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Past Statements of the Week
January 5th
Ring in the new year! I see the race was on again to be the first to sign my guestbook. This week, we get another Griffin Sword log, and for all you top ten afficionados, a new contest is open! And I will have to get caught up with the Turnips soon. What else is coming to the site this year? More interactivity! Enjoy our ebon-and-lime themed menagerie of online utilities and pastimes. Once I make them and put them up. Also coming, more logs! Logs from festive nights of three and more years past linger still in the annals of my hard drive, waiting for a rainy day. And watch for completely new themed humor pages, more guides and essays, and more fits-on-a-page maps. Who knows what else? We have a whole year ahead of us. Enjoy your visits!
January 12th
There is an obvious effort from the GMs involved in the Griffin Sword quest to get new people involved. This has been extended to giving attention to people who have been trying to get involved with the NPCs, to little success. Part of the reason this effort is so obvious is that many of the latter folks posted their frustration to the boards shortly before getting the attention they craved.
On the one hand, this sets a dangerous precedent. I'm not sure the staff should be generating the impression that to get NPC attention, you have to (or should) post on the boards.
On the other hand, I was one of those people who posted in frustration -- mentioning in passing that I'd been spending hours in Ta'Vaalor every night for weeks and still hadn't been able to catch up with the Dreamwalker, hint hint -- and not long after, this NPC pulled me aside for some one-on-one interaction that I was very grateful for. And though I feel awkward thinking it might have been my hints on the boards that prompted this interaction, there's no way I'd give it up.
There's no way the GMs can be everywhere. I'm sure they want to know who wants to be involved in the quest, and if the boards are the only way to get that across for the unlucky player, so be it. They are a useful resource. But it would be a bad habit to get into. So what's the solution? Self-moderation, perhaps. I'm not sure.
Great statement, huh?
February 2nd
Gloumerrick's book wagon, loaded with books written by PCs such as my own, will be making its stops in Icemule and Ta'Illistim again soon. I thought I'd get in a little free advertising. On my book:
Sixes: Instructions on How to Play the Second-Best Party Game Since Terasian Craps
I love games and I've been making up new ones all my life. Sixes is a game I invented specifically for play in GemStone III, and it's one of the more balanced, intelligent and strategic ones I've ever created.
Unfortunately -- while it's no poker -- it's a lot more complex than other favorite GS pastimes such as Mana Bread of Fate, Terasian Craps or Hot Potato. Part of the reason I hardly ever introduce it to people is that it takes a while to explain.
But now you can buy the rules and carry them with you wherever you go. This dice-engraved bright silver guidebook comes with instructions on playing the game, PLUS a very useful quick-reference-guide in the back listing order of play and die roll outcomes, for the forgetful.
What is Sixes like? It's a betting game, though the amount at stake is up to you. It can be played by 3 or more people, though 5-6 is the ideal number. I enjoy games that combine many elements of skill, and this is a great example. A quick reaction time, luck of the die roll, strategic thinking skills, and creativity will all aid you in winning, though none is required to have a good time. All the sessions I've played have involved a lot of laughter at the outrageous turns of luck, and quite a few kicks under the table directed at people who were getting a little TOO lucky.
I predict that any time you sit down to play it, you won't want to stop for at least an hour. This is a great item to pick up if you ever find yourself sitting around bored with your friends, struggling to think up something to do. Or if you're planning on holding a party and need an icebreaker for your guests.
You might even end up recouping the 75k you spend on it.
March 23rd
What can I say about GemStone IV? It's going to make me change the name of my site! We all have some concern, but so far on the boards I've seen less jumping to conclusions and fewer hysterics than I have witnessed with many lesser changes to the game. I don't think the fundamental nature of the GS player has changed, so I'll chalk it up to a couple things: the lack of specifics presented so far, and the very exciting news of new races and professions, which is hard to argue with.
We almost always get a lack of specifics with announcements about upcoming plans, but usually the amount of information we receive goes by some kind of magic formula wherein we're given enough information for all kinds of speculative demons to start dancing in our heads, and certainly not enough specifics to prevent said speculation from forming. But it's hard to get scared about something as nonspecific as "changes to death." (I wouldn't be surprised if this changes on March 31st when more detailed information arrives.)
About the only argument that can be made against the idea of new races and professions is that it may take away from GM time that should be devoted to fixing unfinished areas in the game first (and some have expressed this). But this is definitely the most glamorous development so far, and really appeals to a lot of people. It overshadows many other planned implementations that would attract a lot of attention at any other time, and gives a grand, adventuresome feel to the whole endeavor.
I tend to be really lackadaisical about game changes. For all my love of mechanics, I'm attached to the idea of my characters more than anything else, and I only want to be able to continue playing them in ways that fit with those ideas. I have gotten excited about new implementations that would allow me to better realize said ideas (such as rogue gambits!), but for the most part I can take 'em or leave 'em, and I'm that way here too. I'm mostly nervous about all the new things I'll have to learn, and all the adjusting that'll have to be done. You too, huh?
March 30th
The detailed info on GS4 is out. I'm already giving my opinion about it on the boards (it's almost all favorable), and I won't rehash anything here.
I admit, I have not yet delved into the exp changes folder, but I hear it's a bear. I imagine there's a great deal of shock and anger about being reduced in levels, and I don't think much about that, since it's largely a relative matter. But there are valid concerns in having to lose spells you've already learned, having to re-hunt hunting areas you've already passed... and most definitely in having to spend so much more time to advance in level.
I only level Juspera a few times a year as is, and inter-level rewards or no inter-level rewards, it's hard to imagine it being anything but depressing to only train once every couple of years in the future. I believe that the level-scrunching they're doing will make the game function a lot better. It will certainly be easier to balance things when we aren't as stretched out and when there's little chance of getting that way again.
However, a change that can be good for the game this way can, paradoxically, be bad for each individual. I don't know exactly how much fun GS4 will be; there may be so many other things to do and get good at that the inability to level more than once a year seems small. But if the game remains much like it is now, it will frankly suck to level so rarely.
As someone who only trained once in a blue moon anyway, I wasn't one of those "breaking" the game to begin with. Unfortunately, there is no way to give me the ability to keep training a few times a year while preventing powerhunters from training far more than that. Well, there is the idea of forcibly keeping people from training more than once every X months, no matter how much they hunt. But that's scarcely much better for their enjoyment than requiring 80 hours of hunting per level is for mine.
