making raiding fair

[Krath]

I think You should stop worrying about what you
hear from other people, and have your own experience
and encounter to go off of jane.

[X-D]

Boggles.

So, your PC would rather be dead then lose a few coins or some goods? Things that can be replaced?

Really?

[jhunter]

Boggles.

So, your PC would rather be dead then lose a few coins or some goods? Things that can be replaced?

Really?

[a strange shadow]

No one's saying you need to have tea, but being willing to play out hostile encounters will go a lot further to making your character's story enjoyable than simply spamming flee e n e n e n. I mean, ultimately, you can't win at Armageddon, so you may as well have fun with it.

[musashi]

So in real life if someone pointed a weapon at your face, you'd realistically turn tail and try to run away from them or attack them?

Yes, and this is going to turn into a monty python script if we keep arguing about it. You would sit and have tea with your assailant? In the middle of the wilderness?

I think we're all here to interact and not a game of death tag.

That's fine but when your interaction is to take stuff from me or possibly kill me I do the same to you.

No. I'm never going to emote much with someone who is clearly out to rob me or kill me. Especially when I can get away or end the conflict very quickly.

(And from what I've heard in game this stuff rarely ends well for either party).

I think you're confusing "you" with "your character" and seem to be more worried about winning the game than trying to play a flesh and blood person within its framework. Sorry to say my man, but you're going to be in for some disappointment because the people saying that they would rather RP with you than just wtfpwn you ... have typically been around a really really long time and are likely more than capable of just wtfpwn'ing you even after you try to insta-flee from them.

I think you're destined to go through way more characters and frustration at having your ass kicked abruptly and without the ability to do anything about it ... than the people who stop and RP with someone who seems willing to do the same.

[Krath]

What Musashi said.

[janeshephard]

What Musashi said.

I'm not confusing anything with anyone. What sane person sits on their mount waiting for a raider to make them a deal?

Point in note: how can one always tell the difference between an NPC raider and a PC one? Why don't you start there and maybe you'll have a case for sitting around and emoting.

[jhunter]

What Musashi said.

I'm not confusing anything with anyone. What sane person sits on their mount waiting for a raider to make them a deal?

Point in note: how can one always tell the difference between an NPC raider and a PC one? Why don't you start there and maybe you'll have a case for sitting around and emoting.

The person that doesn't want to get their head chopped off as soon as they make a move. The npc will enter and insta-attack. Then you have no choice but to respond with code. Same as if the pc raider entered and insta-attacked. The difference is that most pc raiders won't enter and insta-attack you and expect to be treated in kind. If I enter a room with you to attempt to rp out a raid scene with you and you resort to code to avoid rp'ing out the scene at all, then I too will resort to code and your pc will end up dead instead of just robbed and you won't even have a good story to tell.

[musashi]

Don't get me wrong, if someone just walks into a room and starts spamming coded actions at you, then get the fuck out of there if you can. Don't worry about emoting. No one would expect you to.

No one is gonna be like: Awww that guy sucks. I walked in and immediately started casting 'mon un doom poop' at him and didn't even bother to throw out a few emotes about reacting to the smell, he just ran east!

But if someone walks in and starts to RP with you, RP'ing back is generally just considered the cool thing to do, and the raiding scenes ... are awesome! I've never been disappointed with being jumped out in the desert when RP was involved.

There was even a time when someone did do the "cheesy" raider thing and be like: GIMMIE EVERYTHING YOU OWN! ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!!!! I did.

It spawned a very cool mini-story of going around, training, finding friends, and kicking that dude's ass and taking all HIS shit about a RL month later.

[Lizzie]

Like it was said already, Jane: You're not defining "raider" how everyone else is defining it.

NPCs, unless animated by staff, will not raid you. NPCs (or mobs as they're called in MUD-ese) will try to kill you.

Being raided is NOT equal to being killed. Being raided is when some guy says "hands up and kick your boots over there! This is a stickup!" Being raided is NOT some guy showing up and killing you. That is being killed.

Raiders want your stuff. They don't want your life. If you, the player, can't fathom the idea of your character losing their stuff, then don't ever use a clan's locker, don't ever leave the city, don't ever leave your close circle of friends, don't ever rent an apartment. Don't own anything, in fact. Make sure that everything you possess, is someone else's property. I suggest a slave role.

Your characters WILL lose shit, Jane. They'll lose their things, they'll have their apartments robbed and looted, they'll have their lives threatened, they'll have their pockets picked, and they'll have their friends murdered. And, ultimately, they will lose their lives.

Such is the nature of this game. I personally recommend you learn to love it, embrace it, see it from the perspective of a challenge NOT to win, but to participate in.

When you do that, you'll "get" Armageddon. Til then, you just don't get it.

[Jingo]

Slight Derail:

Grovelling to power is probably an even bigger theme in this game than the three word tag-line. Considering the long list of entities that could destroy you (character you) if so wished, this is a very good thing.

Expect to die a lot until you get out of the win or die mentality. Because, on the other hand, if you can't beat 'em, you can always suck ass.

[Gimfalisette]

Grovelling to power is probably an even bigger theme in this game than the three word tag-line. Considering the long list of entities that could destroy you (character you) if so wished, this is a very good thing.

