(RP) OOC: CoD(+) Arrest & Capture Rules

[Pandora_CoD]

Hi guys, I want to share something with you so that you all know how we will operate for all CoD guilds (hence the +) when it comes to arrests, captures, criminals, jail time, etc. Now I am NOT asking anyone to abide by these outside of our organizations but I would love to be able to cooperate with others to something that works well for all concerned.

• To ARREST any character (be it CoD, its related guilds, or outside guilds) there must be a WARRANT issued for the arrest that is posted on UO Stratics Catskills, RP Forums that details the crimes and charges. This opens up the RP a bit to others that may “capture” the criminal. It is possible that more than one city/organization issues a warrant at which time we would work with those affected to compromise and reach a suitable agreement.
• We have TWO JAILS… one of them is owned by House Romanus (the one at Legion Headquarters in Vamp's Lair) and the other one (in West Umbra, next to the RBG office) is owned by the RBG, which in essence is owned IC’ly by the Crown.
• For the Legion one, ONLY Generals, Lt. Generals, and Commanders should be the only ones deciding what happens with their jail. For the RBG one, ONLY Captains, Lieutenants, and Sargeants are the only ones deciding what happens with their jail.
• Both jails have warding mechanisms that DISALLOW ANY MAGIC to be cast within them. Now does it allow for breakins or breakouts, riots, etc. sure… both parties must consent to such an action before it happens though.
• Anyone captured for a CRIME can only be held for upto ONE WEEK (real time), otherwise they are released with the excuse of “not enough evidence to warrant a trial”.
• Prosecutors/Defenders have that ONE WEEK (real time) to get a trial and convict or acquit a defendant of all charges.
• If a criminal is CONVICTED, the time spent must be something that both the player of the criminal AND the player of the prosecutors MUST AGREE ON.
• If its LONG TERM — more than 1 yr — the sentence is to be carried out in YEW PRISON and transporting the convict opens up more RP possibilities as well.
• CoD characters are only allowed to arrest anyone within the city of UMBRA and the outskirts of Umbra (as defined in our website). RBG characters may only arrest anyone that resides within the KINGDOM'S territories or annexes.
• If one of our characters arrests a criminal outside of their territories, they are to deliver them to the local policing authorities and provide a statement.

Just wanted to let folks know that these are the rules that OUR guild (and affiliates such as the Order of the Draco, RBG of Umbra, RBG of Britain, and RBG of Minoc) will go by.

Edited to add the last two bullet points, thanks Deraj. 6/1/15

 

[Aedon Durreah]

Can I torture any that are imprisoned in Yew?

 

[Pandora_CoD]

The governor may do as he wishes!

 

[Aedon Durreah]

*chuckles*

 

[Armand de Romanus]

thx for posting this publically pandy. its nice 2 know what 2 expect from us.

 

[Thom]

Does this mean your going to start highlighting again?

 

[Deraj]

To ARREST any character (be it CoD, its related guilds, or outside guilds) there must be a WARRANT issued for the arrest that is posted on UO Stratics Catskills, RP Forums that details the crimes and charges. This opens up the RP a bit to others that may “capture” the criminal. It is possible that more than one city/organization issues a warrant at which time we would work with those affected to compromise and reach a suitable agreement.

What if, hypothetically, we were to catch a character in the middle of a crime? Would that character need to be let go because no warrant?

 

[Pandora_CoD]

Does this mean your going to start highlighting again?

Not on CoD, because its not needed. I still believe that killing someone just because you outgear/outskill them brings nothing to the RP table; just tell me to put on a ghost robe which signifies I am under your control (to RP an arrest for example). As most of our characters are strictly RP characters and are untrained, unsuited, its simply not worth it. If an evil guild openly declares war on us, I would accept with certain terms and conditions to clearly define a winner.

On our RBG guilds, however... we are certainly highlighted to a few opposing guilds. Any guild that role plays an opponent to the RBG can declare war on our RBG regiments (Umbra, Minoc, and Britain), and also the Luna RBG (@Luna RBG) which are our allies. Any other regiments can if they wish ask for an alliance invite as well (optionally) to the RBG Alliance. However, friendlies... regiments that are supposed to be on the same side... I will not "go orange" on.

