Lotc Newsletter - April 2015

[ski_king3 0]

I don't typically read into newsletters, but I'm glad to have done so with this one. I can't necessarily quote the text for some odd reason, but there was mentioning of more applicants being accepted for the sake of increasing the quantity of roleplayers. My emotions as of late have been very mixed with the newly implemented characters, but overall I am disgraced by them. I now see people who not only act immature more often than they did back when 90% of people were denied (and applications were much more thorough and/or harsh), but I also see a lack of literacy, grammar, vocabulary, and often one-word sentence usage or actions by said players. I think we should rather focus on upping the standards of applications to attract quality roleplayers. Not cut-rate "fillers" to make the server more populous. As someone who is trying to run a professional and active town (which will hopefully become a center of diverse roleplay provided Oren doesn't smash it to bits) I spend hours on end prowling the most frequented locations (Red Rose Tavern, Viridian Pub) for quality newcomers, but lately have found little to none. Those I have are either obtained through coincidence of happening upon my settlement, or through connections with my other members. Moral of the story incoming:

I think the next change, much like the magic system was made more readily available to players, should be to make applications more strict in terms of their criteria. I think we should go back to the old days when I applied to the server (March 2013/2014?), when you had to respond to three scenarios you may encounter ICly with an open-ended paragraph or more. This ensured those who were enrolled into the server were at least slightly capable of creativity not only in a character backstory that may have taken them three hours to think up, but rather a situation they do not imagine facing (or pay little mind to) so as to test their ability as a roleplayer and not a storyteller. It also tested their ability to put their characters personality, strength(s), weakness(es), and perhaps even their ambition in context with their character's actions or thoughts. This will also ensure those that access something as controversially "overpowered" as magic (as some people may call it in roleplay-combat instances) are capable of not only creating a fight-scene, but equally capable of forging the events leading up to it and shaping the server lore like the community should. I do hope some people take notice in this. If enough people support it or feel otherwise, I'll relocate this to the suggestions section of the forums so we can discuss it and potentially note it.

 

While I appreciate your feedback, I'd have to say that this has been a topic that was once hotly debated both on the forums and by the Application Team itself. While it seems logical to prefer adding only the best of roleplayers to maintain roleplay quality, that's not simply how LotC has ever developed, nor how it will continue to develop. Most roleplayers of LotC, whether they be the best or the greatest, never roleplayed prior to joining this server. Many of them were denied several times and were accepted by meeting the bare minimum requirements of an acceptable application.

 

While it's easy for those privileged enough to have had previous roleplay experience or who easily got accepted on their first try to look down upon those who lack the experience, we should also recognize that if LotC were held to our standard, we'd be a much smaller server without most of the benefits of having a large playerbase. Having a larger playerbase and fostering a community which teaches new roleplayers how to improve is what has made LotC great and led to the best roleplayers, not being good at writing detailed emotes from the get go. In fact, good writing skill doesn't even make a good roleplayer; one of the best roleplayers I've ever accepted had a pretty horrible app and had trouble constructing sentences properly. This is what LotC has been built from, and how it should continue to expand its playerbase.

 

Likewise, you refer to the dreaded "Open Response Questions" which were once a part of the server application. Quite simply, it was consensus among the Application Team that they did nothing to demonstrate knowledge about the server or roleplay ability that was not already seen in the server biography. They simply made the application significantly longer and decreased the number of people who applied, because most folks aren't interested in writing a couple thousand words to play on a Minecraft server.

 

 

Though you may not disagree, I hope you at least recognize that what you've advocated for has been considered many times, and most likely will not return in the future given the experiences of the staff and playerbase.

[hellfiazz 879]

My mum cried out of pride when I told her I was getting interviewed in an LoTC.

I think it was pride anyway.

[Heff 2460]

B p down for an interview tbh

[argonian 14254]

I don't typically read into newsletters, but I'm glad to have done so with this one. I can't necessarily quote the text for some odd reason, but there was mentioning of more applicants being accepted for the sake of increasing the quantity of roleplayers. My emotions as of late have been very mixed with the newly implemented characters, but overall I am disgraced by them. I now see people who not only act immature more often than they did back when 90% of people were denied (and applications were much more thorough and/or harsh), but I also see a lack of literacy, grammar, vocabulary, and often one-word sentence usage or actions by said players. I think we should rather focus on upping the standards of applications to attract quality roleplayers. Not cut-rate "fillers" to make the server more populous. As someone who is trying to run a professional and active town (which will hopefully become a center of diverse roleplay provided Oren doesn't smash it to bits) I spend hours on end prowling the most frequented locations (Red Rose Tavern, Viridian Pub) for quality newcomers, but lately have found little to none. Those I have are either obtained through coincidence of happening upon my settlement, or through connections with my other members. Moral of the story incoming:

I think the next change, much like the magic system was made more readily available to players, should be to make applications more strict in terms of their criteria. I think we should go back to the old days when I applied to the server (March 2013/2014?), when you had to respond to three scenarios you may encounter ICly with an open-ended paragraph or more. This ensured those who were enrolled into the server were at least slightly capable of creativity not only in a character backstory that may have taken them three hours to think up, but rather a situation they do not imagine facing (or pay little mind to) so as to test their ability as a roleplayer and not a storyteller. It also tested their ability to put their characters personality, strength(s), weakness(es), and perhaps even their ambition in context with their character's actions or thoughts. This will also ensure those that access something as controversially "overpowered" as magic (as some people may call it in roleplay-combat instances) are capable of not only creating a fight-scene, but equally capable of forging the events leading up to it and shaping the server lore like the community should. I do hope some people take notice in this. If enough people support it or feel otherwise, I'll relocate this to the suggestions section of the forums so we can discuss it and potentially note it.

If Availer had your shitty and elitist attitude, this server would have died after a few months. The apps are way too harsh at the moment and a lot the reasons for denial are incredibly stupid.

"Bio cliches"

"Your character isn't an adult(even though we're allowed to play child/teen characters)",

"Your character isn't an adult by elf standards,"

"Your character is 1 year too young/old to be born in Abresi".

 

I've also seen tons of perfectly balanced characters being denied for not having enough weaknesses because the AT want your character to be a ******* cripple.