Confessions of a Former Ragequitter

[Lulzebub]

Okay, I'm going to try to keep this from going TL;DR, but I feel a moral imperative to add to this extremely disappointing post from RwG. You see, I used to be a part of the cancer killing EfU.

My name is PlayaCharacter, and I am a recovering internet rageoholic.

Believe it or not the #1 cause of DM burn out isn't RL, or "Lack of plot ideas".

Its PCs.

Sometimes I wonder how many DMs and PCs I helped drive away from this place. I'd like to think it's none, but I know better than that. No matter the case, the unequivocal truth is that when I first got here, and for a nice long time after, I was a straight-up dickhead.

Why was I a dickhead? Largely it was due to a lack of perspective. I certainly didn't realize I was being a dickhead. It's not something I'm proud of. As a general practice, I certainly don't act like a cunt for the pure sport of it. For me, and I think for most people, really, it's something that comes perfectly naturally.

I don't want to start a thread that's liable to get bogged down in drama, so I'm not going to go into the specific reasons why I was acting like a cock. I can make my point here well enough by simply stating that I was acting like a cock on EfU at one point, I act a bit less like a cock now, and here is the realization that turned me around:

Consistently producing the content necessary to maintain a quality role-playing experience that engages the attention of an intelligent group of creative people on the internet, which is what the EfU DMs and builders do on a daily basis, is really fucking hard.

I know, I know. The DMs don't understand. The DMs pick favorites. They lock the threads too much, it's censorship. Certain people always win. It's too hard to get something going. Et cetera, et cetera. There's nothing that anyone here can say about the EfU DMs that I haven't said myself, and you know something? It's all a bunch of bullshit. All of the currently active DMs used to be players on this very same server, for fuck's sake! Try harder.

These people are spending their free time to help you have fun. One of the reasons I haven't been around much is that I've been trying to start my own server. I can say now that I've had a small taste of what it is the EfU:A DMs go through to accomplish what they do, and let me tell you, dear friend, it's a God damn miracle that this place exists in its present form at all. We truly have no idea how good we have it here.

As a thought experiment, I invite each of you (regardless of whether or not you feel like you need to check yourself) to take a quick tour of the other gaming communities on offer throughout the world and tell me if any of them are superior to this one. I've looked, I don't think one exists.

The moral of this non-story is that the members of the DM team are entitled to their faults. If you like it here, and you're bitching about them personally, you are shitting in your own nest. Not because they are petty fascists who are going to come down on your head in-character, dumbass, but rather because you aren't going to accomplish anything constructive by demoralizing the very people who do the constructing.

For fucking free, I might add.

[lovethesuit]

You sure name a lot of unpleasant body parts when you confess. Say 10 hail marys.

[Caddies]

Word up @ OP.

[IxTheSpeedy]

Not to detract from your posting but sweet lord that was alot of profanity.  I'm not sure i've actually read the C word on this forum before...

[ExileStrife]

Where is this RWG post, sounds like a good one...  >_>

-- nevermind, that was easy to find.

[Halfbrood]

we forgive you brotherman.

[TheImpossibleDream]

Word up @ OP.

booyakasha respect

[The Beggar]

I support Caddies, who is no longer Mad, in what he has so masterfully stated.

[Pup]

I have to admit that I struggled for a good long time when I came to EfU.  I had never played a NWN server before (or any online game for that matter), and I expected it to be as easy as the campaigns.

I screeched and howled as my first EfU char continued to die, perpetually stuck in the lvl 4-6 loop.  "How do these other people ever reach lvl 8 or better?" I'd ask.  "Where do they get these wonderful items?"  "How in the hell do they keep their potions stocked?"

Even now I push the limits of my char, who should've been lost more than once (thanks Caddies).  But I think I've learned the most important lesson:  Just let go.  There are always new chars and stories to play.

Keep at it and it will come together for you.  Listen to the endless advice of DMs and veteran players.  It works.  It really fucking does.

While I am still learning and evolving as a player, I think I can say that I'm much better.  I also know that I can and will get even better.

So to summarize the OP:  It's not the DMs' fault you struggle.  It's not other players.  It's your (my) fault.  It costs nothing to play this server and you get to be a part of a grand fantasy story that will probably be never matched by any other story you read or write, ever.

*inhales deeply and smiles*  Ah.  That felt good.

-The Pup

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

The way I see it is this.

You put perhaps weeks, months of effort, and then a level 2 half orc mini max build FD's you in the sewers without any RP whatsoever.

What do you do?

Roll a new character, and start anew. I enjoy myself when I am busy, and not complaining. I love clerics because they give me something to do and aim at already, the fighter could become the weapon master sure, but that is boring.

I've never gotten angry over a stupid character to death I think. I might've felt sad, asking why it was done. That's about it I think. I don't fear PvP, but nor do I like it much.

It's a bit of a grind, but life's a bitch, the sooner you tame her, the more you get to bed her....bad saying I know, but really, don't bitch about a game. We're mature players (I hope) here, just pick up the ashes, and move on.

[Nihm]

I think in general a very good job is done by the DM staff, and they make an effort to be helpful, fair, and unbiased.  However, it is not possible to compliment a DM without sounding like a suck-up.  This means that mostly they hear about the small percentage of things a player did not like as opposed to the majority of things they do like.
 
In general the server is pretty amazing - although I think criticism is a good thing if delivered properly (which is something I do pretty poorly).

[Behemoth]

I know how you feel at times. How you can think DMs do pick favorites, or they don't feel interested in you. There are answers to this though, ones that have encouraged me. I have thought about the DMs around, and sure as hell, they work their ass off. And, half of those people I even played with when they were players.

Remember that those people that say " That player is too overpowered! He has too much DM Loot and gets too much attention".

I know how you may feel about it, but one thing that is true is the fact those players work themselves to get to that stage. Remember who the DMs are when you're talking to them. Remember that they were once exactly like you.

[Dash]

Group hug IMO

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

*Hugs*

[DeltaBravoRomeo]

1. It's a game.
2. Its free. (tho donate if you can)
3. See #1.


+1