What if, hypothetically, we were to catch a character in the middle of a crime? Would that character need to be let go because no warrant?

Excellent point. So if we catch a criminal commiting a crime in Umbra, the above rules apply. If we are out and about and catch a criminal committing a crime, I would arrest them (only on my RBG characters mind you, because I think they are the only ones with any authority to make arrests on Kingdom territories or annexes) and then deliver them with my statement to the local city's jail/RBG regiment, etc. Soooooo for example, if I caught someone doing something illegal in Skara Brae, knowing that my fellow RBG brothers and sisters have command of that city with their regiment, I would turn them over to them and give them full statement to what I saw.

If I was on my CoD characters, because I have no authority to make "arrests" in any other territory but our own, I would make a report to the local authorities.

 

[Aedon Durreah]

I respect your decision to highlight who you wish and understand your reasoning Pandy. I have to say though that in the many, many years I have held highlights with other RP guilds, no one has yet to kill me because they had better gear. I have not been really active in the past few years so I must ask, is there a rash of murderous, Doodish RPers stalking the lands?

 

[Pandora_CoD]

I respect your decision to highlight who you wish and understand your reasoning Pandy. I have to say though that in the many, many years I have held highlights with other RP guilds, no one has yet to kill me because they had better gear. I have not been really active in the past few years so I must ask, is there a rash of murderous, Doodish RPers stalking the lands?

Its not just that they have better gear, Aedon, its that we have characters that are strictly RP... meaning no skills are trained at all. And frankly I find the idea of declaring war to be something that should be a SIGNIFICANT event for my guild, thus I wish to use it as it was intended. Again that's my views on this subject and we've beaten that to death.

 

[Aedon Durreah]

Ha, but what it the subject is undead? *winks*

 

[Noble Beast]

This sounds like fun!

I love the legal gray-area of Malas & King Blackthorn's fear of exercising imperialism there. Diplomatic Immunity & Rank make for great RP!

Well done. I look forward to working with you all!

*thinks of how to stir up trouble in Umbra*

 

[Armand de Romanus]

i still feel that the king should declare malas part of his kingdom. there is no ruler there, yet so many people live there. it would b easy for him 2 claim it.

 

[Armand de Romanus]

@Pandora_CoD can u elaborate on house rules? spy rules? etc.

 

[Judas D'arc]

@Pandora_CoD can u elaborate on house rules? spy rules? etc.

i dont no u bro but i will follow 2 u i can barley crawl

 

[Aedon Durreah]

i dont no u bro but i will follow 2 u i can barley crawl

*blinks and tries to read the message*
The mind wobbles.

 

[Chyna Rhalin]

Hi...no offense to you or your guild's rules. Every guild has a right to establish their own rules.

However, that being said, had I been subject to such rules, I never would have had the random RP that occurred recently at the Skara tavern.

I pissed off Merek because I refused to answer his questions and he decided to issue an "arrest warrant" on the fly. Now I had no idea he would be at the tavern that night, however, it's a sure bet that I would have pissed him off...since I tend to piss off everyone. It's just in my nature! And I'm sure my disappearing and him trying to find me didn't help (GM hiding and stealth), but the bottom line is that if he had been required to follow "rules" regarding my arrest, the wonderful random RP would never have happened.

AND, if that random RP had never happened, the two new Cats people who were also in the tavern that night would never have been able to get involved and tell Mitre about the arrest that they both found totally unfair. And honestly, I could have hugged them during the "arrest" because they were SO vocal about the unfairness of it.

Sometimes the most fun times are the times that are not scripted and sometimes too many rules just bogs down the random RP times.

But as I said...you are entitled to your own rules and I totally respect that.

Chyna Rhalin
League of Assassins

 

[Pandora_CoD]

That's a public tavern, however Chyna Rhalin. If someone is causing trouble in a public domain, we agreed they could be arrested by the officials that keep the peace in our kingdom. Public houses like taverns and so on are in fact totally plausible for such RP.

