Someone Translate this wall of text from Omni

[Fifield]

Default @Rogean @Nilbog @Staff re Raid Rules
A “competitive” server is only truly competitive when the playing field is level. Absent enforcement (or with sporadic/capricious enforcement), those who choose to push the envelope of the ruleset are rewarded. Those who choose to self-regulate are penalized. Period. You don’t win many races against guys who pee hot.

Currently, there are petitions in the queue that have not been addressed for months. Nobody’s available to answer questions re rules clarifications. The last public enforcement occurred in September of last year (more than six months ago). And we haven’t seen much staff presence at all since the beginning of December of last year.

To make this “competitive” server legitimately competitive (that seems to be what you want), please do one of two things:

1. Provide consistent, predictable enforcement
or
2. Get rid of the Raid Rules – let DPS decide

If you choose to provide enforcement, I suggest four things:

1. Come up with a simple ruleset that you can enforce with whatever resources that you have.
(You don't have the luxury of seven officials plus a replay guy - watching every encounter - like the NFL does. - Figure out what you have to enforce with - and create your rules to match your enforcement resources.) I can think of several log queries that might be useful to automate some bits of enforcement (just as an example). But the rules as they are written are convoluted, vague, and overly-complicated – and absolutely meaningless without enforcement (and clarification, when requested).

2. Us tattling on each other is a pretty bad way to enforce your rules.
(Fraps or it didn't happen is bankrupt. And even the NFL doesn't get multi-angled replay right all the time – and they film every play (encounter).)

3. If you're going to rely on self-regulation as a cornerstone (or even an element) of your ruleset, get rid of those (individuals and guilds) who perpetually cannot self-regulate – instead of rewarding them.

4. Provide a way for questions to be answered quickly re rule interpretation. Then codify, in public, that interpretation (i.e. modify the ruleset).

Staffing an all-volunteer enterprise is tough. I get that. But if you cannot staff enforcement – or can only staff it minimally – either simplify the Raid Rules and automate enforcement (as much as you can), or just get rid of Raid Rules and call it DPS > all -- FFA CSR-free. That would at least level the playing field.

I don’t care what the rules are. Or even if there are none. Your box. Your call. I can choose to log in or not. What I do care about is that if you post rules – and expect me and my guild to live by them – that you hold everyone on the box to the same standard. Whatever that standard is. If you don’t have the resources to do that, make the standards match the resources – and then apply the standards consistently. If you have no resources, abandon the standards and say it out loud.

As it is, those who are loose with the standards – without consequence – will be (in the main) better rewarded than those who comply with the standards on their own accord. That’s not “competition”. That’s a server that will only retain those raiders who are willing to juice to win. I don’t think that’s what you have in mind for the project.

Note to preempt stupid responses from other players: I did NOT say that those who win here always cheat – tho there’s a long history of that. I did say that if you WANT to win here, cheat or up your cheating game and do it better than your competition – and do it with impunity in the current climate.

In other words, if you’re not ignoring the rules now, someone who will is gonna beat you soon.

[hobart]

What language do you want it in? If you can't read and understand that, you're really stupid.

[Nexii]

Most guilds aren't cheating or playing loose with the rules, so it's sort of a weak/salty argument.

I'd argue for raid changes based more on:
1) Ease of GM enforcement
2) What the player base decides is 'fun/fair'

#2 is always the tough one. Getting all (or nearly all) guilds to agree on some kind of simplified rule set that is. Historically there was always one guild against these sorts of positive changes. Which IMO the staff should have ignored, you can't please everyone.

Anyways, IMO the server would be more fun if the rules were as simple as:
1) Rooted raid mobs, or a rule to fight targets only where they spawn. The current SB Idol meta is ridiculous and creates an environment where guilds are centered around a few key play makers rather than a full guild effort. Plus it creates unintentional training.
2) No training other guilds.
3) FTE determines kill, as it is now.

That's all. Get rid of the 2 tracker rule and everything else. I highly doubt any live server had enforced rules about camping near raid targets.

[JayDee]

I found out real fast that most Omni members care a lot about loot. They just don't want to put the work in, which actually makes them worse people in my book.

Their little fingers dance across the keyboard like bojangles while their feet remain stationary.

[Elerial]

Oh yeah, let dps decidex si Aftermath can log on 200 chars they have in their zerg guild to win encounters they are prevented from with current rules mecjanics.

[Fammaden]

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

What language do you want it in? If you can't read and understand that, you're really stupid.

And its not even a "wall of text". Nicely spaced out paragraphs and bullet points. Sorry you fail at literacy?

[Fammaden]

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

Anyways, IMO the server would be more fun if the rules were as simple as:
1) Rooted raid mobs, or a rule to fight targets only where they spawn. The current SB Idol meta is ridiculous and creates an environment where guilds are centered around a few key play makers rather than a full guild effort. Plus it creates unintentional training.
2) No training other guilds.
3) FTE determines kill, as it is now.

That's all. Get rid of the 2 tracker rule and everything else. I highly doubt any live server had enforced rules about camping near raid targets.

No, no classic server had any of this. For as much as some people like to screech about "not classic" when someone brings up rooting mobs there's nothing less classic than FTE messages and all the rules surrounding them.

I understand the how and why of getting to this point on the server. And back in classic there was round the clock volunteer guide service and each server had a paid GM. Those dudes were known to show up to a raid mob when people were being crybabies and make two guilds /ran 100 for the kill or outright despawn the damn thing on them.

I know things are different with time locked, being in Kunark for the better part of a decade, armies of geared 60 alts. But given the lack of available staff enforcement, it does seem like letting the raiding community figure shit out on their own more is possibly worth a try. Especially if, as this post suggests, they've kinda been doing it for a while now anyway.

[icedwards]

I literally haven't seen Omni at any raid encounter in months. Filing this one under mad about no longer getting Vulak loot from Azure Guard's hard work.

[Legidias]

Make rules way more harsh and its easy.

If you wipe a raid and your guild is banned for 2 months right away, people police themselves.

[Alesclandre]

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

I literally haven't seen Omni at any raid encounter in months. Filing this one under mad about no longer getting Vulak loot from Azure Guard's hard work.

I didn't see Core raid for years myself, i suspect they even never did.