Restoring Fear To The Server

[Watyll 1104]

It's just that people have no concept of fear, because the big bad villain in front of them is just a character in a computer screen. Many of the people on this server just don't want to lose, so, to them, bad rp is justifiable if it keeps them alive. Let me give you an example. I was breaking into the keep of some human king (their names all get muddled in my head, because they all look the same..) with my friends darkdragon274 and ikeyman232. As we approached the keep, we ran into a farmer who was delivering some wheat to the castle. He stood in front of us and demanded why we were there, threatening to kill us. Just to make it clear, we were three armed men, and he was a farmer with a hoe...ok.

So I eventually managed to get behind him without him noticing, and emoted *silently draws a dagger and attempts to stab the farmer in the back*. Ok, it's not powergame, and I expected the farmer to have the decency to go with it. Instead, the farmer proceeded to emote *hears a dagger and spins around and grabs the dagger with his hand*. No, not happening.

I feel like I went off track, as only the beginning of the story was used to prove a point. We were three heavily armed men, and he just shrugged us off as if he had never seen us, even though we told him numerous times that we were going to kill him.

Another thing I'm frustrated with is how eagerly people go to war. In reality, nobody would want to go to war, because in wars, people die. If there were a rule that stated "Any players who are fighting in a war and die are perma-killed", then I can guarantee that the number of wars in the server would drastically drop, because get this, they're semi-realistic now! Instead, if I happen to be in Cloud Temple during a war, I get to sit down, grab some popcorn, and listen to the post-war ooc banter going on between the dozens of people who are now re spawning. It's ridiculous.

Dear god. Tell me you ban reported him.

[Salamandra 1136]

-snip-

[Aelu / Rel (Combustionary) 1540]

Dear god. Tell me you ban reported him.

We still killed him. He grabbed the dagger so I said "Give him the dagger back, and we will spare you." He gave it back, and we proceeded to kill him. We talked to him about it afterwards, cleared things up. I think he will do better next time something happens, so we didn't BR.

[Jon Evaglno 202]

We still killed him. He grabbed the dagger so I said "Give him the dagger back, and we will spare you." He gave it back, and we proceeded to kill him. We talked to him about it afterwards, cleared things up. I think he will do better next time something happens, so we didn't BR.

Why does all the fun happen when I'm not there?

On a more serious note, if I were that farmer, I'd be crapping myself and trying to get out of that situation. Any other roleplayer worth half his/her Minas would be doing the same. Frankly, this lack of fear as you described is on the very edge of powergaming, if it hasn't already crossed it.

[Aerinyes 402]

One thing I will say is this.

Fear is a two way street. In order to roleplay someone that is to be feared, you have to be known to be a good Roleplayer. If players know no matter what they do, the outcome will be the same. They are going to go out with a bang and show no fear ICly.

If you're playing a scary knight or bandit and you take a yard when given an inch, you're going to lose respect. Many bandits currently do this. They rob and steal and kill, regardless. Their excuse is "my character leaves no witnesses!" Good job...

People will learn about your character. "but I left no witnesses.. thats meta!"

When you kill everything, its known. The scene doesn't magically clean itself up like nothing happened. There is investigations and rumors that fly. Basically if a bandit is leaving no witnesses, people know.. there's a bandit running around that isn't going to leave a witness.

What does this mean? When you rob, someone the next time, they're going to fight you tooth and nail. This is realistic.

HOWEVER

If the villain was playing a villain PROPERLY (there's exceptions to this, which I'll bring up) they would have not just killed everything all the time to prevent witnesses. That way it gives victims a way to bargain or interact in a way to prevent their downfall or even gain. Thats what creating RP plots is about.

The exception I am speaking of is like when the Kharajyr came to Malinor and weren't leaving witnesses to their crimes. They were playing with fire and knew it. They accepted the fact that the elves would hate them rather than fear them. They didn't complain about that. In fact they embraced it and took every consequence from their actions in stride (oocly of course). Of course Tiazar and I respect each other OOCly and love our little conflicts. We might butt heads once in a while, but thats just to keep each other on their toes.

Now there is a flip side to this.

There are many many people on this server with agendas that don't have anything to do with RP. Whether it be social, political, or rebellious. The majority of the server is in the 14-17 age group. A good number (not all) will use their OOC beliefs in game.

They resent authority in all its forms.

Believe in total free speech.

Do not wish to take responsibility for their own actions.

Not saying this is a horrible or wrong thing. Teenagers do the above, thats why they are teens. They've been doing it since the '50s and probably before.

However when they bring it in game and in RP it causes problems. Resenting authority in those days, resulted in harsh punishments. Speaking out against the community or nation, resulted in harsh punishments, and finally you were held accountable not only for your actions, but those of your spouse and children in some cases.

People don't realize that. They want to spout free speech to a knight... Yeah they do this.. all the time.

What needs to happen is for these players to leave their agendas out of game.

[Jexdane 213]

-snip-

Now, I feel like I need to make note of the fact that before I killed that farmer, I have him plenty of opportunities to get away, like offering him freedom if he gave us information, or if he gave us his recent farm haul, because, personally, I don't like killing my enemies. As I said in the Cloud Temple recently, when a "Plague Doctor" tried to test me for the plague, I would rather watch them run away wetting their pants, letting them tell all of their friends about "the scary man that just threatened them", then kill them and have them forget the whole thing. Because if they forget, they can't spread the seeds of fear and chaos.

Also, I really love the point you brought up about LotC's teenage rebel population. I think these people need to realize that this isn't the 21st century they're playing in, it's a medieval time, and when you go up to a knight and start yapping about "how violence totally isn't cool dude", you're going to get gutted. Yes, my character is wholly against human authority, and orcish authority, but that's because he's been brought to the chopping block and narrowly escaped in both situations. He has a legitimate reason to dislike them, but it certainly isn't something he makes public.

[Imperial Legion Soldier 34]

-Snip-

If my new character saw you do any of that and you came toward him he just crap himself and run I bet.

[Ithric 70]

I kinda like the idea of using fear, but I'm not sure how exactly this guild will help. It's bent on conquering, but there's enough of that and, as bandits have shown, it might just get people pissed off rather than afraid. Fear, in my opinion, should perhaps be delivered by the government or a villain of sorts. Perhaps a secret police or a serial killer, just something to keep people on edge, but the fact still remains. When you try to make someone fear something, they either get afraid or get pissed off and try to be a hero. The latter being annoying while the former is your desired outcome. I've had a few ideas for both of my suggestions, actually, but I don't exactly have the time to do them. At any rate, my vote on this matter is more toward the middle. I believe fear should be sent through the spines of peasants but I also don't think it should be done via a conquering guild.

[Samson Option 9652]

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