However, when it comes to residential houses and spying on someone while stealthed it's just polite to let them know OOC'ly because it's kinda creepy to find out someone was stealthed in your house when you are having boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife conversations or other... which we do involve in. Everyone knows this. To follow someone for nearly three hours... someone has to be extremely bored first of all... and then pop out in the master bedroom of Xuri's house to arrest her, is a bit much. You are plot bullying into someone's personal RP with their significant other. Then to say to her that we --- her primary guild --- are "emotionally abusing her" is also a bit too much.

 

[Merek Penrose]

If you dont want something found out --- dont say it in game. Pretty straight forward. Everyone is capable of making choices, that is the best part about RP.

Actions will always cause reactions, just like the real world... If I decide for example "Merek doesnt like Aedon, and I tell James my feelings. I better be prepared to have Aedon question me to why i don't like him." If you dont want someone to find out about something or dont want repercussions of something you may do... Make that choice, and dont do it. Best part about RP is you can hit the backspace button and read over sentences before hitting that enter key.

I think everyone, myself included should open up more, allow for more possibilties... Stop secluding yourselves to ideals of "This has to happen this a specific way." Not everything has to go your way, its tough, its a game, your real life wont be effected. You will move on I promise, maybe even get some revenge? The ideas are endless. Remember only you limit yourself and your RP -- and that is what is happening.

RP is about creativity, the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature...

 

[Judas D'arc]

\However, when it comes to residential houses and spying on someone while stealthed it's just polite to let them know OOC'ly because it's kinda creepy to find out someone was stealthed in your house when you are having boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife conversations or other... which we do involve in. Everyone knows this. To follow someone for nearly three hours... someone has to be extremely bored first of all... and then pop out in the master bedroom of Xuri's house to arrest her, is a bit much. You are plot bullying into someone's personal RP with their significant other. Then to say to her that we --- her primary guild --- are "emotionally abusing her" is also a bit too much.

Thanks for the input, Pandora. As always, your thoughts are appreciated and we can all learn a lot about how to build a thriving and sustained role-playing environment from your insight.

 

[Aedon Durreah]

While I do agree that there are times when a "couple" within the game may find a need for privacy, I must also state that spies need to spy to play their characters out. I have always known that people hide in my house, or in the Rest when I owned it. It was always not allowed to use game mechanics to search the place because it would interfere with the character progression of a stealther/assassin. It is for this reason that I do not like locked doors in RP housing. Now if a couple goes home and night and locks their door (turns house private) while they sleep, that seems to fit real live scenarios.
Aedon never locks his house, but I get the feeling the little twit likes being watched.

P.S.
Since passing off the Rest and Aegis I need a new sig for Aedon, anyone make good ones and want to take a stab at me?

 

[Merek Penrose]

I got you Aedon; if you want send me an icq of how he looks.

 

[Aedon Durreah]

Will do
Well right now he has a broken leg. hahahah

 

[Judas D'arc]

While I do agree that there are times when a "couple" within the game may find a need for privacy, I must also state that spies need to spy to play their characters out. I have always known that people hide in my house, or in the Rest when I owned it. It was always not allowed to use game mechanics to search the place because it would interfere with the character progression of a stealther/assassin. It is for this reason that I do not like locked doors in RP housing. Now if a couple goes home and night and locks their door (turns house private) while they sleep, that seems to fit real live scenarios.
Aedon never locks his house, but I get the feeling the little twit likes being watched.

Instead of trying to justify creepy ooc bullying conflict-oriented behavior , we should just defer to the opinions of people like Pandora and Armand who, through their numerous contributions to the role-playing community since the start of Catskills, have demonstrated their superior credibility, role-playing integrity, and overall mental stability.

 

[Jordan Thyme]

A husband/wife or significant other conversation can have the best tidbits of information. Thom and Gillian, for some time, had multiple spies (crystals etc) used.. to determine exactly what they were up to.. And this happened in their own house. Olympus.. makes a habit of shutting their doors because they know what happens when you leave it open and an enemy stealther comes in. There are consequences to things in game. If you do not want the consequences.. then don't do the crap to begin with. Additionally, when you are playing with more than one guild.. and involving more than one guild in your dealings.. expect for not everyone to have your opinion. Last time I checked.. Olympus didn't dictate Aedon's rules, Ranger's don't dictate Gillian's and Gillian does not tell Merek what he can and cannot do either.

