Game Play Questions.

[Bobzurunkl]

I agree with both those points. We are still learning the mechanics of permissions and the like so I can see how these would be a real boon to a group working together.

 

[GamerMom]

Thank you to everyone who is contributing to this discussion, most sincerely. I really appreciate the opportunity to hear your comments as it helps me to better understand the dynamics of the online gaming environment so that I can avoid misunderstandings and be a better player.

What would be the point in being on this server as a mod if you only do moderation?

Well, I probably should have clarified that much better. Yeah, I totally see what you mean about the boredom factor and obviously all of our mods are here because they love the game! I also did not mean to imply that any of our mods are less than professional in any way. It was more of a ponder about roles and teamwork…that sort of thing. Thinking about different models and how they would work in a server environment. Maybe a mod team of infrastructure builders. Maybe mods should all have towns, to offer a selection of places a noob can go for protection and guidance/orientation. Maybe none should. I dunno. I honestly don’t know if mods belonging to player towns is a problem or not….I’m just interested in what works, what doesn’t, what kind of setup makes a better play environment for everyone. Maybe having mod members in a player town is an encouragement to new players to join that town, but that is only a contentious issue if you aim to increase your own town’s population. So obviously the ‘best’ set-up for any server is gonna depend on a lot of other elements of what is being done in the game and how it is being played by that particular community. Thanks for sharing your experiences with moderation; I am really sorry to hear that you and doomkitten encountered such rude treatment.

defining the actions in game as "in character" and "personal/professional" isn't a very good idea in my opinion mostly for the fact that unless you're acting in a movie your "character" is almost always based 95% on what you personally think and do

Bobz explained very well why this is kind of a new consideration for us. Attributes! We are totally accustomed to think and act ‘in character’ with our FRP’ing so it is just natural to us to apply it to MC as well. But I can see how that would be an alien idea if a player has not come from that kind of character-development driven gaming. Again, thanks for expanding my perspective. This kinda ties back into the point about mods and maybe I should make a point here about what I mean by conflict of interest. Again I am not implying any lack of professionalism. But if there are no attributes to base character actions on and they are determined, as you say, by personal desires and goals, then doesn’t that leave mods in an ongoing decision process about what to base their actions on? I don’t mean outright rules violations etc, I just mean game play in general. No doubt I will come to understand this better through further experience.

Xarida, thanks for adding your comments about your experiences. I know we all desire a server where we can play joyfully and comfortably together, and I really hope that this discussion will allow us to address the issues that may inhibit that. I’m sorry to hear you have an absent member, and I hope that situation will be resolved. And I am also mighty curious about your misdemeanors, musta been bad, Tim’s pretty lax. ;-)

This is one of the reasons why I think nations are a good thing - out side of a role play environment.

Yes, I see your point about that. Totally love watching mobs disappear when they wander into my town, too. Sometimes I stand near the gate and taunt them. J

 

[GamerMom]

I appreciate… with your points, especially those about the character driven moves. I don't , personally, know anyone who plays that way and isn't influenced by their own personal thoughts.

Let me tell you a story Fay, about a thief named Trace….

Trace was played by a member of our old gaming gang, who played together on and off in various forms for well over a decade. He was a well-developed character, at least 5 or 6 years old, he led every expedition our party went on as our chief trap-spotter/diffuser and general sneak. He owned many valuable artifacts which were quite crucial to our extremely detailed and extensive game lore, not to mention tons of character knowledge and campaign history which resided in his pea-sized, but shrewd, brain. He was frequently annoying, rather impish and incredibly valuable to our party.

Then came ‘the night.’

Our Saturday night gaming sessions often extended well into the wee hours of the morning and were very intense. That night, we had played for many hours, had many adventures, ate too many snacks and were generally crawling towards the conclusion of our evening tired and worse-for-wear. We never left off in a dungeon or in the middle of a storyline but always played through to a logical stop point.

So there we were, trying to get out of this god-forsaken dungeon which was already filling in about 2x3 feet on a small scale grid map. Running into door after door and several detours. We went through our routine countless times- check the door, listen for monsters, proceed with caution etc etc. But we were getting closer to the exit. Another damn door appeared in front of us. A French door. Argh!

