... when I was like level 53, and people would blame me for all sorts of sweeping changes because I announced them, or because I posted on the forums to support them. At that point, I had no access to any of the machines involved in making the changes happen, and I was the junior member on pretty much any team I joined. But the IRC Waaah Squad needed a target, and the rest is urban legend.

Now that I'm an IMP, and I have some degree of autonomy/responsibility to initiate some changes, what sweeping changes have come down the pipe? Some extra inherents? Some new quests? Re-echoing communes? More stuff in shops? Request repops? Two area cool-ifications? A bunch of new helpfiles? If you want to blame me for any of those super-controversial moves, go right ahead.

Behind the scenes, I spent time trying to get some broader quests moving, pounded away on internal logs to try to get the MUD more stable (which I'm not very good at, but I did catch a couple crash bugs that were getting us again and again... check 'uptime'), and re-kickstarted the eventual replacement for the Ruined City (which is more than on track right now, thanks to some kick-ass assists from experienced staff).

Where are the massive bans? The logs of brutal authority crushing the innocents? The sweeping policy crackdowns? Has the Vast Immortal Conspiracy become so good at oppressing the masses that they can't document their oppression?

Of the things that have become trendy to bitch about, are any of them new? Ganging? Alternating threads of "Special powers are too strong!" and "We need more special powers!"? Overly conservative weenie-mon play styles? Looting? Alternating threads of "You have to play too much to be considered for leader!" and "I can't find Leader X to get inducted!"? Cabal front-running? Is there anything on that list that wasn't a debate in 1996?

Frankly, a lot of the most persistent complaints aren't even about Immortal decisions. Things like ganging, frontrunning, and weeniedom are complaints about other players. And I can't emphasize enough that the people who bitch the loudest about those issues are often the people doing it, behind a thin justification like "Well, everyone is doing it to me and I'm just getting them back!"

valguarnera@carrionfields.com