 

[Aedon Durreah]

Too many rules constrains RP, that is the best statement I have ever heard on the subject. And Gillian is correct in stating that there is information to be gathered from any conversation so take those you wish truly private to a truly private setting. One of the most thrilling aspects of UO rp is the element of danger, the chance of being caught or over heard. Take that away and the game becomes bland and stagnant. Always think that there is a chance someone is listing to you or watching you and remember that all things said in public areas are going to be over heard and used later.

 

[Merek Penrose]

And that is what makes GREAT RP, you just need to be able to understand that "****" happens and everyones character deals with situations differently.

Right now I think we have so many types of styles which personally can make a community more interesting. If everyone just loved eachother and hugged all the time -- I think we would all much rather play Hello kitty adventure time.

 

[Jordan Thyme]

And that is what makes GREAT RP, you just need to be able to understand that "****" happens and everyones character deals with situations differently.

Right now I think we have so many types of styles which personally can make a community more interesting. If everyone just loved eachother and hugged all the time -- I think we would all much rather play Hello kitty adventure time.

Spoken like a man who has indeed played Hello Kitty Adventure Time!!!

 

[Thom]

Spies are and always have been a fact of playing game. As others have stated before... if you don't want it known then don't say it. Public places, private houses, guild spaces... whatever have you. Why do you guys think Thom is so anal about people closing doors? I'm also curious why it is we're referencing a two year old thread about how CoD handles things when they aren't really involved in this? One of the Rangers did something that the rest of the community not only has no issue with, but also uses on occasion. The target of said actions was also a member of the Rangers, whether she is or isn't a member of CoD on an alternate character. I don't see the big issue. But then again I guess my husband/wife 'relations' are rather tame so I have no worries about someone seeing them.

 

[Norrar]

I think all that needs to be said has been said on this matter. Anyone else agree?

 

[Merek Penrose]

Final thought; Merek needs a wife -- any takers? I want to get spied on

P.S. I am max level on Hello Kitty Adventure Time !!!

 

[Aedon Durreah]

And that is what makes GREAT RP, you just need to be able to understand that "****" happens and everyones character deals with situations differently.

Right now I think we have so many types of styles which personally can make a community more interesting. If everyone just loved eachother and hugged all the time -- I think we would all much rather play Hello kitty adventure time.

Penrose is a Hippie?

 

[Aedon Durreah]

Hey Merek, want me to find you a cuddle bunny?

 

[Skylar Westbrook]

I am confused. I know that we have RoE, and the set expectaions for rp as a community.That we all try to follow as closely as possible. That being said I do not understand why the CoD's guild rules are posted above. We are not in the guild, which is why we have the general rp 101, where the rules/exxpectations are written. I also do not understand why everytime we do rp with a member of CoD it is only received with negative outcomes. I can only name maybe 3 members I have interacted with or even seen. It is always an uproar after contact has been made and the end result is this guild or that guild quitting or blacklisting a certain guild. I also personally think that if interactions between certain guilds are to be made, they should not be blue. That permits for god moding. Game mechanics are there for a reason. I am a avid rp/pvper. I also know that I may die. I understand some people do not train their characters with skills, but it is one of two possibilities, you may die or you may not. Rp/pvpers are often referred to as "Bullies" or "war mongers". That is not what we are. We enjoy the fighting aspect of the game. Aedon is a great example of this. He has been attacked twice by CMAG. and both times he has been a great sport. But Aedon also knows that may happen in the game. His character reacts perfectly to the situation, he gets up and dusts himself off and continues to go along with the rp. He knows that the characters he interacts with are capable of harming him. Each character in the game can play it safe, or jump into the whirlwind of chaos. It is their choice. This game is for fun. We try to interact with everyone and create fun plots that includes anyone and everyone. Instead we are often met with negative outcomes from guilds who are barely active, or ones that interact with ONLY their own guildmates. How is that creating a fun and positive environment for everyone?

 

[Pandora_CoD]

i dont no u bro but i will follow 2 u i can barley crawl

Because making fun of someone's shorthand is mature.

