Sun Apr 11 21:07:52 2004


At 5 o'clock AM, Day of the Bull, 15th of the Month of Nature
on the Theran calendar Astahan perished, never to return.

Race:	duergar
Class:	warrior
Level:	40
Alignment:	Neutral
Ethos:	Chaotic
Cabal:	None, None
Age:	107
Hours:	115

Hey, it's too bad you couldn't hang in there. I had guessed that it was coming, but kept thinking to myself 'This guy has had the Betrayer of Aran'gird title since like level 6 he is going to stick with it. :P

Cool to know you were Fahnrore, I interacted with him as another character.

As for Valg's comment, I kept trying to pull more out of you as to why you made the decision that you did. However, I did definately got this sense of a duergar just being sick and tired of having to deal with the constant conflict of the underdark.

Anyway...

See yah later. Hopefully.

but then I really couldn't see much from my point of view. I did enjoy our conversations though, thanks for the fun.

I rolled this character to make a powerhouse combo. Axe/whip with balance/fist. I intended to get him maranated but couldn't even get to the point where I needed specs. For the first 70 hours, I was fairly into the character, but the last 40 the wind just seemed to go out. I know that there are some Imms who saw me log in, go to shokai's shrine, pray wait about a half hour doing nothing, either drop link or go to a city to quit. One of the reasons why I stopped ranking and started praying frequently again was 1) only one or two wanted to rank with me 2) I was of no use to the ranking group. I asked alot of lightwalkers to group and none of them ever asked me to learn with them after rank 38. So I started to just go and pray hoping that Shokai would come around. I wrote him an e-mail OCC and posted on his forum with no response. What sucks about making a character like this is that it demands immortal interaction to go from one step to the next. And thats really the challenge I took was whether I could get through as many steps as possible. I actually made the last duergar warrior trying to turn character, Jhanen.

Obaznuk: Thanks for the help and all. Sorry about letting you down.
Shokai: Don't know what the hell happened to you. I think you're a great Imm, but if you can't be around, it really affects the game. So maybe step down? Just a suggestion.

Vahletharien: Very cool character. Liked you alot. Sorry about letting you down too.

I'm taking a permenant break for good. Good bye and thanks.

But how come everytime somebody wants to make an evil that turns good it has to be a duergar? Seems to me that all that opportunity is more from a power gaming aspect in the fact that you will be able to see hidden folks. I'd probably give money to the guy/girl who took a drow or human or something not so helped and did the same thing.

Just a thought
Derexal

I listed some of my own criteria regarding alignment changes here. Astahan wasn't a character I dealt with, but I did read his role and watch him a bit, and my impression was:

1) I saw nothing "duergar" about the character. From the role and actions, he just woke up one day and decided to be "good", and promptly mentally turned into a dwarf.
2) You're correct that duergar sure are common for this kind of roleplay angle. Given that two of their tougher matchups are paladins and good conjurers, I think I know why.
3) More than a few times, he logged in, prayed a bunch from a shrine, and logged out. This won't generate a lot of momentum for a major change.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

"I know that there are some Imms who saw me log in, go to shokai's shrine, pray wait about a half hour doing nothing, either drop link or go to a city to quit. One of the reasons why I stopped ranking and started praying frequently again was 1) only one or two wanted to rank with me 2) I was of no use to the ranking group. I asked alot of lightwalkers to group and none of them ever asked me to learn with them after rank 38."

So, you hit a rough spot, stopped putting forth the effort, and it's Shokai's fault? With a character that you should have known before hand that you were going to have to put out a lot to pull off. I'd say this is probably the reason it didn't happen. I'm glad they didn't just hand you your specs back, give you a shiny gold aura, and send you on your way. If you actually wanted to play the char for something other than a dwarf in maran with detect hidden, you'd have enjoyed it enough to stick it out. Your pissiness was thinly veiled. Your final comment "I'm taking a permenant break for good. Good bye and thanks." makes you sound like an ex of mine, a drama queen that liked to garner sympathy. Just like her, no one's going to try to stop you from leaving. Have a good life.

n/t

The whole thing with me you and the Duergar Assassin was pretty
cool. I had been guessing that that was Shokai, but who knows.
Intrsting how our roles happened to coincide sorta.

-Lochzan

Pulling off a successful alignment change is a brutal experience. I played Yazaulyzt, drow warlock shifter. It was one of the hardest CF things ive ever done. You think its bad with a warrior, try ranking a shapeshifter to 40 with no spells. The Imms need to make it tough though so this happens once in a million like it should...

As for Shokai...maybe your times dont cross too often. Valgs points are all valid. It should be a brutal experience.

Neat charactor from what I saw, anyhow.

You used to get brutal treatment, because all the sylvans wanted you dead as well as the normal fortress enemies. Possibly my favorite character of yours. I was amazed you stuck it out and didn't seem to get downhearted.

I agree about the duergar powerhouse combo though.

Sorry, been watching too much Chappelle lately...but since you seem somewhat aggitated at me, I figure I'd spec out a few reasons why you never chatted with Shok after the initial time.

First, a lot of people hit the nail on the head in other comments, but I'll rehash.

1) There was no duergar. At no point did I see any struggle against the darker nature. At no point did I see any struggle at all, actually. It was like seeing a duergar that woke up one day and said 'death, mayhem, destruction? A duergar needs not these things' and without ever looking back was the happiest lightwalker ever. It's not overly realistic to have someone to do a complete 180 from where they came from without ever faltering. I'm not suggesting that anyone in the future who attempts the conversion role occasionally kills a good, or anything like that. There are subtle ways to roleplay struggle and conflict on a moral ground...to anyone who wants to attempt a evil gone good role, I highly reccomend you think of them.

2) You gave up. You can blame it on me if it'll make you happier, but the truth of the matter is...you gave up. Maybe it's a sign that I'm something of an asshole, but I saw a lot of your prays while I was on...and most of the time you'd pray, I'd slap the snoop on...and you'd do nothing other than pray. I've said it before...if your role involves an immortal to interact with you so you can do stuff....find things to do while waiting on the immortal.

3) Just because you don't see me, don't assume I'm not around. Admittedly I'm not around as I much as I once was, but I don't think my stepping down is warranted. Sorry to disappoint.

Heh, yeah, sorry if it seemed like I was being a bitchy. I really didn't mean it to sound that way. You're a great Imm. Just didn't seem like you were around as much as you used to be. And yeah, everyone hit the nail on the head on this one.

Thanks anyhow.

"Smokey my friend, you are entering a world of pain."