Yet another beating of the dead horse follows.

When I started playing CF, I had no clue about edges, edge points, explore/obs xp. It was a mystery to me for the most part, and I was completely fine with that. It made those things, to me, seem like perks. I didn't know what I was missing by not having 20 edges, but I also didn't care, because I was a newbie playing the game without care about what my character's final sheet looked like.

I just, (And this is probably a novel concept to the people that clamor for complete access to every piece of info there is about CF) played the game back then to enjoy playing the game. I did fine, even if I died a lot. It took me a little while, but I got to the point of being passable, and I had fun along the way. So when people say newbies don't want to put in the effort (or shouldn't have to), my counter is unless you put in the effort and learn to appreciate what CF is, those new players are not going to appreciate CF to begin with.

This whole basis for information being for the benefit newbies is funny to me. Wanting complete info for everyone, for the sake of newbies who don't know all that much about the game by virtue of being new to the game (or know what marginal benefits it confers) and far more likely don't even care because they're not in the powergamer style of play (because who would start playing CF with the mindset of I need to optimize my build and steam roll the mud) is a very weak rationalization for those players who consider the game a grind and want to automate the hell out of it so that basically they can have every char start at lv 11 with x amount of edge points.

I'm glad Daev is keeping it a little vague, cause frankly I think all his attempts at striking a middle ground with people clamoring for more info only makes them expect and demand more from him and the game so that they can avoid playing CF and just play CF in PK only mode. Then they bitch when he takes actions to mitigate an abuse those players are engaging in by scripting/botting the game. Those newbies who engage in that are going to fail to see all that CF has to offer. They are going to see it as the grind those players are claiming the game is. I've said it countless times, those people have no concept of what I think the spirit of CF is really about. If I went to the Seaport, I went and saw stuff. I never once cared about "did I just get obs/exp xp for doing this" I did it because it was interesting, not because of some slight reward it conferred me, which it does even without that because I saw NPCs and I saw gear pieces that maybe I go back later to try and obtain.

People that play CF continually want a challenge and they want the RP environment in which Cf exists. They want the immersion CF can offer. The free info crowd has people that RP supporting it to be sure, but RP is always going to be secondary to them. PK will always be more important than RP when it comes down to it. They're not happy until as far as I can tell, they can maximize their PK viability with every character against every character.

If a bunch of clowns on forums didn't rail against every action Imms and other players take and every imagined slight that gets thrown at them by Imms because they've lost the ability to split IC fom OC, the game would benefit. But they don't care about benefitting CF, they care about benefitting their own characters, under the guise of helping others because it makes them seem less selfish in their desires. If CF isn't worth the time investment to you as a player, that's a choice you make as a person. But CF can not, and should not try to, cater to the demands of every single player. They can't make everyone happy. And if they try to, that'll leave CF in a state where nobody at all is.

Imms try to keep CF entertaining for a majority of players. Maybe we players should adopt that same mindset and respect what they are trying to do and try to base our characters/playing of CF around creating fun for other players just as much as ourselves. Everyone would win. But I just get the sense some players aren't happy unless they are Daevrynesque. He's better than you. He's better than me. Get over it. He has brilliant RP and PK. That's a net plus for the MUD when he plays mortals. I notice nobody ever bitches about his characters when they are in the cabal with him.

I'm just as competetive as the next guy, and I like to win, but this is a friendly game people play for fun at heart. I'm old enough and mature enough to shrug off defeats and lost gear and be able to respect the guy who beat me. I'm still able to enjoy CF, maybe not as much as I once was because the RP has waned a bit, but I still can. I just had to go back to playing how I once did long ago. I'll get annoyed at times, but it is still just a game we all play for fun.

I remember the days when I thought Phoenix Edge was the most amazing thing EVER. I made it a goal to get that thing with my character. Once I did, I was so happy, to thrilled with myself. I was the massive storm giant warrior that could slay dragons! Other players asked me to help them. It was some of the most fun I ever had in any game. I ran all over CF with that guy, and it was amazing. I never once cared about PK, cabals, edges or maximizing characters. I just enjoyd the act of playing.

It's a pity we as players still can't play like that anymore, with that sense of achievement or fun. It's a shame to me that people want so much info out there that people won't be able to even get those same highs when they start playing CF.

Nobody told me Zannon sucked (look at his PBF to see what a newbie hero looks like) but in my eyes he was one of the best characters I ever played. Once Ysaloerye helped me really grasp the RP side of CF, I found my stride. Then I played my first bard. Then my second, and third and so on. I thought I lost it after Salyeris, because both Xiersel and Ursetra made me look at myself as a player, and I knew I was going through the motions, that it just wasn't there for me. I stopped for 6 months or so.

Then I played a goblin because a friend and I made a bet/challenge, and for a few weeks, I had that fun feeling again (to my own surprise), because I played without any expectations at all (which is how you have to play a goblin really). I want to believe, if and when the time comes again, maybe I'll get to have that same enjoyment with another character. But with what FSV and certain players want Cf to become, I have my doubts that the Imms and players in general won't burn out, just as I did, and what I'll come back to find won't be what I recognize as Cf, no matter how similar it looks on the surface.

Man, that got off topic.