I very much like the picture of GS being a game in which there's a true pyramid of many at the bottom narrowing to a few at the top. I like the picture of the playing populace that's shaping up from the new changes. But I can't imagine any way of getting that pleasing shape without making this very un-fun change to leveling they're making now.
So I call for a wealth of pursuits besides hunting in which we can each progress, reach milestones, and gain new skills. That means more Artisan skills, more societies, more open profession guilds with more skills. So that hopefully, on the days that 500,000 exp looks so far off as to be impossible, we will still have our next rank of forging, library mastery or wizard cantrips around the corner to look forward to.
April 13th
On the boards, arguments here, there and everywhere are breaking out along a similar vein: under what circumstances is it all right to engage in PvP? When someone steals from you? When they slap you? When they kill an invasion critter that's on your side? Then there's the question of whether it's all right strictly under the current GS policy, and whether it is all right morally or should be all right under our ideal GS policy.
But that's boring, so I don't want to talk about it anymore.
April 27th
The next piece of the Griffin Sword was found a bit over a week ago now, and as can be expected, there was a bit of a fuss concerning the circumstances of its finding. Complaints on the part of resistance members were eagerly jumped on with a few righteously castigatory admonitions that "you people are sore losers" and "this isn't about winning."
But self-righteousness aside, they were right on that. It wasn't about winning. Or losing. The pain and the complaints came from many players' feeling the outcome of this particular piece-hunt was predetermined.
But that in itself isn't enough to explain it. After all, what's wrong with predetermination? Every book we pick up at the library (sparing for the moment the choose-your-own-adventure establishment) has a predetermined ending, and we can enjoy the book all the same. Nothing wrong with that. The problem arises when you're given a reasonable indication that what you do can affect on the outcome of your particular story, when in fact it can't.
Whether resistance members were given a reasonable indication that they could affect the outcome of this story is kind of a moot point (not least because I don't believe the outcome was predetermined); what's more important is to separate out when predetermination is okay in roleplayed events and when it's not. While a fixed ending in itself isn't ideal -- getting to affect the ending by your actions is more fun -- in itself it's not bad. When it gets bad is when players are encouraged to expend effort to alter the ending, when in fact they have no chance.
I'm sure there are many out there who would say, "Roleplaying is about the journey, not about the destination. Why would you put any effort into searching for a sword piece if you weren't enjoying it?" And in part, I agree: if a particular outcome can render your time in the game a waste so easily, maybe you shouldn't be putting your time just where you're putting it.
But we consistently put effort into unpleasant mechanical tasks in order to get enjoyable mechanical rewards (hunting in order to level, for instance); it's not so far out of the question that sometimes we might have to do the same in roleplaying. To get a particular roleplaying outcome, we may have to do some RP we don't enjoy quite as much. The journey is the most important thing in roleplay; but to say the destination doesn't matter would be a lie. The setting and achievement of goals is as rewarding in RP as it is in mechanics. And so perhaps we can understand why a player encouraged to go out and perform a certain task for a certain outcome within the game would be hurt to find out that outcome was never actually possible.
At this point I can imagine several folks would say, "Ah, but it's the characters who are encouraged to go out and do things by NPCs, not the players. If the players expect something, it's their own fault." This relies on a distinction between character and player that doesn't exist and never has. There simply isn't 100% player-character separation in anyone, not even the most diehard purist. If nothing else, everyone's character exists in order for that player to have fun, and there's no way of getting around that; to insist one doesn't or shouldn't affect the other is absurd.
Is it absurd to say no player expectations should be generated because of things told to a character by an NPC? That's a trickier question, but I certainly think the answer is no. There's a nebulous sort of philosophical take on this: I just plain believe it's reasonable to expect certain things after an NPC says certain things. And there's a more moral take on it that's also more practical for our purposes: whatever the GMs may want, the fact is that players are going to have expectations, and no matter whose "fault" that is, we need to be sensitive to it if we want people to continue having a good time.
The example of an NPC telling PCs to search for something that hasn't even been put into the game yet is perhaps the most common one. During the banaltra event, the lorekeeper assigned to River's Rest, Fiontar, told us to search for certain things, including a cauldron of some sort. I searched the entire town and environs and found nothing. Later, another person found some sort of kettle in one of the places I'd already searched. And despite my later role in that particular event, the one incident with the cauldron was hurtful enough that it reinforced my feelings about quests to a degree where I didn't bother getting involved in the Griffin Sword saga until happenstance forced my hand halfway through it. It just isn't any fun throwing your all into something only to find out later you didn't have a chance. I didn't want to go through that again.
And there's the crux of it. Expectations exist. The destination matters. Predetermination where determination was advertised creates disappointment and disillusionment. This is a philosophical statement; I hold to my belief that the GMs did try to give us a chance in this round of the Griffin Sword saga (and that, in fact, they tried to take the determination idea further than it's yet been taken). My philosophy comes with a practical wish for the future: the staff is not responsible for every player reaction, but they should be sensitive when doing or saying things that encourage player/character effort.
That's all for this week, gatitos.
June 15th
This has been a long lull for Juspera's Good Ole GS3 Page. First I was busied with Juspera's trial, and then Simucon. I suppose I'll talk about Simucon next week; the trial is overdue for some treatment here. When I'm slightly less shellshocked, I may write up an informative guide on how we did the trial, what mistakes we made, and how you too can operate your own player-run trial. You'll get a behind-the-scenes look at one of the more inclusive non-festival player-run events I've managed to be a part of.
My statement of the week this week is twofold. First we have a little opinion piece.
With the Griffin Sword quest, we've seen more discussion than ever before on the topic of "consequences" for roleplayed bad behavior. Worshipping Luukos, attacking towns, and the like. Everyone agrees this is a good thing, for a number of reasons. However, as the discussions evolved I often felt some unease over what was being discussed, and why.
To begin with, any strong sentiment that seems to incline people to poke around in what their neighbors do or don't deserve always disturbs me. If you are saying your neighbor deserves a nice chocolate cake, well, that is one thing, but whenever people are eager to see others receive bad things, it disturbs me to varying degrees.
