couple of suggestions/improvements(Or what I see as improvements) that I'd propose:

~More Constant RP: What I mean is, more day-to-day RP, as in, RP that you can take part in both today, tomorrow, the day after, and all week, and so on, and so on, forming a constant presence in one place or another, with a group. I've mentioned before how Silvermoon became this for about a week or so during this Summer. Can we bring that back? And it wasn't all tavern-talk, either. People were going around and doing things. Heck, I even got to host a mini-event during that time, which gave me an idea for a full-blown storyline. A really, really far-back example would be the Expedition turned Coalition. That thing lasted for over a couple of months. It was -incredible-.

Day in, day out RP, weekly travel and accommodating to new locales, the members of the expedition traveling, gathering resources, making contacts, crafting, engaging in diplomacy... That should happen more often. We need organized groups to go out and do stuff, and make it fun and attractive enough for new players to join. I can't count how many complete newbies to CoTH joined directly into the Expedition, and kicked off their RP careers on CoTH right then and there!

Thing is, you also want quality and meaning in the RP. You want it to be more or less flavored. It's often the case(but not always!) that single-faction RP is of better quality than free-for-all RP, and that singe-race RP tends to be better than single-faction RP, once more because it can focus on the specifics of the race in question. It's akin to RP in the World of Darkness franchise, if you've played any of those games(Vampire, Werewolf, Changeling, Geist, Mage, etc.) - basically, if you have members of every race, the concepts, specifics, and wants of the diverse individuals in your group might not provide for a cohesive storyline, because every species has a different tone.

Much in the way you won't go about the restoration of a Sanctum or the hunt for a dangerous Mage with a Troll, instead doing it with Blood Elves and Spellbreakers, or spreading the New Plague with Tauren/All Horde, instead doing it with Forsaken.

~Different leashes for different dogs. Say you have a small, yappy dog, right? Well, you get him a comfy collar, and a nice, fairly long leather leash. But then, say you have an aggressive, large dog. You get'em a chain collar and a chain leash, probably a short one at that.

In the same way, different issues on CoTH should be treated with differing amounts of strictness. Makes sense, doesn't it? Some issues are inherently inflammatory, and thus should be kept on a short leash(typically the offensive ones), whilst others could be given more leeway(Such as cosmetics in abilities and perhaps cosmetic traits for characters as well).

I personally take issue with rules denying cosmetic changes in characters that do not affect game balance(Such as cosmetic mutations that, admittedly, go beyond what we can represent in-game). I mean, if we allow female Kaldorei to have glowing amber eyes as a result of practicing Druidism, and male Kaldorei to have glowing silver ones, in spite of their models telling us otherwise, why do we not allow say, a BElf DK to have red eyes and thus play a Dark Ranger without a CMC? Or heck, a Blood Elf with eye-glow of other colors than usual? Or a Blood Elf with dark blue hair IC? Really, playing a character with say, only one arm, is a -FAR- bigger deviation from the character model than mere eyecolor or haircolor.

Cosmetic difference bans are a relic of a by-gone age, that ended the day we gained access to Tattoos, in my opinion.

...Again, I'm talking about cosmetic differences. Things that -do not- affect balance. Who cares if my Smite is shaped like an arrow or like a sphere? Or if I turn my Holy Fire on a Priest into a bow of flame and shoot it outta' that? Or if the Power Word: Shield actually shapes itself like a suit of armor rather than a bubble? It does the same thing. As long as things do the same thing, to the same 'power level', they should be allowed.

It's nothing revolutionary. The Free-Form system already allows us to reinterpret our abilities, -as long as they still do the same thing-. Melee stuns will always be melee stuns(Example outta' my own chars: Shockwaves and Sunlight: Sap and Gouge are an Arcane-infused smack on the head, aimed at knocking the target out by overloading their brain. Blind is the reflection of unnaturally brilliant light off whatever metallic gear Ghanima has on her, to the point of blinding and disorienting enemies. A testament to its arcane nature is that it works even in total darkness.), ranged Fire AoEs will always be ranged Fire AoEs, summoned Succubi will always be summoned Succubi, in spite of being triple-[CENSORED BY THE GOVERNMENT], and a Lightning Generator will always generate lightning.

I'm not asking for anything drastic, like playing Catgirls, High Elves or Forlarren(as much as I would love to RP the latter two), just tiny cosmetic changes to differentiate a character from others among their class/race/gender/organization. Characters should all be different and have different personalities, no? Why not reflect that appearance-wise? IRL, no two Humans save identical twins, are alike(discounting the existence of dopplegangers).

~One thing I'd love to tighten the leash on, though, is being a part of your chosen race's culture. Now, I'm a Lore-hound. It's pretty much a given. I love the Lore and I love seeing players make characters that go with the Lore and exploit it to its fullest potential. It's sorta' sad, to me, when a character just comes off as completely disconnected from their racial or societal background. Why play a Night Elf if you can play a Human with the -exact- same Personality, with just minor tweaks in History?