Because it's not enough to completely bash us and curse us out and tell April when she is upset about something that we're emotionally abusive to her, that we're cry babies, that we're whiners, that we're this or that because we're DIFFERENT, because we believe in DIFFERENT things. We do NOT talk about you in our guild or to your members about you. How you choose to RP is your business, and how we choose to RP is ours. But there is little to NO respect for that at all. So it's best to just not interact with any of you and take the road of complete isolation. We were much much happier that way and will return to that as of right now.

So from now on, we ask that you ALL completely sever all ties with any of our characters in CoD, any of our towns or territories. That means we will re-work some of our own so that certain characters are not coupled up, etc. that intertwine with any possible contact with you.

 

[Skylar Westbrook]

Do you speak for your entire guild? I thought everyone had a choice in the matter of who they interacted with. And a good rper doesn't just erase what has been happening. Its all part of the history. Just because someone chooses to cut ties doesn't mean the history vanishes as well. Ooc feelings shouldn't interfere with Ic plots/storylines. Why is there so much animosity?

 

[Pandora_CoD]

I also personally think that if interactions between certain guilds are to be made, they should not be blue. That permits for god moding. Game mechanics are there for a reason. I am a avid rp/pvper. I also know that I may die. I understand some people do not train their characters with skills, but it is one of two possibilities, you may die or you may not. Rp/pvpers are often referred to as "Bullies" or "war mongers". That is not what we are. We enjoy the fighting aspect of the game.

The game mechanics are there to set up GUILD WARS... with clear winners based on # of kills and/or # of days. Let's be VERY clear about the intention of those guild mechanics. Its was never meant for blanket highlights, that's something this community came up with at some point when we were not here. I knew of some guilds that did have highlights in the past yes but that wasn't the majority of them simply because it was not needed; we were in Felucca, there was no Trammel. Guild wars is what we subscribe to, what we believe, and have for decades since the release of this game. You want to kill us... you declare war, the GM's establish a set of rules, a # of kills and/or #of days. I had amazing fights back in the day with UDL and Undead and CA, etc. etc. using this very system. It gives us a chance to get our trained up characters out, stay in FULL armor --- which we don't normally, and we can drop our CoD Jrs. out of our alliance, and be prepared for things to happen. Not be in a business meeting over trade deals where we dress in "business" attire, because that's the core of our role play, and suddenly be attacked with no real RP leading up to it other than "You're a vampire!" BOOM. We're in Trammel rulesets for a reason... if you want to be randomly attacked for little to no reason then you are trying to force Felucca rulesets on us. How is that not bullying?

 

[Judas D'arc]

Because making fun of someone's shorthand is mature.

Because it's not enough to completely bash us and curse us out and tell April when she is upset about something that we're emotionally abusive to her, that we're cry babies, that we're whiners, that we're this or that because we're DIFFERENT, because we believe in DIFFERENT things. We do NOT talk about you in our guild or to your members about you. How you choose to RP is your business, and how we choose to RP is ours. But there is little to NO respect for that at all. So it's best to just not interact with any of you and take the road of complete isolation. We were much much happier that way and will return to that as of right now.

So from now on, we ask that you ALL completely sever all ties with any of our characters in CoD, any of our towns or territories. That means we will re-work some of our own so that certain characters are not coupled up, etc. that intertwine with any possible contact with you.

You're 100% right. We will all miss your contributions to the community, especially given what an integral role you played in recent story-lines and events!!!

 

[Skylar Westbrook]

It is not bullying because if you or any of your guild members DID interact with us, you would all know we do not attack without reason. IF you all did interact with story lines or plots, you would be aware of these "attacks" and know that they are well planned and we even go out of our way to discuss with a player to what extreme they are willing to go with their character. Its called communication. A term most are not familiar with.

 

[Pandora_CoD]

Why is there so much animosity?

I have been asking myself that very same question for 5 years now.

 

[Pandora_CoD]

It is not bullying because if you or any of your guild members DID interact with us, you would all know we do not attack without reason. IF you all did interact with story lines or plots, you would be aware of these "attacks" and know that they are well planned and we even go out of our way to discuss with a player to what extreme they are willing to go with their character. Its called communication. A term most are not familiar with.

