What are your reasons?

[mattrious]

In the interest of not derailing a thread I thought I would go ahead and start a new discussion in regards to the reasons people play Armageddun MUD. I also want to give everyone a gentle reminder that while Armageddon is a role-playing game, that is not the reason everyone plays.

I remember a few years ago everyone was real big into proclaiming what their 'Gaming Percentage' was via the Bartle Test.

People had signatures declaring that they were Explorers, Socializers or even Killers. I'm not going to cast any stones and say that any single person is playing this game for the wrong reasons and they need to fix it. I just want to make sure everyone understands that while our PCs might be mindless-drones that have to deal with us walking them off the shield wall, the players behind those PCs are not. Everyone is playing for their own reasons, regardless if they realize it or not.

So let's not sit here and bash each other because one person is looking at the coded aspect of the game more than the other. I hate to break it to you guys but if the staff did not want the code to be an integral part of the game - they would of made Armageddon a MUSH. Please don't confuse me with someone who is championing a power-gaming / twinking cause. Because, I'm certainly not. I just want to remind everyone that people play this game for a variety of different reasons and try to keep that in mind when interacting with them on the forums.

EDIT:

Oh and on a side-note: KESA!!!

[Dakota]

It's fun.

But maybe it's my english but I'm trying to figure out what the point of the past two paragraphs were.

[number13]

I'm all for twinking up my skills; I'll even call it twinking.  My characters don't live long enough for me to actively enjoy the grind up from zero, and yet, it's nice to be able to code-wise do /something/ to supplement and support an RPed role.

That said, I don't understand wtf the OP is complaining about.  I don't see any great movement on the GDB against the use and training of coded skills.

[NOFUN]

The main reason I play armageddon mud over all the others is because of how rare OOC communication is, compared to the others which have chat channels where you regularly see people OOCLY circle-jerking and discussing IG events.   After playing new worlds I appreciate how valuable OOC silence is.

I also love how dedicated the staff is, in some games I've played over the past you'd be expected to do something exceptional before getting something custom made because it was time consuming for the staff, I remember there was one game where you'd be asked for a IRL donation for a description change. And the brutality, oh I love it. I love how a player's character isn't an unstoppable god that can pwn an entire city, even with maxxed out skills. I love how the nobility system is enforced, where a commoner cannot talk to a noble as an equal unlike some of the other games I've played.

On the other side of the coin, I strongly dislike the PC level caps, where as on some of the other games I've seen a player could play as royalty and start a war if he/she really wanted too. Was certainly more interesting then tek and utep who rarely do anything.

[Barsook]

It helps my English because it's a second language for me (Russian is my first).   Also, it helps me to creatively write better.  Lastly, it's FUN!!!

These are my main reasons why I play.

[EldritchOrigins]

When I did play, I enjoyed the complete immersion of the game.  I liked discovering the "secrets" that everyone tries to discover.  I say liked/did because I don't play any more, I'm just a GDB addict now (it's one of the stages of Arm addiction recovery).

[mattrious]

It's fun.

But maybe it's my english but I'm trying to figure out what the point of the past two paragraphs were.

As stated in that first sentence. I created this thread so I would not derail another. If you're having issues comprehending the english language then I would a suggest possibly picking up Rosetta Stone. I hear that shit is amazing.

I'm all for twinking up my skills; I'll even call it twinking.  My characters don't live long enough for me to actively enjoy the grind up from zero, and yet, it's nice to be able to code-wise do /something/ to supplement and support an RPed role.

That said, I don't understand wtf the OP is complaining about.  I don't see any great movement on the GDB against the use and training of coded skills.

I did not realize my post came across as a complaint? I'm just simply stating people need to quit bitching, moaning, and giving people a hard time on the GDB because they have a problem with the way someone is playing the game.

[Majikal]

I love roleplay and I love your average console rpg. I love gaming. I twink skills, I don't do so in an unrealistically, game-breaking, immersion-slashing fashion but I do rarely log in and do nothing skill related. This game is a great mix of roleplay and skills. I play for both. It's fun.

My biggest reason for playing is some of the great writers we have and the wonderful adrenaline rushes you get in certain occasions.

[Taven]

In the interest of not derailing a thread I thought I would go ahead and start a new discussion in regards to the reasons people play Armageddun MUD.

I'm curious what thread you're trying to avoid derailing, as this will provide reference for the rest of us. Could you maybe provide a link or talk more about what inspired this thread?

I'm all for twinking up my skills; I'll even call it twinking.  My characters don't live long enough for me to actively enjoy the grind up from zero, and yet, it's nice to be able to code-wise do /something/ to supplement and support an RPed role.

That said, I don't understand wtf the OP is complaining about.  I don't see any great movement on the GDB against the use and training of coded skills.