Expect to die a lot until you get out of the win or die mentality. Because, on the other hand, if you can't beat 'em, you can always suck ass.

QFMFT. I don't care what role you are playing, there is groveling involved--from the loftiest templar or noble down to the grubbiest newbie Byn runner. Part of playing smart is, in fact, knowing when and to whom to grovel. All of my most badass PCs have had moments where they have simply had to break down and beg, or make a deal, for their lives.

And I love it, and wouldn't change a thing about it.

[staggerlee]

So in real life if someone pointed a weapon at your face, you'd realistically turn tail and try to run away from them or attack them?

Yes, and this is going to turn into a monty python script if we keep arguing about it. You would sit and have tea with your assailant? In the middle of the wilderness?

I think we're all here to interact and not a game of death tag.

That's fine but when your interaction is to take stuff from me or possibly kill me I do the same to you.

No. I'm never going to emote much with someone who is clearly out to rob me or kill me. Especially when I can get away or end the conflict very quickly.

(And from what I've heard in game this stuff rarely ends well for either party).

You're really only hurting yourself. Tense or frightening situations are where roleplay is the most fun. Roleplay is why we're here, don't forget about it when the game is at it's best!
Wandering the desert, I solo rp like a motherf#&*@r; if I stopped as soon as another pc showed up... well that'd be kind of ass-backwards, wouldn't it?

I think you're suffering from a common misconception about this game: that "rp" means tavern sitting and sipping cocktails while chatting about make believe events, and that it stops when we start hacking things up with swords or running for our lives. Once you can see the game in a more holistic(?) manner it will start to make more sense, and be a lot more fun.

[Gunnerblaster]

I'm not confusing anything with anyone. What sane person sits on their mount waiting for a raider to make them a deal?

Point in note: how can one always tell the difference between an NPC raider and a PC one? Why don't you start there and maybe you'll have a case for sitting around and emoting.

People play for the interaction. So, even if in real life, you'd run - You'd still go through a variety of expressions, fears, thoughts and gestures. So why not let your character express the same emotions?

And, in all honesty, if someone pulled a gun on you in RL and you turned and ran, you'd be dumb and very dead since bullets run much faster then people. In a case where someone pulled a gun on you, it'd be relatively intelligent to just to try talking to them - See what they want. If they open up on you, you never had much chance, anyways.

People who ride up to you in the desert aren't going to say, "Har! I'm a raider!" (if they are, indeed, raiders). If their clever, they'll befriend you long enough just to get you vulnerable - Then they rob/kill you.

And, staggerlee pretty much said anything else I would of thought relevant.

[Rhyden]

I don't really have much to say that hasn't already been said, but it seems like janeshepard is making the slow transition between the h&s mindset and the true quality of rp that only this game encourages. And everyone goes through this phase, believe me. Everyone. There's some older players who don't even shake it, who don't really get that sense of rp.

With that said, do whatever you want to do janeshepard. Emote, don't emote, whatever - all that really matters is you play your character the way you think they should be played. You may find different consequences for different actions you make, and you're going to find that the learning curve around Armageddon is very steep because of it.

Other than that, my only advice is to take things slow and at your own pace, and stop every once in a while to smell the roses.

[Malken]

I don't really have much to say that hasn't already been said, but it seems like janeshepard is making the slow transition between the h&s mindset and the true quality of rp that only this game encourages. And everyone goes through this phase, believe me. Everyone. There's some older players who don't even shake it, who don't really get that sense of rp.

I'm still at that stage, 15 years later!

I'm almost there, I swear!

I wrote my first "think" like, two weeks ago.. Sure, I threw up after for like an hour, but that was worth it.

[KankWhisperer]

Yes, and this is going to turn into a monty python script if we keep arguing about it. You would sit and have tea with your assailant? In the middle of the wilderness?

I would. Riding up to someone who may be a raider and chatting with them or acting as if they are of no danger breaks their spirit. They wonder why is this guy/girl not scared of me. They just kind of look at you and you can ride off or they may get distance to shoot at you. Whatever.

[valeria]

You would sit and have tea with your assailant? In the middle of the wilderness?

Probably not tea.  Maybe a glass of wine 

[musashi]

Yeah, carry no weapons and wear no armor ... just a bunch of trinket like crap ... and offer the raider some ginka fruit.

Go on to talk about how the reason ginka fruit is so sweet is because the ginka makes its fruit by killing and eating other creatures ... so in a way, it tastes so good because you're eating what was once the life essence of another living soul.

That will probably scare most raiders enough to get the fuck away from you 

[staggerlee]

You would sit and have tea with your assailant? In the middle of the wilderness?

Probably not tea.  Maybe a glass of wine 

Don't write anything off as absurd too quickly!  Perhaps your assailant is a very intelligent and sophisticated man:


^{But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.}

[musashi]

Truely you have a dizzing intellect.

[valeria]

Don't write anything off as absurd inconceivable too quickly!  Perhaps your assailant is a very intelligent and sophisticated man:

Fixed!

[path]

The title of this post had us in stitches.

Well done.

[Thistle]

I'm locking this. The horse has been beaten and I don't want to see this turn into a flame war.