Really? Ask April if the attack of her and Ariok was pre-planned or the whole following Xuri for like 2-3 hours was pre-planned? Really? None of that was...

 

[Skylar Westbrook]

This came straight from your Children of Darkness page. Perhaps an update should be made, and also the anti-rp with everyone else should be added in somewhere.

Currently, CoD is working with the rest of the RP Community in building a new, never-before-seen, RP Theme based on the logic behind Order vs. Chaos. This is much more than just your good vs. evil theory; as CoD itself would be primarily an Order guild. Just because you have evil tendencies does not mean you do not abide by a code of order, and just because you are good doesn't mean you are willing to go along with some set of pre-ordained laws. The theme will have storyline-driven PvP, with larger scale battles that pin Order vs. Chaos guilds in pre-determined areas (cities, dungeons, player-towns, open sea, etc. etc. whatever we all decide) in an effort to bring back the good old days of guild wars which were so much a part of UO. Our main goal is really to bring the community together, those that have respect for each other, and present something that any new or returning player can participate in as well as give Catskills something unique and of their own.

CoD is also working on restablishing its long-famous PvP Tournament events, such as the famous Catskills PvP Ladder and many other events for the PvP community. We've always maintained great relationships with the non-RP PvP'ers in our history, heck our mall catered to them, and we'd love to rebuild those relationships.

 

[Norrar]

This topic, again , is best left alone I think. People have different styles of RP. Let us leave it at that and respect the choices made by all parties.

 

[Skylar Westbrook]

Then perhaps you should take it upon yourself to write scripts for the community. Roleplay is spontaneous.. So I do not see why Xuri and that situation is an issue. Also I'm sure the attack was well played out. Maybe get both sides of the story, or be in game more so that you may get a feel for the interactions of others yourself. You would be able to better determine if the situation was handled properly.

 

[Pandora_CoD]

This came straight from your Children of Darkness page. Perhaps an update should be made, and also the anti-rp with everyone else should be added in somewhere.

Currently, CoD is working with the rest of the RP Community in building a new, never-before-seen, RP Theme based on the logic behind Order vs. Chaos. This is much more than just your good vs. evil theory; as CoD itself would be primarily an Order guild. Just because you have evil tendencies does not mean you do not abide by a code of order, and just because you are good doesn't mean you are willing to go along with some set of pre-ordained laws. The theme will have storyline-driven PvP, with larger scale battles that pin Order vs. Chaos guilds in pre-determined areas (cities, dungeons, player-towns, open sea, etc. etc. whatever we all decide) in an effort to bring back the good old days of guild wars which were so much a part of UO. Our main goal is really to bring the community together, those that have respect for each other, and present something that any new or returning player can participate in as well as give Catskills something unique and of their own.

CoD is also working on restablishing its long-famous PvP Tournament events, such as the famous Catskills PvP Ladder and many other events for the PvP community. We've always maintained great relationships with the non-RP PvP'ers in our history, heck our mall catered to them, and we'd love to rebuild those relationships.

You are right... Order vs. Chaos never took off except for United Pirates and that's from 2010.

 

[Deraj]

Sorry, but I cannot be silent on this matter any longer. Pandora brought up the Britain attack and I have something more to say about that, and it's not pretty.

Let's just set the record straight while we're here. On Sunday night, Mitre and Hawkins (me) attacked Governor Merida in her office, after a lengthy discussion in which Mitre made physical threats that eventually escalated into an assault when he felt those threats were not being taken seriously. By CoDs publically posted RoE, this interaction was in total compliance. Yet, in a panic the rangers were peaced due to a massive overreaction, paranoia by CoD brass and (another) shifting of the goal posts. Here is the fact: CoD as a guild has proven incapable of handling consequences in RP. This is not to paint every member with this generalization - there are exceptions who are, frankly, awesome players. However, there is a clear pattern at play: interactions with CoD will always end in drama and overreaction on their part, every single time, no exceptions. This is why CoD's roleplay is so profoundly scripted and predetermined. You can rationalize this to your heart's content with reaffirmations that all playstyles are perfectly valid and equal and special, and every one of us will say that because that's what we think mature adults ought to say. But the fact is that community only thrives where playstyles overlap. The more different a playstyle is, the less likely it is to integrate with others. We don't have a dungeon master, and we don't have an extensive rulebook to settle our disagreements. Instead, all we have are the game mechanics to determine who gets to live and who gets to die, and a remote, grim hope that some kind of common understanding can be achieved in matters that cannot be handled with game mechanics among a group of people with separate interests, some of them immature, some of them tactless, some of them deceptive and some of them seemingly unhinged. It's messy but through communication and forgiveness we find a way.

