Do you feel the love?

[a french mans shirt]

I really like how karma doesn't steal all the cool stuff and make it unreachable; it is perfectly reachable; so if you don't particularly want karma but you want magick, sorcery, muls and psions, you don't ever have to think about karma ever again, and just go play where the crazy is and get yourself involved.

One thing I would fix would be an ability to replay to closed requests so I can tell whoever it was that replied to my last request that they are a damn genius.

A game that allows you to play out the fantasy of being a dwarf who will do anything to anyone and their mother in order to get a full-body suit of human skin is a winner in my book.

[Zoltan]

The sting and pain of permadeath are balanced by some very thoughtful messages from staff when needed, in my experience.

My favorite from-staff message came after the death of a beloved PC of mine during an HRPT. It was basically "lol, I killed you pretty good right there" and "you'll never have a PC that awesome again!" It was a nice capstone to a good run. Then again, I practically cheered when that PC died since I couldn't have hoped for a better way to go. The personal touch is definitely appreciated, though I do like the automated response as well. I don't know, I feel like it adds some dark humor to the whole thing. I think it's definitely better than nothing.

I just remind myself that every ending is a new beginning, but then again I'm practically a serial PC storer, so maybe I'm just used to it.

[Zoan]

I love everything (except them fucking too-lucks).

[Wastrel]

same

[Morrolan]

The sting and pain of permadeath are balanced by some very thoughtful messages from staff when needed, in my experience.

My favorite from-staff message came after the death of a beloved PC of mine during an HRPT. It was basically "lol, I killed you pretty good right there" and "you'll never have a PC that awesome again!" It was a nice capstone to a good run. Then again, I practically cheered when that PC died since I couldn't have hoped for a better way to go. The personal touch is definitely appreciated, though I do like the automated response as well. I don't know, I feel like it adds some dark humor to the whole thing. I think it's definitely better than nothing.

I just remind myself that every ending is a new beginning, but then again I'm practically a serial PC storer, so maybe I'm just used to it.

Your Character Report request has been resolved. I was gonna comment on this in full, but then, uh. Well. Yeah.

[LauraMars]

Your Character Report request has been resolved. I was gonna comment on this in full, but then, uh. Well. Yeah.

I now fear sending character reports for this reason.

[Chettaman]

:Notes

"Tonto is the name of the lone ranger's indian cohort"

[evilcabbage]

I remember when, on these very boards, Italis made this comment after one of my characters died:

Don't rejoice, Saellyn might end up in your clan next.

A normal person might have taken this as a slap to the face because it implied a character was terrible. I thought it was a hilarious comment that merely suggested when I brought the pain, I BROUGHT THE PAIN, and I brought a healthy (sometimes unhealthy) dose of mischief with me wherever I went.


I think I've toned down a... lot. After my hiatus, I stopped giving a damn about karma. Returning, now? I just kind of want to play and see how the world turns for me.

[Molten Heart]

Returning, now? I just kind of want to play and see how the world turns for me.

Ahhh..... mon mal petit chou... Now I feel the love.

[Fujikoma]

I definitely feel staff have been rather patient, understanding and tolerant of me, as well as many of the players... That said, will I ever get a point of karma? Probably not. If I get that point, what are the chances of it being stripped away in a week? I don't know, reading the rules, I think pretty high.

I have started sending in character reports, just the act of typing them up helps me to understand the character I'm playing a bit better. Maybe I don't send them in as regularly as I should, but I feel it has been an exercise that has allowed me to get deeper into my character, as well as provide the staff with some idea why X did Y, or didn't do, as I'm just getting used to using the think command, I'm pretty sure my characters can be a bit baffling from the outside.

Staff have been good about responding to my reports, and encouraging me to write more of them. I've not once gotten a reply that made me think "well, f--- you too". Speaking of rubbing the salt in the wound, Nyr resolved a description change request of mine, after one of them, one I was really enjoying playing, with the message:

Your Description Change request has been resolved.

Unfortunately, resolved by the death of your PC. 

Good luck with your current one,

I seriously had a good, long laugh at that, I don't know why, maybe it was the frowny face, but I found it hilarious. Really made my day and helped me get over the loss, no sarcasm.

