October 30, 2000
Gods Are People Too! - By Vangroen
In this letter to the Medievia Web Page I want to discuss the
importance and the necessity of people skills on the game. This will be geared
towards mortal to mortal relationships and mortal to God relationships.
I am very old school in my thinking, since my first introduction to the
game was back in the early days of its development. In those days when
you died you had to seek out the highpoint of Medievia and pray to get
your life back, that was only possible because the game was not as
overwhelmingly huge as it is today. Nowadays you seek out the nearest
altar, pray and your life is returned to start out the adventure again.
People in the early days were very supportive, and it was in fact a very
close knit community of people that helped each other to attain higher
goals. Along the way many people have lost that goal. Today the game
encompasses a far greater array of challenges that the older simpler game
lacked, however these challenges can be made less of an ordeal if we use
simple courtesy. Below I will detail with what I think are the skills
necessary to make this game a positive experience. I not only list these
things; I live by the spirit of them in the game and outside of it.
What makes a successful player, clan or town? Cooperation! Everybody
wants to prove him or herself in the game and make a name that commands
respect. We all see the elite Heroes in the game that are rich and
powerful - they lead clans, win Hero Battles, do the dragon lairs and
basically master the game itself. The road for them started the same as it
did for all players. What set most of them apart from the lesser
characters was that most of them mastered people skills as they mastered the
game. They understood to reach higher levels they had to accumulate
friendships with many people and understand that the character they are
talking too is in fact a real person. Everybody that comes to the game
brings with them different ideals and life experience that makes them
unique. Understanding that, they manage what they say and do. They monitor
other people's strengths and weaknesses, understanding that they
themselves are subject to the same shortcomings as their fellow players. This
is not a new concept. In Ancient
China the military philosopher Sun Tzu said that knowledge of friends
and foes are essential to success in all aspects of life. The game
mirrors life in that we can reach across many borders and cultures to make a
micro world of our own. What we do in that world is up to us.
We start in Medievia as players connected only by the newbie clan and
from there we can forge friendships and alliances. Some of these
friendships and alliances fade with time as we embark our way into a regular
clan life but we must strive to forge new alliances there also. The
people that make up your clan are your basic life support system, they
teach you skills and help you along like a family. Sometimes the family is
dysfunctional and you must leave and find one that is better suited to
the character you want to be. This is okay, but some rivalry or
bitterness can fester with old clannies, so it is best to leave all clans on
good terms. Many times I have seen players leave a clan and burn their
bridges as they leave. Some choice comments are "You guys are losers and
will never get anywhere!" or "I would be better off in a newbie clan
than be with you losers." How will saying those things further your
purpose in Medievia? If your goal is to hurt feelings and make someone want
to gun for you in NPK or CPK, then you have succeeded. A better
approach is to try and resolve your differences with the clan leader first.
Explain why it is not working out for you, how you want to explore the
different clans and possibly if they are not any better that you want
to rejoin at a later date.
I myself felt unwanted in a clan once. It was due to the fact that
everybody was of a much higher level than I was and I felt like a small
fish in a big pond. I resolved to go into a smaller clan with less heroes
and higher class multies and eventually work my way up the ladder and
rejoin at a later date. I wrote a letter to the head of the clan
explaining my wishes and left. In the new clan I learned the lesser skills of
playing the game and eventually reached a point where I could learn no
more. Then I politely asked my former leader if I could rejoin and he
said yes - now I am learning even greater skills and the finer points of
the game. After coming back I was treated like I never left, the clan
advanced greatly and kept a solid core of individuals that were very
helpful to me as I settled back in. Not only the clan but also the overall
town became a cohesive whole that worked together to tackle hard zones
and accomplish tasks that could not be accomplished without that much
needed teamwork. That brings me to the next point.
