Player Needs (from Staff, not other players)

[Bestatte]

THIS IS IN RESPONSE - to Sanvean's post about what staff expects from players. She mentioned that players would have expectations of staff, and this thread is intended to discuss players' expectations from staff.

I don't see anything unreasonable about anything you've posted Sanvean. I do see things that I've failed in, but that I've tried to improve. Hopefully I am improving as I think I am.

My list of "needs" from staff aren't all that big, but they're important to me. Most of them are already met and all credit goes to the staff for that.

1) To remember that when answering a query from a player, that the player probably doesn't know the "other side" of things, so getting frustrated or being short in response isn't going to help the player. You don't owe us a lengthy explanation or "answers" to things - but hearing "Find out IC" only goes so far. Tell us WHY we should find out IC. Tell us WHY it isn't a syntax issue. If you tell me "it's a game puzzle, I've checked your skill on this and it's looking fine" I will grumble, but I will be satisfied with the answer. If you tell me "Find out IC" I will grumble and be dissatisfied with the answer.

2) To try not to drop the ball on promised projects. Obviously the brew/poison system is a pet peeve of mine. Bakha told me a year ago he was gonna work on it, and then he stopped being an IMM. No one ever picked it up. Perhaps it isn't a major priority to the staff, but as a player, I find it INFINITELY more of a priority than getting rid of high-heeled shoes and deciding what kinds of clothes are "north" vs. what kinds are "south."

3) For staff members to be courteous to people who make courteous requests, even if the staff member thinks it was a dumb question, or if the staff member can't stand the person asking it. If you aren't able to answer in a civil manner, pass the question to another IMM and let them answer it instead.

4) If you are posting on the GDB, using your IMM name rather than your old GDB name (if you had another one) please remember you are representing the staff. Consciously or subconsciously, readers will ignore the "this is only my personal opinion" when they're reading your posts. If you use your IMM name to post, you are speaking from a position of authority. If you don't want to do this, please use a different GDB name for that post.

And no offense to Ashyom on the clothing thing - I do recognize the importance of maintaining the genre. It's just that this brew/poison thing has been ongoing for a VERY long time, and you've spent countless hours fixing something that isn't exactly broken - just "not quite right." I like the clothing changes that I've noticed so far. But I didn't -dislike- the way it was before, and the brew/poison system is a broken skill system that affects anyone who chooses the guilds that come with those skills.

[Anonymous]

And no offense to Ashyom on the clothing thing - I do recognize the importance of maintaining the genre. It's just that this brew/poison thing has been ongoing for a VERY long time, and you've spent countless hours fixing something that isn't exactly broken - just "not quite right." I like the clothing changes that I've noticed so far. But I didn't -dislike- the way it was before, and the brew/poison system is a broken skill system that affects anyone who chooses the guilds that come with those skills.

People shouldn't be forced to work on something they don't want to.  Ashyom obviously had the drive to fix the places where things were not fitting with the game but not to look into brew.  I think that's understandable given that this is a hobby for all involved, staff included.

[Meatwad]

I've had a bit of contact with the staff before, and I haven't had any problems.  Armageddon is an awesome place to come play out roles, but obviously there are problems.  The biggest problem is the players.  Not all players of course.  For instance there is the classic case of thieves.  A thief might want to play out a scene where he is hidden, and manages to nick a dagger from a resting person's belt.  Well when they emote hidden, to add some entertainment value, the other person might simply stand, then scan instead of emoting along with the scene.  Then later that thief will not emote so much, because then they will won't get that response from the people being robbed.  That then leads to people complaining about lack of emotes.

I guess the best way for the MUD to be improved is to try and follow all the suggestions just posted, and to simply play out your role as best you can.  If someone does something that breaks the mood, or doesn't want to take place in a fun scene, ignore them and find someone who will.

Anyways I'm going to go find some good people to get involved with and see what happens, just wanted to say that I think the staff is great and appreciated.

[Bardex]

N/M

[SpyGuy]

I've had good experiences with the staff here, part of that I think is the lack of global channels and in a way the lack of OOC communication.  Other games I've played have always ended up seeming too much like OOC politics 24/7, favoritism, the opposite, newbies ignored in requests, etc.  It can be interesting for awhile but pretty soon, once you realize what is happening, the whole game seems cheap.  Of course people sometimes feel slighted by Imms here and since everyone is human I'm sure similar things have happened, but Arm seems far more professional than other MUDs and that there is alot less of that going around.