I did not realize my post came across as a complaint? I'm just simply stating people need to quit bitching, moaning, and giving people a hard time on the GDB because they have a problem with the way someone is playing the game.

I think what's being said is that he's not sure why you're suddenly stating people need to stop giving others a hard time about things, because he hasn't noticed any particular difference on the GDB lately. He's not sure what you're reacting to.

I remember a few years ago everyone was real big into proclaiming what their 'Gaming Percentage' was via the Bartle Test.

People had signatures declaring that they were Explorers, Socializers or even Killers. I'm not going to cast any stones and say that any single person is playing this game for the wrong reasons and they need to fix it. I just want to make sure everyone understands that while our PCs might be mindless-drones that have to deal with us walking them off the shield wall, the players behind those PCs are not. Everyone is playing for their own reasons, regardless if they realize it or not.

Links are your friend! For those of you that were curious like I was, this is the Bartle Test.

Also, I wanted to say that while you probably didn't mean it this way, I don't think of my PC as a mindless drone. You're trying more to say, I think, that without the player the PC is nothing, but it came across more to me as saying that PCs are flat and "unreal". This is something that is a bit of a writer thing. Sometimes writers insist that without them, their characters are nothing. Others feel as if their characters are so real, they're just there to bring that reality to life. My PCs tend to feel very, very real to me. I feel as if I could meet and converse with my PCs, because the good ones tend to be as real and complex as actual people.

So let's not sit here and bash each other because one person is looking at the coded aspect of the game more than the other. I hate to break it to you guys but if the staff did not want the code to be an integral part of the game - they would of made Armageddon a MUSH. Please don't confuse me with someone who is championing a power-gaming / twinking cause. Because, I'm certainly not. I just want to remind everyone that people play this game for a variety of different reasons and try to keep that in mind when interacting with them on the forums.

I think that the proper tool for complaint tends to be the player complaint option. However, I also know that this can seem a bit overmuch at times. Sometimes it doesn't seem worth it to do a full player complaint. At other times, the PC you think is being poorly RPed is one that your character is at odds with, and thus it's awkward to make a player complaint. There's no real way to provide "mild criticism" to players. These can be worked into kudos, sometimes, but there's no specific option for constructive criticism on role-play. Sadly, this sort of thing can lead to angry and frustrated GDB posts that don't really help anyone. At times our frustrations with the game can lead us to assume the worst about our fellow players. I don't think it's bad to offer everyone a reminder to relax a little, but I can see where the frustration is coming from, and I'm not immune to it either.

Code is an important part of the game. However, I think it's easy to rely too much on code. Relying too much on role-play doesn't really hurt anyone (though it can make for some really weird emote battles over, say, vNPCs), but if someone relies too much on code, it can hurt people. It's really frustrating when you spend X amount of time on a PC, working on role-playing them out fully, and also working to advance their skills, and someone who has been around 1/3 of X is able to completely own them, because they had a far more skill oriented approach. Now, that approach can be completely warranted, and it can definitely just be a different of player experience (player #2 might simply know how to better use the code to advance further, but be doing the same amount of role-play), but it can still lead to a lot of frustration on the part of player #1. I think there can be a tendency for people in the position of player #1 to then have frustrations, which they may bring to the GDB, about their experience.

Generally, the GDB tends to go in cycles, as the famous GDB Hate Cycle shows. There may be a trend lately to push back against people who use lots of code. However, before you know it the GDB will have moved on to something else. The GDB can be a great community tool, and we discuss a lot of great things on it, but it also gets a lot of complaints on it. I don't think that will ever really change, but it is, as always, a case of "be the change you want to see". If enough people commit to not complaining, then it will happen. That's not to say, however, that people shouldn't bring up things that they think are an issue. It's a very fine line to walk.

I think this is a long post, and I'm only sort of on topic.

Why do I play Armageddon?

I play Armageddon because it allows me to write, but write in a way that allows for interaction with others, and in a way that contributes to a world. I play Armageddon because it inspires my other writing. I play it because it's gritty, it's harsh, it's a fully fleshed out world that is real. I play because I like seeing where my PCs will go, and I like watching them develop and interact with others. I like that the characters I have here seem real; that they're real enough I will sometimes cry when they die. I play for the moments where you tell yourself "one more hour" and when you look at the clock again it's 7 AM. I play because I enjoy both the freedom of role-play, and the strong sense of reality that is imposed by code. I play because this is the most enjoyable game I've ever encountered, even though it can be incredibly frustrating at times.

Also, it's crackageddon. What choice do I have? 

[Erythil]

Because my life is so pathetic that pretending to be other people is an excellent and entertaining form of escapism.

[stark]

Like some of you, I'm an escapism junkie, and usually MUDs offer you a chance to "be" or "do" things you are unable to "do" or "be" in RL.