And there was something particularly disturbing about the players of good guys speaking from a position in which they do not, by and large, have to deal with randomly being killed because of the god they RP worshipping, do not have to deal with being arrested and fined by NPCs for RP that doesn't involve any kind of attack, do not (well, most of them) have to deal with exile from Ta'Vaalor -- saying they wish to see more negative consequences for RPing a bad guy.
Now technically, there really is nothing wrong with all that. You're allowed to ask for things to be put into the game that will inconvenience others and not yourself. But like I said, it was disturbing to me. There was something in it that smacked more of "They shouldn't be able to get away with this" than of "Consequences will allow for more realistic roleplay," and the "this" that the bad guys shouldn't be allowed to get away with seemed mostly to be, well, "more fun than we're having being good guys."
That sounds terrible, I know. And admittedly, obviously, there is no proof for this, and there is not likely to ever be, as I cannot imagine anyone who was agitating for "consequences" coming forth and saying, "Yeah, I was really just upset that they got to have so much fun plotting and spying and invading towns and torturing people and generally being evil, and as good guys, we couldn't do any of that." (Not that the lack of probability of our hearing something like this makes me right, either.) This is simply the impression I got from many, though not all, of the people posting.
There is a consequences bandwagon. It's sort of like being tough on crime for politicians. It's a surefire vote-getter. What kind of a politician would get any votes if he seemed soft on crime? The problem is that there's more than one way to deal with the problem of criminals, in real life and in GS, and the best ways aren't necessarily the bandwagon ways.
I have avoided speaking fully my views on this issue on the boards because, frankly, I don't want to be unpopular -- I'm human too -- and also because in many ways, Juspera is a criminal in the game, and the criminal speaking about how tough sentences aren't the answer isn't likely to be given much of an ear.
But here we go. I want to be very careful instituting "consequences" for RPed bad behavior in the game, and I want it always to be done with the aim of making a more believable and enjoyable world for everyone, and never with the aim of giving people what they deserve... whatever that is.
My freefloating unease was solidified into a more palpable argument recently when a Dark Alliance friend was talking about a particular night in which she'd been jailed three times and fined hundreds of thousands of silvers for admitting to an NPC that she was a member of the Dark Alliance. (I was there that evening, and I know she did no more than talk, and it wasn't even particularly inflammatory talk.) She confided that that night, she felt like she was being punished for roleplaying.
Hearing this made things click for me. I have made feeble arguments before about how when evil is successfully RPed, that player is bringing something good to the game, and while perhaps the character should be punished, it should be an experience that is rewarding for the character's player. But my friend's comment says all that needs to be said, and in fewer words.
The evil characters in this quest have brought us innumerable side-plots, drama galore and opportunities beyond number for character development on both sides. Yet many of these fine RPers (who, all right, I also happen to be friendly with OOC) have been driven off by unpleasantness perpetuated on the part of "good" characters who see fit to maim, kill and harass with little attendant RP, and about whom the vast majority of evil RPers are far too gracious to publically complain.
Well-played bad guys are an asset. We should treat them as such. Just as we should treat well-played good guys -- but those are not a species in need of any special protection. In calling for consequences for evil characters' actions, please let us remember that a quest without bad guys would be very boring, that we don't want to drive any RPer out of any quest -- screw "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time" -- and that good RP should never, ever be punished.
We must simply be creative in coming up with things that will allow us to RP good guys realistically... where we don't have to deal with towns that constantly and inexplicably turn a blind eye to the traitors and murderers in their midst... while keeping it fun for the players of those traitors and murderers that enhance our experience in the end.
How does this relate to Juspera's trial? Trials frequently carry punishments, and this one was no exception. There were a few gleefully nasty suggestions about what should happen to Juspera, and I really couldn't tell if they were things other players actually wanted to see happen, or simply jokes or IC jibes, but you won't be seeing any of them. I handed the sentencing committee a set of guidelines to give them an idea of what I would find doable as a player. Since obviously something like being deeded or exiled to Pinefar for a year would be brutally unenjoyable to play out, and I'm as interested in fun as the next person, and hopefully provide some kind of enjoyment to other people in the quest as well.
So I expect there'll be some moaning and groaning when folks learn Juspera isn't to be beheaded, but I think the sentencing committee did a good job choosing stuff that'll further roleplay rather than halting it, as well as providing something of a level of challenge to me that is on the enjoyable side of difficult.
Now to the second part of this (unusually long, but perhaps thankfully so) statement of the week. The Freeholders Mercenary Company was the PRO that organized the trial, and they and especially leader Cappurnicus did a great deal of work and deserve (deserve!) a reward. I made a thankyou post a while back on the boards, but more is in order, so here's a paltry gift for you guys. Your own poem, a newly composed J original.
Posterity's Vanguard
You keep the path. The narrow path
That answers not the left nor right.
It stands a beacon for itself,
A bald and rarely comely light.
When meekness yields its course to might
And succor, sense and conscience fail;
When warring wends to either side,
You keep the path. You know the tale:
The words you scribe will tarry, hale
When all the swords are left to rust,
When all your friends are turned to ash
And all your enemies gone to dust.
- For the Freeholders, 2003
June 29th
Here's a recap of Simufun from the Simucon boards. I'm foisting it on you as a statement of the week substitute since I don't think most of you read the Simucon boards.
So I drove to Simucon and back, making a few detours to visit friends and things along the way. I drove 2,500 or more miles. For the curious, I spent $121.47 on gas, $29.50 on food and $45.00 on lodging (so far - in the infamous room 145 which had 11 people staying in it), which plus $30.25 for miscellaneous costs (such as the $18 ticket for Mammoth Cave) comes to $226.22. Not bad for a 10 day trip, and I could have shaved another $50 off if I'd chosen not to do a few things. I was unregistered scum.
You too can go to Simucon. And you should.
The drive was pleasanter than expected. I mean, I drove a lot. I drove a real lot. (I come from CT... the eastern side.) But it wasn't at all intolerable... there were a couple nights when I really needed to be sleeping rather than driving, but that could have been solved by having looser schedules on when I was supposed to be arriving places. I did it solo. Some times I thought it would have been nice to have someone to take over the driving, but they probably would have driven me crazy as much as they relieved me.
