Bad Form: A Cancer.

[Random_White_Guy]

Hey kids, let's rap.

There's been a recurring problem as of late on EFU. One that has affected many both PC and DM.

Metagaming, Cheating in PvP, Rampant angst and unbiased complaining in party chat or other ways of communication.

Some times these are legitimately solved issues. Other times they are a cancer.

The events mentioned above have been occuring more and more in the IC world. And naturally that spreads to the OOC community as a whole. Hence the cancer line.

OOC Gossip, OOC bitching, OOC whining, OOC Bad form spreads through a community. People act like its their "Right" to bitch and complain when things don't go their way, but the fact of the matter is its bad. There is a fine god damn line between constructive criticism and just blasting away at someone. Its understandable that you get upset. Go for a run, go enjoy RL, don't sit around making things difficult.

People start to develop OOC grudges. People start to develop an "Us vs. Them" Mentality.

People start deciding its okay to spread lies about other PCs, about DM events, about DM actions, about PC actions, and it simply is uncalled for, unwelcomed, and critical to the advancement of the server.

The fact of the matter is, this is a game people. We're all here to have fun. We all have different ideas of fun, but the point is we're here to have fun.

People get caught up so much in the bullshit that it leads to a "Win/Lose" Mentality.

"I lost PvP, Fuck him, he probably cheated".

Instead of approaching the DMs about this concern, a small IRC room is made where this character is blasted in. And in a twisted form of rumor spreading, things trickle their way through the playerbase. This leads to frustration, headache, and all around trouble.

The same goes for DM events,

We bust our asses to try and make this server an awesome place for you guys to interact, play, and have a fun time. Factions are made, factions are destroyed, PC plots are turned into heavily DM supported plots.

This spurns so much drama it is sickening.

People in IRC/IG spewing nonsense about DM favoritism, DM blocking other PCs from quests (The glorious IRC meme of "CLOSED EXPEDITION" comes to mind), and other things.

But you know what? Sometimes we have plots. Sometimes we have plots that are open to the public. Sometimes we have plots that we craft specifically for PCs who have been doing alot. Sometimes we have plots for PC Factions who are doing alot. As much as we would like to welcome every PC on the server onto a DM plot, sometimes it just doesn't work out.

When a DM spends hours on plotting, only to have an uninvolved PC begin rumor mongering, whining in party chat, and spreading bullshit on IRC about "XxXXxXxX is over powered, blah blah blah, fucking lame blah blah, fuck that blah blah, DM favoritism blah blah blah", it makes this game ridiculously hard for us to cope with.

So. Now that we've covered PCs and DMs, let's talk community.

We're. All. Here. To. Have. Fun.

Its that simple. This is a game people.

Its understandable some people get more invested in the game than others, but at the end of the day we're all here to have fun. That means a lot of things but mostly that means Respect.

It may make your dick feel huge to go around raining on other PC's parade's when you throw around snide party-chat comments, irc comments, or other things about the hard work and effort they've thrown into plots, but at the end of the day its just sad and pathetic. Bad Players effect good players. Bad players effect DMs. Bad Players cluster with bad players and shit. Gets. Nasty. The most offensive thing in the world is "He did that because he had DM support." PCs bust their asses on plots to the point of ridiculousness. When that happens we take notice. It is offensive to both the PC and the DM involved when some non-associated PC tries to "Look cool for his buddies" and say things like that.

Gossiping, Griping, and an utter lack of respect create such a hostile atmosphere that it literally drives away players.

For a long time there has been a status quo of "Haha, just ignore IRC, its a cesspool". Except lately the cesspool has spilled over into the IG world, the OOC world, and has cause a ton of conflict.

So, we come to the crux of the argument.

"What is a bad player?"

Everyone has their views. Some people think bad players are those who take but don't give back. Others say bad players are those who without merit simply troll. Even more say bad players are those who while cordial in public, are relentless in Tells/IRC behind closed doors.

Its simple to avoid.

Don't start gossip. Don't spread gossip. While "tells" serve a great function to the IG world, they work like a malicious game of Telephone. One person sends one to another person, and they go "Oh god yes", then they send it to the next one, twisting it. In the end it goes from "Man that DM event was rough. That sucked" to "OMFG. SO AND SO SAID THAT PLAYER ONLY GETS PLOTS BECAUSE HE'S FRIENDS WITH DMs."

Legitimate concerns are adressed by the DM team. If you've got a genuine problem, we're 9/10 times more than happy to help if we're not busy. Taking your problems to other PCs to "Deal with" be it venting, ranting, "Hey dude this guy is bugging me help me kill him" or a various other range of activities is HORRIBLE FOR THE PLAYERBASE If you've got a problem, see a DM. Be it IRC PM, Forum PM, or our Email account.

Please. Please please accept the fact that this is a game. Folks are here to have fun. You win some you lose some. Getting surly and pissed off becuase "No one showed interest in this concept, so I'm gonna just star killing PCs" is not fun. For anyone. We're all here to have fun.

Please just show respect to each other, keep the IC/OOC griping to a minimum, or if you must do it, try to make it a legitimate concern and approach a DM about it.

Failure to do such actions is what causes great PCs to become disassociated from the server. Be it leaving for RL because the hostile/complaining community is no fun anymore or because there have been personal attacks against them.

Which brings me to my final point.

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

Its PCs.

Like everyone else we're here to have fun. Yet trouble sparks up in numerous ways. Usually its the OOC Griping/Gosisp/Rumor Mongering/Cheating.

We're here to have fun like everyone else, but at times this feels like babysitting a 150 children than "Oh man I wanna tell some cool stories to some fun people, and see how they react".

When things go bad for the community we tend to personalize it, to the point where we see it as our problem to fix. This leads to less "Hurray fun" and more "Ugh I have to deal with this bullshit again". Its very easy to look at that last sentance and go "You know what, fuck it, I'm gonna go out and have fun elsewhere"

The question you have to ask yourself is-

"Am I productive, proactive, helpful, friendly to the fun atmosphere of everyone? Or atleast am able to show enough respect not to make everyone's life difficult?" If so, keep on rocking. Keep on bringing your friends to the server. Keep on spreading the love.

If you're not, there's two things you can do.

1) Its time to change. Try to keep an open mind, a level head, and find ways to better your actions

2) If not, maybe you should venture elsewhere. Folks come here to have fun. I dislike the notion of turning away players, but I'd much rather lose a few troubled players, than have them ruin this experience for the community with Gossip and other horrible actions.

At the end of the day folks, we're all here to have fun.

Lets try to keep it that way. Bad Form is a cancer. It eats away at a server. It makes ridiculous divisions, causes headaches, and ultimately drives PC and DM alike away.