Stuff I've Noticed

[Buhbuh]

So I came to this PvP server expecting to blast through some levels with a bunch of people I knew from the old boxes. That didn't happen. Some people I knew went with other cliques I didn't. It wasn't that big of a deal to ask a bunch of randoms to group up, though. Most people were willing to group up in the first week, regardless of noobery.

There were a few things that were crrrrazy that I didn't remember being classic. When I found out my gnome Enchanter had to travel from Steamfont to Highkeep in order to buy the next level pet (lvl 8), I was kind of baffled. Verant/ Sony must've been trying to torture us. After a while I quickly understood why people rolled the classes that they did. I tried monk, tried Enchanter, tried Shaman, couldn't do it. When I became a Mage I knew it wouldn't be a big deal leveling at all. And it hasn't been. It's been slow, but much, much quicker than almost any other class.

And I understand the argument that experience is way too slow here. I originally thought that it would weed out the players who couldn't hang, but it's more just a who-has-more-time-on-their-hands sort of thing going on. I have enjoyed the PvP leading up to 50, and it is slow. I honestly think that is a problem and that it actually does deter people from even starting and/ or continuing.

But another problem, probably an even bigger problem, is the player base. If I'm speaking plainly, people are fucking assholes on this server. I don't know how many times people have just chosen to grief me and others for no real reasons. No tangible reasons. And really I don't care about it because those people end up getting it done back to them by whoever I'm guilded with.

A huge problem is that people grief and purposely fuck people over here for no REAL reasons. They don't just PvP. It's beyond that. They look for the easy outs, the simple battles that are meaningless, the killing people halfway across the world who are incapable of binding just because they want to. And yet those same people come back to these boards and say the same shit about ways to fix the dying server. PvP is a naturally hostile environment. People like that. I like that. It's great. But if you're a group of players (especially the top geared/ leveled players) setting the standard for the way you PvP with tactics that are just generally frustrating and ultimately not entertaining for either side, people quit.

One of our pals went AFK overnight (his bad, stupid decision) the other day and was killed in Guk. No biggie, it's A Free Kill. But then, for no real reason, this player brought it upon himself to find my pal's bind and camp him. All in all he killed him about 30 times. And although he tried to troll us about camping his bind until he turned oor of him, the simple fact that he did it is glaring.

Who does that kind of shit? The answer is: Almost everybody here.

We've been battling with other mid-low 40's guilds lately in my guild, and even there that behavior is prevalent. People will treat you like shit for no other reason than to do it. Is it because this is a place you can or have the balls to treat people like that? The server population decreases so drastically every time because no one sets a standard of how to treat new players. I'm not advocating a ruleset -- I'm simply saying that I, as a human being, want to be kind, and I want others to be kind also. I want to kill everyone I see on a PvP server, but I don't then CC, bind camp, train, or foam at the mouth and send asshole tells to people about how much they suck at a game a lot of them are playing for the first time or haven't played in 10 years. Or who aren't as privileged gear/ level wise. I offer LnS right away. Unless that simple kindness is taken for granted, I don't use tactics that are unecessary or shitty to other players. I don't root people on boats so that they're fucked getting from one place to another.

There's always a trickle down effect with servers where the smaller guilds/ little fish of the pond's actions mirror or reflect those of the higher up guilds. My guild has just started the "Fire with fire" tactic. But we're making it clear to our members that being the one to initiate douche-baggery isn't acceptable. So basically what I'm saying is, set a fucking standard for once. Being a pussy and setting standards are mutually exclusive things. You aren't being a bluebie by being nice to other players. You can walk by that lvl 12 Enchanter and resist the urge to dispell his/ her charmed mob just because you think it would be funny to watch them squirm. This place is our playground, but we aren't a bunch of animals. If you want to retain a population, you must understand that newer games are way less strenuous and time sinky than EQ is, and newer players will recognize that with lightning speed when they're treated without mercy here.


P.S. do you think any agents would accept this novel? It's fresh material.