But, keeping all that in mind:

I ask the staff not to play favorites and that when they do develop friendships with players to keep them as private as possible, so that favoritism is not unfairly charged and so that it doesnt reflect badly on the staff as a whole.

I ask the staff to not refuse a reasonable idea immediately but to always think it over and work with the player to make something happen.

I ask the staff to divide the share of plots as best they can and not to favor any player.  For those in leadership roles I ask the staff to work with the player to help them involve all those lower in the totem pole however possible.

Finally, I ask the staff to try and involve player driven plots as much as possible and to use their own ideas and concepts with the players ideas.  This one is perhaps the hardest as it involves creative fusion but when it works out that a player thinks they're in the drivers seat of a plot, rather than shoved in the trunk praying they aren't going to die.

Hope those made sense.

[ashjpd]

Bestatte I disagree with the whole, "We don't want your personal opinion" thing, I know thats not exactly what you said but:

It takes more time for an immortal to change accounts just to state their personal opinion when are just doing something simple. Also, It doesn't really matter to me, as long as they state it that it is their personal opinion from the start, because then we know. It might be what all the other staff members agree with, that staff member may just not know so he just tells his opinion, from his experience, which -has- to be pretty high, because of the fact that they are in immortal.

[Ghost]

For my list of wishes:

- I expect the staff to -answer- emails, -on time-.  It is discouraging for players not to get responses to their request.  And by response, I merely mean response.  That is reject, or accept, but I am expecting an answer.  A recent example to this:  We had a PC driven clan in mind.  We even bgan to recruit people, dropped a few contacts here and there.  But of course, we needed a house to store things.  For this I have emailed to Nenyuk imms, CCed to mud a couple of times.  Another PC also did it and we did not get a response.  By the way, our clan was getting shaped.  We found an agent, and his first job was to rent a house for us.  And he also emailed as he puts in "several times", and still no answer.  So the clan fizzled.  The agent retired his character, the recruits joined other clans.  I dont know how it sounds, but for me this was a really disappointing experience.
There are a few more recent examples, but I think you got the idea.  No need to keep the post longer.  

-- Well, this does not seem too much vital to me, but I must say that I expect staff members to comment more on PCs RP.  Well, this might be difficult and taking too much time.  but I am not an old player, and I would like to know if I am doing the things in the way that make sense.  I play "review on" (really I want to know if I am on the right way) but up to now, I only got one comment, and that was in the time when I was a total n00b, and a fair amount of time have passed, I see much improvement in myself, but it would be just "better" to hear someone elses views.
Anyway, this might be considered as a side expectation, as I said.  I dont think it is very much vital, but it would be really nice.

Well, I think I will edit this later to add some more things.

Note:  I hope nobody has taken any offese, because I did not mean any.  Especially Nenyuk imms, because in the example you are sort of pointed.  I know you mşght be busy, something might have happened to email, or maybe no answer means no or something.. Whatever.. I just want a little care for the requests.

[crymerci]

2) To try not to drop the ball on promised projects. Obviously the brew/poison system is a pet peeve of mine. Bakha told me a year ago he was gonna work on it, and then he stopped being an IMM. No one ever picked it up. Perhaps it isn't a major priority to the staff, but as a player, I find it INFINITELY more of a priority than getting rid of high-heeled shoes and deciding what kinds of clothes are "north" vs. what kinds are "south."

I apologize in advance for the minor derailment.  

The comparison of the brew system, and the documentation on northern vs. southern clothing styles, is faulty in its logic. The brew system is a code-based system, and therefore must be worked on by an imm, and one with the requisite coding ability, not to mention interest and time. The clothing documentation is something that required imm input, but was mainly the work of players.  I don't believe its implementation pulled Ashyom or any other imm away from other projects, brew-related or not.  Besides which, Ashyom is the Kadius imm, and I'm not even sure that she's a coder.

It's certainly your right to express frustration that you haven't seen results that were said to be forthcoming.  I think the effect, however, will not be someone suddenly jumping to do the job, but rather that imms will no longer say or even hint at what they might be working on, to avoid being censured for how their work is progressing.

[/minor derailment]

I share in some of the other expectations listed here, namely: timely email response, fair treatment, etc.  I think the staff does a pretty good job.  