I once received kudos from someone who indirectly killed one of my earlier characters. It completely wiped the rage I felt away. Was I mad at the player? No, was mad that I lost my character. Did I drink too much and send emails I probably shouldn't have? Yes, because it was like someone just murdered a good friend of mine and I skipped a few steps and went straight to a maddening fury. But I still play my next character as if they knew nothing of the previous one. (I don't think posting this violates any rules because it's very, very vague)

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for providing such a wonderful place to play around in. I never, ever thought I'd get into RP, but was willing to give it a shot, and I'm very glad I did.

[boog]

I've always had so much respect for the staff here and am in love with the posters on the GDB. I played a game for years that was stagnant and full of rampant favoritism, staff changes and pure vitriol. As a player, you could never change the world, not even a little bit.

I came here and found acceptance and a great community on the GDB. If you ever need to realize how good we've got it here, I dare you to try another RPI, or hell, any text game claiming to be RP based. You will realize the staff and players here are a thousands times more amazing than anything else you'll find in online MUD gaming.

So, yes. I feel the love! All the love.

[Fujikoma]

Oh, on the GDB, very rarely feel the love I do in game... Think somehow people go to great lengths to make things sound much more harsh than they really are, and make themselves seem more mean... I know you're all a bunch of phonies, I still love you, though.

[joyofdiscord]

That said, will I ever get a point of karma? Probably not. If I get that point, what are the chances of it being stripped away in a week? I don't know, reading the rules, I think pretty high.

Don't sweat it, karma is nowhere near this kind of mortal struggle.  In fact, there are a standardized list of criteria, one of which is player longevity, meaning if you can play for I think 6 months, maybe a year, without trying to hack the MUD or making some other egregious error, you're guaranteed 1 point.  Your GDB account was created almost 6 months ago, maybe you should try submitting an account notes request.  That comes with an automatic review of your karma level.

[Fujikoma]

I am, quiet frankly, terrified to request account notes, because that could seriously go wrong, and I'm not sure I want to read everything I might get in return... It's only been almost six months? It feels like a lot longer than that. Oh, that's my GDB account, I didn't sign up when I first started playing.

[Patuk]

I am, quiet frankly, terrified to request account notes, because that could seriously go wrong, and I'm not sure I want to read everything I might get in return... It's only been almost six months? It feels like a lot longer than that. Oh, that's my GDB account, I didn't sign up when I first started playing.

Staff don't make negative account notes before contacting you about the issue first. I think you'll be fine.

[Fujikoma]

Oh? I've received very few of those, and they weren't very harshly worded. I might have to look into that. I think I've received much more positive than negative feedback, maybe I should wait a short while before requesting, still. Maybe squeeze more out of that six month window.

[RogueGunslinger]

I am, quiet frankly, terrified to request account notes, because that could seriously go wrong, and I'm not sure I want to read everything I might get in return... It's only been almost six months? It feels like a lot longer than that. Oh, that's my GDB account, I didn't sign up when I first started playing.

You likely are going to be surprised at just how little you notes will have in them. But it's a good way to get staff to do a Karma review.

Patuk is right, but even if he wasn't you still shouldn't be afraid. If you are making mistakes and don't know about them how could you ever fix them?

[Asche]

I am by no means a veteran. I have played on and off for a year or so as time has allowed, and have gotten a couple account notes both positive and ambiguously neutral/negative. Firstly, let me establish I appreciate the karma system. I have no business playing a templar in Tuluk, largely due to the fact that I have experienced most of my gameplay in 'Nak. However, if I were a veteran player, I would find it annoying that I would not have access to, say, a wind or void mage. After all, what is karma a measure of? My roleplaying capacity? My contributions to the game? Trust that I won't exploit the roles? Fundamentally, is karma not the staff's way of saying "We trust you'll contribute to the game with access to this."? I dunno, it seems silly to me that there would be players who have a firm grasp of 'gicker culture, and had a few water and earth notches under their belt, but they're denied access to wind. I don't ask for a perfect system, but I WILL say that karma has, as a new player, been harder to accrue than I had expected, and sometimes I feel like I'm making something that I think will get me karma so I can play something I'm actually interested in at the moment. This is detrimental to my roleplay, and I sometimes feel like I'm just going through the motions. Now, if I had been in this rat race for years? I'd feel pretty unsatisfied with staff, even if it was simply something they overlooked. I'm certain little malice goes into denying roles, but it seems a common sentiment, even among vets, that we feel like adults whose mother keeps slapping their hands away from the cookie jar. As for me, I guess I have to play a few more rangers before they decide I'm ready for that gemmed Rukkian learning experience. 

