So double xp this morning, I was excited. I decided to roll something I hadn't played before, do some powerranking with it. Some conjurer asks me to group in the academy, I'm like yeah, sure. That's why I rolled in the first place. We get to level 10, about to head somewhere else, see a gnome shifter at market square, level 9. I'm like cool, a shifter, he'll want to group. So I ask, and he says yes. So I have myself a group to power rank with, it all works out. The conjurer gets to level 22, we're about to go let him learn to make a circle and call an elemental, when suddenly poof, ROTD.

I'm confused. Especially when the imm says that we should read up the helpfile on permagrouping. I'm twice as confused when they say that two of us have the same IP. So I ask who, and apparently that shifter did. I had no idea my roommate made a shifter, I had no idea he was even awake. He hadn't left his room. I try to explain this. In the end, we're asked to disband the whole group.

How is this ok? It was one ranking session, during double xp. If our IP didn't happen to be the same, I'm betting we never would've been called there. It was bias, I'm sure of it.

This brings me to my point, I'm tired of having to avoid someone just because I know they have the same IP as me. Even once, years ago, when he was a last resort to group with, we got pulled to ROTD, after I had exhausted every other possibility. I'm tired of getting punished for following the rules. I'm tired of having to treat someone different than I would another character just because I know them. I'm technically breaking the rules by doing what the imms want in this situation. I'm using my ooc knowledge and treating them different based on that. I'm not happy about this situation. It's stupid, and I'm tired of it. We've even made it a point to usually not tell each other what we're playing, but it doesn't ####ing matter, with the playerbase so small, we're bound to still find each other, and even with no knowledge of who it is, get in trouble. Why, though? And to top it off, I was told to stay away from the conjurer who I didn't know. Again, why? It would make sense if I only ever grouped with them, but it was ONE RANKING SESSION. I've been having a hard enough time getting into another character to begin with, and when this happens, I have to ask myself why am I even playing?

I like to think I'm good for the playerbase, I don't grief people, I try my best to stay IC, and I'm sportsmanlike. And yet I'm losing my will to play because an Imm didn't even want to hear me out, it was their way or the highway, apparently. If playing by the rules gets you into trouble, then what's the point of having rules? Should I just always solo rank every character and never group for fear of running into someone I know?