My complaint. (first and last)

Rahjin · Post by **Rahjin** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 1:10 am

Hello everyone. 
For those of you who do not know me, i have been around the Vast community for some time now. I have various characters that i play and used to play on a regular basis. In all the time i have played here, i have seen many people come and go. The server has evolved into the great playground that it is today. But you know what has remained constant the entire time? Whiners. Cry about this, cry about that....BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH...SHUT UP! jeez. The idiotic suggestions, the constant begging for this and that, the complaining about DMs or lack there of.....If you don't like it...find another server to play on and let the rest of us who happen to like the server, do our thing. I am about wits end with all of this. I rarely if ever read the forums anymore because if the things i read from the PLAYERS. I liked the server better when there was no forums. The DMs had more time to focus on quests and such, than fulfilling all of the requests and answered the cries of those who have no type of consideration into what it takes to run a server let alone DM one. In the past, i have sugar coated alot of my words and pretended that all of this didn't bother me at all. Well after a year of being in this community, i realized recently my distaste for playing there as much as i used to. I had to find the reason and address it. Many people may or may not like my words. That's fine. Don't read them. Just like i don't sit and read all the other 15 page posts on these forums the people make in an attempt to make themselves seem intellegent or whatever the case may be. If anything i have written in this post either offends you or pertains to you at all, may bad. But it's time some honesty came out. 
 
Anyway, have fun and please keep the whining to a low hum. 
Rahjin

ish07 · Post by **ish07** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 3:13 am

If any of you know Rahjin (well, at least as much as one can from an online game :P), you know it takes a lot to get him to speak his mind in such a manner. As such, I have to echo some of his sentiment. 
 
I can't claim to have been a part of this server for a year. In fact, I've only been around about seven months. I, too, have seen many players come and go. Some, I didn't mind, others, I wish they'd stayed, but that's not something I can change and not the point of this post. 
 
We expect a lot of our DM's, and they deliver. Very few can claim to have spent the countless (yes, countless) hours that go into building a world as detailed and well-constructed as the Vast. Try your own hand at world-building. I have -never- seen a world as beautifully fabricated as the Vast, bar none. Every single screen has been crafted with great detail and the intention of longevity. A person will literally spend hours on a single building, such as the Wayfarer, building it, populating it, scripting all the dialogue, inserting the stores, defining resting areas, placing interactive chairs, and creating the transitions. That's just the Wayfarer. 
 
Add in all the other civilized areas, hostile environments (determining what nasties go there, the spawn timer, percentage chance of each nasty, possible items dropped), setting all the factions, adjusting the creature types for HCR, scripting things like bandit stealth, etc., a huge amount of time goes into making the world into a living, breathing entity. 
 
Now, -after- the builder(s) have invested the hundreds/thousand(s) hours necessary to build the world, they -then- open it up to the players. Now, they spend even MORE hours watching over us, entertaining us, and adding a "flair" to this already immaculate world. THEN, they spend MORE hours adding new content, addressing player concerns, continuing a hugely complex running storyline, working the individual storylines of the players, etc. They open up a forum for suggestions, in which we toss around ideas, some good, some decent, and some plain awful. They read ALL of them. Why? Because they strive to make their players happy. Quite simply: 
 
The DM's bust their asses. 
 
They work so hard to create a "realistic" Forgotten Realms world. It's a shame some disrespect that. I am sick and tired of people asking "When will there be more DM's?" The one's we have do a damn good job, and they handle this server admirably. It takes a truly excellent DM to work a server like the Vast, and we're blessed with three. Stop looking a gift horse in the mouth. Realize how good we've got it. 
 
Ish.

goatte · Post by **goatte** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 4:44 am

[Two cents] 
 
I read this thread and also the RP Etiquette thread. Very good points being made here. I looked at Commandment # 10 from Apollo's Will's list (Thou shalt avoid burn out). This also applies towards our actions with respect to the DMs. They do this because they want to. Not because they have to. They have lives besides the Vast. Like Rahjin and Ish07 said, they poured a lot of themselves into this server that they've opened up for us to play in. 
 
Apollo's Will used a party metaphor to explain behavior many months ago, that I 'borrowed' from him to use again a month or so ago. It still applies here. Complaints should be brought up to be addressed, but ... [big 'but' here] ... we need to realize that we have a responsibility to take into account what the result of a complaint will be. Is it a 'valid' complaint? Is it something that the DMs can address? Have you given them enough time to determine whether a fix is needed and, if so, which one to apply? Have you posted it in front of 'God and Country' on the board, when maybe a direct PM would make more sense? 
 
Apollo's Will's list mentioned not playing when you're upset or angry. The same thing applies to posting on the boards. We've all done it. What we thought was a minor critique was transformed into a cutting remark regarding the server (the DMs pride and joy). 
 
Getting back to the 'party' metaphor. If you've talked to the host, and he hasn't turned down the speakers or put in a different music CD for you, then maybe you should consider that you're not having fun at the party and look for one where they play the kind of music you like? 
 
Is the Vast 100% of what I'd like it to be? No. So what? It's good enough for me to be 'happy' playing on it. I'm putting emphasis on the word 'happy' because that is the only 'value' that you should judge the server by. Are you 'happy' to be here? If you aren't, then don't make the rest of us miserable with constant non-constructive criticism. 
 
Thanks for reading. 
 
goatte

Innuvindyl · Post by **Innuvindyl** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 8:49 am

*nods in silent agreement* 
 
As I can't say anything which has not been said, I'l "merely" hand out this link once again. Read it once in a while (Iread it as late as yesterday again (along with all the comments)), it kind of says all you need to know about this topic. 
 
<a href="http://pub188.ezboard.com/fthevastfrm2.showMessage?topicID=70.topic" target="top">Apollo's Will - A DM speaks his mind</a> 
 
Over and out....

randy jordan · Post by **randy jordan** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 3:21 pm

*merely nods* 
 
me

PensivesWetness · Post by **PensivesWetness** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 2:34 pm

This topic has been ongoing from D2.Net... 
<a href="http://www.diabloii.net/columnists/behind-veil12.shtml" target="top">Behind the veil, part 12</a> 
 
useful?<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif ALT=":o">

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of all who threaten, annoy, or spam it it.

The Vast

My complaint. (first and last)

My complaint. (first and last)

Re: My complaint. (first and last)

Re: My complaint. (first and last)

Re: My complaint. (first and last)

Re: My complaint. (first and last)

This might be useful...or might not...