Kethruch

LOL - then why play the game?

Greetings all! Now that the RP threads are open again, I would like to offer anyone who wishes to have their Roleplaying skills assessed by myself, using some of the scenarios that I was readying for the official assessment. PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE ARE NOT THE OFFICIAL ASSESSMENTS AS DISCUSSED IN THE RPG FORUM How would this be done? Put down your name here, and the type of character you like to run I will contact you via IM (if you have one) or PM as to what the scenarios entail We will go through several scenarios with me as the GM, and you as a player When done, I will give you a written assessment, based on the responses to the scenarios, noting strengths and things that might need improving Is this a real test? No - there is no passing or failing, just an assessment of how you react to certain situations, your style of play, what kinds of campaigns/games you might be best suited for, and tips on how to work well with others. When will it begin? As soon as I get the first people to sign up on this thread, I will start to contact them. What about the results? I don't want everyone to know what you rate me like. i will send you the results via PM or e-mail. No one but you and I will know the results. What if they decide to go forward with the tests at a later date, will this count? We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. Why do you think you have the experience to do this? I have been a GM for 30 years, and a player for just as long. During my tenure, I have run over 500 different players through sections of my world. I am also a student of people, and have seen many varying styles of play. I have played with over a hundred different people, and I have watched what works and what doesn't while roleplaying. I would love to pass on some of the experience that I have with RPing to any who wish to receive it. If you have any questions, or are unsure about anything, please feel free to PM me or e-mail me, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS TOTALLY UNOFFICIAL AT THIS POINT - I HAVE NOT OFFICIALLY BEEN ASKED TO DO ANYTHING I have been working on a series of scenarios that could be the basis for the evaluations, but thus far, like Peregrine, have gotten no response on whether or not the evaluations are a go or not. I will continue working on them until someone tells me not to. Also included with the scenarios are a couple of proposals for how they should be administered, and how the results should be distributed and what should be done with the RP forum in light of the results. I'm not sure if you can call this progress, but I should have enough for serious consideration in a couple of weeks at the most. After that, it's just getting the material approved by the powers that be, and moving forward with what is decided. I hope that we can get this handled quickly, so everyone can have fun RPing. Thanks, Your humble Servant

A figure appears on the field of snow-battle. Red flames come out of his body, and it radiates unbelievable heat. His striped suit and tophat look somewhat out of place, and, somehow, don't burn. "Allow me to introduce my brother, to take part in this fiasco!" The background music starts up as a figure, blue in appearance, materializes in front of you with a thunderclap. A chorus line of smaller versions of himself begin to dance in front of him as he begins singing. "I'm mister White Chistmas, I'm mister snow. I'm mister icicle, I'm mister ten below. They call me cold miser, whatever I touch, turns to ice in my clutch! I'm too much!" He raises his arms, and all the world freezes over, then with the icy tentacles of his coldness splaying out into space, Venus and Mars, then Mercury and Jupiter, then finally the sun and Saturn turn to great balls of ice. He leaves the other planets alone as they are frozen already. "Now, he says," turning to the others. "Who wants to mess with me?"

I have started (well, he's level 6 now) Cyunathin Breton wandering Mage (Magic class), STR/INT, Majors: Mysticism Alteration Destruction Restoration Illusion Minors: Longblade Block Athletics Acrobatics Axe Sign of the Apprentice Plays a 100 difficulty, and no illegal activities (stealing, killing, etc.)

Love, what is wuv? Love is the overriding of the logical mind where it comes to people we care about. It is the ability to look at someone, and want to do anything to help that person, even at great cost to yourself. It gives you the ability to overlook people's faults, and not be able to answer the question "does this make me look fat?" because you know the answer is wrong no matter what you do. It gives you the amazing power to be crazy, without fear of being judged. It allows you to come as close to truly knowing someone as anything can, and, indeed, as much as the eyes are the windows of the soul, love is the highway that allows souls to meet and interact. It is also what defines hate, as one cannot exist without the other. Love can make the worst movie seem too short, and a minute of time when you are separated seem to long. The best parts of love are not the physical, but the security that comes with mutual love - that feeling that not only can you try to leap over great obstacles, but that if you fail, you will still have someone there. Love is what drives you to be the best you can be not for yourself, but for those that love you - and also the ability to allow others to strive for all they can be, without thought of yourself. Love is looking into the eyes of your newborn child, and the feeling you get when they look back and smile. Love - of all of the things that exist, is the most complex, beautiful, thing. BTW - I have been married for 14 years.

