Jardek wrote:
Reading that over, it comes across a bit bitter, so I'll add a disclaimer - I really don't care that none of my chars were made into NPCs. I enjoyed every second of playing SKs. I made this post simply to illustrate the fact that it really is who you know rather than what you do that makes you an NPC (although to be fair, I have known and gotten along well with a number of imms in my time).
I'll begin with the caveat that I haven't been an active part of the SK universe in a long time. However, in the 10+ years since I first started playing SK, I have played influential (aka world-influencing) characters who have been both denied and granted various recognition by immortals and I have also played immortals who have both denied and granted these kinds of recognition to various player characters who have had far greater influence in the SK world than any of my singular PCs.
In my experience, Jardek's right on this subject. It has been dealt with by the immstaff over the years in an extremely inconsistent manner and some player characters (including a few of Jardek's) have been far more influential to the game without any such "formal" recognition than other "less worthy" characters who have been immortalized in the game as NPCs or in other ways. Sometimes it has been a matter of favoritism by immortals- I still consider the D'Astae camp to be one of the most egregious of these offenses and still to this day have refused to ever go to the area because of it. Sometimes it has been a matter of the player's OOC actions whether because of 'cheating' or 'twinking' or quite simply being such an A-hole OOCly to the immstaff and/or other players that they were denied such benefits- honestly, I do not generally fault the immstaff for this because I've seen how truly horrible and malicious some players have chosen to be and no matter how "good" of a player they may be, that kind of behavior in a community should NEVER be rewarded. Some players only gain notoriety due to their OOC connections with other players, and/or their OOC behavior in the forums, rather than the ACTUAL quality of their character's roleplay or skill. Sometimes it is simply that certain players happen to ask at the right time & place, or their request fulfills a specific need/weakness within the MUD. Sometimes certain players just happen to play in the same timeframes as the more active immortals and are "visible" to the immstaff in ways that others are not. Sometimes the immstaff as a whole is more active than at other times, sometimes they are more active in building, and sometimes the "mood" of the immstaff leans toward more proactive "tangible" interaction with the players that may manifest in things like PCs-turned-NPC while sometimes IMM-fatigue caused by overwork, relentless abuse from players, or other factors turn the general "mood" of the imms away from this kind of work.
Quite frankly, the only way that complete consistency could ever be achieved would be to refuse any kind of recognition or requests from the ENTIRE playerbase without exception. It would stop the whining about who's "worthy" or not, but ultimately, in my opinion, would leave the MUD much worse off. Sure, it might be hard to achieve it now, but at least it's actually been possible from time to time.
Anyway, that's just my 2 cents.