Forum Behavior and the Origin Community

[Ghost_Writer]

Considering the resent disputes on the Origin Forum I would like to take a moment of your time to address Forum Behavior and the Origin Communtiy. I ask that you take some time to read this and just think about it.

Origin, as you all know, has a very small population, much too small to be bickering and fighting over territory. I began playing Origin the day it open, as did many of you, most notably many of the guild leaders here. I'm sure you all remember how everyone cooperated with each other to help build this shard. Somehow over the years we have lost that spirit of cooperation. I've seen people arguing of spawn areas, peerless hunts, auction houses and now even vendor houses. This is a game people, no one is ever going to get in the Guinness Book for being the best at anything in UO, nor is anyone every going to put their UO accomplishments on their resume.

In my Opinion, we would all benefit from a little cooperating with each other rather than strictly competing. No one guild should dominate any aspect of the game, that's called a monopoly and those are proven to be bad for the economy and the community in which they exist. I would like to see Guilds scheduling and coordinating Peerless hunts with each other to avoid conflicts, Auction houses agreeing to schedules so that there is more than one auction on Origin, and opposing guilds attending each other's auctions. Vendor houses with rune books which say, if you can't find it here, here are 'All' the other known well stocked vendors on Origin.

Don't think that I want everyone to be all warm and fuzzy towards each other. There does need to be some competition. Everyone should be proud of the guild they are in and strive to make it the best guild for whatever reason they think is important. However if you are striving to be the 'Only" guild to go to for anything, that is in fact, self defeating. Domination removes competition, that's why there are rules and laws in any form of competition, whether it be sports, intellectual competition or free market sales and production. There are laws and rules which govern such issues as monopolies, fair advertisement etc. which are intended to provide a fair playing field for all.

Now I cannot do any more than suggest how you really act towards each other in game, and tell you how I would like to see the shard. I can only reason with you on these matters.

I can however, enforce the rules of Stratics with regards to how you treat each other on these forums. There will be no disrespecting each other, there will be no accusations towards another player or guild. If you want to advertise your guild, your vendors, or anything else, you will do so without any negative suggestion towards another player's or guild's. If you wish to question whether something is illegal, wrong, or even just plain rude, you will do so without naming the individual or guild whom you think did it. You will be civil to each other and treat each other with respect or you won't post here. That simple. If anyone questions my authority to make such a bold statement, I give you the first 4 rules in the Stratics ROC:

A. Show respect at all times.

B. Help build the Community.
The success of our forums depends upon the quality posts of our participants. We are proud of the success of our forums and give our thanks to those who have chosen to make our forums their out-of-game home. To ensure continued success we are posting these guidelines so that all participants of the Stratics forums understand what is considered unacceptable behavior in the forums and can result in a temporary suspension or a permanent ban.

C. Personal attacks are prohibited.This specifically means any text/post that is blatantly attacking another person on or off the forum, especially in a personal way.

D. Trolling is prohibited.Trolling is whenever someone is clearly, deliberately posting in a manner for the purpose of angering and/or insulting the other participants of the board. Trolling DOES NOT encourage further discussion in the long run, it only encourages personal attacks (if left unchecked).

Lets not quibble over who killed who, we can all get along.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Ghost Writer

 

[Lord Arcane]

VERY well said ghost, I remember the old days of origin witch me and you and others have talked about and what they liked or didn't like, and i think thats good it helps us make origin what it once was, i remember my main house letting friends or really anyone come in and drag lesser hiryus to house and ban them so we could all safely take our noob archer mages or what have you and make good gold, and i've already done the rune book idea even putting runes in there to peoples shops that dislike me but its not about if i like them or they like me its about helping people get what they are looking for, i for one know my vendor shop is tiny compared to most and ya right now i do have the time to stock it but once my work calls me back from lay off i won't have alot of time thats why i just stock basic items that my chars can make or things i get from my guild hunts if someone in guild doesn't need it first, and i'm more then happy to put more runes in my book on steps if someone feels i don't have a shop in there that is active and well stocked, and feel free to copy my book thats what its there for i know corin and flora want to put books out and even going as far as putting a locked down box out for people to drop runes in to other shops.

and i hope it works out for the best, their are many shops out their that are very good shops alot better then even my own but thats good to have it that way, i look at it like ok i'm great at hunting as alot know but i don't feel i'm the best their will always be someone better then you all you can do is do the best you can, and people should respect that.