The hotel was very nice. I'm not too picky about my sleeping arrangements (er, obviously) but I really liked the hotel's situation in the plaza with all the restaurants. It would not be my ideal hotel if I could create an ideal hotel to have my convention experience at, but it was nice. (Ideally, I would want a bigger pool, and a closer jacuzzi, a hotel that was more up-and-down than splayed side to side -- decreasing the maximum walking distance from one's room to the lobby -- and, of course, cheaper, cheaper is always good.)
My favorite part of the con was meeting people. I compulsively introduce myself to people (which you noticed, if you met me), and though I don't always know what to do with people after I meet them, I found there was usually something to talk about. Simucon was like a 5-day-long constant party for me. This is not something that, if I'd heard it beforehand, would have enticed me. I am not usally one for going to a dark, smoky room and watching strangers drink alcohol and shout at each other. But so many of these people I knew from the game, and even if I didn't, we had something in common (unless they were, well, DR people), and I found myself enjoying the loud, smoke-hazed drunken socializing more than I usually would.
I did not manage to get drunk, myself, though I got a little tipsy one night.
I went swimming. I love swimming. Was I the only person who went swimming? Yes, the outdoor pool is cold.
The boffer sword tournament! This was held at 10 AM saturday, and just me, Quinstol, Divid and some DR guy showed up, along with Azorack and Maimara to watch. I feel very ashamed that with our combined fencing and martial arts training we failed to defend the honor of GS, with the DR guy soundly beating us all and taking first, though thanks to some un-J-like (though very much in character for Juspera, I thought) whining that I didn't know we had started yet, I managed to grab second.
The scene where the judge, DR guy and Divid tried to kill the helium balloon that was floating around the ballroom was one of the funniest things at the entire con. It is a shame only a few got to witness it. Suffice it to say, it's apparently a herculean task to pop a balloon with blunt-tipped foam and PVC swords. It took several long minutes of flailing, running, screaming, tumbling, fantastic judo flips and frothing at the mouth to finally slay it.
<<First of all, I have some good news to report. When checking out of my room, I finally looked over the balcony and there were no bodies there.>>
My mind is a little mushy still, but I will relate a story from the con. Ciston had a party in his room for the first few nights. Every time we went onto the balcony, someone was sure to say, "Don't lean on the far rail, it's not stable." This was said often. Because, you know, we care about each other and don't want to see one of us plummet to our doom. (Ciston's room was on the fourth floor.) Also, they were largely drunk, and people tend to repeat things when drunk. So I heard this at least 16 times before the fateful night that someone was showing another balcony-goer how unstable the far rail was. He was shaking it and it was wiggling around a fair bit. And then either I heard him say, or my mind invented the fact that he said something like "I could just give it a push..." and he -- or whoever it was -- did in fact give it a push, and the rather heavy wooden beam with decorative slats attached went toppling off the balcony, crashed down over the other heavy wooden beams with decorative slats of the third, second, and first floor balconies, and landed with a heavy thud on the ground.
At this point he said, "Okay, everyone back in the room."
This gave me a little laugh, because, really, the balcony was no more dangerous than before, perhaps *less* dangerous than before, because now you could *see* that it clearly was not safe to stand near the edge, but we must face it, with no railing there and nothing but a 40 foot drop to the ground, it *looked* much more dangerous, and anyone would have called us crazy if we'd stayed out there, so lo, we could not.
It was not too long after this that the authorities arrived and, though deeming Ciston's room safe for habitation, rather put an end to the party for that evening.
I have a regular (non-digital) camera and it'll take me a while to get my few paltry pics developed and uploaded, but I'll let you know when I do.
I didn't want to leave when it was over... some people (Melissa and David)? were talking about how they could make it a Simu Week, and not only would people come for the whole week, they'd come early and stay late. I would.
There was never a moment that lacked for something to do or someone to hang out with. Okay, that Sunday morning at 10 AM was a little sparse, but even then I found a Sleken sitting dazedly near the lobby to talk to. So many people... by the end of the con, there were STILL some of you I hadn't met.
July 6th
This week I hit the compiler as I joined a long line of webmasters offering internet "quizzes" to determine facets of your personality. This one serves not only as an entertaining pastime, but my tribute to the timeless personalities of the "evil" PCs in the Griffin Sword Quest (as well as to the personalities of a few whose morality is somewhat in question). I see no reason not to create more quizzes in the future, either humorous or helpful to your roleplay, so go ahead and make suggestions by following the link to my boards below. You can also talk about the current quiz there.
The Griffin Sword Quest is in a long lull right now, but things are hopping in River's Rest where the krolvin have taken over the town. This brings me to my statement of the week, which is invasion/occupation "hunting" behavior.
It's customary in invasions to walk into a room with creatures and simply attack. Many people prefer to find a room that's unoccupied or where it looks like adventurers are having trouble, but if you do walk into a room where other people are swinging away just fine and join in, chances are no one is going to mind very much. It's an emergency-type situation and an anomaly to which the normal rules of hunting, perhaps, do not apply. (I would prefer people put some effort into finding underpopulated rooms first myself, but I am not going to mind very much if someone walks into mine and starts swinging.)
Do these rules -- or lack of rules -- change in occupations, where the "invasion" has become an area where creatures gen day and night? The answer is... maybe. When Whistler's Pass and Sylvarraend Road were overrun for a week with creatures 15-100, normal hunting rules seemed in effect. People found a room with no creatures before attacking, and if they did happen to attack when someone else was there, they apologized -- even the Northern Fury on official patrol. But of late in River's Rest, the situation has been different. Many residents and visitors maintain a standard invasion behavior of opening fire as soon as they step in a room, whether or no someone's already there.
Is this because people in River's Rest care about the town more? Or is it something else? The town is a much smaller area than the roads leading into Ta'Illistim, and the range of creature levels smaller too -- 17-50, with one that might reach 50 genning perhaps only every ten minutes. Yet plenty of legend-age residents and visitors are helping out with the occupation. The streets aren't exactly crowded with adventurers, but still, your chances of running into someone are much higher.
But for those who do kill on entering rooms in these situations, lack of space or low gen rate is never given as the reason. The reason is always that the person cares about the town -- usually stated somewhat haughtily when questioned, as if whoever's doing the questioning must not care as much, or be more interested in experience. The town is under siege! How can you be thinking about courtesy when krolvin are prowling the streets, raping and pillaging?