[Kismetic]

Since my first Star Wars 2nd Edition d6 in 1992, I've been hooked on roleplaying, building game worlds and making these experiences enjoyable for others.  It's been one of my constant hobbies, even if I get burned out and put it down for months at a time.  

I first discovered MUDing about 12 years ago, when I was playing DnD with buddies in high school.  A completely unrelated friend turned me on to a weed dealer (I didn't start smoking pot until I was 18), and me and this guy happened to get on the topic of fantasy, and it turned out -he- was also into DnD, and had, in fact, six years earlier at the same high school, had a similar group going on.  Then, when what started as a simple "sample, pay and go," became a lengthy discussion about roleplay, and pointed with, "Have you ever heard of MUDing?"  

I'd already been RPing online in chat rooms, so the concept was vaguely familiar to me, but I -loved- how you could basically quickly and efficiently detail the events of a tabletop session from the comfort of your home.  I played a DnD MUD, WoT MUD, and even a pay-to-play called DragonRealms.  I actually logged on Armageddon back then, but thought it was empty because no one had names, ahaha!

An old girlfriend turned me back onto Armageddon, and I'll admit that although I liked many things about it, especially permadeath, the world itself was too foreign to me (DarkSun was not one of the campaigns we played, unfortunately).  I kept coming back, though, and to date, I've honestly never found another MUD to rival it, and that is based on playerbase, staff, code and realm.  Kudos to all.

Cheers.

[mattrious]

I'm curious what thread you're trying to avoid derailing, as this will provide reference for the rest of us. Could you maybe provide a link or talk more about what inspired this thread?

Well, in general I was stating a personal observation that I've noticed in the various Armageddon discussion forums. Code, Ask The Players, GDB, and so on. Though, the last thread that I was looking over here in the general discussion area was this:

http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/topic,41331.0.html

I'll reference the interaction between MEtekkillot and Cindy42 - which in turn was eventually squashed by Nyr. Though, my post was not specific to that actual thread - that is just an example of what I'm speaking on.

As you assisted me with the GDB Hate Cycle - it kind of indicates our fellow players bickering amongst each other for one reason or another. I think when people understand that there are numerous reasons and motives people are playing Armageddon for, that there will be less bickering amongst the player base:

http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/topic,31255.msg558782.html#msg558782

Links are your friend! For those of you that were curious like I was, this is the Bartle Test.

Also, I wanted to say that while you probably didn't mean it this way, I don't think of my PC as a mindless drone. You're trying more to say, I think, that without the player the PC is nothing, but it came across more to me as saying that PCs are flat and "unreal". This is something that is a bit of a writer thing. Sometimes writers insist that without them, their characters are nothing. Others feel as if their characters are so real, they're just there to bring that reality to life. My PCs tend to feel very, very real to me. I feel as if I could meet and converse with my PCs, because the good ones tend to be as real and complex as actual people.

I'm just simply trying to remind people that everyone plays for different reasons. While you might not think your PCs are mindless drones. I take on the belief that they are really nothing until I help bring them to life. While, I'm sure it helps with your role-playing to assume that they are real people that you're merely sliding into and taking over that feels a bit more abrupt to myself. It is easier for me to get into character when I think that my PCs are really nothing until the man behind the curtain begins to pull the strings.

I'm not really going to touch on the rest of your post as it does veer a little bit off the original topic. Again, I am not complaining nor am I trying to scold anyone in particular. I think it can never hurt to be reminded that not everyone does not take the same approach to a game as you.

[Dakota]

It's fun.

But maybe it's my english but I'm trying to figure out what the point of the past two paragraphs were.

If you're having issues comprehending the english language then I would a suggest possibly picking up Rosetta Stone. I hear that shit is amazing.

No need to be a putz.

I'm just simply stating people need to quit bitching, moaning, and giving people a hard time on the GDB because they have a problem with the way someone is playing the game.

This was all that was needed.

[mattrious]

It's fun.

But maybe it's my english but I'm trying to figure out what the point of the past two paragraphs were.

If you're having issues comprehending the english language then I would a suggest possibly picking up Rosetta Stone. I hear that shit is amazing.

No need to be a putz.

I'm just simply stating people need to quit bitching, moaning, and giving people a hard time on the GDB because they have a problem with the way someone is playing the game.

This was all that was needed.

No need for name calling.

Though, would you not admit that your original statement was a bit abrasive? I felt like it was pretty obvious the message I was attempting to convery.

I simply looked at your profile and noticed that your current location is: Prague, Czech Republic. So, I just assumed you were Czech and English was not your first language. That is why I suggested Rosetta Stone. Just trying to be helpful to someone who might have trouble understanding the English language. I hear it's a tough one to grapple.

[chrisdcoulombe]

I must like swift deaths.

