Shattered Kingdoms

Hi

I love you

Players are already working towards solutions. The issue I see with the situation is the confidence in the player base to create their own answers to the problem. When an event like this runs outside of its GRP time there needs to be a way for players to interact with Imms on a more direct level to communicate ideas and post logs to Imms of ideas being performed so that the RP can move when they players are able to do it, rather than when Imms are around and players are able to do it.
Also the area can be made public after the event to show good and bad ideas that where tried regarding the event for future events to draw on past ideas.
The issue is that not everyone feels like they can or knows how to make a difference in such events.

We should be more pro active about putting such information out and perhaps until we have some examples of such explain a little better options for people to take.

I like the idea that anyone can come up with a solution but that is not really communicated to all the players as such. Which is one reason there is an US and them mentality between players.

I believe Cordance hit it square on the head here. Lack of communication about what has and has not been done or the ideas that have been tossed around as well as knowledge of whether the IMMs are even going to support us makes it a daunting task to even know how or where to even begin. Fortunately some characters have already started down that road and many more have thrown their support behind them to carry out the planned path. Still, a lot or even a little more transparency from the staff in regards to this would go a LONG way with the playerbase and remove some of the US vs THEM mentality that seems to be prominent throughout these forums.

You're just not trying hard enough.

Nice dream, not realistic.

This GRP is pretty much proof of the fact that certain players are going to take that stance no matter what the staff does. This was not a scripted outcome; yes, there were outcomes planned, even expected (though from what's been said by staff on this subject the expected outcome was not the one that occurred), but the results look to have been wholly determined by the involvement, decisions, and actions of the player characters. That has been the biggest complaint in all the GRPs that I've ever seen on SK, and I've had it myself when the outcome actually was forced and the players participating were brute-forced into what was pre-planned. This was not that, but you may have noticed certain players are still pushing that narrative regardless of the fact that the outcome was, and continues to be, completely player-determined. This was as close to perfect an imitation of a tabletop campaign as I think can be managed in a MUD setting. It had a problem that was world-wide in scope (another major complaint I've seen about GRPs done in the past because characters had no motivation or ability to get involved), it had player-achieved objectives, and lasting consequences of actual import.

Just because a few people wanted to ignore it and found out, hey, there are consequences for that too doesn't mean it was a poor GRP. A character who has an obligation to a country as part of a tribunal or ruling faction *should* have consequences for ignoring a problem of the scope that was presented. That, too, is player-directed outcomes, and when faced with them apparently most of them deleted and cried foul.

That's not proof of a poor GRP. That's proof of a *good* GRP that adds immersion and serves as a strong reminder that your while you as a player might join factions just for the kewl p0warz, your *character* is held to a higher standard of responsibility. Again, just another factor that goes into how close this effort by the staff was to a true TT campaign scenario.

By every conceivable and reasonable measure, this was one of the better GRPs rolled out by the SK staff in my history of playing the game. That isn't to say I would not have preferred a different outcome. I would have, and I would prefer the game wasn't flooded with closed areas and aggro NPCs on roads. But those outcomes were *player determined* through action/inaction, and that is the mark of an extremely good GRP event. This event was and continues to be exactly what people have asked for in GRP events for as long as they've been run.

The idea that there is some magic bullet to stop the whining from certain players is a fantasy; there are a few that are going to cry no matter if it's milk or [REDACTED] that gets poured in their cheerios. Better to just ignore them and make your own judgements about the event. Mine happens to be that it was reasonably well-executed and had all the hallmarks of what future GRP events should have going forward: multiple possible endings based on character actions, wide-reaching and impactful consequences whether you participate or not, lasting dramatic opportunities for character growth, development and roleplay in the aftermath, and a presentation for the characters to have a meaningful role in the metaworld of Pyrathia.