I have my own spin to add to the above. If you are an experienced player, and you see someone struggling with playing or with any of the guidelines, don't chastise, TEACH! You can either get them in a chat room or PM them and try to let them know in a less-public forum what is expected of role players here. That brings up another good point. Each thread is run by the GM - the GM should have a clear understanding of the expectations and goals of the players, AND the players should have a clear understanding of the goals and expectation of the GM. Communicate these goals with each other before allowing the player into the thread. If they are not compatible, DON'T PLAY! Find a thread where they are compatible and go to town. If you have a problem with another player in the thread, and cannot seem to work it out, chat with the GM. It may be that something can be done on the structure of the quest that will avoid interaction in extreme cases. I have been able to turn dire enemies into best friends (actually one couple that met and hated each other and each other's playing wound up getting married) Play your character with character knowledge, not your knowledge. It is almost impossible in a gaming setting to keep players separated from at least a little stuff that their character doesn't know. Play your character as your character, and do not try to do everything. If you are a fighter - don't be the one casting all of the spells, a mage shouldn't charge into battle, a thief shouldn't be the first line fighter, etc. Too many times have I seen players gain the disrespect of the other players by doing everything themselves, even though they were not particularly good at them. The best players are those who have fun, but let those around have fun too. As a player, understand that there are others who feel about their characters as dearly as you feel about yours. Treat them that way. And, finally - what happens here is not and should not be personal. If you feel resentment toward someone because of something that happens here take it to another medium to work out. No one likes seeing fights between people taken out in the threads. That's my four haypennies (for now).

I think we've had enough of this. The posts that Jouko referred to happened before the current rules went into effect, and, because of them and other threads like it, were the reason the new rules were put into effect. The defense of "that's the way they did it before..." is not appropriate. The thread was winding down because people were concerned about the outcomes of this type of thread. Where the escalation continues and power posting becoms rampant eventually everyone is worse off. Peregrine's posts (i'm assuming) are meant to be IRONIC - Saying that this is the kind of thing that COULD happen, and what we are trying to avoid. Personal attacks at any time are not warranted under any circumstances and they should be removed when found.

My thread isn't D&D, and it also is not placed in Vvardenfell. But, it is Rolemaster - which has more skills and stats than you would possibly want to imagine (and I don't take it to the nth degree, which requires skill progression in minute things like various ways to cast each spell). I don't see why a D&D thread couldn't be run through here just as mine is. If you're looking for a low-level kind of thing until the tests come, you're welcome. Malchik - thanteros echoes my thoughts completely. If there's a problem where someone seems to be getting lost due to non-access during peak times, I would love to hear from them and would be completely happy in getting them into a situation where they were comfortable. If this means splitting off from the main party, that's fine too - there's nothing wrong with going your own way (up to a point, I can only run 5 or so campaigns at the same time before I go batty -though people say I already am batty, so I guess it might not make much of a difference). I'm sure that there are other GMs out there who would concur (with the splitting off, hopefully not the battyness part).

Thanks, Theta, I agree with everything you say. My response was specifically to Malthius, and I did not want anyone getting the idea that responding to a flame was any better than the original flame itself. If we can get even one person to think twice about responding to a flame, I think we have done the site a service. I will also HEARTILY agree about the expectation of the players. Please, if someone says it is a low power/low level mod, please do not try to get your demigod character into it. I have turned away players because they do not want to give up the powers that they have given their character. Pick and choose which threads are suited to the way you want to play that character. If the GM won't allow it in the way you want, try playing something completely different. A lot of the fun of roleplaying is taking on different roles, whether they be a fighter, magician, priest, thief, whatever. In most RP games, no one character can do everything, cooperation is required because no one is good at everything. Even the LotR and the Hobbit recognized this. You have the magician, the warriors, the thieves. It is not the story of a single ultra powerful being who single handedly takes on Mordor and destroys the ring. It's the efforts of the entire group that bring about the fall of Sauron. Most GMs try to get this kind of cooperation in their players. It only takes one to really mess things up....Don't be that one, or the GMs may censure you.

Matthias - For there to be a flame war, at least two participants are required. Just because someone flames you does not give you the right for a free shot back. The whole point is, don't flame. Let those that do hang themselves. Don't get caught up by someone who is trying to goad you into doing something stupid. More good people do stupid things because they don't count to ten before they act. If you get flamed, don't instantly respond to it - Or better yet, ignore it and don't respond at all. If you feel you have to - do it to the moderators. Report the offender and it will hurt the flamer a lot more than whatever stupid, supposedly witty comment you can come back with.

