Why you shouldn’t try to win LOTC.

[Aftrballini 450]

   A few years back I made a my first real character. It was a dwarf- simple kind of concept that I thought would fit into the whole fantasy spectrum nicely. He was blind, a hunter and used dual wielding axes. It was a great way to learn some of the general rules and some of the specifics on roleplaying in the server. But I didn’t wanna make this post to tell you his whole life story. Only a part of it. 
 

   Most days when I wasn’t having him in some tavern drinking I’d go up North. Kill rabbits. I felt that it was what my character would realistically do- he hunts. He and subsequently I explored the North. Learning where the best places to go for hides and meat were. Sometimes one of the other dwarves would say ‘You shouldn’t go up there. Witches.’ However- my character was young. Naive. And I never saw anything but rabbits. Then one day I actually run into a witch. I’d like to say I’ve been writing for a while. Creating stories is an absolute blast. But halfway into the confrontation I caught myself doing something. 
 
 ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if Tomrim (my dwarf) killed this witch? Brought back her head. Got some recognition.’ 
 

 I wanted to win. 
 

 I realized in that moment that I liked my dwarf. I had spent enough time ‘in his shoes’ and wanted the same things he would want. To win the fight. Come home victorious. Telling all the people I’ve met that I was some kinda unkillable main character. But I’m glad I didn’t. The person playing as the witch was real chill about it, we discussed the outcome OOC, obviously Tomrim lost. It’d be silly if this young foolhardy dwed absolutley dunked on a whole dungeon boss with nothing but an axe. Short story long- he ended up losing all his limbs. Getting paraded back to the capital then tossed at the foot of the innkeeper.

 

 Sure- I could’ve maybe won the fight. With all my brainpower. Outsmarted the other person writing. But then I wouldn’t have watched that young foolhardy dwarf go from an undeveloped side character into a proper golem legged, clockwork armed badass. Who fought straight up dragons in Apotheosis with a whole slayer kit. Berserker mode. Bloodthirsty for revenge on anything remotely evil. 
 

   All this to say. Next time you find yourself in a situation that you want to win. Or maybe you’ve just lost a fight.

 Don’t feel bad about it.

Even if it’s (and hopefully it isn’t) getting maimed. Maybe it’s just a common robbery on the side of the road. 

Don’t always try to win.

 

Try to grow. 
 

 

Thanks for reading. 

[Epicethan4 948]

That’s great man, I’m happy for you, I really am, but you don’t understand, I NEED this. LOTC is my entire life. I need the win

[Echo_42069 386]

1 hour ago, Epicethan4 said:

That’s great man, I’m happy for you, I really am, but you don’t understand, I NEED this. LOTC is my entire life. I need the win

I agree the LotC Curse has tarnished my soul. If I don’t win then I lose and if I lose then what am I in life? Hmm I’ll be a guy that lost it all on a Minecraft roleplay server.

 

all jks aside I agree live life keep ya head up go touch grass go have a beer (if over the age) and experience life, live a little

[Morigung-oog 5697]

Whether you play to win or lose or not, there will always be a player somewhere who does it anyway and completely ruins the experiences of other players. 
 

I’ve seen entire concepts shut down because of this ‘play to win’ mindset and seen many more stoop to this level because they feel like they’ll be unable to access the same roleplay opportunities as other players. It’s a shame. 

[King_Kunuk 3025]

[Amesti 247]

Your story is really cool and losing can sometimes be the best outcome. I often have my characters lose because rarely are they fighters. However, I think a lot of the win-at-all-costs mentality stems from the fact that losing is boring. Most of the time, when you lose, you get killed. You don't get beat up and sent home with a cool story; they just kill you, so even if you choose not to PK, you get nothing from that encounter. I have too many stories of when I allowed my characters to lose, and they got killed because of it, gaining nothing from the encounter.

Death is the default if you lose. I get that when dealing with bad guys, the usual outcome would be death, but it is really boring. No one wants to lose because, normally, when they lose, they don't get to enjoy the consequences of it. If it were more standard to leave people alive when they lose, I think people would be more willing to lose, but this isn't the case, which makes it so you are just wasting your time if you don't win.

[Turbo_Dog 3581]

This is true. You won’t be the best at everything. You will never be an anime protagonist isekai. Losing is fun too, just as you’d expect the other person to be good faith you must hold the same to yourself too. Failure builds character as much as winning could

[Cheese 8899]

I should start putting this link as one of my resources to direct new players to upon acceptance to the server

[MatronMaeve 170]

Absolutely agree with you, loosing will always lead to more interesting story. Failure builds deep character growth in ways that chasing every win can’t. Also playing a “foil” to traditional server persona roles is very rewarding. DND taught me the more interesting choice will 9/10 be the one that’s not “safe.”

[TaraJess 2853]

I retired and now I make pretty butterflies.

Behold!

[MrMojoMordor 2413]

This.
This is how it should be. Losing can be fun & great.
It is why most of the character i have played are anti-killing (unless it's a darkspawn) as it furthers the conflict & the loser of the fight can have something out of the RP as well, instead of a sudden amnesia.

But winning should be equally hard, especially if you're going for a kill.
My current character did WIN a 2v1 fight vs an adult goblin when he was a child, but it left him without arms. Which led to him discover shamanism - straying him from my original plan to have him become a Cannonist priest.

[EmiliainWonderland 2311]

So anyways. I read this post, and I decided I've got to win even more now.

 

Jokes aside, I think this is a crucial lesson that people often overlook. Ultimately, it's a collaborative storytelling effort. We're all working together to further the story of the server as a whole in our own little ways, and I think it's good to keep in mind we can't do it without each other! Even if that means we lose!