I do not want this to be misconstrued as an 'undy is my friend, is good, stop
the slander' post. But it could be boiled down to that so please disregard if
that's all you take away from this. I love this MUD. I acknowledge that player
retention and recruitment are vital to the well-being of BatMUD. Do we want to
spoon-feed new players to keep them in game? No, because we need clever new
players.
Do we want to harass and abuse new players? No, because this behavior scares
away the types of new players that are going to start playing nowadays. So,
where do we find the gentle blend of 'harden up noob' and 'let me help you
starting out new player'? It is tough to say. I vaguely recall pkilling being
more prominent in my early days. I have fond memories of fearing looking at
people because it might get you killed.
While that sense of formality may have been shed over the years, for the
better, is it right to weigh one player against few new players' allegations
in such public forum? Are we setting precedent that the channel to handle
disputes of player conduct is in open forum? If so, mayhaps some guidance of
the process should be developed. But I digress. The new player experience
should not include hazing. Being attacked randomly by highbies is going to
happen, though. As a midbie, I've died or nearly died stomping around the
Beastlands many a time to highbies. It is part of this wonderful game. So I
took in stride and dealt with it. As the culture shifts, aggression is seen as
personal. This is just a game. The consequences are simply entertainment.
Somebody "pisses in your cheerios"? Well, it is BatMUD, if the bullying is so
harmful to your playing socially respond. Ask attacker 'why the harm?' Reach
out to higher level players for assistance. Contact an unidle friendly wizard.
Learn from your experience. Maybe even post to the forums cleverly.
I know that I have little sway in our community, but at this point in my post,
I offer my message: Have fun! It is just a game. Don't take it so seriously.
In response to an earlier thought that I had I would also like to explain my
reactions to the recent RAGE topic. I found the first forum post offensive.
Sure bullying, harassing and the like need to be limited to improve the new
player experience, but would a forum post singleing one player out as a
recruiter and another as a bully really be the right way to bring attention to
this issue? I mean, okay, maybe an alleged bully should be a villain and an
alleged recruiter a hero, but narrative aside, why air the dirty laundry out
so publicly?
If you read nothing else of this, have fun.