A reply to a thread in the Raid Discussion section.

[Morgander]

I really wanted to write a reply to a given post in the aforementioned section that's off limits to everyone but a select few, thus I'll do it here.

This is the section of the post in question that I wish to reply to. It was posted by Hyjal.

To completely change the direction of how the raid scene plays out just because a few people have decided to hold hands and influence these discussions undermines the efforts that have been made to make this server a classic Everquest experience. Nilbog, Rogean and the many other developers have done a wonderful job here. The population keeps growing for a reason, and yes it has affected our raiding scene, but this is not World of Warcraft although I think some of you want it to be.

And I wanted to reply to this because this kind of thinking is in itself, poisonous.

There seems to be some misdirection as per the thinking of only a single group of like-minded individuals who feel that Everquest's raid experience--for one reason or another--was somehow designed to be handled similarly to the way that said scene is handled on this server.

Now stop right there. That kind of thinking is far too bold by any light. I was a guide on the Povar server, and I played on Veeshan, the Tribunal, Morell Thule, and Firiona Vie, and on all of those servers save for maybe Veeshan because I didn't play there long enough before switching, the raid scene was nothing like it has ever been on P1999.

This mentality that because zones weren't instanced, or because mobs didn't lock to their initial target, or any such lack of a self-policing system is in no way a signifier that the developers ever even considered any type of "who's the best gets it", or even, "who gets there first gets it". This kind of competitive, brutish thinking is STRICTLY a single viewpoint, and does NOT reflect the game, period, at all, in any way, ever.

The mere notion is ludicrous. To even think for a moment--to even IMPLY for a moment that this is the case is to further invite ideologies that the developers also never intended for any forms of player conduct within the guidelines of the game.

I can assure you, that is not the case.

For this mentality to hold even a single solitary truth, one MUST also begin to accept that there then should be NO RULES, and EVERYTHING should be acceptable. ALL forms of behavior.

Kill stealing, training, ninja looting--these are just some of the things that thus must have been perfectly permissible in all contexts, because the code never accounted for these actions.

Even in the same game but in a different context, the same rules to some people, no longer seem to hold the same value. To the majority of people, the idea of honoring a camp is just part of the unofficial rules. You just honor the camps of your fellow players because it's the proper thing to do. It's socially expected of you, and even for those few who have no such respect, they still know that it's socially expected. They're just self-centered.

But change that to raiding, and so many people seem so eager to flip a switch to turn the entire social ramifications of sharing completely off. They begin to quantify this shifting in moral application with sentiments such as hard work should equate to just reward, or competition is the lifeblood of the game.

Or even worse and extremely off base: That Everquest was intended to be all about competition.

For those of you who did not play EQ from its inauguration in 1999, let me enlighten you a tad: EQ originally was nearly impossible in its initial throws when it came to mustering up a cohesive singular guild who had the manpower, class power, and ability to raid at all. Almost every single server I played on had MAYBE two guilds who could even clear the planes. On Morell Thule for example, NO guild could clear all of Sky, and it took weeks of failed Trak attempts before he was finally defeated.

It was intended that raid content would be inaccessible for a myriad of reasons, but not wholly on the basis that any one or even two guilds would have the power to defeat everything SO thoroughly that nobody else even had a chance.

No, EQ was never intended to be about throwing the cards out the window so that only the "victors" go the spoils--at least not in that regard. The world was kept free and open, free and open to allow the players the opportunity to make their own choices, just as we're given here in the US and in many democratic nations across the world.

Firearms are not illegal in this nation mind, but using them in many instances very much is, and this I would argue, is very much a good similarity.

We have the POTENTIAL to train. We CAN, as per the game's mechanics, kill steal and ninja loot, and on every server with almost no exception, developers and game masters have set up rulesets to ensure that players do not abuse these freedoms, BUT THEY DO EXIST!

I could go into detail about the nature of the magic circle concept and some such other game and virtual world concepts, but I've already said quite enough. I'd recommend looking up Richard Bartle if you're interested in some good concepts behind online world design and game theory.

In summery: This mentality that EQ is all about competition is player-made. If you want to make declaration that YOU want competition, do so with all my respect, but do not begin to assume that because you CAN compete, that EQ was always intended for strict competition for content.

It wasn't, and as a guide on live, I can tell you first-hand examples of when I or a GM had to step in and even FORCE people to share, even if it didn't directly violate a rule.

You PLAY NICE. Period. You play nice so that everyone can have fun. If your idea of fun is a form of competition that misplaces 80% of the population, then you're fun is jeopardizing too much of the majority, and unfortunately, I would always lean in the opposite direction, regardless of my personal feelings.

Just a note as well for sake of argument: I never said I was for or against the idea of competition, nor am I disputing the concept as per how fun I may or may not find it. I'm simply disputing that while EQ can be competitive, it also cannot be completely competitive, because that WILL destroy the game. In the same nature that allowing open kill stealing, ninja looting, and training would also destroy the game.

There is a very good reason why we have rules. Some rules anyway.