I would personally like to see more constructive criticism.  I think that as it is, when a player is doing something that may be considered inappropriate, or that frustrates imms, the players have obstacles placed before them IC (or may be left alone entirely, I dunno).  So then you end up with players who think the imms are out to eat their brainz.  Maybe a quick email saying "I don't think ABC is appropriate for XYZ reasons" would have a better result; maybe it wouldn't.  But I think open communication would be better on the whole.  It at least allows a player to plead their case and say, "I know normally ABC would be inappropriate, but IC circumstances XYZ serve as the underlying logic". They may still get shot down, but at least there's a dialogue.

[EvilRoeSlade]

-- Well, this does not seem too much vital to me, but I must say that I expect staff members to comment more on PCs RP.  Well, this might be difficult and taking too much time.  but I am not an old player, and I would like to know if I am doing the things in the way that make sense.  I play "review on" (really I want to know if I am on the right way) but up to now, I only got one comment, and that was in the time when I was a total n00b, and a fair amount of time have passed, I see much improvement in myself, but it would be just "better" to hear someone elses views.

E-mail the mud account and ask for feedback.

[Meatwad]

I'd rather see more comments on role play by the immortals than more swords to craft, or npcs walking around.  This game is about role playing, so I think a great way to improve the role playing overall is to have it reviewed and commented on more readily.  I'd sure play a lot better if I thought someone would actually notice or care.  Just recently when all the immortals were away I was involved in a few awesome RP scenes quite unexpectedly, so it is a huge bummer to think that things like that won't be noticed.  I also want to be looked at more so I can get karma, because it would be nice to try out different roles, but with the immortals busy on...I have no idea....it seems that I'll probably have to keep role playing well for a year or so and perhaps on an off day get noticed.

So in summary, more noticing of players RP, good and bad, and constructive comments on the roles.

[EvilRoeSlade]

I have said this before, and it bears repeating.  I don't like to see immortals using OOC knowledge ICly.  If you expect me to E-mail me, that's fine.  But if I E-mail you describing the actions my character is going to take, and an NPC finds out about it immediately after I write the E-mail, then I'm not going to want to E-mail you anymore.  NPCs should have to follow the same rules that PCs have.  It doesn't matter how much resources an NPC has.  It doesn't matter that the immortal probably can't animate that NPC often, although I do sympathize with this.  An E-mail should not modify the actions of any character in the game, PC or NPC.

[jhunter]

I don't like to see immortals using OOC knowledge ICly.

Yes, OOC information was used that shouldn't have been in the past ICly toward one of my pcs once as well.
This wouldn't have bothered me much...except the reasoning given for the npc having the knowledge they did...was completely and utterly untrue and totally ruined the scene and my enjoyment of it.

It's possible it was a mistake, but hopefully ones like that don't happen too often as far as I can tell.

Also, that the imms will hear out the possiblities of rp'ing in the grey area of the code..certain effects...have a grey area to them which leaves them open to more than one route of rp.

Lastly, that the imms will notify a player of behaviour that they disagree with and give an explaination of why...also that they will hear out arguements to the contrary with an open mind, -before- dealing out some sort of punishment.

This comes from alot of things I've read on the discussion board...it sounds like there are many imms who will punish with no warning, notification, or explaination of what's going on...basically going under the assumption that a player is doing something they find questionable -on purpose-...it is possible after all that they had not thought of it in the way that the particular imm sees it.

[Pantoufle]

As others have mentioned, I too expect a response from e-mails.  And you know what, hey, I can accept that they get overlooked or even unanswered on occasion.  I try not to write in constantly with small, unimportant issues, so that when I do send in a request/issue/etc. it gets responded to.  For me, the bottom line is this.  You can expect as much from me as I can from you.  If you ask me to write in a weekly report for the clan I am in and I rarely if ever get so much as a word back from you, I'm not going to bother continuing sending in reports.  What insentive do I have?  It's nothing personal.  But it is a two way street.  

Furthermore, while I understand some clan imms have a more hands-off approach, and that's fine, I expect to have more control in my clan if you aren't going to be actively taking part, visibly, in the clan.  In short, if you're not around, then give me more authority to do things, otherwise it looks to me like you only login when I've done something "wrong".  At which point, you correct my behavior and send me off on my merry way, tail tucked between my legs, feeling powerless despite having a position of authority.