and like ghost said please read what he has to say and honestly think about it


thanks for your time as always

Lord Arcane S^S

 

[Lord Arcane]

I have posted this in my vendor thread also but i will post it here as well, there is now a rune drop box on the steps of my vendor shop for all other vendor runes, that i will go thru to make sure they ARE to vendor shops once i check to see if they are to some sort of vendor shop i will add them to my book on the steps, both of these anyone can open and drop runes or recall/gate from

Thanks
Lord Arcane S^S

 

[Crow]

Well, I can assume, (and yes I know full well of how you can break that word down) that this thread was started partly in response to the fun we've had in pvp thread.

Please allow me to respond.

I wonder if moderators on in this shard forum have ever taken the time to read other shard forums, or even UHall. Considering threads that have been locked, and what we have been warned for, it is extremely frustrating how much we are forced to dance around compared to other open discussions elsewhere.

That is partly how I will base all further arguments. Having said that, I know how effective the, "they are, why can't we?" argument goes, so I'll attempt to justify or at least explain where we, or at least I, am coming from.

Responding first to the re hashing of stratics rules...

I challenge anyone to point out where we have directly shown disrespect to any one person. Even if we have 'bent' that rule a bit, I would venture to say anyone at receiving end has a thick skin, and has given it back quite well.

I would also say that we have done much to build a community. Tell me how locking innocent threads where poking fun at another, "builds a community"...? Before the smack talk thread was brought back, the Origin thread was so dead I was reading other shard forums unrelated to friends and guildies just to get a fix on goings on.

Any time I have 'trolled' was clearly meant in jest, and was not only meant, but I am sure received, in the joking manner it was meant to the other. If it wasn't in a joking manner, I went out of my way to do it in a respectful way and was far from insulting.

Secondly, reading the opening arguments, I would venture to say that they are no more inflammatory then anything I have posted. If so inclined, I could twist them to say they are in fact quite directed to us, and very much in contradiction to your argument itself.

Our very nature opposes any type of monopoly. Several of us have been in dominant guilds on different shards, and it wasn't for us. There is one 'colonizing' guild here on Origin that I would say does a good job of using the monopoly idea much to every ones advantage. They are an easy issue to rally around, and not only deserve, but encourage our competition.

Origins low population was an attraction to us. We have no desire to be a huge guild, much rather enjoying a small collection of friends, manageable and relatively free of drama and conflicts that arise when you become too big for your own good.

One thing that unites the population of Origin is our diversity. That it is a newer shard, where most of us started elsewhere, and through one-way or another our paths brought us here. We have stories of where we came from, and a desire to create new ones of where we are now.

I would say that competition is an incentive. It could be negative at times, but inherently positive. Growth through conflict is a great motivator to not only get off your ass and fight, but to learn how to do so better. If you enjoy, or get a rush from fighting, ask yourself that if everyone is huggy and lovey, that you are as motivated to crush them with impunity.

Having said that, partly in a joking manner, in case my sarcasm is too much for you, I have taken great pleasure in the past from fighting old friends for hours, then spending just about as much time in icq recanting the action.

As far as vendor stuff...aside from occasional bulk arrows/bolts, maybe translocation powder...I don't typically buy from vendors. What ever I might need, my friends and guild are happy to supply because I am happy to give to them as I am able. So I wont speak to that issue, sense it has little to do with me.

While I would encourage people to speak up, I would say that people might have authority to police what is said here, but don't get too full of yourself and think you can influence how we act in game. And how we act in game and wish to talk about it is what these forums are for.

 

[Orvago]

The smack thread is its own entity and is treated "as another forum" in respects to Moderating this forum. In other words, the Smack thread is (should be) way more relaxed.

The only things that will not be tolerated in the Smack thread are anything that delves into the realm of RL personal attacks.

Examples:

• It is okay to say, in the Smack Thread, "You suck at PvP you wannabe PK."
• It is NOT okay to say, anywhere, "You suck at gaming you ******** PK."

The easiest way to not get in trouble when "walking the line" is to refrain from making any attacks or trolls that are not "game related" - in other words, keep the RL to RL, and the Game here.


As for us not reading other forums, that may be the case for some Moderators, but not for Administrators. Origin here has 2 Admins that love it and call it home. Ghost_Writer and myself. Ghost also does Moderating here and Shard News Management. Myself, I used to be a Moderator here, now I am everywhere.

