arkaz.org

Hi love.... truly sorry to hear you are leaving - but what the heck is going on with Arkaz?

Seems seem kinda cliquey and lopsided with games only being played for certain players now? How come events that have been planed get yanked?

This is not the Arkaz I cam e to play on, and it is a shame to see things changing, and not for the better.

I know this is not your concern now Mark, I'm just sad this is turning into anther Hala with the 'my ball, my game' attitude.

Love ya..and Melissa....hope I'm wrong and I can still see you and old friends like Lexy in IG to play sometime.

This wasn't a PM, so I presume it was a general question to the masses.

1) Most events that are planned in advance are posted publically on the announcements somewhere, and are free for players to join. I don't know of any cancelled events other then Varm and Amby having to be AFK due to RL stuff.

2) I can't think of any recent events that have not been open to all players (with the possible exception of people's personal PrC events, and as a non team member I can't comment and don't know about these.)

3) Arguably, as not a team member, there could be thousands of plots I don't know about If so, the DMs are very insanely busy and need a break.

4) Come play with us Haven't seen you around in a while!

Edit: I should probably note that I'm not in all the guilds either so I might not know what I'm talking about. I don't have access to those forums.

Funny, just today I saw this on the boards...

ForsakenPlague wrote:This, as with the event on saturday, is open to everyone. All levels, alignments, PCs and players; come out and have some fun. No prior involvement is required.

...and thought to myself, "huh, does Arkaz ever have events that aren't open to everyone or do require prior involvement?"

I couldn't think of a single one, other than PrC plots which would honestly be pretty silly to have a lot of people showing up for.

I have no idea what you are talking about!

Wheras I thought of one right off the bat, but that one doesn't bother me, and it certainly doesn't seem to be the norm for Arkaz. It's my feeling that events that are limited to certain players aren't generally a good idea, and ought to be rare, although on occasion they're justified. I haven't noticed a big problem with anyone being excluded or not invited to events on Arkaz that are announced in advance, though I haven't always had the same experience with events on Arkaz that are not announced in advance. But we're getting away from the topic of this thread.

This was a very interesting post to read. I feel I want to respond but I’m in several different minds about it. In general I think a lot of what looks like cliques and favouritism etc has to do with time zones and play time. I can’t remember the last time I saw an event posted only for characters who were already involved in a plot. Most of the DMing I have experienced on Arkaz has been more casual where the DM stalks who ever is on at the time.

Traditionally on the servers I have played on, all of the “action” happens while I’m at work and when I get home and log in I may catch the end of an exciting event. I can’t help but feel a little excluded at times but it is just the way it is. That is just what happens when you live where I live and play on servers where most of the players and DMs are based in Europe or the US. Some times I do feel that I miss out a bit. Generally though I have found that if I ask for something to happen with one of my characters a DM does try and get to me. Some things get done and some don’t.

On Hala I decided to do something about it and joined the team as a DM. The reason nothing happened while I played was there were no DMs who were on when I was. When I run pre announced events now, I can almost put money down on who will turn up, why? Because those are the players who play at the times I DM. So as my stories progress they involve those characters more and more. It very likely looks like I’m playing favourites, but I DM for the players who are on when I sit down, and I think that is what is happening here on Arkaz too.

I have had DMs here send me tells when I log in and offer to jump me to an event that is under way. It was unexpected and I was very grateful. I don’t think the DMs here are running events only for specific characters. I think the yare running events for the characters that are around when they sit down to DM.

Agreed Kali/Zombie. It is whoever is on at the time that gets involved.

I do know of events that are being run for certain guilds, but if we know people are interested in joining the guild we make an effort to notify folks in advance of said events or will sometimes get others involved as well. And those events are run by the guild's DM sponsor similar to what was done on Hala.

Sometimes events are cancelled because of RL or something else happening on another server. Perhaps if you could give us an example of cancelled event we could let you know what was going on.

And I have known PrC quests to include others.