I expect for the staff of my clan to let me be the one to take action, not some NPC higherup involving him/herself in a plot that would be far more beneficial for all involved if I, the player, were orchestrating (or even made aware of).  Yes, I'm well aware I am but one minor spoke in the grand wheel, and there are all sorts of virtual superiors out there -- I couldn't possibly be more reminded of this.  But there have been occasions where I later discovered some NPC superior was delegating an issue perfectly handleable by the players.  You're the "Dungeon Master", I'm the player.  Why would you want to take these plots for yourself and keep me in the dark on?  On one occasion I found out an NPC superior of mine was speaking with a high ranked PC of another clan and to be honest, I felt a little left out.  It wasn't any deep dark grave super secret they were discussing.  To make it worse, I didn't even know the other PC in-character (I've known of her from previous characters, but not this one) and to be honest I was really bemused by this situation.  Why wouldn't my clan imm have given me this opportunity to meet a character I otherwise didn't even know existed, IC?  I can understand if you were an imm and this was your PC, but as an NPC?  I dunno .. I just would have rather had the chance to handle this myself is all.

None of the above relates specifically to my present clan.  These are ongoing issues which I wanted to present.  Naturally this game is above and beyond the rest of the MUDding realm, pretty much in a genre of its own.  The professionalism found here is unparalleled by any other text-based game that I know, so take my above statements with a grain of salt.  It is mere constructive criticism, and I also take into account the fact that I don't know the whole situation at hand.  I can only describe things based on what I do know.

[Kivan]

I have said this before, and it bears repeating.  I don't like to see immortals using OOC knowledge ICly.  If you expect me to E-mail me, that's fine.  But if I E-mail you describing the actions my character is going to take, and an NPC finds out about it immediately after I write the E-mail, then I'm not going to want to E-mail you anymore.  NPCs should have to follow the same rules that PCs have.  It doesn't matter how much resources an NPC has.  It doesn't matter that the immortal probably can't animate that NPC often, although I do sympathize with this.  An E-mail should not modify the actions of any character in the game, PC or NPC.

ERS: I agree completely. In fact, I have asked that when players in my clans send in reports that the seperate it into sections similar to these:

OOC Report - This info is known ownly to me as a staff member and wont be used ICly. Please be candid, complete and truthful here.

IC Report - These are things you are reporting ICly to your boss or possibly things that are fairly public (like you were seen drunk in the barracks and made an ass out of yourself publically). These things are ic, so if you want to lie to your NPC superior, great...I dont mind if that is done. (but please give a real explanation in the OOC report.

This helps me as a staff member know what you as a player want me to be able to use to help interact with you. Keep in mind though, that even though you may report something in the OOC report and leave it out in the IC report, these NPCs do get reports from other places (other PCs, for example) and could find out about things that way. You have to realize and accept that the staff is able to determine what an NPC should or should not know because we see a much larger part of the picture than you are aware of. But I do agree with you, and hopefully emailing reports in this format helps eliminate those issues you brought up.

[Cuusardo]

I suppose all I really have is to reiterated that players (especially those playing leaders in clans) need timely responses from the IMMs when it comes to something the character(s) need IC.  If responses aren't gotten when they are needed, it can have grave effects on what goes on in the game -- grave things that should logically not happen.  It's also frustrating when a PC is trying to plan something that involves other PCs, and the planner has to keep telling the others involved that they have to wait because they haven't gotten a response or approval.

And please, if you're going to be busy or away for longer than a day or two, please let the clan know.  I know a lot of IMMs are really good about doing this, because it keeps the PCs from wondering why they haven't heard from their IMM for a week.

[spawnloser]

My biggest expectation is response on emails, as many have already mentioned.  I won't say much more except that I know I have had things that went unanswered or answered too late to matter.  It is VERY frustrating.

[Carnage]

I expect that when a post is deleted, you don't then immediately repost it. Yes, the post you cite is off-topic. Your post was not deleted because it was offtopic, but because it was part of a series of flames. You're welcome to take this to email, but do not continue reposting the deleted post.

And on the flip side, I expect that when a post is spontaneously deleted either a e-mail or PM is sent by who did it and explaining their reasoning on why they felt it should be removed. There's nothing quite like having a post ninja-deleted.

[jhunter]

I agree.

[Dresan]

hmm...I've been pretty impressed with the response of the IMM, probably because i usually play games where you pay and get no response at all beside the you don't like it don't play...sounds like people have alot of heart and soul along with time invested in this game. It's quite suprising to sense (if you will) the anger and at times fustration behind the words being posted from both player and the imms.

[Anonymous]

Here's my expectation from staff:

Let players in your clans make mistakes that are in keeping with their PC's character.