The clan system itself is a great boon to the player, the resources of
so many individuals working together can raise a player in status and
save time. When I need a high level player to take me to the CPK area at
the high point of Medievia it took only seconds to get a person to take
me. When I want a piece of eq or advice on how to get it. I ask and
it gets accomplished with very few problems. With that help also comes
the responsibility of giving help when asked. Countless times you will
be asked to be a phase point for your clan or town members as they
tackle a difficult zone. I look at those times as opportunities to pay back
what I have been so willing given. It might seem like a boring task,
but it is repaid many times over with past and future help.
Now, all situations will be different and I highly suggest you as a
player be open to the task of reaching and attaining a higher awareness of
the better good of all. As a god I am constantly asked to help players
from all the different factions that make up Medievia society. I freely
give of my time even if it is not beneficial to my clan or town -
contrary to some people's opinions a God does nothing for his or her clan.
It would break the impartiality of the whole system. In matters of
dispute a God will frequently hand over a situation to another God because
it is not fair to decide on certain situations. What many players tend
to forget is that Gods are people too - we, as a collective whole,
donate valuable time and resources to the game. This is done out of love for
the game. Anybody willing to give hundreds and even thousands of hours
to build, code and ensure the game runs smoothly is putting their
mortal character at a disadvantage. We are held to higher morals and must
adhere to the strict letter of all rules in the game. With power comes a
responsibility that must be kept pure. If you check the rules a God
cannot lead a clan of his/her own, this would create too many ethical
problems. In our hands is the ability to do great things with the guideline
that you cannot use it to benefit your own character.
Yes there are some small perks like the free set of donation eq after a
certain time of service and more donation eq for building a zone. You
can find out more about this in the game by typing "HELP BUILDING". In
reality if you take the man-hours it takes to build a zone you will see
that all the eq you will get, could have been purchased with a part
time job at minimum wage for a lot less hassle. This small perk should not
be a swaying factor however in a person's choice to be a God character.
What is my point? Well, when a mortal talks or writes to a God, or even
the Avatars that greatly assist the Gods, it would be nice to remember
the sacrifice that they make to the game on a daily basis. Giving a God
hassle when you have a bad day at playing the game is really not
warranted. When a God makes a decision it really is made according to rules
that we must uphold. Many times it is a unanimous vote by many Gods and
no one God should be held accountable for it. As with mortals there are
many levels of Gods - if a God says it is out of their power to do
something it really is and they will point you in the direction of a person
that can help. My best advice is to thank that God, do as they say and
seek out the person they feel can best help you.
Recently with the massive influx of new players due to the
advertisements it is hard for a God to help everybody at once. We are not ignoring
you - we are simply involved with many tasks all at once. For example
when I am on the game I must build my zones, approve names, answer
questions and once in a great while take a time out and run a Hero Battle.
Let me digress for a second and tell you running quests and Hero Battles
takes up a large chunk of a God's time. For one they must monitor by
mindlink the battle and only that battle when it is happening. It usually
is a thankless job, but greatly adds to the game experience. If the
fighters are very good the fight can last sometimes over a half-hour - one
time I had a battle that lasted over forty-five minutes.
To put this in perspective if I were to run three Hero Battles I would
have to guarantee that I could stay connected for a minimum of an hour
and a half solely dedicated to just those three battles. But we do it
for the players and not ourselves, that says a lot about the character
of the person running those events. My challenge for you is to go out
and actively take part and become part of a grand society known to the
few whom enter as Medievia. I thank you for your time and hope to get to
know you on the game. I am done now preaching from my soapbox and
encourage you to stop reading and enjoy the game we all love.
Vangroen
A final note for the readers of this article. I do believe there are
many people on the game that are social and community orientated. If
there were not then I would not be so active on the game. I commend those
of you that take time out from playing and help others. The game is
essentially a role-playing environment and we must take that into
consideration. Every time we enter, we assume the guise of a character that
encompasses many emotions, ties to people and factions. I support and
accept many points of views and if for some reason I offended anyone by
saying that the game is not as friendly as it once was I am sorry. All
views are my own and do not reflect those of other Gods on the game. If you
have any reflections or points of interest on this subject I wrote
about, please type wizlist vangroen on the game to get my email address or
simply mudmail me. I will be glad to respond to any and all criticism
or support on this matter.
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