Corwin

[corwink]

Please keep this discussion about Arkaz. If you wish to discuss our neighbors in the CoPaP cosmos please do so either on their forums or in private.

Thank you.

[Ronan]

Sorry Corwin.

There is no general board appropriate for this, but you're right, it belongs on Ysgard if we wanted to talk about it.

[soulkey357]

Well Said Amby and Corwink!

Anyways... I see that everyone has strong feelings on this issue and that many of you, though debating it, are in fact saying similar stuff or feeling the same intent.

Now there was a situation.
It was brought to me before this thread was even posted. It was discussed privately and handled privately. It was done so in a way that was not harmful but understanding to others feelings.
If there is still a situation please contact Terry or myself.
It is evident to me and hopefully to all of you that : Arkaz players care about their players and their DM's. I believe also that the DM's care very much about the players and the characters.

Cheers to each of you.

Soulkey

[corwink]

Since my name is on the thread guess I better post my $.02 Everything posted here is MY thoughts and not the teams.

From my first time playing on this server to now, Arkaz has always strived to include everyone in events. Even when I was running around as Kyle here, the pc's and dm's tried to include me as much as possible, which i did not make easy what with attackign the town and summoning dead mothers and such

This game is a very social game. The more you put into it the more you get out of it. Those that spend their time ig roleplaying with the majority of their fellow players and participating in events, sendign the dm's messages and actively pursuing fun will get more attention than those that sit there crawling through dungenon after dungeon or crafting item after item or sitting in a house with only one or two others people all the time.

Now sometimes becasue certain people are always very active roleplaying and posting and researchign they get more attention. Not becasue they are favorites but because they squeak more...so as the old saying goes, they get the grease ie dm attention. I know I always loved it when a player brought an idea to me. Thinking of plots was always the hardest thing for me.

Our dm's will always try to include everyone in their plots as much as possible. If at any time anyoen feels this is not the case please please please shoot soulkey or terry a pm. No one will get in trouble or banned or verbally abused...whips might get used but only if it's consentual .....but I know soulkey is very passionate about maintaining a very inclusive environment on Arkaz that first brought us here many years ago.

Now get out there and make some pixels bleed

[luminance]

Thanks, Corwin.

I've been here less than a year still but I got so quickly attached and have stuck around simply because it is so inclusive. The people here are great and I really appreciate it a lot.

<3

[Rudiki]

"If there is something on the board that says "Open event at 2PM, meet at the fire," then YOU JUST GOT INVITED!!!"

Completely true! I consider an announcement such as that a sufficient DM invitation. Thanks for letting me clear up that misconception.

"If you are talking about the very last portion of the Arvia event, where a whole bunch of PCs got dressed up and went off somewhere..."

I'm not.

"Open events mean that everyone is invited, that's what open means. Just show up."

DMs should be sure and note when they announce games on the forums where they want players to gather, and when they run open games that aren't announced on the forums they should try to ensure that all the players on the server are invited.

"In this case, Bob is actually modelled over the people who, again, destroyed that last forum game I was in."

This game is not that other game. It is not going to be torn apart by a little polite constructive criticism. Don't worry about that. I don't think "Bob" exists in this game; I've never seen him, so I don't think talking about him is relevant at all.

"This is also directed partially towards the ~mystery person~ who enlisted poor Redda to post for them..."

"jennaserra (1:23:23 PM): write something that I can post..
ADMontjoie (1:23:33 PM): No, i'll deal with it somehow, or not.
jennaserra (1:24:07 PM): I would write it but don't know know the facts
ADMontjoie (1:25:00 PM): No, don't say anything. I just needed to vent. I'll be fine."

I didn't want to address this only because I don't want Redda to feel bad. She is a good friend, and she was trying to do me a favor, and I appreciate that a LOT. I did not ask her to post anything. In fact, I told her several times not to post anything on my account. She offered to speak for me, and I said no. When I choose to address a problem, I do it myself. I don't hide anonymously behind someone else. Redda is more outspoken about such things than I am, and I am more outspoken about them than some other people are. I was just going to grin and bear it, and not say anything, because it hadn't gotten to the point where I felt I needed to speak out publicly; the cost/benefit ratio hadn't reached that point. Redda posted anyway, without my knowledge, because she also had noticed things she didn't like going on, as she said. I don't blame her for doing so, and I'm talking about it now only to explain the situation, because I prefer as much full discosure as possible. Still, what Redda said in her original post should not be taken as what I was upset about. I had expressed my dissatisfaction to her in general and fairly brief terms. If you want to know what I've found less than ideal, read my posts, not anyone else's, and if you want to know what Redda's found less than ideal, read hers. Anyway, things are out in the open now, for whatever reasons, and I think that will result in a better understanding all round, and improvements, so thanks, Redda!

"Finally, it sounds to me like you, Rudiki, have a problem with ONE DM in particular, and probably one situation in particular..."