There have been a few occasions where I had different PCs who set their minds to do certain things.  On these few occasions the PC was guilty of ego, poor judgement, lack of planning, or just plain stupidity.  There were not, however, overstepping their power within the clan, ordering a war against another clan, ruining treaties formed years ago or ignoring NPCs. It was individual action they decided on themselves that would have directly affected only my PC and the non-clan counterpart.

It was, therefore, very frustrating to have a superior in the clan pop out of nowhere and be in position to overhear my PC and then scold them.  Or to be contacted in out of game means to be told to not do something.  In each case it made me feel that I had no further control over my own PC.  While I can understand that the sentiment behind these actions may have been good, and maybe I don't know the full story, but my perspective was that my PC's actions were a matter up for vote.  In each case my enthusiasm for my PC was sapped.

Again, if my PC was massing an army for an attack on Red Storm, or ending trade agreements with other tribes, these are things that I would expect a clan superior to hear about and step in to put my PC in their place.  I do not believe the occasions I referred to involved my PC overstepping the bounds of their position, however, since each case was a matter of deciding on an individual course of action.

[Bestatte]

Something along the lines of what CRW mentioned happened to me once. It involved a superior PC, and an NPC, both played by the same IMM (though I didn't realize the PC was played by the IMM until several RL weeks after my PC died).

PC was gone for awhile, player on vacation or whatever. PC assigned my PC to answer to another superior during the absence. All's well, substitute has an idea and talks it over with another, higher-ranking PC in the clan. Higher ranking PC says awesome, bring my PC up for a chat. So I go up for a chat.

Out of nowhere, original PC superior gets all in my PC's face with the Way about where was I, why I'm where I am, under whose authority did I leave my post, yada yada yada. I try to explain that I was following orders per her instructions to answer to the substitute PC, and to the higher ranking PC I was visiting. Original PC superior was not satisfied with the answer.

Within an hour, the NPC where my character was located gets all flavors of bent out of shape and orders my character to do this that and the other thing, insults my PC for doing nothing other than what she was instructed to do by the original PC (to answer to the substitute), by the substitute PC (to go to this new place and talk to this higher ranking PC), and by the higher ranking PC (to get there and wait for instruction).

The original PC was all like "where have you been for the past month" and I"m like - uhhh...in my usual post wondering when you were gonna come back, since you've been gone already for a month prior.

Long story short - my character was instructed to do something that didn't seem to make much sense at the time, and ended up killed in the process. I will never know if it was just a random raid-kill, or if it was a setup. But the entire ordeal of the superior officer PC and the NPC being SO quick to jump on my ass, when I had tried to communicate with both over the prior few RL weeks ICly with the PC, and OOCly via e-mail to the clan imm, with no response, left a very sour taste in my mouth.

The fact that the NPC knew within the same hour as the PC superior, that something was worth discussing, really pissed me off because I had been trying to communicate with both with no results about the issue. Because the clan had been informed, ICly and OOCly, that the PC and player of were unavailable and there had been no news on their expected return.

And the fact that the NPC and the superior PC had done this to my PC in the past, in the same conveniently short period of time, with the same convenient agreement of their assessment of the situation, blech.

It's my experience in past games, that the best policy is to have a very STRICT rule - if you are an IMM, you do NOT play a character in the clan you are running as an IMM. You wanna have a bunch of NPCs, fine. But play your PC in a clan that isn't involved in your clan, because it's just gonna make things difficult for everyone eventually. I have yet to experience otherwise, that I am aware of. For anyone who's managed to pull it off, kudos to you and job well done. But it is a very dangerous path and I highly recommend against it.

[The Lonely Hunter]

to be contacted in out of game means to be told to not do something. In each case it made me feel that I had no further control over my own PC. While I can understand that the sentiment behind these actions may have been good, and maybe I don't know the full story, but my perspective was that my PC's actions were a matter up for vote. In each case my enthusiasm for my PC was sapped.

Yep, I've been there twice...maybe more. It really took the fun out of it for me and I didnt really see my PC as 'alive' anymore. It was awhile back though, nothing recent.

[sarahjc]

My expectations of staff:

I'd also like to state that this pinpoints no-one, these are just general suggestions on things that I or people I know have had to deal with. So with that, Bye, Bye Karma!

Be responsive and answer questions.  When I as a player ask a question, I need it answered. I know the staff can get busy, I know they have other important stuff to do, but when I ask something I expect a clear and defined answer in a prompt fashion, by prompt, I mean 1-2 days. I should not have to ask something again and again over the course of a week, especially when most clans have two Imm's. Even the stupidest of questions need answers and most likely I am waiting for an answer to take a course of action.

