Sun Dec 1 10:24:18 2013

At 11 o'clock AM, Day of the Great Gods, 19th of the Month of the Heat
on the Theran calendar Soviatos perished, never to return.

I wish you would have stuck this out. I would have aided you now that you were not at war with the village and were not under a magi's command.

We had some good fights, but maces are a tough fight for a shaman.

I enjoyed our interactions.

Well Done.

GLWYN

I liked the character, and you were uber deadly. I am sure if there was any divine sect to speak of, you would have still had that high priest seat with an iron fist. RP was interesting, and I got the feeling from some of our interactions talking about Mr. Second Lich (Carcophagus?) and all that as your goal, you had a scion flavor. I kind of liked it, but I always rolled with the punches in favor of immersion, I am sure that could have rubbed a bunch of people the wrong way so I am glad you were...the way you were, and somewhat open about it. After losing a couple of votes, I kept the 'bet on the winner' thing, but played a LOT more stuff close to the vest. This allowed me to have some influence with Merf, but who knows, and in so putting Nal in etc. So during the entire vote and before it was even called, I knew a really, really large amount of information about the way things could go thanks to intelligence gathering and getting the favor of D with my chars flavor (egomaniac sociopath overlord + old tom lol..) I was sure I'd win, and I think if you didn't point out that we were the largest contestants and played it closer to the vest, it might have gone the other way. There was no way I could hide my ego at 500-600 hours or so, but you might have been able to. All speculation of course... but you were the meanest thing since Kraldinor in that sect, that is a fact, and you made other people playing the venom shamans look like they were playing a different and much weaker path. Very well done I say, as I could never so much say it IC. Some of the problem you had was that your emotions made you predictable in political matters, imho of course, and with everyone mostly trying to work for their own best interests above all else, people jump on any opportunity for dissent... Something like survivor I guess? (I don't watch TV, but the strong ones have better chances of being voted off is what I gathered) Thanks too, immensely, for showing me Silent Tower. ICly it was obvious you had showed some people that Ged thought you ought not to have, and pretended like it was some gift to him, but never look a gift horse in the mouth. As a player, it was priceless, my favorite part of the game really is well written and complex areas, and with what I observed I know for a fact it will take me a dozen characters to even have a good grasp on it. Good times, GLWYN, hopefully sooner rather than later!

Holy crap, and you thought Gedunthos was long winded?

Wed Oct 30 14:18:30 2013 by 'An Immortal' at level 51 (246 hrs):
An Immortal added 400 exp for: Updates about what looks to be travels through Silent Tower as well as some personal? revelations for himself.

Did you read the role entry?

I thought you might be the only one who understood the wording...

Nope, that's not me and I haven't read the role.

Figured you'd catch the obscure Istendil story references and the Silent Tower language (and maybe actually understand what I wanted to convey).... check it out. 2nd to last entry.

Feels like I am losing friends and foes at an uncomfortable rate. You were great and I looked forward to engagements in order to figure out what I could do better to defend and heal against you.

It does seem that a lot of negativity is mixed in with some Imperial char deletes. I just think that sometimes, you just gotta go with it. I mean, evil is evil in game. Mortals and immortals, alike. I think Destuvius is doing some cool stuff and I just don't think in game choices or results should make you angry. I hope you come back soon and have some fun. In the end that is all we have to gain in this game.

Just close your eyes and pick blindly the char combo and cabal.

You were tough, annoyingly so. Led to my death a few times and I don't think I ever got retribution... How am I supposed to do that now?! Anyway, consistent and overall, well done. Good luck when the urge strikes again.

And Empire was once again getting its teeth kicked in, so I decided to change the tide.

We had a lot of fun - next time I'll probably do the roulette again although I do have a character idea bugging me still...

Definitely some odd fights given our equal powers. You were clearly the better pker, butalways a classy enemy. Even knowing I was outclassed, I felt like I had to keep coming back and see if the rng went my way. Think I only got you that one time when I had like nine levels on you, hah.

Well, I had high plans for this character but they never really panned out... and after a week break and the constant "asshole!" moments from various people, I was just done. People talk about the quality of the people playing this game going down and I'd have to agree with my recent interactions.

Two nails in the coffin were Halifan and Mirozah. Pretty obvious who each of you are behind your characters and the pure #### moves you both pulled just made me not want to play anymore. Halifan... you had some gripe over losing a few things from long ago and then after being looted by other people, you blame me and swear you'll make me pay... we then fight and I underestimate how much black sanctuary used to help in damage reduction and I lag out trying to word away and you finally get me even though I don't want to fight given I'm trying to get inducted. You return with looting half of my gear including drow-only and shaman-only pieces, and placing them on several cabal inner guardians for a "scavenger hunt" - go #### yourself. You're the same incarnation on every character you make. Mirozah or however you spell it, I took you to go exploring with the Chieftain (our first meeting ever) and died to double flurry bad luck and ... in typical asshole fashion, you ditch the Chieftain to die and loot several key pieces of my gear to mock me behind duo before logging out. Both of you also knew I was trying to reach Zhenyen to get into the Chasm but didn't bat an eye at it. You may think you're RPing evil but you're both just assholes plain and simple.