-Embrace- just how different the races and societies are, and take heart in the cultural identities of the peoples of Azeroth. Play a Troll to play a Troll, play a Blood Elf to play a Blood Elf, and so forth. I'm not saying individuals can't be a part of a culture outside of their own people(even IRL, inter- and multi-culturality happens more often than you'd think!), but they will always have an outsider's perspective on it. Sure, a Blood Elf can be utterly fascinated with the Naaru and the Draenei, after what happened at the Sunwell and with M'uru, -but- they will have a different perspective compared to the Draenei themselves.

Of course you can play a Nature-loving Blood Elf - the Farstriders are practically physically different from other Blood Elves thanks to it(Physically stronger/faster/healthier), but you're not going to go about it in the same way that a Tauren does. An ex-Silver Hand Blood Elf Paladin will be different from an ex-Silver Hand Human Paladin. And so on.

Respect your cultures, because the background of a race is why you chose to play them. Because of -who- they are, as a people bearing a certain cultural identity. It's -so- much more fun to see people act as genuine people, individuals of their own societies, as opposed to Humans in Suits, because then character variety extends far, far beyond what one'd think immediately possible.

Different cultures have different approaches to problems, and ways and means of solving them. There's the famous example of where the Orc starts a lumber mill, the Night Elf will rouse the forest itself to fight them.

~One issue I don't know what to do about, though, is 'If we give X to <Player>, everyone will want it'. I really don't. I may be more or less ego-maniacal sometimes, but even if I were somehow awarded discretionary power to pick and choose who gets access to certain races/classes/abilities, I would not trust myself to make the right choices(Then again, I don't even trust myself to fight Trust fights, most of the time).

So, in the end, I think a sort of approval system is needed, aye, and characters be judged on a case-by-case basis. What's okay for someone to pull off might not be okay for someone else to do the same in perhaps a different manner. And we kinda' have that in place already, with the Character Profile system.

I recall speaking to someone at one point about characters, and being told that they weren't allowed a Steamwarrior, back when I was getting one approved myself. Knowing full well they've been approved in the past, I shrugged and just told the person that they're actually doable, though I could not really give a reason as to why their Profile didn't go through and mine did, not having actually seen their work. I just assumed there was something wrong with the Profile itself, rather than the class.

If the Profile's sound and the character well-reasoned, the concept should be doable, within the limits of the Lore and the rules as to what's playable. Makes sense, no?

Lastly, I think I like CoTH, and that it has become the best that it's ever been in some respects, and though it's still working on others, there's always room for improvement. Strength comes from cohesion and consensus, though, so keep things as civil as possible. It's not always that we're given the opportunity to contemplate the foundations the community is based upon in such a manner.

[Arricar]

I, love the GMs. They are much like the old Blizzard GMs. Ya'know, the RPing ones that would poof in an RP with you, all whilst answering your ticket. The GMs we have are amazing. You should always remember what they're doing might displease you, but everyone else thinks its an awesome idea. They do what's best for the server, not an individual. I'm not scared of GMs. Actually, I would like to hang out with them. I just do not see myself worthy of their epicness. I am just a lowly peasant in their kingdom of Kretol-land. *nod*

[Cressy]

I read through this entire thread sort of scratching my head.

My reaction.

Whattt?

Maybe because I genuinely am from a different time on CoTH, where you would be kicked from the server for half a day for 'not reading the wiki' or for talking in the wrong channels. It was a different time. We would rarely see a different side to the staff than them being the staff. Mind you, it was a different stage in coth, it was a different community in general. There was a genuine concern when trying to speak to the staff. It was hard to relate to them, it was hard to try and get them to talk to you with out judging you. (Lol, except for me. I talked the shit out of those GMs and couldn't give two fu-fish fingers.)

Now a days, the GM staff is pretty transparent and friendly. Rarely is there a side to a staff member that would surprise you or make you fear what could happen. They have an entire section dedicated to players have open, private discussions with all of the staff. They give you the opportunity to try and work with the lore and whatever else so that storylines, guilds, and characters can be played. It is amazing at how giving this staff is.

Hell, they create custom areas, custom clothing and whatever else in an attempt to please and calm the masses. It stuns be at how giving this staff has become.

I won't say that your fear of them is without warrant. I am mildly terrified at speaking to cops for fear of getting a ticket or arrest for my humor or my personality. It is the same for this staff. But instead of them wielding batons and guns, our GMs wield wands and unicorns. Do you know how many times I pushed for a ban, only to be shut down because they want to give them another chance? It amazed (and irritated) me.

So yes, they might say that you can't be the Holy Priest of Awesomeness or play super futa elves. What they do give you is quite amazing. Variants, special classes, custom models, dedicated events and storylines? Chya, these guys aren't nice at all.

I think the mentality of how people view the staff honestly needs to change. If you could change your view on their 'authority' and see them as everyone else, it'd be easier.


tldr; Read my posts, dick.