If you have a specific concern, perhaps it would be better to PM the Team directly so they can address it. But I have not seen any DM recently run events for just a certain group unless it was the Guild's DM running a Guild event for its members.

Good Afternoon, it was brought to my attention that a recent post of mine, the Legion Recruitment, may have spurred this debate about the going on's of Arkaz. If you will allow a moment of your time I would like to clear the air regarding the 'exclusiveness' of the Legion.

First allow me to clarify that this post was written IC from the perspective of my character Casey Den'eve who everyone knows is a hard head when it comes to routine and structure .

In truth the Legion is about as exclusive as being permitted to sit down at the fire in the Old Hamlet. Yes we have an initiation process which is little more than formality. There are no level, alignment, race or even class restrictions. It is entirely possible for a sorcerer who uses only offensive magic to join the Legion should they wish to do so.

The purpose behind the Legions creation was to provide players with an opportunity to interact and fight in dungeons with structure and the illusion of discipline. Essentially when we gather we discuss ways to move through areas keeping in formations, such as in small squads or progressing as a solid line of melee attackers followed by archers. It is a great time to RP out the interactions and really looks rather neat when executed.

The plots we run are geared towards this aspect of RPing more in combat. Just as the Mage School has their lessons and classes, we have our expeditions and contracts. It is not intended to shun anyone, only provide a different way to play the game one day of the week.

Perhaps I should also mention that as a Character and Player I harbor no misconception of being the only leader and authority within the Legion. Trust me when I say, and ask anyone to confirm this, IC Casey doesn't even want to be Commander but as he gave his word is obligated to remain so Everyone is given the chance to play leader, in fact it's the quickest way to improve your rank.

Hopefully this explains any fuzzy details about who and what the Legion are. I encourage everyone to attend some of our public meetings, which we do once every month, to have an opportunity to experience how we work. Should there be any further questions I am, as always available for interrogation.

Oh and let us not forget those wise words from the man of which this thread is named. "It's just pixels"

I have to jump to the defense of Arkaz on this one. My pc has for the most part moved completely to Arkaz and the main reason for this is how open, friendly, and inclusive the pc's and dm's on Arkaz have been to me. I have always seen them bend over backwards to include as many players as possible in events. This is not always the case everywhere but it is really nice and makes things fun. I have been playing on copap worlds for 7 years now and this is the most fun I have had in ages.

Great Job Arkaz!

Guess what, Legion events start at 1:30 pm my time. Im still at work

I cannot speak for everyone, but so far as I know, your Legion recruitment post had nothing to do with this debate, VCaparzo. It certainly didn't bother me at all, and I would not want you to feel bad thinking it did. In the interest of clarity, I have exactly zero problem with the Legion or anything it is doing.

I would like to believe that Kali is right, and that the difficulties I have experienced on Arkaz have been related to time zones, but the facts don't bear this out. I have, more often than I like, been on the server and available, and I have not been invited, either ICly or OOCly, to DMed events that are going on. I have tried to rationalize, each time this happens, that there is some reason for it that isn't deliberate; people didn't know I was on, or thought i'd already been invited, or thought I didn't want to be involved, other such things, but this seems to happen too often for it to be chance, and it's getting harder and harder to rationalize, and that obviously doesn't feel good; it hurts. I would be very glad if this didn't happen anymore, or if it is deliberate, I'd like to know that so I can stop trying to be involved in things on Arkaz. I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but that's the way I feel.

There are a lot of things I love about Arkaz, and a lot of people involved on Arkaz that I love and think are doing a wonderful job both as DMs and as players, and I don't want those people to feel badly. I'm not, however, imagining things. My hope is that this is not being done deliberately, and that it is the result of misunderstanding, as I have also found that my wishes and feelings and opinions are often misinterpereted. I am a very shy person, and I don't feel comfortable inviting myself along to events I'm not invited to, or bothering people I don't know well to ask them if I can please be included. I know that my PC bows out of some events for IC reasons, and that I sometimes also bow out of big events due to my incompetence, but I still like to feel as if I am invited.

Thanks for listening.