Feedback. I don't like making out reports to the Imms. I can only imagine that you hate making 5 responses to all your clan leaders worse. But I need reassurance that you are even reading my updates. Even a "Thanks, got it". Some of my Imm's are good at this. They will run down my update and make comments here and there.. Basically bullet my email. Some do nothing. Writing back is a security for me that you are reading what I bother to write, I garruntee that if your people know that you are listening and helping, they will say more. Don't leave us hanging.

Do not expect me to know more than I do. If you know lots of stuff, it's because you're an Imm. Do not assume that I have the same lines of communication or am getting the same feed as you are. I may not, if you are unsure, Ask first.

Also do not assume that I know lots about right and wrong and what to do and not to do. I have made tons of stupid mistakes as a player and not known that I was doing "wrong". Being chastised on top of that, makes it worse. If it is a first offense give the player the benefit of a doubt and try to be a bit pleasant about it. I haven't even experienced this as bad as some other players I know have.

Guidance, If you see I am falling off track or don't seem to grasp something. Help me, obviously I don't get it. Saying in not so many words that I am doing a shit job of something, is not helping me. Making suggestions or even animating an NPC sometimes is a great way to get people on the right track.

Trust your Leaders. You trusted them enough to give them the position. Obviously, using your best judgement on things should always be first. But knowing that an Imm does not "trust" me for some reason, when I think I am doing a good job, makes me not want to play the clan. I find being forthcoming with things is always the best way to go about a problem and can most likely defuse a situation before it gets ugly.


Please leave your personal feeling at the door. I ask this of all imms. I know we all have friends and even people we don't like. It causes problems for PC's and players when personal bias or favoritism comes into effect in game. Be it to your PC or other PC's around yours. I try not to think about other PC's and the people behind them. I try not to know who people play, but when you are social in the game community that can be difficult. Regardless it should have -no- bearing on the game itself and I find that sometimes it does, even for myself. However, that being said, I am not staff and would expect more from them.

This is the sort of professionalism I had alluded to in a different post. I can only think it natural to want your friends in your clan or to make thing easier/difficult for people you like/don't like, but in the real world if you were to do that, you wouldn't be in a place of power very long. I don't expect my imms to love me or hate me, I just expect them to treat everyone fairly regardless of personal bias. And nothing makes your players loose interest faster than knowing that is not the case.



But those are the things I would like to see worked on from the staff..

[Savak]

My first query was to hear what ppl felt qualified as answering in a "timely manner".  One person has said 1-2 days -- a tough expectation in the context of receiving emails from numerous game sources daily (in addition to everything else -- RL work, emails, building, playing, posting, etc.).  Perhaps fair, but tough to pull off day in & day out for months at a time.  Personally, I always liked knowing when a player felt they "needed" an answer as it allowed me to prioritise.  It's difficult enough offering a thorough, well-informed, well thought out response -- knowing exactly what a player is after and why allows us to focus better and give useful, timely answers.

I think this is a good thread, as often we get caught up in other things and lose sight of what players most expect/appreciate.  Similarly, of course, staff have things we "want" to do, in addition to the things we are "expected" to do as part of the job.  Sometimes they dovetail better than others, heh.

-Savak (away, but occasionally watching the boards)

[Angela Christine]

Of course we'd all like to get a reply immediately, but personally I don't get really worried unless the game comes back up Saturday night and I still haven't heard anything.  That pretty much goes whether I sent my email on Sunday or Friday, because I think of the Saturday Imm day as being closed to players partly so that staff can catch up on things that have been pushed back over the week.


AC

[Carnage]

It involved a superior PC, and an NPC, both played by the same IMM (though I didn't realize the PC was played by the IMM until several RL weeks after my PC died).

How did you find out?

[Sanvean]

Because the policy is for immortals not to run PCs in their own clans, I was curious about this.  When I went to track down what really happened, I was told it was two NPCs. I don't know that it makes much difference, but we -do- ask immortals not to run PCs in their own clans, being the feeling is that it's too tempting to then arrange circumstances to benefit one's PC.  

This hasn't always been the case, obviously, but is one of the policies that's developed over time.  *shrug*  Wanted to set things straight on that, though.

[Anonymous]

I ask staff to not misunderstand my intentions with a plot and assume that the entire point of my idea is to imbalance the world. We are all mature, intelligent people who want to have fun. I am willing to answer questions if I have not been clear in my intentions due to my incertainity with english language, anytime. I am willing to point for point list up and elaborate what I REALLY had in mind and why I do not think it is unrealistic or imbalancing. I think I am intelligent enough to realize when I am being unrealistic, and I also believe I have a good general understanding of what imbalances the world and what does not.

