I'd Like To Encourage

[FuSoYa]

I'm just saying it's more like power-gaming.  You're forcing the other PC into this situation they may or may not have otherwise put themselves into.

Hrmm... I'm not sure I agree though I do see how it could be construed as such.

I know personally when I've been in the position to hire PCs I'm rather scrupulous in who I bring on as it's a PAIN in the ass (read all caps PAIN) to bring on just mass quantities of PCs, get them situated and never see them again. 

There have been times where I've gone out of my way to bring in someone I can tell is BRAND new to Zalanthas and there have been times when it has paid off but I know I'm opening myself up to what could potentially be a LOT of work and a LOT of headache from a RL perspective.

That being said, I think I understand where you are coming from but the leaders who are nambly-pambly running about trying to hire anything that breathes walking around 'nak, Tuluk, or Luir's probably aren't going to inflate their clan in such a way.

So, get to know other PCs before hiring them.  Interviewing is a very nice thing and maybe even get another member to sponsor them and speak for them as a potential recruit to the clan. 

I don't know.  I like seeing new players in clans as it makes me think they are at least having the chance to get involved.

I remember when I made my first account long ago (can't even remember account name or anything) and started up a character I spent a few days wandering aimlessly through 'nak and then quit not to come back for another couple of years.  I wonder if I would have done the same if a Kadian Second hunter wouldn't have scooped up a short-lived noob of mine and introduced me that there was stuff going on.

Brandon

P.S.  Sorry to ramble.

[Cutthroat]

The tall, muscular man says, in sirihish:
     "That's a very interesting and exciting offer, <title of employer>, and I'll think about it."

There's really no way to be sure if a PC is new (you could say newbie clothes; I could recall how many people keep their newbie clothes for days). There is, however, an easy way to politely refuse an offer until you know exactly what you want to do.

[FuSoYa]

The tall, muscular man says, in sirihish:
     "That's a very interesting and exciting offer, <title of employer>, and I'll think about it."

There's really no way to be sure if a PC is new (you could say newbie clothes; I could recall how many people keep their newbie clothes for days). There is, however, an easy way to politely refuse an offer until you know exactly what you want to do.

AHH!

I just realized I didn't even read My2Sids post right!  I'm sorry, when you said new PCs I read that as new players.

So yes... I'm sorry about all that.

Brandon

[My 2 sids]

The tall, muscular man says, in sirihish:
     "That's a very interesting and exciting offer, <title of employer>, and I'll think about it."

There's really no way to be sure if a PC is new (you could say newbie clothes; I could recall how many people keep their newbie clothes for days). There is, however, an easy way to politely refuse an offer until you know exactly what you want to do.

How is there a polite way to respond to your betters declining such an obviously wonderful opportunity?     "that's peachy-keen you're offering myself and my loved ones blessings beyond our normal dreams, <title of employer>, but... I think we'll take our chances eaking out a life battling being eaten by dinosaur-sized monsters, unscrupulous murderers/thugs, and the uncertainty of not being able to afford water."  "No offense to your generous offer, of course."

[Gimfalisette]

Become paranoid, think they're setting you up, and run away screaming.

Have an internal belief that you're just not good enough, and decline, stating that at such time as you believe you've proved yourself, you'll come back and beg for a job.

Be so unworthy and/or disgusting during the interview that they don't want to hire you. Answer their questions wrong, violate social protocol because you're an idiot commoner who doesn't posses the niceties, blow your nose on your sleeve, fart. Confess to being unskilled and bad at previous jobs.

There are plenty of options. They're probably not going to PK you just because they don't hire you.

[Cutthroat]

The tall, muscular man says, in sirihish:
     "That's a very interesting and exciting offer, <title of employer>, and I'll think about it."

There's really no way to be sure if a PC is new (you could say newbie clothes; I could recall how many people keep their newbie clothes for days). There is, however, an easy way to politely refuse an offer until you know exactly what you want to do.

How is there a polite way to respond to your betters declining such an obviously wonderful opportunity?     "that's peachy-keen you're offering myself and my loved ones blessings beyond our normal dreams, <title of employer>, but... I think we'll take our chances eaking out a life battling being eaten by dinosaur-sized monsters, unscrupulous murderers/thugs, and the uncertainty of not being able to afford water."  "No offense to your generous offer, of course."

Don't you think you're stretching things a little bit?

-What if a person has gotten multiple offers?
-What if a person doesn't think they're good enough for the job (yet)?
-What if a person is never going to be good at that job?
-What if a person isn't comfortable around his betters?