We were told we could hear scratching noises. There was a slight smell of sulphur in the air. The sounds of metal plates clinking together.

Shoulda been obvious, right?

We approach the door, Trace leading the pack. DM (Bobz) asks; “What do you do?”

The imp came out. In a rare, but not unprecedented move, Trace’s player blurts out: “I grab the handle and open the door.”

Complete stunned silence for a full second. Then every eye goes to the player. And then to the DM.

“o-kaaaay. Do you check for traps?”

Player swallows hard. Replies through gritted teeth: “I didn’t say I did, so no.” All player eyes back and forth like a tennis match at this point. Long pause.

It’s kinda a haze after that. Trace whips open the top half of the door. The large and vicious dragon waiting behind it gives a great snort and flames burst forth.

DM: “Please make a saving roll.”

Our last hope. Perhaps he is just…injured. We have high XP healers and magicians. We can practically raise the dead. Practically.

Percentile dice are produced. Player makes the roll. Approximately an hour passes while we sit with held breath waiting for the dice to travel from his hand to the table.

100. FFS!!!

And without further ado…Trace, our protector, informer and most useful character…is sawed in half and lying in pieces on the floor.

Gone. Gone forever. *sniff*

Not one word was spoken about reversing the roll. Not one player suggested that we, as players, interfere with the character actions. It was a sad night and everyone was quite quiet as they departed. But it was one of the most memorable gaming sessions I have ever experienced.

So that’s what attribute, character-driven gaming is like, friends.



Thanks again to all for helping us with our understanding.

 

[Mr_MoonPie]

i've been away a while....
is gonna take me some time to read all this....

 

[Stabington]

That was a lot of text to catch up with! As for me, I tend to take the simpler approach to these matters.
I think of Towny as nothing but a tool. It help with community building, border placement, RP, grief prevention, and so on. But in my base (if you can even call it that) I have decided to not use Towny at all because it's just not useful to me. We have a rule stating "NO GRIEFING ALLOWED", and that includes buildings on unclaimed land.
If it was up to me, Towny would not even be on the server. It divides the community and it creates arbitrary limits, breeding scenarios such as this. I'd say, whoever is first to build inside an area, has the "rights" to keep it as it is.

I do not take sides in these scenarios. Just sharing my view.

 

[GamerMom]

Heya Sat, thanks for the reply. I see what you mean about Towny, it has both good points and bad. This has got me thinking a lot about plugins and what their actual purpose is and how they affect play. I don't have enough experience to know which plugins inherently create problems, but I certainly agree that Towny changes the dynamic.

I suppose any plugin that is more complicated than a simple utility changes the nature of the game. And quite likely in different ways depending on the community. It must be a very fine line indeed to find the right balance of plugins that enhances the play without creating opportunity for conflict. Quite a lot must come down to interpretation and mutual consent within the community about how the tools are used.

For example, I like your idea that whoever develops and area is entitled to it. But then there is still an implied need for some agreement on what 'developed/built' means. To give an extreme example, by those rules a player could build a series of sod huts and claim the area is 'developed.' Which would obviously be stretching the intention of the guideline, but then the RP could come in and the player could argue that they are building a tribal village or a pioneer town etc.

Here's a non-political example: The twins don't like chestshop. They think people should just be able to set up shops with an honour-system payment chest. We talked about why chestshop or something similar is required when playing with a broader community than just our own family and RL friends. So chestshop is a useful tool. BUT atm, none of my chests are working and I haven't figured out why yet. So our useful tool has become a problem to solve.

I am really hopeful that this thread is NOT about 'taking sides.' As I said before, I totally believe that we all want the same thing- a fun and joyful place to build, play and encourage each other and share some laughs. It is my desire to avoid these types of misunderstandings in the future and perhaps by better understanding these dynamics I will be better able to achieve that.

And hey sorry about all those wordz! lol I was an English major so I am prolly pretty wordy to start with. University papers, work reports, homeschool documentation, grants applications.....these and more are examples of the kind of writing we have been accustomed to. I grew up keeping in touch with my distant cousins with 2 page snail mail letters. Yes! Handwritten, too! Such dinosaurs. ;-)

Thanks for sharing the benefit of your experience and observations.