Shattered Kingdoms

You'd have to refresh my memory honestly, I can't remember which one that was.

I don't think this is okay. I admitted my mistake and have tried very hard to help the game since. My question to you is, are you happy with where the game is these days? Do you want the who lists to reach 30's, 40's, maybe even higher? I'm not trying to put you on the spot, I'd just like to know why YOU think the player counts are down. I, as a player who enjoys the game, want to see them go up. If that means asking hard questions or touching on subjects that seem taboo then what the heck, let's figure it out? My goals are to see the player counts go up, see the game grow, and see new things introduced to the game in all areas: PvE, PvP, and RP. I'd imagine a lot of the players feel the same way. So why can't we just get together and figure this out? What do players want? What does staff want? What's standing in the way of growing the game? Why is it apparently on this major downswing and how do we stop it and reverse it?

Would I like to get to 30 again? You bet. Would I condone cheating to get there? Never. I would rather start over from zero players or even shut down the game for good if the alternative were to accommodate cheaters.

Ezaya, I understand that you would like to do positive things for the game. We CAN accommodate that willingness, as long as you stick to the rules in the future. I support giving contrite cheaters a second chance as long as they serve their mandated sentence and avoid any relapses. But for someone who continues to break the rules, then I am not concerned at all to enforce a player ban.

I'm not sure that anyone here was insinuating that you should condone cheating to increase counts. If that is what you've gathered from this conversation, we may end up just talking in circles. Not trolling, just sayin'.

If you want counts to grow, lessening the offense of minor violations (5 levels + an initial warning) instead of straight up deletion is a start.

In your own opinion, why DO you think counts are down both recently and as a whole?

What can be done to grow those counts?

I'm not asking for any special treatment OR saying I don't agree with the rules. I'm saying I don't agree with Thuban's tact and his attitude when talking to players who are being punished. I tried to get a leg up when I first came back. It was lazy and stupid and I admit to all that. The second time was kind of where I'm focusing on. I fully admit I broke a rule and understand the penalty for using a trigger is deletion. However, had Thuban gone about my first penalty not as though he was playing "gotcha cheater" and instead, was willing to educate me(or any player) so that we don't lose those who may not have been intentionally trying to break the rules to gain an advantage, or especially those who don't understand how strictly the rules are being enforced, it'd be better for the game. You can still have the exact same outcome without all this negative attention.

But to answer my original question, why DO you think the player counts are down so low recently? I mean it's been a while since I've been around but I have to believe these are all time lows. I know other muds are maintaining decent player counts considering the popularity of muds vs other games. I just think it's important not to ask, what would make you want to play more? But ask, why do you think more people aren't playing more? To me there's a big difference there.

I feel like Eddy made a good point, in saying that the issue doesn't necessarily reside in Thuban, but the way that punishment is stated in the rules.

Perhaps back when I ran away from PK into Kytar, positive favoritism came my way. My punishment was the revoking of the mentor flag, when this was bug abuse. The punishment could have been worse, but I feel as though it was handled appropriately.

I would like to see punishments redefined to give more chances to offenders. Cheating should not be accepted. But lifetime bans, I do not support. I think that everyone should be able to see the errors of their ways and should be given an opportunity to come back and play by the rules.
Instead of lifetime bans, I think that we should begin to implement a maximum of a one year ban. Third strike for one year bans should result in lifetime bans.
First bannable offence should be three months. They come back on thin ice. Second should be six months. Third would be a year ban. Then you have your yearly ban strikes.

If someone is going to cheat, they'll get a second yearly ban shortly after returning. But a year is a long time for an SK'r to go without SK and they can see the errors of their ways.

I think Opey's 'ban until 2017' is a step in the right direction in this type of punishment. I think it would be healthy for the game and wouldn't require 'constant monitoring that Imm's don't want to do.'

Any thoughts on this sort of ban policy, D?
I understand this is your game and it will be dealt with the way you see fit. I just want to see numbers improve and I feel this would be a way to keep things civil between the RM and the PBase.

The rules manager should publicly post evidence that results in a ban. Banned players are able to post logs and defend their actions to the community, but we only get one side of the story. This leads to animosity toward the staff from the banned player's friends as well as anyone who reads the story and is offended by injustice.

I'm not suggesting that the community gets to vote on who is banned or what the punishment should be, but a little official transparency would go a long way toward unity. We shouldn't have to wait for someone to make a complaint thread to bait the rules manager into responding. Let the rules manager put up his best evidence immediately. No need to protect the guilty.