So Judas is the immature one? Tell me Pandora, who is taking their ball and going home? Who is the one that has thrown literal tantrums on this forum in the past? Who is the one that panics and peaces at even a hint of combat? I think what really pisses me off though, is now you are throwing around the word "bully" and setting yourself up like some kind of victim, when you're the one that's holding the RP hostage to your super-special playstyle. We've work hard to build this community. You spit on it and treat it like garbage.

Seriously, all of these people, and all of these guilds with varying styles and approaches are finding ways to come together, despite the occasional frustrations and misunderstandings. Why can't you?

I want to believe that there is an idea of a better quality of roleplay to which every single one of us can aspire. Every time I swallow my pride after a devastating death, every time I remain quiet when something questionable is said or done, every time I roll with RP I do not agree with, I am doing it with something bigger than me in mind: faith in an idea that we can all grasp at the sticks and the rocks sitting around us in this huge pile of mud and come together to build our own tower of babel despite God's attempt to confuse us. There are some players who would rather put themselves first. Fine, if you want to just write about your epic battles rather than experience them first hand, or spend all your UO time playing lukewarm, inconsequential relationship RP, this is your choice. But I'm drawing the line in the sand now. Either accept the consequences of your In-Character actions, or get out of the tavern.

 

[Thom]

While your editing things out of the CoD website maybe you can finally get rid of the part that says CoD is an rpvp guild that enjoys conflict. In all my time playing on Catskills I have never been attacked for no reason. There has always been an rp reason behind the actions. I have never had my lore ignored, because my lore doesn't tell others how they can interact with me despite common shard knowledge. I'm sorry your upset that people won't bend over backwards in order to allow you to play the all powerful vampire and choose when you fight. Blanket highlights as you call them are not something this community came up with on their own. In fact i'm not aware of an rp community that does not allow for attacks through either a highlight list or alliance. Not a war between two guilds that requires rules but a highlight or alliance that allows one character to attack another when it makes sense to the rp. There's probably a reason for that and i'm afraid to say that despite our best efforts we can't seem to impart that knowledge on you in a satisfactory way. And i'm also sorry to say that when you go your characters will still be remembered by the rest of us whether you're still around or not. The stories, the rp, will still have happened for the rest of us. So sever ties if that's what you want but don't expect anyone else to just conveniently forget you were here.

 

[Scarst]

Spoken like a man who has indeed played Hello Kitty Adventure Time!!!

Don't make fun of my all time favorite MMO how dare you =P

The game mechanics are there to set up GUILD WARS... with clear winners based on # of kills and/or # of days. Let's be VERY clear about the intention of those guild mechanics. Its was never meant for blanket highlights, that's something this community came up with at some point when we were not here. I knew of some guilds that did have highlights in the past yes but that wasn't the majority of them simply because it was not needed; we were in Felucca, there was no Trammel. Guild wars is what we subscribe to, what we believe, and have for decades since the release of this game. You want to kill us... you declare war, the GM's establish a set of rules, a # of kills and/or #of days. I had amazing fights back in the day with UDL and Undead and CA, etc. etc. using this very system. It gives us a chance to get our trained up characters out, stay in FULL armor --- which we don't normally, and we can drop our CoD Jrs. out of our alliance, and be prepared for things to happen. Not be in a business meeting over trade deals where we dress in "business" attire, because that's the core of our role play, and suddenly be attacked with no real RP leading up to it other than "You're a vampire!" BOOM. We're in Trammel rulesets for a reason... if you want to be randomly attacked for little to no reason then you are trying to force Felucca rulesets on us. How is that not bullying?