Reksah, sadly you were the final nail in the coffin. At first I enjoyed our interactions - I had planned on going for Arvam (in retrospect I should have), but you stepped in and we started off well. Our interactions were... weird. You gave me empowerment and two paths with basically no effort which was nice... but you wanted something I guess I just never gave you. I did "research" (I thought my recent role entry with Silent Tower words was amazing), and I stayed in Empire hiding the fact I followed you, but you gave no direction or goal and then dropped off the game completely. Our only interactions were scheduled via email in advance and each one felt like you just wanted me to go away. Our last one where you called me "useless" and basically chewed me out for making myself anathema, I honestly felt like slapping you through the internet. I knew Gharzal would have done it the moment he saw me after he won the vote, and Scion has basically been a ghost town since the day I made Soviatos... so I figured "hey, I'm getting removed anyways, might as well do it on my terms and help the Scions out right?" - I even attempted to reach you before the vote and had talked about joining the Chasm before, both of which you never answered and you threw me under the bus after saying I had basically ruined everything. Add in the fact I've got a non-existent Immortal with no clear guidance, while Destuvius is handing out candy to complete ooc idiots like Gharzal for nothing... I was becoming pretty jaded. I thought I had done some pretty awesome things on Soviatos and stuck it out when Empire was getting curbstomped and all I got in return was a slap on the wrist. My first follower of you and just going to say that I probably won't be back after that.

Destuvius, wish it could have gone differently but you bet on the wrong people. The fact Gharzal and Ankhran were deleted before I even got back from vacation is pretty sad. First you give the Emperor position to Gedunthos (another person you slapped a tattoo on) after a dead-lock vote (which Merf ####ed up by deleting after making a random fire giant warrior war master instead of sticking around).... and then Gharzal gets it purely because most of the council are "Kite Flyers" as I liked to call them and more ooc friendships. Gedunthos was a decent roleplayed character, but Gharzal? Handing out goodies is nice to have on this side of the fence, but it really just belittles it all when you give it to a guy who is completely OOC like Gharzal.

On Noviask, I was a pretty big asshole to a lot of people and can understand why people voted the way they did... but Soviatos, especially this second vote after I helped out Ergoth and Countihi, I guess I should just be done playing Empire unless I can convince some friends to play at the same time. And to the people who get Emperor.... stop being idiots and deleting. "Getting" Emperor isn't the big deal that you can be happy about, you have to actually be a good Emperor to mean anything. The fact Merf deleted to keep it in his PBF and the fact Gharzal wanted it to delete.... wtf people.

Zhenyen, you're a very cool guy but just delete or move on already... I could never find you and you were basically just stalemating the cabal with being a lackluster leader. We could have done some amazing things had you showed up after I made myself anathema.... and to Destuvius, the fact I talked about ST with Zhenyen - sorry, but no one else knew anything, let alone could go because of the immexp requirement and I wasn't going to pass up learning what I could from Zhenyen.

For everyone in the Fortress, I was actually impressed this time around at the quality of the players behind the characters. Even though I absolutely loathe STSF and think whoever came up with Shining Soul elf edge needs a swift kick in the nuts, it was pretty enjoyable fighting and interacting with all of you this time around. Avalusci, Voralia, Dwybean and the annoying but understandable healer duo stand out the most.

The village... meh, lot of disappointment there. The fact I'd be fighting a conjurer like Pamalynn and a villager berserker would run in and start cranial spamming me inside the Fortress when I'm solo raiding against three is pretty ####ing lame. I stuck it out against some pretty bad odds a lot of times and as always the village just seemed bent on doing whatever they wanted.

I spent quite a lot of time in Silent Tower this time around, which was a good distraction given the lack of people around. I've always been an Inferno kinda guy, but until Sacer finally opens up the area (we're all waiting...), I had nothing much else to do so figured I'd go see what all the fuss was about. If you're up for answering some questions Daevryn, I'd like to ask about some things... I think I pretty much finished anything I could do solo there besides maybe find the Biomancer path (so f-ing close, I easily spent fifty hours trying to figure this out). Unless there's some super hidden way to make archmages easier, I don't see them falling anytime soon... the fact they're all immune to poison doesn't exactly help either but I understand why with poisoner thieves. I fought almost all of them and even with my uber neo shaman all decked out, I got my ass kicked severely. It is pretty insane what you can get out of there solo and I'll be definitely using what I learned on new characters to come... cool area though.


Well that's that, another Imperial who doesn't make the vote. I liked neo shamans and I'll probably be back at some point to try out a particular cool combo, but I'll be taking a break from CF I think for awhile - just how things went with this guy really put me off from the game. I had some high expectations but I guess that's always my problem... I expect more. Hope you enjoyed Soviatos, I did for the most part.

