This rant might be a really bad idea, but it's something I've been chewing on for a while and I've finally decided to post it.
As has been pointed out in IRC and a forum posting or two, EFU population has been a bit low lately and plots have been a bit flat. Fingers have been pointed, as will happen whenever people are concerned because something they care about is threatened. That's human nature.
For anyone who doesn't like where we are right now, look no further than yourself. It's easy to say "the other players are being boring and not pushing plots", or "the DMs aren't active" or "the metaplot isn't going anywhere" because nobody likes to look at themselves and think "maybe I'm doing it wrong?"
After playing EFU for a while it's easy to drift into a mindset of entitlement. We've had years of fun, great interactions, and wonderful DMing with lots of spice and flavorful DM loot. When you have a good thing for such a long time, it's easy to become complacent and just expect it to get handed to you. Sometimes we start to treat a PC like a form with checkboxes: "Wrote journal with pretty words? check. Made inflammatory sending to cause conflict? check. Got to level 9? check. Wrote kick-ass character description? check. Subdued potential enemy? check. Why aren't people being interesting and where the fuck is my DM loot?"
I imagine everyone has been guilty of this mindset of just skating by and expecting great things to happen. Then, when people don't respond to you and you don't get your fantastic DM loot, you get pissed because you did everything right. I've caught myself thinking these things several times.
Ask yourself this: "Am I entertaining to other players? Am I entertaining to DMs? Do I compel people to want to play EFU? Do I spin plots that make people want to be involved in what I'm doing?"
Nothing in life is free. If you want other players be amazing, try to be amazing yourself and show them how it's done. Most people like to quest, but If they were here just to grind quests they wouldn't be here at all - they'd be playing some new lame-ass MMO with state-of-the-art graphics. Don't think you're doing your duty by just checking all the checkboxes. Work hard to involve people. If all you want to do is be a total bad-ass and run around subduing people based on some flimsy background or character trait, that's fine. EFU needs psychopaths. But don't think you're doing some huge favor for the server. Just subduing people isn't a story.
If you want DMs who do a lot of thankless work and aren't paid for it to throw your PC a bone, then entertain the fuck out of them. Why a bored DM would log into EFU just to help a bunch of players who wine at them in IRC, I can't imagine. But maybe if you entice them then they won't be able to help themselves but to log in and see what you're doing, and see how they can make your story better. The DMs should be here for fun, not for obligation.
If you don't like what a DM or a player is doing, consider what the effect of your criticism will be before you give it on IRC or in the forums. Do you really want this DM or player to just give up and leave? Or do you want them to improve? If they won't take your criticism and move in the direction you want them to, is it better they stick around then just straight up get discouraged and leave? Even an imperfect player is someone to interact with. I'd rather talk to an uninteresting PC than an NPC. And every players has potential for improvement.
If you take issue with a DM or player, try to put yourself in the other person's shoes, and ask yourself "What is my motivation for being here?" Get in a messy PvP and feel like the DM ruling was unfair to you? Ask yourself "Why is this DM taking the time out of their day to gather the minutiae of this PvP and try to make a call that's ultimately going to make several players bitch about them in side-channels? Do they hate themselves?"
EFU isn't all fun. Making EFU fun for others is especially hard work. When you put work into EFU you make a risky investment that might provide huge dividends. With an MMO, you don't even get the opportunity to make the investment. If the work-to-fun return on investment isn't enough for you, then OK. But be an adult and consider that if you want improvement then you might need to change yourself.
As has been pointed out in IRC and a forum posting or two, EFU population has been a bit low lately and plots have been a bit flat. Fingers have been pointed, as will happen whenever people are concerned because something they care about is threatened. That's human nature.
For anyone who doesn't like where we are right now, look no further than yourself. It's easy to say "the other players are being boring and not pushing plots", or "the DMs aren't active" or "the metaplot isn't going anywhere" because nobody likes to look at themselves and think "maybe I'm doing it wrong?"
After playing EFU for a while it's easy to drift into a mindset of entitlement. We've had years of fun, great interactions, and wonderful DMing with lots of spice and flavorful DM loot. When you have a good thing for such a long time, it's easy to become complacent and just expect it to get handed to you. Sometimes we start to treat a PC like a form with checkboxes: "Wrote journal with pretty words? check. Made inflammatory sending to cause conflict? check. Got to level 9? check. Wrote kick-ass character description? check. Subdued potential enemy? check. Why aren't people being interesting and where the fuck is my DM loot?"
I imagine everyone has been guilty of this mindset of just skating by and expecting great things to happen. Then, when people don't respond to you and you don't get your fantastic DM loot, you get pissed because you did everything right. I've caught myself thinking these things several times.
Ask yourself this: "Am I entertaining to other players? Am I entertaining to DMs? Do I compel people to want to play EFU? Do I spin plots that make people want to be involved in what I'm doing?"
Nothing in life is free. If you want other players be amazing, try to be amazing yourself and show them how it's done. Most people like to quest, but If they were here just to grind quests they wouldn't be here at all - they'd be playing some new lame-ass MMO with state-of-the-art graphics. Don't think you're doing your duty by just checking all the checkboxes. Work hard to involve people. If all you want to do is be a total bad-ass and run around subduing people based on some flimsy background or character trait, that's fine. EFU needs psychopaths. But don't think you're doing some huge favor for the server. Just subduing people isn't a story.
If you want DMs who do a lot of thankless work and aren't paid for it to throw your PC a bone, then entertain the fuck out of them. Why a bored DM would log into EFU just to help a bunch of players who wine at them in IRC, I can't imagine. But maybe if you entice them then they won't be able to help themselves but to log in and see what you're doing, and see how they can make your story better. The DMs should be here for fun, not for obligation.
If you don't like what a DM or a player is doing, consider what the effect of your criticism will be before you give it on IRC or in the forums. Do you really want this DM or player to just give up and leave? Or do you want them to improve? If they won't take your criticism and move in the direction you want them to, is it better they stick around then just straight up get discouraged and leave? Even an imperfect player is someone to interact with. I'd rather talk to an uninteresting PC than an NPC. And every players has potential for improvement.
If you take issue with a DM or player, try to put yourself in the other person's shoes, and ask yourself "What is my motivation for being here?" Get in a messy PvP and feel like the DM ruling was unfair to you? Ask yourself "Why is this DM taking the time out of their day to gather the minutiae of this PvP and try to make a call that's ultimately going to make several players bitch about them in side-channels? Do they hate themselves?"
EFU isn't all fun. Making EFU fun for others is especially hard work. When you put work into EFU you make a risky investment that might provide huge dividends. With an MMO, you don't even get the opportunity to make the investment. If the work-to-fun return on investment isn't enough for you, then OK. But be an adult and consider that if you want improvement then you might need to change yourself.