There's -plenty- of reasons to decline an offer that is great. There are reasons people don't go to Harvard when they're accepted. There are reasons people donate their lottery winnings to charity. There are reasons to decline a posh Templar concubine, or Noble house guard position.

[jcljules]

Sometimes the job being offered just isn't what the player in question is interested in doing. Your dwarf warrior might be better off joining Tor, but you rolled him up to play a raider.

[FantasyWriter]

I've never hired anyone unless I had seen them around IG for two RL weeks or more.

That give them the time to decide what they want to do, and lets me know that they at lest half-way know how to stay alive.


I also usually gave them quests to accomplish before I would hire them officially:

Bring me three jozhal hides/10 really big pieces of alabaster/a simple silk dress of your own design.
Stuff like that.

[Aaron Goulet]

My take on things, plain and simple.  I'm certain I missed a bullet point or two, and will probably amend this list later.

In-character reasons for declining an offer for a prestigious position:

• Your character is afraid of making life-long commitments.
• Your character has an unnatural (or perhaps natural?) fear of authority figures.
• Your character has hidden interests that would come into conflict the obligations presented by said position.
• Your character feels that he or she is unworthy of such a position.
• Your character is already living comfortably without the tiny stipend of obsidian coins that most clans offer for wages (assuming wages are offered at all).  Often times, even the high cost of food and water does not offset the difference.
  Note: This is one of those things in the game that I consider to be "broken", because it is ultimately an IC dilemma that should not exist, but is nonetheless imposed by the coded workings of the game world itself.
• Your character is not cut out for the kind of work the position requires, and he or she knows it.
• Your character cannot be bothered by silly things like "schedules" and the like.

In-character reasons for accepting an offer for a prestigious position:

• Your character wants the honor and glory that comes with the job.
• Your character's talents may not be very useful outside of a clan.
• Your character may have a hidden agenda that may only be fulfilled by joining <insert clan here>.
• Your character enjoys the idea of free food and water, as well as a regular stipend (as small as it may be).

Out-of-character reasons for declining an offer for a prestigious position:

• You are an off-peak player, and thus rarely get to interact with your fellow clan-mates.
• You are thrown off by the "wages dilemma" mentioned above.
• Lack of good leadership within <insert clan here>.
• Being limited to a single location, such as a city-state or region (not always applicable).

Out-of-character reasons for accepting an offer for a prestigious position:

• RPTs!
• Clanned characters, as a general rule, tend to be more memorable.
• Presence of good leadership within <insert clan here>.
• Interacting with a regular group of people.

[Dar]

Your offer is generous. Extremely. I am honored. But ... if I'm to become your employ, I will need to put all of myself, all of my effort, all of my time, and all of dedication to make you glad that you've hired me. That ... is a big step. Please forgive me, I will need to think I'm capable of such a thing. Please give me a little time to consider this.  I imagine ... a choice like that, is done only once a lifetime. I need to make sure I am ready for such a thing. Thank you though ... I'll find your mind when I made the decision.

Laying in a little bit thick ... a LOT thick. But .. yeah.

[Cutthroat]

I'd like to encourage players of criminally-oriented characters to use the law enforcement to their advantage, instead of just seeing them as an enemy.

I'd like to encourage players involved in law enforcement to be open to bribing, asking for bribes, and threatening to throw some asses into prison if you don't get a bribe.

[Sandstone]

More characters with smallish mutations that they may hide (or not) depending on how they feel about them.

You know, things like an third nipple, oddly formed genitalia, a birthmark in the form of the symbol of drov on a buttock.

Go for the moderately freaky. Not the way out there.

[a strange shadow]

The buxom, gith-clitted maiden is standing here.

[hyzhenhok]

More characters with smallish mutations that they may hide (or not) depending on how they feel about them.

You know, things like an third nipple, oddly formed genitalia, a birthmark in the form of the symbol of drov on a buttock.

Go for the moderately freaky. Not the way out there.

>look human

This human has a freaky number of extra nipples.
He is currently naked.

<head> a bunch of nipples
<face> nipple-pimples
<neck> a collar of nipples
<chest> an extra nipple
<arms> nipples
<right hand> an extra nipple
<left hand> three extra nipples
<legs> so many nipples
<feet> nipples where his toenails should be

>feel revolted

[Sandstone]

Log on.

So much doesn't happen if the people involved aren't around. So many interactions can't take place without the other players. None of it happens if other players don't log onto their characters.

So just log on and play, okay?

[Aaron Goulet]

I would like to encourage players to focus on the substance of what they are trying to convey in their emotes, tdescs, and descriptions, rather than attempt to impress others with flowery (and often empty) prose that might better suited to poetry than literary fiction.  The reason I encourage this?  Because, despite our best intentions, the latter can sometimes come off as presumptuous and arrogant to our fellow players.