I have been shot down for trying to create something unique in a different mud that definitely did not have any player run plotlines and did not allow players to achieve anything but levels and playerkilling arena ranks. I did not expect to be shot down for an idea that I was planning to shape in an interesting, somewhat unique, but by no means imbalancing or unreasonably powerful. Not on Armageddonmud.

I never felt so deeply misunderstood by staff before (and I've had some weird ideas, including my Byn halfling special app), so this leaves a bitter aftertaste, leaves me very frustrated in RL because in my experience I am being asked questions before having my intentions laid out before me in a way I did not know I intended to happen. I expect to be treated with some amount of trust. And willigness to clear something out and define it together before jumping to conclusions.

-A very frustrated player.

[Akaramu]

Oops, the above was me. I thought I was logged in. Its hard to notice details on a screen with watery eyes.

[Boggis]

I ask staff to not misunderstand my intentions with a plot and assume that the entire point of my idea is to imbalance the world.

Without knowing the situation I would assume that the Staff have treated you the same as they treat just about all players. You very well may be able to be trusted but unfortunately the Staff can't take such statements at face value and every idea has to be evaluated equally. I don't know what your idea was but my guess is that it was one that didn't really "fit" with the gameworld in some way.

Recently, I got the go ahead from the Staff for a particular concept that I  that I wanted to bring to life. I think some Staff members had some reservations about the potential ramifications of the idea but they were willing to give me a chance (after a number of clarifying emails back and forth) based on my previous actions over a couple of years where I'd shown that I could be trusted not to abuse a role.

My advice to you would be to continue to play as normal. If you build up a greater level of trust with the Staff over time I think you might find it easier to get that unique role that you wanted to play. Unique roles have to be managed and seeing as the Staff can't be watching you 24/7 its all about trust - trust that you'll play the role so that, while unique, it still fits into the gameworld as a whole. One example would be that of a serial killer - if a player who has been playing for six months apps for such a role the Staff will have reservations about whether they are up to playing the role realistically or whether they simply want to cause grief. A player who has been playing for a couple of years and has demonstrated their trustworthiness is far more likely to be granted the role which is the way things have to be in my opinion.

[spawnloser]

Akaramu, I sympathize.  One of my characters was assassinated by its employers when the IMM misunderstood what I was trying to do.  Then, when asking about it, as I was quite upset, I was told, "There were things going on IC that you didn't know about."  I've been told since that my suspicions were correct.  Speaking of which...that reminds me...

[jmordetsky]

1) Responses to queries in a reasonable amount of time. Not sure what reasonable because I'm not an Imm. Though, a post here about what a reasonable amount of time is would be tops. I think most of the "you haven't emailed me back" strife comes from not having a benchmark.

Some IMMs reply in a day, some a few, some not at all. How long should we wait before we worry that the email was eaten by the spam filter?

2) For updates, not so much the weekly ones but the random things that get sent out, a reply even an auto-reply that it was received would be cool. Just so a player knows that it did in fact get there.

3) Not sure about other players, but for me, feedback, feedback, feedback. If I'm F@cking up...I want to know. Odds are, I don't know it....I think I rock. If you think I rock...Let me know...I'll rock on.

4) Give me stuff to do. Especially at the lower levels, little jobs are a great distraction from spar, twink, hunt, spar, twink, craft, talk in tavern.
Short term goals, goals, goals.  When these short term goals tie into the long term goals of the over all clan, life is cool.

[JollyGreenGiant]

4) Give me stuff to do. Especially at the lower levels, little jobs are a great distraction from spar, twink, hunt, spar, twink, craft, talk in tavern.
Short term goals, goals, goals.  When these short term goals tie into the long term goals of the over all clan, life is cool.

Just wanted to make a quick comment that this is something that clan leaders can (and probably should) do as well.

[flurry]

My biggest expectation would be for timely communication.   I certainly don't expect same-day responses and I completely understand that Immortals have real lives and plenty of other players and staff they are dealing with as well.   The  problem I'd like to see avoided are questions or requests that go completely unacknowledged for weeks and weeks.  Just a quick "This is going to take me a while to get to" or something similar would be fantastic and make a big difference.  

