>A couple things:
>
>I don't necessarily understand why, from a purely IC
>perspective, an (IC) Immortal would come on somehow for this.
>Based on how you described things, I get the feeling this is a
>staff member using IC mechanisms to punish them for something
>that YOU think is lame (hoarding), but isn't necessarily bad
>RP and is not, as far as I can tell, against the rules.

Correct. The player in question was not brought into the Realm of the Dead for any rule breaking.

>
>So, as I understand it, it went down like this:
>1) You notice a guy hoarding eq. It's not against the rules
>and the character has no role entries or other virtues that
>would make hoarding "bad RP" AFAIK.

No role entries to make it good rping either. Also, it was noted by another imm that the character was seen possibly hoarding gear a month ago as well. Some of it the same or may have been similar gear.

>
>2) You don't like this. Maybe other Imms don't like it. You
>use IC mechanisms to bust his chops.

It isn't about like or dislike. It's about what is observed of how a character who chose the sphere he chose and the method he used that go against his sphere to gather some of the items.

>
>3) Dude takes it the wrong way and it becomes an issue. Nasty
>mess ensues.
>
>I certainly realize it isn't the player base's prerogative to
>tell you guys how to do your jobs and that WE shouldn't
>dictate policy. That said, it seems like a pattern is
>developing, which is the transition from #2 to #3.

The playerbase recently posted a whole thread on how they aren't getting enough immteraction. Guess why I came back?

>
>So... I'm simply going to throw out there as calmly and
>politely as I can the idea that the staff consider how well #2
>has been working out for them lately and how much lame #3 it
>leads to and think about maybe working on that.

Here's a thought. A player sees something odd and rps it out for the odd chance it may lead to having fun!

>
>Perhaps you could introduce some helpfiles that elaborate on
>some of the "not quite against the rules, but still
>problematic" issues, or maybe just pull these people aside and
>talk to them face-to-face instead of trying to handle it with
> let's face it, negative) RP, which commonly upsets people.

How about this, "If you aren't brought to the realm of the dead for a rules violation, play the game, it may lead to having fun!"

>
>You'd be absolutely right if you said you shouldn't have to do
>that or that those people are a minority and just aren't
>"worth it", but at the end of the day, addressing the fact
>that the aforementioned scenario seems to go poorly often
>enouogh, there might be some PR value in reevaluating how
>that's handled. It's not that you're not right, you probably
>are in the right, but if situations like this can be avoided
>by making an adjustment that is within your control to do,
>maybe that's worth it if it means less drama llamas.

90% of the playerbase appreciates the opportunity. I will continue to try to make this game more fun. If the other 10% want to think the worst before trying to have fun, I don't have to apologize for their bad judgment.
>
>I REALLY hope this doesn't come off as a rant, because that
>isn't my intention.

Good post.