I can be thinking about courtesy because I believe that OOC needs for people to enjoy the game come before everything IC, and because you can find a good IC reason for any OOC motivation anyway. You must take your fellow players into account. If the required actions aren't something you'd think your character would do, well, use a little creativity and find a reason.
But we don't even need to find an IC reason for OOC courtesy here. It makes more sense for people who care about defending their town to find an unoccupied room before swinging anyway. You're approaching a town whose streets are filled with rampaging hordes. Are you going to dash up and start hacking at something that another fighter is already keeping busy? Or are you going to look for one that's not being handled, free to loot homes and attack innocents?
If it's clear another adventurer is in trouble, of course you should step in there (be aware that the definition of "in trouble" does not mean "the creature is 45 and I know the adventurer is only 42," or "this guy only has a 50% chance to hit this thing," but rather, "the adventurer is stunned, or they told me they need help"). Stepping in when someone needs it is common policy in normal hunting too. But unless your fellow fighter is in danger, how is it helping the town to kill an invader he's already engaged?
Those who attack in occupied rooms are not doing it to the benefit of the town in any way that makes sense. I suspect that a number of those who perpetrate this behavior are committing a kind of avaricious hypcrisy, taking the opportunity to slay whatever they can learn from or whatever has good treasure then excusing themselves with a justification no one is going to argue. "Hey, I care about the town. There's a war on. Obviously you're only interested in learning." It compares to accusing anti-war folks of being unsupportive of the troops in real life. Whatever being "unsupportive of the troops" means, people instinctively feel it's a heinous thing, nobody wants to be branded that, and many will back down rather than argue with whoever uses the term. And those who sling the accusations know this.
However, the majority who follow this practice probably enjoy being able to slay at will, but truly do believe they are acting ICly in the town's best interests. All I can ask is, how many people are having fun when you step in and smash a corsair the player of a level 40 rogue has been eagerly working toward a kill on? And how many people will have fun if you move to the next room?
And while you're stepping in on the corsair that's already being fought, what are the warfarers down the street doing to your town with no one to stop them?
July 20th
Last weekend you didn't get an update because I was busy with Bardfest finals. Bardfest finals is a busy time where you try to compose a piece of poetry in three days on the topic they give you (obscurity and pomposity, this year). Not just a piece of poetry, but one that'll last up to (but not over) ten minutes in performance, with actions, and will be prizeworthy or at least listenable. I find this stressful.
I am the worst kind of snob when it comes to poetry. I am very particular about what is good and what isn't, but I never learned anything about poetry past a unit of it in 11th grade. I'm an undereducated critic. Can I say that now?
We have some truly great writers in GS3. Certainly plenty of published writers play the game. Many of the talents who show up year after year at Bardfest are probably capable of writing something they could actually get money for on the market, if they don't already, and they're certainly capable of entertaining. There are pieces every year I find nothing to criticize in. But from what place do I say these things now?
I have favorite performers in the game. Even in Ylena's unprepared pieces, I see rhymes that make me consciously think, "I would never have come up with that myself." And Rastavan's works sing like real echoes of taverns from our own pasts, with a modern regard for the technical aspects of poetry. I have a lot of admiration, for them and for others.
Bardfest is special. Between the organizing, judging and performing starting on a Wednesday and ending the next Monday, and all the attendants, it is the game's largest annual player-run event. There are scandals every year and there are certainly things I'd do differently myself if I was at the helm, but surprisingly few. It's run by intelligent people who care about the event and its integrity. The judging standards are pretty much my own internal standards for judging poetry and in-game performance, so I can't argue with that.
It's also special to me because it lets me exercise at the height of my ability, spurred by competition, without (so far) killing or crippling me. It is in a computer game. But the hinterparts of my brain that turn out rhyme and meaning don't seem aware. I guess poetry is poetry. What is composed exists as a work regardless of what it was composed for. The event is exciting, it makes most of the participants sweat, and our friends get into it too.
I started performing in Bardfests five years ago... I started because I was in Aspis, and had some background in writing, and I kept hearing about it. I was so nervous come time to perform that I was shaky at the keyboard. That hasn't changed in five years. My first year I was nervous because I wanted to not mess up. This time, I wanted to win. My third-place finish a couple years ago whet an appetite, and more than that, it plain planted the idea in my head. You know that thinking you might actually be able to win is a terrible thing. But so is any time you hope for something or let yourself want something you might not get.
I worked very hard on my pieces. Almost everyone did, but I mean, I did. This time last week I was staring at the computer screen, my mind a mothy blur.
There is no tragedy here, this time. So as the winner, how can I say how good the competition (I beat) was, or how good the judging (that placed me first) is, or how hallowed the establishment, how grand the event? I don't know, but it seems somewhat rotten to say the opposite. And anyway, I believe it. I certainly believed it before I did the winning thing.
Thank you to organizers and participants.
Winning Bardfest was delightful. It means a lot to me. I still feel nice. Plus I get my name on a trophy in the museum! No matter what I do from this day forward, I'll have my name on a trophy in GemStone III. Soon to be GemStone something else. Well, I guess it's not really my name. Same difference.
August 3rd
Greetings. I've been mostly absent from GS lately as I enjoy the outdoors and work on various computer projects that don't involve the game. I just moved to a new place that's closer to the beach, so it's nothing to head down to the water every day, and I got a membership to the Mystic Aquarium for my birthday.
I took a couple of friends to the aquarium yesterday, and they have this live feed going from the Black Sea, where Dr. Robert Ballard (who found the Titanic) is doing an expedition to excavate iron age shipwrecks. We got to ask some scientists questions, which had a neat feeling even if no particularly astounding information was exchanged. While we were there they had sent a couple vehicles down and were looking around the bottom. We didn't get to see any wreckage, but you can check the live feed and read up on the whole thing at the Expedition 2003 site.
I live in what used to be a whaling town (New London, CT) where we still have a place called Whale Oil Row, grand old houses with Grecian pillars that belonged to whaling ship owners. The town to the east, Groton, has a naval base and a major submarine-producing facilty and is called "the submarine capital of the world" (by whom, I don't know). To the east of Groton is Mystic, with many attractions such as the aquarium, Mystic Seaport, and, well, Mystic Pizza. Which I have never been to, as I prefer brick-oven pizza.