No seriously, the role play is awesome.  I enjoy that when you fail it can cost you your life.  I like how you can do anything and although some things are restricted they can be handled with good role play.  I love the tension you feel when in a dangerous situation.  I enjoy the fact that you can build ig relationships with other pcs and accomplish large tasks by working together.  I like how everyone stays in character .  


I never played another mud before a couple years ago.  I have tried other muds and there is a lot of OOC chatter in many of them.  I played d&d as a kid and a few others like shadow run, star wars and oh yeah Call of Cthulu.  Arm is like that except instead of 4 or 5 people sitting around the table 40 or 50 people are sitting around the table.

Once I got hooked I haven't wanted to stop.

[number13]

Though, would you not admit that your original statement was a bit abrasive?

Actually, I think you're the only one in this thread being abrasive, and I'm still not sure why.

Whatever.

[Intrepid237]

Why do I play? To swag on muthah fuckas.

[Cindy42]

I love developing my character emotionally and mentally. I've become more open-minded, more close-minded, and stayed the same before. The trick is living long enough for such a transformation to take place. This tops exploring for me. see as follows:

Reasons to play:
1. rping
2. character development
3. exploring

Dealing with the dangers of off-peak:
1. Hiding and watching people (if I am capable)
2. Code skilling (for as long as it doesn't bore me out of my mind)
3. Walking around aimlessly

I just saw my name in this thread, in reference to something that got squashed by staff. Is it serious? I'm sorry if I did something bad, and if someone was hating I don't remember and don't care. who cares about someone that walks up to them and starts berating on them for using the word grey instead of gray when they were referring to something red, especially when it happens every third time you post on the GDB? Just stay cool, and the world will follow you like you're a sexy lamp.

Come to rpts!

[Taven]

I just saw my name in this thread, in reference to something that got squashed by staff. Is it serious? I'm sorry if I did something bad, and if someone was hating I don't remember and don't care. who cares about someone that walks up to them and starts berating on them for using the word grey instead of gray when they were referring to something red, especially when it happens every third time you post on the GDB? Just stay cool, and the world will follow you like you're a sexy lamp.

There's a link to the thread that he's referring to in his post. In that thread you made a comment:

for merchant types, I imagine being a half-elf looking human gives somewhat better wisdom and they don't need to get worried over not being able to be hired. Kind of not much motivation to create a full-blooded human, especially if your character doesn't need to know they're not halfy.

This caused some people to make some comments that caused Nyr to post:

"don't pick on players on the GDB."

Sorry for the slight derail, everyone. Please continue.

[Kismetic]

... and the world will follow you like you're a sexy lamp.

As a coiner of phrases, I'm digging this one.

/derail

[boog]

Fast paced, nitty gritty, less OOC bullshit than in other games, or at least, I've stayed away from it and haven't seen it.

Yep.

[maxid]

Though, would you not admit that your original statement was a bit abrasive? I felt like it was pretty obvious the message I was attempting to convery.

I didn't find it abrasive, s/he was confused by your wording is all.  Relax bro, s/he wasn't out to pick on you or be a dick.  I found your 'lol get Rosetta Stone' comment to be far more abrasive. (I don't want to derail or start a fight, just pointing out that it's likely perception on your end, rather than him/her attempting to pick a fight.)

As for why I play Armageddon.

1. It's the only RPI with actual coded consequences for messing up that I am aware of, that isn't based on Tolkein.  I MUSH as well, and the Rp tends to be a bit deeper there (NOT that this place lacks deep Rp, but there is more of a focus on it on a MUSH, in my opinion, due to the lack of coded grinds,) but this game is faster paced, and a fight to the death takes 5 minutes, not 5 hours, allowing for quicker resolution.

2. The politics here can be insanely fun, when you have people who also enjoy playing that game.  But, they kinda suck if nobody else is into it.

[musashi]

I love roleplay and I love your average console rpg. I love gaming. I twink skills, I don't do so in an unrealistically, game-breaking, immersion-slashing fashion but I do rarely log in and do nothing skill related. This game is a great mix of roleplay and skills. I play for both. It's fun.

My biggest reason for playing is some of the great writers we have and the wonderful adrenaline rushes you get in certain occasions.

+1

I play for the exact same reasons Majikal does. Although I'd toss in a bit of GDB addiction too. I like chatting on the forums just as much as I like playing.

[BleakOne]

I enjoy the RPing, I like how the coded nature allows some things to remains out of the player's control just to keep things feeling 'real', I like the quality of the other players, and I like the dedication of the staff to making it even more fun.

Oh, I also like how everything isn't known by everyone, and how the world is so freakin' huge and dangerous.

I dislike permadeath when it happens (don't we all?) but think in the end it is what keeps the game fun. Able to start fresh, with the slate wiped clean. Got to make new friends, don't have to worry about old enemies, and find a new way to survive in the game world.