Also, this might seem silly, but if my PC is in your clan and dies or is stored, and I write in to report that and thank you for my time in your clan, it would go a long way to get a reply.   Just a quick "good luck with your next PC" or something.   I don't know - maybe I'm weird, but the one time that didn't happen left a sour taste in my mouth (although there were some other issues  that exacerbated the situation).

I agree that NPCs shouldn't be animated as omniscient beings, but I haven't personally had any direct problems with this.

[SailorMars]

Give me stuff to do.

I'll be the first to admit that it rocks when my imms animate some NPCs, or come up with a little RPT for us. Still, I can't help but mention that there's tons of stuff to do out there without really needing the imms. I didn't say tons of safe stuff though.

[ashyom]

On this line of thought, I wanted to share that, from Staff POV, sometimes it is easier to create a plot based on PC(s) actions, rather than their inactivity.  If you spend day after day sitting in a bar, it's hard for me and most of the staff to know what would interest you, and difficult to plan when I don't know what you will/won't do.  I'll share a secret with ya'all - we're not psychics.  

Generally, I don't see a very good track history with making plots for these kind of PCs.  Most of the staff have run into this type of player.  It's also equally, if not more, frustrating for us to try get something started only to have the PC continue to do nothing - which happens all too often, unfortunately.

Some days, I want to take a 2 by 4 and just smack some players with it and tell them, "Do something!"   :twisted:

Alternatively, it's also frustrating to know there are active players who would be a joy to run a plot for, but they play different hours from me.  This is partly why we've started to double-team clans - to try cover different hours.

Additionally, creating plots out of the blue always struck me as odd and not very coherent with the IC aspects of the game.  I like to try keep my plots closely entwined with the ongoings of the PCs' activities in-game.  This sort is often long-winded, sometimes encompassing weeks and months.  Sometimes it's so successful that PCs don't realize it was an imm that set them on this path.  It's always a pleasure to hear, months or years after the fact, a player reiterate one of his experiences on the mud, and realize, "That was my plot.

Trust this helps
Ashyom

[Agent_137]

i've come from seven years in a mud that not only did i pay for but I got ZERO gamemaster interaction unless it was me longing to be part of a huge event, but I couldn't because I would just die because I never had high level characters because I was too busy RPing.

So, bascially, I'm in heaven. All my imm interaction so far has been awesome, and I haven't been bored yet as long as some one else is on. I even manage to be only half-bored interacting with vnpcs.

fairly-prompt email response, though, is an important thing. No need to beat a dead kank, though, I'll leave it at that.

I'm sure I'll come to expect things from the staff . . . after I get past the intial amazement, but I hope I don't forget that I should never feel entitled to anything . . .regardless of what you have invested in this game, it's still FREE.

(I had to keep reminding people of that too on my old Counter-strike pub server. They bitch about changes but they haven't paid for the game since they bought half-life 5 years ago.)

-edited for grammar

[Mar]

Yes, I have to agree. My experience was great so far. I know sometime it takes longer time to get your email responsed. But generally, I believe our IMMs are great. Thank you for all thankless work you are doing for us!

Well... Only thing I hate is when they suspects something without let me explain what´s going on. If I am not clear in my intentions (could happen, I am sorry), please, ask me what and why I did. You can always disagree with my acting after you get all information, no? :-)

[jmordetsky]

4) Give me stuff to do. Especially at the lower levels, little jobs are a great distraction from spar, twink, hunt, spar, twink, craft, talk in tavern.
Short term goals, goals, goals.  When these short term goals tie into the long term goals of the over all clan, life is cool.

Just wanted to make a quick comment that this is something that clan leaders can (and probably should) do as well.

Agreed, though this sort of thing should cascade. Imms give the leader a goal which should then have sub goals that need to be obtained by the house members and such.

[Carnage]

I'll share a secret with ya'all - we're not psychics.

Then why the fuck have I been paying 3.99 a minute to call up and ask a Jamaican Sanvean when the next weekly update is coming out?

[Sanvean]

I've got to fund the mud somehow...mon.

[Cenghiz]

Do anything your doing for often.. Dump your lovers, desert your families, get fired from the work and work till your eyes bleed
To be serious (and you know it's real hard for me to be) the only thing I'd want is not for myself. I've friends in Turkey with no karma. I've got a feeling that I'm watched much more often than they are. Of course I'm proud of this, but this way we can't form the Turkish LOOT magickers clan . That's the only thing I'm hoping. When they gain karma we'll be worse enemies (they killed some of my chars) and better friends IG. Please watch the non-karma players more often.