 

[Ghost_Writer]

This is a Direct Reply to Crow.

Please remove or edit your post ! This has absolutely nothing to do with the Smack Talk Thread what so ever. If I was addressing the smack talk thread I would have done it in there as I always have. The whole purpose of that thread is to promote trash talk. This was directed at the general forum and recently locked and removed threads and posts. I do not recall any of your posts involved in any of those discussions.

thank you,
Ghost Writer

 

[Crystal Canyon]

Oh come on and let me quibble about who killed me! LOL Just kidding!

But I would like to say that this thread has some good points to remember and I do very much remember the "good old days" on Origin. We all had a mission when this shard opened and it was to make this the best shard on the game. And we did do that!

We have also had to deal with many new changes in game and had to say good bye to alot of the folks who came here to begin with. This in itself has been overwhelming for alot of the original players here.

I do have to disagree though about the possibility of Monopolies in the game. I think that it is virtually impossible to have any sort of Monopoly in this game given the fact that EA and the developers have the sole control of the game mechanics.

People have long been in dispute over large guilds so called "monopolizing" the "scrolls". Though it may be true, that in most cases, large guilds can overtake a spawn from a guild of alot less numbers, it is still not any fault of the larger guild. UO has put no limitations on the number of members a Pvp guild can recruit. Therefore, they are not monopolizing anyone, they are simply utilizing thier right to form larger guilds in order to collect scrolls. Plus the fact that everyone that pays for an account has the right to join a large guild, a small guild, or no guild at all.

We, as players all choose our own game play style and destination in game. No one tells us which guild to choose or what size guild we have to belong to. We choose and we all have the exact same opportunities as any other players that pays for an account.

This is also the case in owning auctions or vendorhouses. We all choose what we want to do in game and all have the same opportunities to own and run businesses according to EA's rules of the game. No one player can monopolize a town nor a business. There is no way one player can prevent another player from erecting or running any auctionhouses or vendorhouses.

Location and availability of items and space are all doings of the game mechanics, set up and ruled only by the game developers themselves.

Players must not be held responsible for another players game items or lack there of. Players shape thier own destinies in this game and therefor the burden of gaining possesions is entirely thier own. Also, no one should be penalized for thier achivements through thier own dedication or work because other players choose not to. We all make our choices on how hard we want to play the game.

We are all on a fair playing field here, it is just up to each individual to decide which field they want to play on.

I will agree with your once more though Ghost, and that is hard for me to do you know, LOL... but, you are correct when you said there should not be any more of the disrespect shown to anyone that plays this game written on the boards (except the Pvp thread of course, but thats not disrespect...thats smack talk! Woot!).

 

[Ghost_Writer]

One thing I noticed I left out of my lengthy diatribe.

Just because someone or some guild chooses not help, does not give anyone the right to bad mouth them either. There are some of us who have worked harder and longer at accomplishing what they have earned. They too have earned their respect. This is a big game with plenty of opportunity for everyone, certainly we are capable of making our way without stepping on others or tarnishing their reputations, or damaging their business.

And just to be clear, this has nothing to do with PvP rolleyes:

GW

 

[gunneroforgin]

Well this is refreshing. I am getting my respect back for you moderators.

As for a certain vendor house, I see the proprietor stocking the vendors for hours every day. I am sure the person would rather be off hunting. If extreme hard work causes a monopoly then so be it. I have had many people remark to me that they like a well run vendor house and enjoy shopping there.

 

[Ghost_Writer]

Well this is refreshing. I am getting my respect back for you moderators.

Sorry I've been away and the only other poor mod has been extrenely busy in RL.

I'm back

 

[Ghost_Writer]

This was in responce to a post which another Mod decided didn't belong here. So just to clairify why I started this thread.

The reason for this thread to begin with is prevent having to lock any threads by reminding everyone to have some respect for each other. Believe me I have never been known to over moderate this forum. So when we are having to lock & remove multiple threads, something needed to be said.

However my stance remains firm. I will not tolerate accusations, insults, personal attacks, and trolling for the sake of instigating an argument. This forum is not, and never has been, a place where you can come and accuse other guilds or players of anything, and argue about play-styles and fairness, and hold a court of public opinion against someone. We've had guilds that pretty much the entire shard disdained, yet they posted here and were given the same respect as anyone else.

GW

 

[Crow]

Nicely played.