Mystic Seaport has a number of boats and ships, but the most popular is probably the Charles W. Morgan, which traveled more than any other American whaling ship in history, and is today the world's only surviving wooden whaling vessel. I have climbed the rigging and it's hard to forget the smell of old wood, rope, canvas and salt.
Ships and the ocean itself are fairly romantic and easily romanticized, but the important thing to me isn't so much what they are, what was really done on them, how many sailors died on them or how much of the ocean and the mariner was exploited to get where we are today. It's just that they're right here, and I can go see them anytime I want. And they will be here, whether or not any examination of history proves or disproves them worthy of romanticizing. They are very nice.
One of my uncles makes a living on a four-bedroom sailboat he captains for charter groups. (He even has a website too.) He's up here in the summers and in the Caribbean in the winters, traveling with aunt Beth (whom my mother today assured me had a sofa bed for me if I wanted it in the new place). Now this seems the life. But I know that boats are more expensive to maintain than you'd believe, docking fees are heavy and rich people with their own ideas of how to fish and sail can make barely tolerable customers. Of course, they don't intend to stop anytime soon.
While I'm enjoying my blessings, this week you can enjoy the photo journal from my road trip, which included Simucon. Check it out here.
August 10th
Last week, not too long after I wrote last week's statement and put up the update, we got the news that Aelsidhe's player had died. I knew her. A part of me was relieved I didn't know her better. Grief is difficult to bear. I'll say what I would say about her in this week's addition, a tribute to the presence in GS of the woman I knew.
August 31st
I've been thinking this week about how we deal with the people we don't like in the game. This issue is most present if you choose to stay in an isolated town such as Kharam-Dzu or River's Rest, where to do the hunting you want, or even see the people you want, you may be stuck on an island with some other people you'd rather have a thousand miles away.
But it's hardly a situation unique to isolated towns. Even in the Landing, you may keep coming into contact with the guy who kept stealing from you then attacked you when you accused him.
Sometimes we make more compromises in the game than we give ourselves credit for. There are certainly those players who find having to share the game with their nemeses to be stressful to the point that they can't enjoy playing, and even the best of us can feel like we don't want to play when we have to deal with certain others, but for the most part we soldier on.
So what do you do when you're dead, and the person you can't stand comes along? What if they're the only cleric or picker in town? I certainly suck it up and let myself be taken care of. But it feels unpleasant, of course, and for a couple reasons. First because I don't want to spend time with this person, and second because it feels like some kind of breach of morals. There's nothing in my morals that says I should refuse help from people I find annoying or even OOC people... I might refuse to help them, but that's a bit different. And I made no promises, to myself or otherwise. Yet it feels a bit like capitulation, like if I had any integrity I'd just decay or throw my boxes out.
But I don't, and of course, it's not a breach of morals. It's a fantasy world and a game we play for fun, and it manages to utterly fail to live up to our fantasies -- in the area where the people we're sharing the fantasy with are concerned, anyhow. It's even more of a compromise than real life, where we're unlikely to despise our priest, and if we do, well damn we'll go to another church. The situations in which we're forced to deal with people we dread are largely family matters.
And so GemStone takes on the semblance of one big family, in all its most dysfunctional aspects. Because just like your mother's always your mother, you can't make the obnoxious ranger leave the game. Sometimes you might not be able to help thinking that the whole game would be so much better if he were gone, but it's out of your hands. And some how, we (almost) all manage to have fun anyway.
September 14th
This week's statement is about celebrity. A few people have said to me at one time or another that they wanted to be famous in GS, wished they were as famous as I was (such as it is), or wanted to know how I got to be popular. I can't tell how many people have this goal. It might be it only belongs to the few I've heard speak about it, or it might be that just about everybody would like to see their character's name in a list of prominent GemStoners.
I wanted to be famous, to be somebody others recognized and talked about. All in all, it's probably pretty common. Our aspirations to celebrity come directly from how we regard the celebrities we see. In the real world, there's a media machine that does its best to make its stars look cool, and the fact that there's another side of the machine trying to trash the same stars can't undo the fact that these people are held above everyone else. Our personal desire proceeds according to one of the most basic equations ever. We want to be like the people everybody else admires.
In the game, there's little to speak of in the way of media... you may see names in the Golden Kobold folder, or on gs3news.com, and you'll end up using certain people's fan sites more often than others... but these outlets have their impact. On top of whatever discourse you hear in the game about particular people, it's enough to create true, if local, fame. It's small potatoes compared to being a real life movie star, but it's there.
And the benefits are there too. It's 90% a boost to one's self-esteem, in this case, but a famous character can get what he or she wants a little bit easier too. The difference between playing Juspera and playing one of my unknowns is striking. After playing Juspera, I feel invisible inside a lesser-known shell. Definitions vary, but I'd certainly classify it as difficult to get people to respond to or RP with me. And despite having characters who have lived in one town for years, I've yet to see any of them listed on a single player website that purports to list the town's citizens. That sort of stuff can sting. But fame, fame can make it go away.
We all know fame has its drawbacks. In the real world, lack of privacy takes first place. I've had my own problems with this. In particular, one incident (that I believe appeared in a prior statement of the week) in which a stranger located me alone in an out-of-the-way place, managed to find his way there, then became upset when I didn't want to talk and said I preferred a thought to a visit. But incidents like these have been rare. In GS, the biggest drawback of fame is backlash and slander.
A backlash occurs to almost everyone who's famous in every context, but the whys of timing and degree vary; they make an interesting study. The biggest backlashes occur when it becomes a mainstream trend to disparage the person; when it's popular not to like something. The largest achievements in this arena belong to boy bands and a few other somewhat wholesome pop stars. I'm still puzzling out what the formula in GS is, if there is one, but backlash priority seems to be given to (1) female characters, especially those who get involved in relationships, and (2) those active in quests. The greatest amounts of ill-feeling occur with those characters who can also be irritating, snippy, otherwise snertlike, but we won't consider that a part of the backlash, since it's completely reasonable to dislike someone who's being a snert.
