Ask the Producers and Administrators

[Taven]

Same questions for you higher-end people.

I have a few more. I don't think any questions along these lines have been asked yet, though I could have missed them.

• Do you still play a mortal PC, or does staffing take up too much of your time?
• If you play, is it usually mundane or magicker/bendy?
• What sort of restrictions are put on your play? (for example, it's safe to say you can't play in a clan you oversee)
• When you play, do you ever get staff echoes, and is that ever weird? xD

I'm also curious if you feel as higher-up staff it's harder to play a mortal PC or not. Like if you send in a PC report, is it weird to have staff that you work with regularly respond to it? Do you try to avoid making mortals who will change the game in big ways to avoid awkwardness, or is there a good process to make that less of an issue?

[Nyr]

I don't still play a PC.  I have a finite amount of time for this hobby, and unfortunately, it is not enough to allow me to play.

Restrictions we have on avatar PCs are the same across the board.  They are (in general, paraphrasing a massive document):

• You can have as many avatars as you want, but only one at karma 5 or above.
• Clan-related apps must be approved same as for a player.  So a tribal role or a role for a specific clan must be approved by clan staff.
• You must go through the same channels a player goes through.  This goes for building, bugs, resurrection, etc.
• No avatars in clans that you administrate.  If plotlines need to be advanced there, build an NPC for it instead.
• Be considerate when playing in someone else's clan.  Don't create extra work for them.  Try not to discuss your character with your clan staff--this creates pressure and an atmosphere that is simply not cool/not fun to work in.  Be a model of a good player.
• Don't use knowledge gained as staff with your PC and vice versa.  If it's an issue that staff needs to handle, report it duly to clan staff to handle (see all of that above stuff).
• No sponsored leadership roles, for the most part.  The exception is a resource avatar, which has to be signed off by clan staff and an admin+.  If approved, there are additional restrictions on them having to do with conflict.

I once created a system because of work I was doing with my avatar, but that was all done as a player (i.e., talk to clan staff, submit the idea to them, they like it/it moves forward and they add it as clan staff).

I also was once put in the awkward position of creating a mastercraft intended for my PC.  My PC had commissioned the work to be done, and someone was mastercrafting it.  At the time I was staffing Salarr and there was no one else there on staff.  After I got permission from an admin+ (I think it was Vanth), I built it and sent it over to the PC that created it.

The question about making mortals who will change the game in big ways may itself be a bit of an awkward question.  Seeing as how our PCs are just the same as your PCs with the additional expectation that staff work comes first, it is probably less likely nowadays that a staff-created PC will change the world in any significant way.  We've got things to do staff-side that involve changing the game in big ways already.

[Adhira]

Nyr's answer pretty much covers how things are for me.

Every six months or so I try and make a PC and join in the fun. What I find is that I just don't have the time to play a PC that gets deeply involved in storyline, and that makes me frustrated. I seem to always end up joining the byn, and then I miss 70% of the contracts, and end up being that guy no one wants to take along on the job because his ride skill still sucks. I would say that it's not that staffing takes up too much of my time, rather than I also have a set amount of time I can devote to the game, it has to balance with my work, family and my other hobbies, so when I have that time available I feel it is better spent performing my staff duties.

When I do manage to play I usually play mundanes.

Nyr already covered the restrictions. These are things we do for everyone. For me personally, on the rare occasions I do play a PC I try not to put myself in a position where others are relying on my character. So I won't take that aide position, for example, because I can't guarantee that I'll be logging in every day.

As far as having a PC that can make a big change on the world. The great part of staffing is that we get to work with others (staff and players) to make big changes in the world. The sad thing is that it will not be via a PC. It would be very hard for a staff PC to make a world changing impact on the game because of the kinds of roles we ask staff to restrict themselves to.

[Fujikoma]

Does staff ever play city elves to give some of us newer players an example of "how it's done"? I think that would be cool, because all we have now are, no clans (other than Kurac, keep your three small, filthy necker), lower than breed social status, no riding and no desert run. It might help cure some of the apathy toward what seems a cool concept to play out, but often ends up a lonely role with your vNPC buddies and in order to interact you have to go out of your way because there's so few elven PCs to interact with and, no clans. I enjoy playing one, I enjoy trying to adhere to the mindset, but I can see the potential for quite a bit more, and think a big part of why people shy away from these roles is because of these perceived drawbacks, lack of examples, they say the mindset is "just too alien", but it seems to me that the dwarven mindset would be even moreso, although more easily adjusted for different concepts because your focus isn't automatically set to "steal everything ever, and somehow keep my tribe safe".

[Nyr]

Not really, no.

[Taven]

Interesting stuff

Thanks for the insight on those rules! I'm curious, though, what's a "resource avatar"?

I seem to always end up joining the byn, and then I miss 70% of the contracts, and end up being that guy no one wants to take along on the job because his ride skill still sucks.

Awww. I did find that response pretty amusing, though...

Code Select Expand

The young, muscular man says in southern-accented sirihish:
    "I haven't ridden much, but I can come along, right guys? Guys? Come back--!"

[awhile later]

The ancient, muscular man says in southern-accented sirihish:
      "Guys, can I come now? Pleeease? I promise I'll keep up."