Okay - here's a twist on what's going on so far. I am running the Arcangel thread, and it is open-ended. The players have decided by their actions that they would like to go in different directions. One group posts frequently, the other less so. Would I be allowed under the new rules to split the thread (which I would have done by splitting the party under normal circumstances) so that each group can enjoy the thread to its fullest, or would I have to wait until the new rules take effect before starting the second thread? both courses of action of the PCs are fully detailed and fully sustainable for as long as the players wish to play. Thanks

I may be dating myself, but..... 1. The Seven Samurai 2. LOTR 3. Ran 4. Spartacus 5. Citizen Cane 6. 2001 a Space Odyssey 7. Das Boot (director's cut) 8. The Day the Earth Stood Still 9. Indiana Jones movies 1 & 3 (not temple of doom) 10. Horatio Hornblower (either the old one with gregory peck or the new A&E miniseries) A lot of others like Braveheart, Moulin Rouge, The Greatest Show on Earth, I'd put in my second 10.

I agree that Peregrine's idea is a great one. My RP is open ended - meaning there really is no end. There are always more lands to discover, great quests to undertake, and prophecies to fulfill. Let me know if and when you are going to pause the games. From responses so far, I have no other major concerns.

HeLLL Congratulations/Condolences (depending on how you feel about it) Thanks for taking on the responsibility of moderating - I have the utmost faith in your abilities having read your posts. What would happen today if someone wanted to get into my Arcangel game who had never posted on the site before? Would she be allowed to join in now, or could you direct me (and her) to the test so she could join as soon as possible?

I'm running Arcangel based on a Rolemaster - type system, and I believe Peregrine is running under D&D rules. The rolls in my system are all done by me and I report the results in prose -though we haven't gotten to combat yet. Look to the Habassa thread to see a good example of how this works - I do virtually the same thing as Peregrine. (Peregrine - I hope I'm not stepping on toes here...)

Okay, if I get this straight - Newcomers will take a test to determine if they will be allowed to participate in the 'closed' threads. Those who are already in threads may or may not have to take the test. (I would choose not, and then knock them out if a SERIOUS problem occurred). There may be open threads for GMs and players to hone their skills and possibly be let into the 'closed' threads. A month ago I would have been a super newcomer, and, though positive I'd be able to pass a test on roleplaying and GMing ability, there still is the question as to what, exactly is good gaming? My view of someone who would be good for a group (or someone I could handle) might be very different than what others might think. A good player could look bad with a bad GM, so would 'approved' GMs be running the open threads? Peregrine and I are of the same mind on a lot of things - while I would rather not have testing, if it is to come, I'll live with it - just let's all get together and make sure that we get the bugs out. Have you given any thought to having 'approved' GMs review/come up with the situations? I think the existing GMs might look more kindly on this if we felt we had a part in it's creation and implementation.

Are we talking about locking out everyone after the RP thread has started? I love working new characters in, and, as a player, I pick and choose whose thread I want to take part in. I understand that the proposed rules are not meant for the serious RP'ers, but to keep the non-serious ones from ruining the fun for the others. What if we have two levels of 'security' I'll call it for lack of a better word. An open category for anyone, and a closed one for the serious people who have been allowed in by the GMs. This would allow new players to get their feet wet, and let the serious GMs be able to get a read on how they play before allowing them in. This would also allow players and moderators to get a read on the GMs, to see who they would allow to run games in the serious forum. I personally can run a couple of games at once, one for newbies to get them indoctrinated and the other serious. I don't know if this might solve the problem without the added problem of setting up tests and guards. If it works, the 'limited' threads might work by invitation to those who post on the open category. I agree that GMs need to be screened. They should have the willingness to remove unwanted characters from the thread they are running. If the example thread occurred, the GM should issue first a warning, then a request/demand that the offending player stop. If it continued past that, the GM should be able to contact a moderator to have the person removed from being able to post to the rping section. (I'm not sure if this is possible.) This puts the responsibility on the GM to try to maintain order. Of course, the rules will still be posted, and, as an addition, in huge letters, that participation in one of the 'limited' threads is purely at the discretion of the GM. It's not that I'm against the proposed way, but I like to throw out alternatives in case they might work as well. Thanks for the soapbox

how about this? Posts 1 Fresh Meat 21 Cannon Fodder 51 Alternate Target 101 Assistant 151 Morrowind Helper 251 Idea Maker 501 Morrowind Hero 1001 TES Slave 1501 TES Savant 2001 Master of Morrowind 2501 Modder 3001 TES Ancient 3501 Master Modder 4001 Demigod Modder 5001 World Creator 10001 TES God

Cthulu would be better starting off with something simple and straight forward - I actually think his/hers/its campaign manager has started by having Cthulu influence the California recall. If the anarchy that is the recall works, maybe Shub-Niggurath will go for governor of Minnesota to start - after all, what could be more strange than a former pro wrestler.... One thing we could kind of count on, though, money might not be a prerequisite for the showdown. I mean, how much spin can you put on saving yourself if the threat comes to vote for me or spend the next millenia in the bowels of a demon. Kethruch