The types of disparagement that occur in a backlash tend to be cries of "favoritism" and "suck-up" on backwater (or official) boards, with a "slut" epithet or two thrown in for women. These are fairly predictable. Insults may also be slung about the player's life or lack thereof, weight, and sexual orientation. You'll see few specific complaints evinced, no "Millie said on the boards she thought Zul Logoth events shouldn't be open to outsiders," but rather "Millie wants everything for herself," "Millie cybers with any guy who pays attention to her," and "Millie must not have any life."
Millie probably doesn't want everything for herself, cyber with every guy who pays attention to her, or lack a social life in real life, or then again, she may. Does the fact that people are complaining mean there's got to be something to the complaints? Not on Millie's end. Even the most inclusive, generous players will be called quest hogs at some point if they get any NPC attention at all, as most women who express any kind of interest in relationships will some day be called a slut.
I've been very fortunate in the backlash regard. Why? I can only guess. Perhaps because my degree of fame is not so very great, or because it was mostly gained through a website rather than in the game? I'm not prepared to make speculations on the nature of my personality and whether that might have contributed. But it's quite rare that I catch up to a remark about Juspera being a suck-up or a slut, or that I have no life.
It's one of the magical mysteries of celebrity how people toss off such assertions without even knowing you. People say hurtful things without guilt because the celebrity comes to achieve a kind of "otherness" in which they posess neither the behaviors nor the feelings of normal people, and thus can be treated less responsibly. I sure as heck am hurt when people I've never even heard of assure their message board that Juspera tries to take over every quest the GMs can dream up.
It's an oily feeling, slightly disturbing. For those of us sufficiently grounded not to wonder what's wrong with us, the first question is, "What the hell's wrong with this person?"
What's wrong with them may never be sufficiently explained, but it makes for an interesting study. "Tall-poppy syndrome," as the Australians call it, is a staple of humanity, whether it's motivated by envy, egalitarianism or sheer disagreeableness. It may be natural and it may even be right. The degree of disparagement leveled at the celebrity may point to some kind of underlying psychosis; certainly the really bilious attacks say far more about the attacker, a notion that's far from being just a mantra to bolster self-esteem.
My adventures in the public eye have been frustrating at times, but in the end, the low level of unconstructive criticism about me has served in a position of making me sympathetic to real-world figures of prominence. Why does anybody making 10 mil a year deserve sympathy? Well, damn, I don't know, but they made it, and it's not up to me to decide whether they deserve it. And the bank account of my target ameliorates immorality in my own actions not a whit. I'm not any better a person if I confine my baseless insults to people with good fortune. Most importantly is to keep in mind that even the famous are people. It's simply enough said, but it appears to be almost impossible for everyone to remember. Just stick to the golden rule. I don't want to be raked through the mud any more than Michael Jackson.
My own brush with fame has made me more sensitive; fame might not make everyone more sensitive to fame, but I still recommend it. I recommend it for that reason and for the fact that I like what I have. I enjoy strangers complimenting me on my website, I like my rare appearance in lists of GemStone legends, I like having influence. (I try to use it for good, not for evil.) I recommend it to anybody.
October 12th
GS4 is coming up, and lots of new formulas. I used to be a real mechanics-head, and I guess I still am, in a way, but I'm no longer following the plans and implementations, and I really couldn't tell you what part shield use plays in the new shield use skill. I'm not really itching to jump in and learn, either. Seems difficult. Things like this seem difficult to get into when you're not already in them.
Of course, I miss knowing everything.
So what happens to this site come GS4? I would like to update all my information (a lot of which is already out of date), and I expect I will, though it won't be as easy for me as it might have been in the past. The good news would be that the coming of GS4 should provide ample material in terms of humor, bloopers, satire and that sort of thing. If I were in the game to witness it, at any rate. I fear I've already missed a good deal of potential hilarity. The beta, you know.
And since the name of the site will no longer apply, I'll be changing it to "Juspera's Funkadelic Pottery Shoppe."
October 26th
Nothing in particular has piqued my ire lately... at least, nothing to which I have a solution. I guess I could just rant but it'd be a short statement, since most of my energy seems to be reserved for going on and on about what I would do if I was in charge, rather than about how mad it makes me that I'm not. So I'll just tell a story.
Wal-Mart bothers me. I had a hell of a time finding discounted stuff for my last backpacking trip. Used to be you could go to Bradlee's here, or Caldor, or Ames or Zaire's... I don't think we ever did have any K-Marts... but Wal-Mart moved in years back, Bradlee's and Caldor went out of business, which left the people working there out of jobs, though of course Wal-Mart is happy to hire them at lower wages. But anyway, we have Wal-Mart, and it's certainly cheap. But they did not stock the things I wanted to buy. I don't want to buy overpriced camping equipment from EMS, I want to buy cheap stuff from a discount store. I did get a couple things at Wal-Mart and ended up waiting in line for the register 15 minutes each time. (While they're happy to hire salespeople at low, low wages, they can't hire too many, or they won't have low, low prices, or perhaps high, high profits, or something.)
Thankfully, I eventually found what I wanted at Target, which moved in a couple years ago. So I'm glad we have Target. But I'm an idiot, so I went back to Wal-Mart today to get a bike lock. There was a nice one for just $4, so I took that to the register. Waited 15 minutes in line at the register. At this point I'm being reminded of why I keep telling myself I shouldn't shop at Wal-Mart. Besides their being the evil empire. But I'm very poor, so I keep going back, so there I am again. This Wal-Mart, you know, has just expanded to a Wal-Mart Supercenter, but they don't appear to have hired any more employees, so every checkout line is full of people with carts full of groceries. I just have this one bike lock. I wished I'd gone to Target.
I finally get to the front and the guy rings up the bike lock, and it comes up as $10, which is an eventuality I had forseen in the shadowy nether-regions of my consciousness. I said, "It's advertised as $4 on the shelf." He said, "Not this one" and put it in a bag. I said, "I'm not going to buy it, then." And I was damned if I was going down without a fight. So I marched back there and hunted for several minutes for a helpful Wal-Mart employee. I got the fellow in sporting goods to leave his guns unattended and come take a look. He said since it was misadvertised I might be able to get $3 off the correct price. I didn't have $7 and tax on me, but I picked up another bike lock and I went to the courtesy desk. This is past the registers, and after 45 minutes in the store I was considering keeping on going, but I was trying to be good.
And when I was finally served at the courtesy desk, they called my good buddy in the sporting goods department to confirm, and then gave me the thing for $4, as advertised. I have triumphed over the evil empire. But I'm still going to Target next time.