The strapping, statuesque, scarred sergeant says in bynner-accented sirihish:
      "Ain't got to time for you if you *still* don't know which end of a beetle the reins go on."

[Nyr]

Interesting stuff

Thanks for the insight on those rules! I'm curious, though, what's a "resource avatar"?

Typically this would be a role that is needed but not already filled by a player, called for by a staff team, and responded to by an available staffer.  It serves a particular purpose.  It's a bit like a sponsored role but for staff.  These are rarely available or needed (NPCs mostly fill the need), but they might be needed from time to time, in cases where we want to be sure it looks like a PC, or where using a PC for the role assists staff in fulfilling the need.

[Welda]

I wish I could play more! But I simply don't have enough time for it.

In general, I prefer mundane PCs and I prefer "lonely" roles - rinthers, city-elves, unimportant (unclanned) hunters, random nobodies.

[whitt]

Obviously creating a city state is very unlikely, but I've seen player created cairns in the Red Desert as trade route markers.,  How do players start and follow through with the process to do this?  What steps should they take?

[Desertman]

Obviously creating a city state is very unlikely, but I've seen player created cairns in the Red Desert as trade route markers.,  How do players start and follow through with the process to do this?  What steps should they take?

Easily found out IC actually. Ask around.

[HavokBlue]

That's not really an answer.

ICly, anyone can stack some rocks up to make a marker but OOCly it's going to be gone with the next crash or reboot.

[Desertman]

That's not really an answer.

ICly, anyone can stack some rocks up to make a marker but OOCly it's going to be gone with the next crash or reboot.

I see what you mean. You want the OOC process the player has to go through with staff detailed. Meh. Sorry, it's early.

[Nyr]

Obviously creating a city state is very unlikely, but I've seen player created cairns in the Red Desert as trade route markers.,  How do players start and follow through with the process to do this?  What steps should they take?

As far as I can recall, no one has actually set up a trade route marker as a player in the time I've been on staff, which is more than 7 years.  Maybe it happened before.  There is no official process for setting up trade route markers, and I don't think a player has actually set out to do that anytime during my time on staff.  How does a player create a cairn?  I don't think anyone has tried to do that in the last several years either.  Maybe be a mastercrafter of stone, work with your clan staff in your tribal group, and see if they'll work with you to create something more long-lasting than what you can do IC now (which is collect rocks and put them in a pile with an arrange description).  If you're not in an already-established staff-supported, larger tribe, and you're just wanting to build something out in the middle of nowhere and make your own permanent camp, we've covered that before.  At this time, this is not a more sandbox-oriented building game where you have unrestricted access to "build" what you want where you want and have it be permanent.  Perhaps with coding improvements and review in the future, this may be something that can be done.

The exceptions that may be there are few and far between, or prior to this era of the game.  If you believe you're an exception, then play exceptionally, and work with staff in a constructive, positive way.  You'll also need the understanding that beyond mastercrafts, it is rare these days to have something added to the game for just one player.  That's largely why we went with creating a system for players to create their own city-based clan--the rules are the same for everyone, and it would allow for IC reaction.  That's why we (eventually) made clayworking a craft skill.  Players wanted to use it, staff wanted to use it, but allowing one player to use it would mean setting up a system by which all players could use it.  There were ideas towards that end, but ultimately, code was the savior for this particular player desire.

If there's a deeper question here, I'd encourage more elaboration, because I've already rambled on a while assuming I'm reading the real intent behind this question about cairns and route markers.  It seems that the question must be deeper (unless trade route markers are the next player fad), but there are so many "if's" in trying to figure out what the real question is that I'd rather ask a question in response and save time on my part and yours:  what is the real question?  Did I hit upon it above?

[KankWhisperer]

It was done more by a clan than by a person.

[Bushranger]

First you need to build a pillar out of stone (or clay bricks now). Then you need to murderize a defiler, clean out their skull and nail it on to the pillar. Voila you now have a travel marker!

[MeTekillot]

What determines whether you choose to log in visibly on the Who list and invisibly?

[Adhira]

Staff are required to stay invisible when on the port. The only time exceptions are made are if we are speaking to someone directly and wish them to be able to see us. We just feel it's more polite than them having a conversation with 'someone'.

[MeTekillot]

So if you're logged in visibly then Someone's in trouuuuuuuubbbbbbbblllllllle?

[Nyr]

A player once suicided their PC on me when I was talking with them privately and had to go suddenly afk for a few minutes--couldn't be helped at all.  I came back and was quite confused to see a dead body.  I scrolled up and sure enough, they'd gotten bored in the short period of time there and suicided themselves by attacking the equivalent of the most buff NPC anyone has ever attacked ever.

A resurrection was not granted, as I recall.

[wizturbo]

A player once suicided their PC on me when I was talking with them privately and had to go suddenly afk for a few minutes--couldn't be helped at all.  I came back and was quite confused to see a dead body.  I scrolled up and sure enough, they'd gotten bored in the short period of time there and suicided themselves by attacking the equivalent of the most buff NPC anyone has ever attacked ever.

A resurrection was not granted, as I recall.

Was this character's name Leeroy of the lesser merchant House Jenkins?

[Adhira]

So if you're logged in visibly then Someone's in trouuuuuuuubbbbbbbblllllllle?

Not necessarily!

[Harmless]

you might be in trouble or you might just be special.