The pampered experience group (deferential players and forward GMs)

[bum3]

It all depends on the guide you got in classic. It also varied by server. Tunare guides were very active and swift. Entire guilds were dismantled and banned due to members being warned to stop ksing and training. My personal experience was when I was soloing frenzy room pre-kunark as a necro.. i could clear the room and pull the outside room. A group setup outside room and i took a mob. Was warned by a guide that my camp was only inside the frenzy room and If I took another one of their mobs I would lose my camp too. But another personal experience is my name was Bumster Heinie... 3 different guides over 2 years responded to complaint petitions on my name. All 3 said it was fine, might be a little pushy but was ok and laughed about it... then a 4th guide summoned me to GM room a couple months later and changed it.

[ELance]

Originally Posted by bum3 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

My personal experience was when I was soloing frenzy room pre-kunark as a necro.. i could clear the room and pull the outside room. A group setup outside room and i took a mob. Was warned by a guide that my camp was only inside the frenzy room and If I took another one of their mobs I would lose my camp too.

And you exchanged no words with the others? You only took one mob and this happened? Was it a guide or a GM? I am not sure the guides were paid, but the GMs were paid professionals. But yes as a general rule the more rules there are, the worse it becomes. I am not sure of the difference between guides and GMs, but your post would be good evidence that even given a clear set of guidelines such enforcers will still sometimes behave and interpret rules erratically. Often it is just a case of illiteracy or a failure to read the guidelines in the first place. The fewer rules there are, the better. That is why I advocate GM intervention only when repeated killstealing or intentional trains are happening. I am not even opposed to these within reason, and neither were a number on alt.games.everquest in 1999; but in this thread I have advocated a more moderate position. Player conflict was a natural part of early MMORPGs, even ones without PvP. There are plenty of games where you can play apart from others.

In the end, whether it be a train, killstealing or camp dispute, the worst that can happen is you lose experience points. That is a part of the game. When a GM shows up it is not a game. The mechanics have failed to suffice. But I don't think they have. I do not share a dislike of conflict with others so much that I would call a time out and invite police to mediate it. And what is more, when this is done, it only increases conflict. The people that are petioning are prone to conflict, at least behind their computers. They have expectations out of keeping with their strength. The more power they think they have, the more they will display--squealing and whining.

In general the rule in life is that people don't read rules. GMs don't read rules, player don't read rules. So rules are not the best choice. Thankfully Everquest has systems. Sony went a step further, and would yet in Everquest II--locked and leashed encounters and instances. But Project '99 has no such ambitions.

It will be interesting to study the responses of those that disagree with me in this thread. What is the general nature of their writing? Do they write thorough, detailed posts, or one line replies that show lack of comprehension?

And let's not forget the old saying, which I think, paraphrased, is, "People who deal in poison take half their own dose." It is unpleasant for all to go against others, especially if they are fewer persons against more persons. Add to this the natural function of reputation in the game, which might blossom more if it could breathe, and even more attempts to govern players with GMs can seem heavy handed. This is a world, and we are all people, and I do not think it needs great intervention from others. We can always press the power button or go elsewhere if we don't like it. There was a story in the news a while back about a man that called police to his home with regard to an intruder. The police came, saw him in the living room, thought he was the intruder and after some misunderstanding shot him dead. Those who serve justice, do not always deliver it.

[bum3]

Originally Posted by ELance [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

And you exchanged no words with the others? You only took one mob and this happened? Was it a guide or a GM? I am not sure the guides were paid, but the GMs were paid professionals.

Nah i'm sure i pulled some before I realized they were there. I would just pop around corner and pull with disease cloud. They were in the hallway T behind that room. No words were spoken. Guides were volunteers. Unpaid. At least I was when I did it for a short 3 month stint. It could have been avoided if they let me know they were there. After guide warned me, I invited them to my group with the understanding I got first fbss that dropped. As a guide, when i oversaw camp disputes If they were solo/duo or partial I asked them to group together and share. If 1 group had been there a long time they kept it. But usually their kill radius got smaller. IE your group gets the room camp.. other group can have next room or hallway spawns. Then I sat invis and watched for a bit while answering question petitions. But I was one of the nicer guides, IMHO.