What I've experienced was not an isolated incident, or confined to one DM only. But I do think this is sort of getting blown out of proportion. As I've said many times before, there's a lot to love about this game. The fact that the situation wasn't so bad that I felt compelled to post about it should be an indication that although it concerned me it wasn't the major horrible gross error it seems to be being made out to be.

"Again, singling someone one with a post like this..."

I haven't singled anyone out. I don't intend to point fingers. I don't think that's a constructive thing to do.

"Solve your problem!"

I think I likely have. I've explained the things I've experienced and didn't like as clearly as possible. I don't need to name names; it's the things I object to and not the people doing them. I'm confident the DMs were paying attention and care enough to try to ensure they're doing the best job possible for their players; in fact, I've seen evidence of that in this very thread. If there are DMs who don't care whether or not I'm happy, or who disagree with me that DMs should invite all players to open events, then that's their perogative. It's their game. All I can do is make suggestions and observations. I've done that. Repeating myself, either publicly or privately, doesn't make sense.

Thanks for listening.

[AdmVenge]

DMs should be sure and note when they announce games on the forums where they want players to gather, and when they run open games that aren't announced on the forums they should try to ensure that all the players on the server are invited.

I think I likely have. I've explained the things I've experienced and didn't like as clearly as possible. I don't need to name names; it's the things I object to and not the people doing them. I'm confident the DMs were paying attention and care enough to try to ensure they're doing the best job possible for their players; in fact, I've seen evidence of that in this very thread. If there are DMs who don't care whether or not I'm happy, or who disagree with me that DMs should invite all players to open events, then that's their perogative. It's their game. All I can do is make suggestions and observations. I've done that. Repeating myself, either publicly or privately, doesn't make sense.

Thanks for listening.

You know what I dont like? I dont like people who phrase "suggestions and observations" as "If you are not doing it this way, you are doing it wrong." Far too many good players and DMs have been burned by posts like that, and it is bullshit.

Telling a DM how he or she should be DMing is alot like telling a fellow player how they should roleplay thier character. Each DM has a style. You may or may not like his/her style. Gravitate towards the DMs who's style is compatible with yours. Telling a DM "you are doing it wrong" even under the guise of "positive suggestions" is wrong.

You can, of course, give feedback to DMs, but the tone of your posts is demanding, not suggesting (actually, it wanders into complaining at some points). You also give the impression that an Arkaz DM is "not doing his best" if he is not abiding by your "suggestions". If you are trying to give positive help, then present a possible alternative and then ask for feedback in return. Dont snidely suggest that the "DM is not doing his best" if he does not adopt your preferred playstyle.

And while I'm throwing out the superlatives, I don't think I've ever seen another player as good as Gaklah's at including other players in dungeon crawls, and keeping track to see that no one is left.

Thanks

[ambrosia]

I'm going to let Terry have the last word on this thread as I think it has officially lasted its lifetime. Finding out being talked about behind our backs and not being spoken to directly if there was still something to bring up is disappointing and discouraging. Soulkey said the particular incident has been addressed. If there is anything outstanding or if anyone needs to take anything else up with the team about us, please do so via a pm. I promise you will be heard. Thanks.

as a rule DM's will never exclude a player unless there is a good reason. The good reason list isn't very long but there are some valid reasons. I'll list a few here


1) A player requested a specific event for something (PRC, Item request, etc)
2) A guild asks their sponser to run a guild event
3) DM's are runing either a low level or high level event and they know you are either way too high a level or way to low.
4) You join while the event mostly complete or too far in to easily get you involved.
5) IC reasons (For example, you are a known Evil player and the event is taking place in the temple of Olryn)

Those are just a VERY few but NOT all of the reasons and I'll touch on them.

#1 - sometimes for IC reasons there things a player must do alone. We try and allow these personal events when time permits and they make IC sense.
#2 - Same as #1
#3 - this one is hard to understand and explain but I'll try. Sometimes we want to help new players or low level players so we run events geared to them at their levels. Having a Epic sow up when a bunch of level 5's are questing throws the entire balance off. Now that's not to say we might not find something for you to do but sometimes it's just not doable.
#4 - If you missed the first 2 hours of a 3 hour event that is runing at a VERY fast pace, the DM might not have time to try and include you. Now if you know what's going on and want to join you can however if it would take too long to get you up to speed or if it would kill the pace of the event the DM might ask you to sit this one out.
#5 - Let's say last night you told everyone you were the High Priest of the Evil god Booboo and I have a scheduled event with some followers of the Good god Hugs & Kisses that involves a visit by the Holy Avatar of goodness....you might be excluded because it makes no IC sense for you to be there....you'd probably be KOS in H&K's temple.
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Now that being said. If you feel a DM is excluding you for personal reasons or just because they don't like you or for no reason at all, send me a PM with the date, time and DM if known and I'll look into it. My rule is simple, we will try and allow everyone who wants to play here, play here and have fun. While that's not always possible do to a large number of reasons, a player shouldn't feel like they are being forced out of play for no good reason.

I hope that helps you some.