Roleplay, Events and You

[Velrath]

Hello everyone, I felt that I might want to chime in on things with recent events that have taken place (in my absence), but I consider it to be an important topic that should be addressed.

First and foremost, CLOK is a RP-Enforced MUD, and one should be expected to follow such rules or in the very least, avoid interaction altogether. I've been on the team for an okay amount of time now, and I can tell you that the players we have are wonderful, they take to things well and a lot of the time we end up grinning about the stuff that happens- things that may or may not be good for the character at that time, but that's the beauty of roleplay. It saddens me to see that sometimes things just don't go quite as planned, but such is what it is. Sometimes things can't be avoided.

Moving on, let's talk about roleplay and what happens to your character. This is a MUD (multi-user dungeon), and so it's typically expected that you'll run across other players and end up having interactions with them. I don't believe that in any RP-Enforced MUD that it is intended for a person to never interact with another, to never need help from another character. There will always be something that can really help both parties when brought together. Roleplay can help blossom so many things, from joyful evening to long-term friendships. We've even seen people join together in matrimony from their time spent together on CLOK!

Rather than immediately dismissing a situation as something that you can't handle, perhaps a more equitable choice would be to consider "Well, what can I do with this that might make it fun for others?", or "How can I overcome this obstacle that is standing in my way? Do I have the means to bring on extra help?". Of course, this is probably a bit on the nose, but it's something that needs be said. There have been times that people have thought the GMs are specifically out to get them- this is very much not the case (big surprise, I know, it's like I need to say it), we earnestly want to see people enjoy the game. It's why it's a volunteer-based position. We don't get paid for the time we spend making things enjoyable.

A large amount of what has been going on recently has been between myself and Mirazia, with Uyoku throwing in her fun little merchants here and there (and they really are fun, she puts so much effort into each of them). So when things don't go quite right, it can be a bit off-putting. Things like GM-bait in chat can discourage us from wanting to do something, but I get it. You all want to see stuff happen. Nothing wrong with that at all. So my own events, I tend to stack it very much against the players. It's not fair. I don't want it to be fair. Am I sorry for that? Not at all. Why is this? I don't expect you to handle any one situation by yourself.

That's just how it is. I want to see many people get involved, I want people to have fun together as a group. People should gather more often to interact and enjoy things together and making things like that, that force people to get together helps towards that end. People get to meet each other, learn how they can be relied on, create new roleplay opportunities.

If it's felt that anything is ever too much, or you feel that you're being targeted, whatever it is- contact us. We're here for you. Shoot us an email at support@clokmud.com, we'll all get it and see it and talk about it. But Chat isn't the place for such things, as we always have new players coming in and I'm certain that nobody would like to see bad things happening in chat just after logging in for the first time. If you don't want to send in an email, you can ping us directly on the BBS or even make a post addressing your concerns and allow others to join in.

Thanks for all the fun, guys. Really.

[Dorn]

Good post.

Personally glad to see how much is going on at the moment. Merchants, little events, more ongoing/long ones.

The staff here does a terrific job.

[artus]

Before I say what I need to say below, I apologize in advance if I unintentionally make someone upset, gms, players, all of you.
There's unfortunately some things I'd rather say here than never, and I urge characters who seem to feel like things get too much out of hand to say too. I know it doesn't happen to everyone, but I've seen it being done to an extent that I feel I wouldn't enjoy it anymore if I were that character.

I'm nothing at all against rp. I love it, as I keep saying clok is the only place like home for me. But let's take some of these as things to consider, not for gms, for all of us:

Remember Teek? I don't know how it was between him and you guys. But for certain, I've seen much ic stuff weighed down on him, not counting the ooc part. Sometimes I even thought people just picked on him for some reason. Whenever he logged on, with any of his characters, it happened, and was anything from tricking him to eat voidsalt to exploding his wagon. If that happened once in a while, it would have been definitely alright, but it happened, literally, almost everytime people saw him about. In the end, that guy quit.

In the case that happened very recently, Jes, having not much interaction with anyone what so ever besides making stuff, got picked. It didn't constantly happen like in Teek's case, but often enough, and specifically at his mine which he didn't even stake his claim for long. Rather stressful situations like this also happened to some Tse Gaiyan members. I know some of you are against them, but to a certain point, I almost felt like literally nearly everyone was. Being a Utasa, especially, I can understand why it no longer sounds apealing. Doing something against regulations of the guild is, in fact, alright to face consequences, but even if someone doesn't really do anything much, just being a utasa discoverable ic, that person is deemed shady by many. Some people are even quick to pick a utasa when it comes to certain times when they're just, well, there. If there're one hiding udemi and one hiding Utasa, Utasa gets picked first. I ask you, Who wouldn't do that? Imagine that you're that Utasa character and have to get picked like that every time. Is it fun for you?

