[quote name='Udgard' timestamp='1300162280' post='80662']
Shara, I think there's a reason why some people who did not bother to take part is the one creating a huge fuss. It's simple: they do not approve of what you do. If they don't approve of what you do, there's no reason for them to join, right?
I agree that using black water and liquid dust without complete knowledge on what they are is a bad idea. Using them means you will need to RP what they do/what effect they have, and without knowledge on what they do, chances are you're gonna give off the wrong thing. Using the taint, on the other hand, is much more acceptable since they are not an inherent part of MD. They are made by players, and modification by players to a certain extent is acceptable IMHO, as long as the original creator does not mind.
Now, one problem is that the whole situation is not even clear.
Who is in charge of/started this storyline? Mya? Firs? You?
What is being used in the RP? Black water? Liquid Dust? The Taint?
From Mya's comment black water, liquid dust and the taint was never going to be used. Yet throughout the whole "quest" there are lots of people who think they are being used. Inevitably, you are going to get a lot of people who won't bother joining it because they do not agree with the use of the first two. Even if now it is cleared (by Mya - but again, I do not know for sure who is in charge of this whole thing) that they were never part of it.
And then, there is the part where Loreroot is said to be flooded. How is this not breaking game mechanics? It's like saying a meteor fell on marind bell and now the whole place is scorched with hellfire. Mechanic wise, there is this little thing called RP Reality Requirement. Having a flood might be acceptable for 2-3 people, but when you want to do something that affects a lot of people, then the requirements are hard.
Now I think this would answer the question below as well:
If it had gained enough support, I think it the whole thing can certainly turn valid. But if there is so much opposition and relatively little support, then the opposite is true.
And I would also like to remind that MD, AFAIK, has never been designed as a true sandbox, freeform RP platform. If anything, MD even said at one time (might still do) is a unique world, different with others where you won't find the standard fantasy game things like demons or orcs. Something with its own unique setting. It can function as one now, with RP reality requirement telling you that you can do anything just between limited number of people. But when it comes to the mass, there are limits to what you can and can't do.
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[color="#2e8b57"]Udgard.
The Sludge and floods was a little brain child that originally started with a discussion between Mya and myself. We agreed that very little RP was taking place within the realm, and we wanted to create a platform where people can do their own spin off RP's, and still keep strong story-line. Mya and I were both well aware of the effects of interfering with game mechanics and came up with the idea of a natural disaster. Quite frankly I found it more plausible that an earthquake can cause a flood in Loreroot than a meteor falling out of the the sky and setting Marind Bell on fire, or a spaceship crashing into the house of LD!.[/color][/i][color="#2e8b57"]
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I did not just RP *Shara created a flood in Loreroot* TA-DA theres a flood. I am well aware of the RP reality requirements, but seeing how few people were actually interested in roleplay at, it was near impossible to gather a group of 30 people. There were four people around Raven's Peace at the time. Lintara, Sunfire, Darigan and Myself. The whole story of how the flood occurred was posted on the forums [url="http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/8986-sludge-and-floods/"]http://magicduel.inv...dge-and-floods/[/url] and Darigan had a story going on his PAL (Player Adventure Log) found on his profile page. So this RP was in no way hidden from the general populous of MD. I had also set up the discussions page where people could discuss the goings on..http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/8991-sludge-and-floods-discussions/page__pid__80615__st__20#entry80615 If there was an issue about what you didn't like how the sludge was created back then, why did you raise it on the discussion forum?
Soon after the RP of the flood, Mya suggested that even tho the water level subsided, in a natural disaster there are always side effects dirt and debris and she came up with the idea of the sludge. During this time I was in constant communication with Firsan (as he is king, he should at least be aware of what we were up to) and some one (cant remember exactly) suggested that the black sludge was Black Water and/or Liquid Dust. I brought this to Firsan's attention to which he responded: " That's necessary involvement of game mechanics steer away from that " The idea of BW and LD was immediately squashed and I have no idea who continued with that. We brainstormed the idea of a mutated strain of the taint, as it seemed plausible and very doable at the time.
The taint itself would not be viable as it needs Granos to activate it, but a mutated strain is. Obviously this is where the shyte hit the fan because everyone went into a total hoo-ha over this. During this time, RL had stepped in and unfortunately Mya and Darigan were left to carry this out. She did what she felt was best for her and the RP.[/i]
[i] So yes; BW, LD and the ORIGINAL taint was never gonna be used. I wanted to create a mutated strain of the taint, which would of course have different side effects and outcomes. I was never given the opportunity to actually voice this, because the trolls raised their voices and clubs smashed this before I even had a chance to respond.
Z, Udgard I can see where I went wrong on this. It needed more thought and planning, and little groups to carry out the story line to cause a real reaction. I was desperate for a little action in this game and more player involvement and did what I thought was best at the time.
Rumi as far as I see, it is not a question of stifling creativity , because one can do pretty much whatever one wishes on MD, as so much as it was following RP protocol in terms of fluff, reality requirements and mechanics, getting the numbers to back you up and telling the trolls of MD to piss off when they raise their clubs and voices and stomp on everything.
Thank you Curiose for your posts on the discussion and panel, for the post here and I agree with you 100% within certain circles there seems to a be the "Crabs in a basket" mentality. (buts that another discussion for another time)
And you know what, say what you want because at the end of the day, Mya and I did a lot more than most to try and create a story/adventure in MD!
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[i]Edited for grammar and that weird double post.
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