Alright, this has gone on for like 6 years and I'm getting sick of it, there is a reason I went to Europa, and it wasn't for X rated RP even though it was all over. I can literally name off four UND that will back me up on this and two from other guilds that no one actually really remembers or cares about, UDL were a troll guild that would attack RPer's during RP there are several screen shots that UND and Shadowclan has that illustrate this, The two conflicting sides would literally stop what they were doing to chase UDL away because they were unwanted and were not actual RPer's, this is fact it's not an attack it is a statement.

That being said I don't believe past actions define people, I was a griefer for eight years before I started RP, I don't hide this I don't cite it as a qualification and I certainly don't say that I participated in RP with the RP guild i'd occasionally grief.

On that note yes Highlights were established right after Trammels creation to allow more fluid RP so someone couldn't just act like a jerk in trammel or all powerful and then walk away without repercussions, this is why HL's exist not to paint a target on someones back, that being said being a known vampire isn't going to sit well with certain people and people wont rewrite what there character has heard just because someone made a mistake, Exhibit A Rhys acting like a complete tool cause I was a dumb ass and forgot which character I was on. The majority of catskills and then later Europa guilds moved to this system right after trammel to ensure stable RP where you would have to walk the walk if you were going to talk the talk.

Really? Ask April if the attack of her and Ariok was pre-planned or the whole following Xuri for like 2-3 hours was pre-planned? Really? None of that was...

There is a difference between having an RP reason to go after someone and preplanning a whole event. You can preplan a whole scene if you really want but at that point it's a play instead of RP, getting into trouble and having get yourself out either through words or fighting is something that happens in RP and why HL's are needed so you can't just walk away.

Those who are blue get consideration due to the inclusive nature of the community, but people shouldn't mistake that as a status quo, in general blues become HLed if they intend to continue RP with the community. If this bothers you and you want no part in it that's fine but eventually many are going to get tired of this group of blues trying to push their lore, rules, and RP on people when they have no way to push back and these blues will be ignored.

Sorry about the rather blunt and lengthy post but I feel it probably needed to be said.

 

[Min]

I am 100% okay with being spied on, so long as the player is "Orange" and open to consequences of being caught in my private chambers. No OOC notification or consent is required, since that will likely change what is said. Here's a hint though: A door opening on it's own is a *dead* giveaway, emphasis on the word 'dead'.

Now, let me toss out some irony here. Seska and Kanaye have both spied on me in the past, during some *ahem* 'private' RP, and some not so private RP with Min, Aila, and Sky. I was perfectly okay with that. In one of those situations after being spied on, Min was attacked, poisoned, and forced to go home for a cure and heal lest he die (effectively defeated and death-robed, unable to retaliate. He had to be saved by Skylar).

But both of those 'spies' were played by CoD players. So does that violate the CoD rules or not? I can be spied on, attacked, lethal poisoned, and have dead body parts spread all around my Council Tower. I'm fine with it. Min isn't all powerful. The RP was fun, and I can take a loss. I didn't complain about any of it, and I welcome more.

My point: Why are we arguing about something that's fun?

 

[Judas D'arc]

I am 100% okay with being spied on, so long as the player is "Orange" and open to consequences of being caught in my private chambers. No OOC notification or consent is required, since that will likely change what is said. Here's a hint though: A door opening on it's own is a *dead* giveaway, emphasis on the word 'dead'.

Now, let me toss out some irony here. Seska and Kanaye have both spied on me in the past, during some *ahem* 'private' RP, and some not so private RP with Min, Aila, and Sky. I was perfectly okay with that. In one of those situations after being spied on, Min was attacked, poisoned, and forced to go home for a cure and heal lest he die (effectively defeated and death-robed, unable to retaliate. He had to be saved by Skylar).

But both of those 'spies' were played by CoD players. So does that violate the CoD rules or not? I can be spied on, attacked, lethal poisoned, and have dead body parts spread all around my Council Tower. I'm fine with it. Min isn't all powerful. The RP was fun, and I can take a loss. I didn't complain about any of it, and I welcome more.

My point: Why are we arguing about something that's fun?

Maybe someone needs to threaten to close their 50+ accounts so we can get Mesanna to organize a meeting about this!!!