And this is not to include that some, who knows if most, of these characters don't have "event flags" on. The original purpose of event flag is to tell that they play things casually or hardcore. Some people just come for fun. They probably have enough stress ooc already and all they want is comfort and enjoyment ic. This honestly happens to me, but at least I feel I can still face consequences to an extent without event flag on. But for some people, it's Clok that they come to avoid stress enough level of ooc conflicts, or who knows if they have internal conflicts going in their mind. But what they get out of their so called enjoyment is stress, because people don't seem to either leave them alone or not pick on them. They're targetted when they don't want, and they don't have enough mind for it. I know we all love fun and exciting stuff, but guys, don't forget it's not only characters that face the situations, feel and think. We, as players, think to. Thinking too much stresses us, not to say some certain stuff we wish never happened to our characters and are emotionally broken when we find it. What if the player already faces emotional challenges and is broken further by that?

I never say they're not at all for exciting events, even to stressful level, but then again, once in a while is fine, if not many.

I don't want to go much into details of what is what. It's better that affected characters step up and say for themselves, something I always, always want them to do. Usually when they have enough, they just say "OK you guys are all on me. I'm done." Therefore, as a headstart for those who are grieved upon by characters or by anything going on in the game world, it is indeed a good time. I would like to see more of you openly step up and say what's bothersome to you, rather than just call it done and walk away. No one knows what happened that troubled you, besides may be three four people you tell before quitting. I'd love to see it louder and more obvious, in a civil way of course, which I know you guys are and will be.

What I hate the most is seeing those I love and enjoy my time with so much go away. I've lost too many to name already. I always feel like being here in a home with everyone as my family, and am forced to watch my beloved family members walk away person after person. I wanna see less, or even no more of this happens, so Please guys, say something for yourself.

[Tamsin]

Good post.

Sometimes you have to take a step back and take a deep breath and rethink things so you don't get hurt feelings from IC stuff.

[Akila]

A well written post, Velrath. I'm one that got married to a player IRL that I met playing this game, so it will always be dear to me.

Artus, to address a few things you have said. Teek was not innocent by any means. He antagonised the Corvites constantly to the point some of us were getting OOC harassed by him. It was a cat and mouse game which ultimately led to myself and another taking an extended break. This guy was one of my best friends prior to me starting to play CLOK. Do I hold it against the guy? Not at all. He apologised to me recently and I still chat to him.

Prior to all this, before event flags were even a thing, I lost my house and everything Dakhal and I owned as a consequence to my actions. Was I upset? Most certainly. Did I rant and vent on chat? No. I did as Tamsin very well said. "Take a step back and take a deep breath and rethink things so you don't get hurt feelings from IC stuff." I then sent an email to the GMs explaining just why I was upset and received a very encouraging reply from them and I continued playing, getting some excellent RP from the event.

Let me move on to event flags. They are not something that absolves you from all consequences and RP. They are there to let the GM team know you are willing to be affected by CHARACTER CHANGING EVENTS such as becoming infested or tainted. If you don't want to be poked by the GMs, don't involve yourself. I have personally seen Jessiah try antagonise Lapis several times over ESP and his alts join in other events the GMs have run. To me, that suggests he wants to be involved in stuff. Perhaps the GMs misread the situation. They're only human and will make mistakes.

To address the Utasa, of course they will be mistrusted. They are known spies. It's like a thief revealing themselves. Would you trust either? I personally wouldn't and this is even with Akila being dear friends with one. This is a direct quote from the Utasa wiki: "Members may find themselves mistrusted by some characters, NPCs, and cities, and active storylines may cause tensions to rise or fall at any time" But people see a guild with locksmithing that is easy to get into and join it, again not thinking of the consequences or RP involved.

That said, people leave for many reasons. I semi-retired Akila because for me, her story was done. Tirya is retired because I just don't find the character fun anymore, through no-one's fault. I would personally advise anyone that is having a tough time contact the GM team. I have found the team very responsive if there is an issue. Maybe there is stuff happening from other players they just didn't see? How are they to know when they are doing so much to try include everyone? I appreciate all the activity recently, even if my character cannot enjoy it simply because I don't want to get involved in anything huge right now, but that is my choice, but I most certainly enjoy hearing about all the exploits and the chaos over ESP.

[artus]

I can't really say for anyone exactly and directly as much as I wish I could, because I don't know what upsets the player or what that said player, or should I say those, cause I don't know how many, get themselves into. What makes me uncomfortable, however, is seeing people leave with a rant, but not a detailed explanation. Taking a step back is right and nice. I do that myself sometimes. But really, I encourage anyone who really think they're being grieved upon, by characters or otherwise, to step up and say it. Don't just leave saying you guys are at me and I'm done. It doesn't explain anything as far as ranting goes, other than saying you're extremely upset, without even a single reason we can take note of. Even if there are obvious reasons, it's better for players to inform and us be informed, rather than just leaving it there and think people already know or can figure out what's wrong themselves.