[Refugee]

I don't think you ought to make acquiring karma the goal for any concept you play.  Just play roles that are fun or satisfying to you, and help out the RP of the people you're around.  Karma will come, or it won't.  But you'll be having a good time no matter what.

I understand what you mean with the cookie jar analogy, I've felt that way myself.  But on the other hand, you know players you wouldn't want to be playing with the power of a wind witch!  (Some of them shouldn't be playing with the power of backstab, lol, judging by the dead NPCs laying around busy streets sometimes)  And I'm glad, when I think about that, that staff is careful about handing out karma. 

[Harmless]

1 karma is enough karma anyway, as you can special app up to things that cost 4, and that includes a lot of the juiciest stuff.

If you're interested in playing magickers that cost 4 karma or more, you really should be sure to get practice with the 2 karma costing magickers first; they are kind of the "step up" to the others. There is much less social stigma against them (that's a HUGE, HUGE generalization, take it with a pinch of salt) but in general they are more "surviveable."

You can probably qualify to get 1 karma already. If you've been playing for 6 months or more at least, and have played at least one character to a decent age, then go ahead and consider putting in an "account notes request" and see what happens.

[Narf]

I am by no means a veteran. I have played on and off for a year or so as time has allowed, and have gotten a couple account notes both positive and ambiguously neutral/negative. Firstly, let me establish I appreciate the karma system. I have no business playing a templar in Tuluk, largely due to the fact that I have experienced most of my gameplay in 'Nak. However, if I were a veteran player, I would find it annoying that I would not have access to, say, a wind or void mage. After all, what is karma a measure of? My roleplaying capacity? My contributions to the game? Trust that I won't exploit the roles? Fundamentally, is karma not the staff's way of saying "We trust you'll contribute to the game with access to this."? I dunno, it seems silly to me that there would be players who have a firm grasp of 'gicker culture, and had a few water and earth notches under their belt, but they're denied access to wind. I don't ask for a perfect system, but I WILL say that karma has, as a new player, been harder to accrue than I had expected, and sometimes I feel like I'm making something that I think will get me karma so I can play something I'm actually interested in at the moment. This is detrimental to my roleplay, and I sometimes feel like I'm just going through the motions. Now, if I had been in this rat race for years? I'd feel pretty unsatisfied with staff, even if it was simply something they overlooked. I'm certain little malice goes into denying roles, but it seems a common sentiment, even among vets, that we feel like adults whose mother keeps slapping their hands away from the cookie jar. As for me, I guess I have to play a few more rangers before they decide I'm ready for that gemmed Rukkian learning experience. 

I don't know about the void mages, but wind mages were actually moved up the karma chain because of abuse problems. So with Whirans the choice for what karma they take to play was based on empirical data.

[ShaLeah]

I am, quiet frankly, terrified to request account notes, because that could seriously go wrong, and I'm not sure I want to read everything I might get in return... It's only been almost six months? It feels like a lot longer than that. Oh, that's my GDB account, I didn't sign up when I first started playing.

Staff don't make negative account notes before contacting you about the issue first.

That is bullshit and just really pissed me off so I'll stick with "That is bullshit".

[Refugee]

Yeah not true.

[Nyr]

It's actually policy to do it that way.  If it wasn't done that way it was a long time ago or it was an oversight.

[Cutthroat]

Staff has actually made it more clear over the years when it comes to how exactly you earn karma. There are categories through which a player earns karma by demonstrating achievements in the particular categories:

   Longevity
   Good communication
   Ability to roleplay
   Proven understanding of magick and its place in the game world
   Proven understanding of cultural and racial structures
   Contributes to the game
   Leadership

So if anything, it's actually become slightly easier to earn karma by demonstrating these things in-game (and with regards to communication, in requests as well).

That's not to say you should set out to play a character specifically to earn a point in "understanding magick and its place in the game world". Instead, play an Allanaki who is cautiously uneasy around gemmed, or a Tuluki who fears or hates mages. And so on for the other categories. It basically adds up to this: play by the documentation, and get involved with other players, which is actually pretty easy as it's the point of the game.

You should also consider character reports. The reports are an extra effort and not required, but they definitely draw a bit more attention to your character, and a monthly report can be enough and doesn't take too much time to write. (You could go with a report every two weeks if your character is especially involved, but a good rule of thumb is to not send reports more often than that unless it's required for your role). And it's generally okay to ask for bits of advice or a "how am I doing?" sort of question every once in a while, as generally staff will give you a few tips and steer you in the right direction and give words of encouragement.