Ugh!
First I say "Ugh!" as I roll my eyes
scrolling down the long endless circle the argument runs in. (( Sorry I meant debate.
Meh! No way tell it like it is,
argument! ))
First off terms like "clique" and "elitist" are being thrown around so much its like the boy who cried wolf, yell it often enough and people will just down right ignore you, in my opinion there terms have joined the ranks of "twink," "snert," "powergamer," "newbie (i.e. n00b)," etc, ad nauseam.
Yes people are going to naturally congregate into social groups with people they like or trust, there's nothing wrong with that. It happens all the time in the real world, from grammar though high school, to college, the workplace and beyond that's just a natural evolution of social dynamics,
but that in and of itself does NOT constitute elitism!
When it gets to the point of one individual threatening you with a statement like "if you don't stop role-playing with the characters in our guild then we're going to report on you for harassing us!" Then it's elitist not to mention a form of harassment (to the point of being a CoC infraction), that happened to someone I know and it degenerated into a deplorable mess.
As for realism the constant never ending ploys for attention i.e. coming in at death's door and all that nonsensical drivel as a ploy to get attention rather detracts from the realism. Why? Its over dramatized, over abusive, and as it happens week in and week out it, people will naturally become jaded and desensitized to it.
Now if you really wanted to add realism why not be original and actually stage the event. Talk with some one you know or use another browser window with another of your screen name and stage the mugging/attack/pick pocketing/theft whatever. Put a little though and planning into it if you want to use something like that, otherwise its just little more than additional background noise, like the hiss of static from a TV that's set to a channel with no station on air.
That's what I was trying to say: "If you see someone who looks desperate for attention. Give it to them!"
Why not give everyone one shot and only cut them off if they abuse it? I mean, its not fair to every new player/character to snub what is a cry for attention just because they might keep doing it, because most of them don't.
First off I'm gonna say that rewarding deviant, self-destructive or just plain annoying behavior is only going to encourage the person to display more of that undesired behavior rather than discourage it, and sometimes people don't have the patients to deal with someone like that.
Yes there are some people who will turn around and improve, but there are also many instances of the exact opposite happening and that burns people. Its kind of like, the old adage fool me once shame on me, but then it goes fool me twice just put a sign on my back that say "doormat please walk all over me."
I know of several instances of where a couple of people I know have had this situation where a "n00b" (for lack of a better term) comes up to them they get into a conversation and try to be nice, but the "n00b" attaches themselves to these folks in unpleasant ways. With male characters it often falls into the "jealous boyfriend" scenario like with one annoying vampire around that fawned (in love I suppose) over all the female characters and when ever one of their male friends starts to talk the vamp goes "back off lil' man" like he's the invincible hulk/gods gift to women. Or there's the pushy female types that flirt around and then have kids by the ton, from every male characters they where chasing around, and making up getting pregnant by the male characters when the player did
NOT consent to it. I personally know of several people who have been in one or aother of the above scenarios.
From that point on its a cycle of constant annoyance and harassment, I listen to these folks wail on ICQ/AIM/MSN about how the "n00b" is driving them crazy, won't leave them alone, blah-blah-blah, whine, moan, and groan. I remind these folks about using the iggy command, and sometimes yes I will ask them "why do you even talk with these people" etc, ad nauseam. Usually I'll also ask these folks "did you ask the "n00b" OOC not to bother you" and they say "yeah but this idiot doesn't get (or understand) the message." These situations usually end with the folks sending complaints about the "n00b's" to the moderators which in turn become warns yet the "n00b" doesn't get it repeats the same pattern with other people, and in some cases leads to banning of one or more screen names.
To sum it up if someone wants to act like a spoiled prima donna, then they better well buck up or expect to be ignored and/or heckled like a prima donna. Just as ignorance of the law is no defense from the law, then a lack of common sense, courtesy, or manners is no defense from being ignored.
You can argue about giving everyone a chance and preach about being fair as much as you like even if it makes you blue in the face, but it won't change anything. The pattern of abusive behavior repeated so often by some people over the years is both beyond comprehension and extremely sad.
Some people just can't be, or refuse to be helped out of this cycle of abusive behavior that in turn had burned many veterans on more that one occasion. It can and does grate on their nerves and people do get tired of dealing with those individuals that parade on endlessly in a pattern of downright idiotic behavior, and be rude to you IC and OOC when you might try to help or explain.
The simple fact of the matter is you can't make people do what their not willing to do. Repeating a point of argument over and over and over again ad infinitum will not change peoples' behavior. It may not always seem fair but then neither is real life is it? If your willing to help new people out then by all means do so more power to you. Heck no ones stopping you, no ones here to say "oh no that's not right you should just ignore people that beat around to get attention." We're all only human and there are time when we say "that's it I've had enough of that nonsense," just go on doing what works for you and let other people go on doing what works for them. Live and let live ya know.
((Corrected for spelling/grammar here and there.
))
). Yes they are new BUT like when I was a new player to this site I would approach people just like I would IRL, only once have I approached someone bleeding profusely, he was a Navy Corpsman and I was a Marine that had just been shot heh. Everyone keeps saying how we should treat the new players. How about the new players take a moment to read the boards and learn how to deal with us old players? *gasps* We get treated like crap just as often but everyone is so quick to defend the newbie but want about when they do things to us that goes against common sense and courtesy? Who takes up for the more experienced players? Seems that the new guys get the special treatment while the rest of us are told to just suck it up and deal with it. That is something that has been making me sick lately. Yes let's treat the new players fairly just as they should treat us fairly. IRL if someone treats me like crap they are getting the same in return if not a broken nose or jaw for being a jerk.