And oh, if you want to know where to get a nice bike lock for $4 and 45 minutes of hassle, call me.
November 23rd
I have a new job, into the routine of which I am still settling, so site updates may not be frequent again for a while yet. But the new method of employ has provided material for a new statement of the week.
I am working for the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration in Mystic, CT. I attended the aquarium a few times over the summer, and my friends and I had various complaints, mostly involving lack of interpretive signage in various exhibits. It was impossible not to say "They really should..." and discuss how we'd do it if we were running the place.
On employment I found that everyone who worked there was well aware of whatever deficiencies existed and very much wanted them fixed, but there were currently particular obstacles in the path of everything that needed doing, and they were out of our hands.
The visitor's perspective, of seeing the flaws and thinking how they really need to put this or that in here or do X a particular way, seems to be universal. I certainly see it all the time in GS. I thought that way myself quite a bit in the past, and I still think that way sometimes.
But I try to remember what life has proven: that the people running the show are just as smart as we are, or at the very least know the show a lot better, and that my perspective as a visitor is very limited. And you only have to be capable of seeing the GMs as human beings to pick it up when one of them has had grand hopes for an implementation and is even more disappointed than we are when time, practicality or personnel issues mean the reality falls far short of the dream. This doesn't stop me from having my complaints about how quests are run and mechanics are structured, but it makes me a little less arrogant when I voice them.
December 14th
I had some interesting things happen this week. I'll leave the story of the three visits from the cops for another time (awww), and go with a "teachable moment."
I'd recently bought a Christmas gift of wine for my dad from an online store for about $12. After the incident with the police, I signed up for online access with my bank, used my new powers to check my account statement. The cops had nothing on me as far as I was concerned (just whetting your apetite for next week, my friends), but I did notice I'd been charged $24 for my online purchase. I pulled up my order for the wine and saw a charge of about $12 for shipping and handling that hadn't been there before. Shipping, I had read during my purchase, was included in the price of my item.
I thought, "Wow, this online banking thing is useful."
I drafted a letter to the store informing them I'd been overcharged. I received a swift response. The email was articulate and contrite, expressing how sorry the sender was that I'd missed the note on the home page and in the product description area about there being an extra shipping cost for certain items such as wines. It was signed... inasmuch as electronic mail can be signed... by the president of the company.
After years of dealing with the online customer service departments of companies like AOL and Yahoo, I've become used to the carefully prepared form letter masquerading as a caring, personal touch. This is our policy, so sorry for the confusion, hope we can still be friends. Sincerely, the CEO. And I admit that the number of truly stupid questions and complaints received by establishments I've worked for has led me to lend my hand in preparing a few of these myself, for infliction on others.
My youthful sense of righteous indignation had been awakened. I visited the site and saw that indeed the extra shipping costs were noted on the home page and in a description area for the wines, both pages I'd bypassed when I'd been sent a link to a different product description area by the friend who recommended the wine to me, and from which I'd clicked through to the checkout page (taking a detour to the shipping info page, just in case) without ever seeing anything about the extra costs. I inspected the final checkout page again and there it was, my "grand total"... not even an asterisk to say there may be something more.
Longtime readers will know that while I usually aim for the high road, I haven't lost use of my sarcasm glands. Plus, what with the police and snowstorms and finals, not to even get into the thing with the penguins, it'd been a very long week. I fired off a response that began with "thank you for the kind form letter," pondered the evil expectations implicit in hiding away the shipping info then having such a letter ready, mused over the industry definition of "grand total," and finished with a bald threat not only to report them to the Better Business Bureau, but to write up an equally sarcastic review of their company for this site, highlighting the "Quality, Integrity and Dedication" touted by the store's home page. Though -- I have to say this -- I included some changes they could make that would stave off this horrible impending doom.
This morning, I got a call from the president of the company.
My first thought was, Oh my God, did I give out my phone number over the web? My second thought was that I'd better wake up and conduct myself like a responsible consumer. The president assured me they didn't send out form letters, this was the first time the shipping info had been brought to their attention, and that the business was a small affair in which he ran the website himself. He'd try to get a note about the extra costs up on the shipping info page, but you know how it is, it's like going back to school every time you need to do something new with a website.
I do know -- and I had been sleeping in this morning and was a little dazed to begin with -- so my witty response to the phone call was something like "Okay, thanks" before I stumbled back to dream about Miranda from Sex in the City becoming an exotic Chinese dancer in an effort to win back Steve the bartender.
Skip to the teachable moment. In my November 23rd statement of the week, we read: "The visitor's perspective, of seeing the flaws and thinking how they really need to put this or that in here or do X a particular way, seems to be universal. I certainly see it all the time in GS. I thought that way myself quite a bit in the past, and I still think that way sometimes... But I try to remember what life has proven: that the people running the show are just as smart as we are, or at the very least know the show a lot better, and that my perspective as a visitor is very limited... This doesn't stop me from having my complaints... but it makes me a little less arrogant when I voice them."
Thanks to the wonders of the DVD, I've lately been stuffing my head with back seasons of HBO's little wonder, and in honor of its prominence in America's culture of the moment, here's my Carrie Bradshaw Question(s) of the Episode:
Am I incapable of more than paying lip service to the concept of the high road? As I get deeper into the entrepreneurial side of the web, will I be dealing with people threatening everything short of litigation -- or, hell, litigation itself -- and could I do it with the calm of the person I spoke with today?
If I ever became president of my own company, could I handle having Me as a customer?
Okay, a bit melodramatic, but that's Sex in the City for you.
I'm not in a position to speak to the ethical standing of Vermont One or its president Mr. Otto Pade. One man's word can't prove a declaration of Integrity, and I won't be able to speak for the Quality part until or unless my father lets me have a sip of his Christmas gift; you could make an argument for the Dedication portion of the motto, after all this. But at the least, a search of BBB records never did turn up anything, and I'm no longer quite so concerned about the thousands of little old ladies only looking for a nice dessert wine and being hoodwinked into spending the last $12 of their social security check, which they had been holding onto so their 20 cats would have enough to eat this month. I'll direct my loyal readers to http://www.vtone.com/, at which you may still be able to purchase nice things in time for Christmas.
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