I am not encourging players to shorten their emotes or limit the use of their vocabulary; there lies great power in words when they are applied judiciously.  This is merely a friendly suggestion to keep in mind that your audience will likely have a greater appreciation for what you are trying to say if you omit the unecessary adjectives and clauses in your writings.

On a side note, you may notice that authors who subscribe to this principle tend to write best-sellers more often than their adjective-burdened peers.  There are exceptions to this rule, but such authors are typically masters of their art, or specialize in a genre that is more tolerant of showy prose.

[jcljules]

I second this. I tend to do really long emotes, but they are seldom 'flowery.' Usually I just describe a lot of different actions, in very simple words.

[Gargath]

I realize that many Imms have a 'hands off' approach but I would like to encourage more of them to take part in the RP aspect of Armageddon in regards to animating NPCs. Jump in a random commoner, bartender, pick a NPC you want to bring to life and have fun. Toss out a random room echo about the environment, spawn a cockroach or rat and have fun with it. I know it can have its drawbacks and restrictions (they are out to get me!), I've been on that side, but you guys really have such an awesome ability to bring the world to life.

There are a few Imms right now that seem to enjoy this and to them I give a huge kudos. My favorite part about being on staff was enhancing the experience for the players.

[jhunter]

One of my favorite times playing this game was when I had a pc locked up in Luir's and being held for a few RL days (that kinda sucked) and an imm took the time to run a cockroach that my lonely pc was interacting with in his cell.

[Aaron Goulet]

I realize that many Imms have a 'hands off' approach but I would like to encourage more of them to take part in the RP aspect of Armageddon in regards to animating NPCs. Jump in a random commoner, bartender, pick a NPC you want to bring to life and have fun. Toss out a random room echo about the environment, spawn a cockroach or rat and have fun with it. I know it can have its drawbacks and restrictions (they are out to get me!), I've been on that side, but you guys really have such an awesome ability to bring the world to life.

There are a few Imms right now that seem to enjoy this and to them I give a huge kudos. My favorite part about being on staff was enhancing the experience for the players.

I second this encouragement.  It's too IC to relay the specifics, but suffice it to say that an immortal rescently turned a "this is pretty cool" solo RP scene into an "OMFG WTF THIS IS AWESOME" scene for me.  I sent them a kudos.

[tortall]

More people to pay attention to FASHION.

In Tuluk, what is the most popular bard wearing? I know red and white are always in, but that gets BORING after a while. Follow the Kadian fashion!

And PLEASE don't get pissy at the Kadian or bard for turning up their nose at your clothes, or suggestion what might work better on you. That's how things are. Esp with a Kadian.

As for Nak.... Well, there's no more Fales to set the fashion trend and give commoners make-overs. No idea what to tell you guys. Hide in His Shadow. :-D

[Niamh]

I'd like to encourage people to take the virtual world more into consideration.  There may be no PCs in that tavern, but it's still chock full of NPCs and VNPCs.  There aren't any NPCs in that stretch of road between home and work, but the road is bustling with VNPC pedestrians.  So by all means, feel free to emote something like squeezing past that VNPC half-giant hunter who is ignoring your tiny human PC that is trying to get through the doorway, or stepping aside for a VNPC noble and his virtual entourage walking down the street.  Little things like that add to the flavor or your roleplay, and give you a little something extra to do when you're tooling around solo.

[Aaron Goulet]

What it (Niamh) said.

Also, I would like to encourage PCs to pick up hobbies or something to do during their downtimes, especially when (you think) you are alone.  I guarantee that this will make solo RP easier, and your character seem more rounded.

(And yes, solo RP is like masturbation, but who doesn't love masturbation?)

[Jdr]

Pickpockets. If you see me tottering about with my bag full of goods open, or coin in places you can access, take a chance! I promise, promise, promise I won't kill you. I won't even give much of a chase or demand a manhunt. I swear it.

If I'm being so insecure with my property, it means I'm deliberately doing it for the shadies. In fact, you should all assume this, of anyone. Not just me.

[musashi]

Pickpockets. If you see me tottering about with my bag full of goods open, or coin in places you can access, take a chance! I promise, promise, promise I won't kill you. I won't even give much of a chase or demand a manhunt. I swear it.

If I'm being so insecure with my property, it means I'm deliberately doing it for the shadies. In fact, you should all assume this, of anyone. Not just me.

Except the part about assuming that you won't give much of a chase or demand a manhunt, it's probably better not to assume that of everyone.