I don't disagree that on a whole it was rather well-executed during the GRP (though there were a few things I'd still have suggested doing differently) and I do like the fact that it was not perfectly scripted but had multiple possible outcomes... my statement comes from the idea of how to clean up after the GRP. As you stated, this was a global change-maker GRP with lasting effects so perhaps there should have been a forum sticky about the aftermath of the event with IMM-led discussions amongst the players of possibilities of where to go from here. As it has been, most of us players are completely lost of what is even possible to do, spoken of or considered even legit ideas by the IMMs as to be a player-driven form of repairing the outcome. That's the transparency I'm speaking of... the only conversations that I have heard of have been between individual characters and the IMMs, not the community at large. Even if it wasn't a sticky for the entire community due to the different groups looking at it from opposing angles, then at least there would be discussions in each of the faction forums for a more open discussion amongst the players.

So you're saying that when other people aren't enjoying the grp that their opinion is invalid?

I only pretend to be a god in-character (and not even very frequently at that). So is it ironic that you are essentially asking the existential question of "If there is a God, why does God allow suffering?" There are thousands of pages of literature devoted to that, so any answer I give here is guaranteed to not be satisfying.

The usual argument is that God granted "free will". If you can't make choices, including bad ones, then you don't have have free will and there is no point to life.

I have heard many critiques that global RPs were pointless because the outcomes were pre-determined. The staff resolved to do better about that going forward and this was yet another attempt (it's not the first) to do right by what players expected. To remove the impact of those outcomes because some people didn't like it is to deny that players had a choice in the first place.

And players now continue to have a choice about whether they want to change the current situation or not. Everyone is making their own choice: Some are choosing to try to fix it and enjoying the efforts to do so. Others are choosing not to and living with the outcome. The only part of this that isn't fair is both choosing to do nothing and then complaining when nothing changes.

It's true that is a hard question to answer. It's sort of like asking yourself in 2015: 'How can I personally stop Ebola from spreading?' As an average citizen, it's basically impossible to stop it yourself. But then look what actually happened in that situation: There were many average citizens, who happened to have medical or emergency response training, that didn't let their small influence stop them from trying to help. They volunteered to go treat people in the infectious zone or help with maintaining order while society was in danger of breaking down, at great personal risk, in order to try to make a difference. Those people are legitimate heroes. You may not be able to measure the influence of their contribution, but it surely added toward a positive outcome.

In the game world, you are not playing average citizen characters. You are playing adventurers of heroic stature and have many more resources at your disposal. Possible solutions just require some imagination. But even if you can't think of anything to stop the problem in general, you could still do something as small as patrol the roads and wipe out zombies in order to try to keep the roads clear for commerce to continue.


I am already in the process of answering this, but now let's say you did patrol the roads and carry this a step further. In game, you can socialize what you are doing, including posting a note board message calling out what you have been doing and try to rally others to help you. This would seem to be the most impactful solution from an IC perspective and would promote others to RP either for or against you, which would be fun regardless of what happens next.

Moving to OOC responses to your RP: Yes, you can pray about it (only once is necessary because prayers are logged and sent daily to the staff via email). You can also email or PM the Kingdom Director in charge of the area that you are patrolling. And finally, there is another new solution: You can post a log of your actions to the Log Forum, so that your actions get definitively exposed to the entire OOC community (both players and staff).


AFAIK, Karsh was not being given any information. From what I gather, he dreamed up a solution involving some artifacts that he is aware of that seem potentially useful to this situation. I say "as far as i know", because I do not know what they are planning or how it came to pass. There was a full staff meeting earlier this week and I asked what plots were ongoing in response to the zombie situation. After polling everyone on staff, the only RP that had been initiated at that point was by Karsh's group. We didn't talk about exactly what that group was planning, as we had several topics to cover and only an hour allotted for our meeting. The little bit that I know I gleaned from reading their forum.

Assuming this is the case though, it is exactly what I would expect to happen in this sort of situation. Someone getting creative with the powers and knowledge at their disposal to create a theory about how to solve a problem. It's the scientific method. Now the theory will be tested when they try to put a solution into practice. Will it work or not? Karsh doesn't (and shouldn't) know. In the real world, that would be up to the laws of the universe to determine. In the game, we will all have to make do with letting those universal laws be interpreted by the staff, who will do their best to implement a suitable and sensical reaction.

Essentially, correct. If you are not trying at all, that is (factually speaking) not trying hard enough. But as mentioned, some people are trying. The staff will try to show some sort of positive or negative result for any individual or group that makes a genuine effort and makes sure to bring it to our attention.