Cheers (oh and if anyone wants to pick-up my PBF, that'd be nice... I think I might actually have a top shaman pk record).

Apparently we sort of think alike. Soviatos seemed like a cool character while I was around. Just the whole summon, dispel "haha I have cut off" thing would have been fun and unfair too.

- Xermn

I'm going to avoid touching on the looting stuff and your perception of previous events leading up to your death to me, as well as the overall negative undertone of the entire post, and just mention that I really liked fighting you. I hated dying to you, but enjoyed the fighting aspect leading up to it. I think you were very skilled as a shaman and really had a good handle on your paths. I wish that there was a bit more substance in our interactions beyond the fighting back and forth, but for whatever reason it didn't work out for either of us. Whenever you were on, as an Imperial or otherwise, I knew you were going to bring the pain to whatever was in your way. You helped turn the pendulum away from Fort o'clock and that's a pretty substantial achievement and speaks to your capabilities and mettle as a player.

My only point of constructive criticism, if you are up for it, is to let go of the gear focus. Loot comes and goes, and (at least for me) is a part of what makes the highs and lows of the game for me, beyond just the PK. You win some, you lose some, but take it in stride, stay in character, and do what you have to to get it back without compromising your character's image.

That said, whether you knew it or not, I the player was a big fan of Soviatos and hope to see more effective characters of yours in the future.

All the best, and good luck with the next.

You want a dark-elf scion mage to be warm and cuddly to a former Imperial Shaman?

First, I was planning on killing you the entire time. I was very disappointed I didn't get to do it and a mob beat me to it. That's the second time that has happened to me.

Second, You didn't give a dark-elf scion mage what they wanted, so they took it.

Third, I didn't mock you behind duo and log out. I mocked your matrons house and your lack of foresight. I was already on for like three hours, and logged out. As for the Orc, I didn't realize I left em there.

Fourth, why should two scion magi give a damn about what you want?

You totally came at the entire interaction a very non-scion non-dark-elf way.

FWIW, I enjoyed the character when you were in Empire. GLWYN!

Mirozah

Very well Roleplayed. I was hoping for more from you and at the same time was hoping you were not going to get me killed.
You were to killing me that one time when Avalusci. I was already at 4con from a completely unrelated maldict.
Good luck with your next.

Neo shaman from a very skilled player was th' perfect interestin challenge. For all our battles, managed t' get lucky only once, I think -- you were very skilled an' slippery. Still, ye forced me t' dig deep and I enjoyed all o' our fights. With good help like Yegtheg ye were among the most dangerous.

Gedunthos was handed Emperor because he was hands down the most deserving imperial. I'll argue that to the end of time.

Gharzal received three votes, one of them came from you. The only things I gave him were titles and a tattoo. So your complaint that I am handing out goodies to him is pretty bleh.

As far as "betting on the wrong people" I really have no idea what you are talking about with that. I can only assume that you felt like you deserved more interaction or rewards or praise from me. If that is the case, let me know and I will gladly respond in greater detail.

I think this character was a good one who was fun to watch and good at pk. I admit I was rather disappointed that you decided to anathema yourself when you didn't win Emperor.

There is a what seems to be a reoccurring issue for you when you post goodbye threads: You always make it out like someone ruined your fun. I think that you can offer a lot to the game, but I think that the approach you take to it should be adjusted so it is less reliant on other people to keep the fun going.

Without having their IPs checked first. Seems to me everyone that isn't already on the goodie two shoes list seems to have something negative to say about interactions with you. I see that you are trying to be an active immortal and that is great. Maybe let bygones be bygones and really start fresh as a brand new immortal?

I am a recently promoted hero-imm. I have no ability to check IPs, nor do I care to do it. The people who seem to have issues with me are the same people who seem to have issues with everyone else in immland so perhaps the playerbase should let bygones be bygones and really start fresh with a brand new immortal?

Which begs the question, have you actually tried to interact with me or are you just jumping on and assuming that I am doing something wrong because someone claimed such?

Also, if you have any real constructive criticism to offer me on how to make interactions more enjoyable, I'd love to read it. Feel free to email me at destuvius@carrionfields.com

*Edited to add last comment with email

You'd have to try really hard if you wanted to IP track people who pissed you off, and even if the imms could, I doubt they'd care enough.

Furthermore, I expect anyone who has pissed off the imms enough to get on their ####list could spend 5 minutes searching google and mask their IP address through any number of proxies.

Finally, a lot of toxic players have really distinctive playstyles, and half the MUD has them picked out before they delete. I know I've been able to pick out the patterns of half a dozen players without even needing to look at IPs. Some people would have good RP and a decent playstyle and forget certain capitalizations. Others would whine in a very specific way every time they died, or throw OOC hissy fits over things that anyone else would just shrug off. I can only imagine the imms see several times as much information as an average player, and have even less trouble picking up on distinctive habits.

So if you're an obnoxious little bitch and the imms hate you and they've picked you out LONG before you deleted, you have only yourself to blame - not only could you have masked your own IP with very little effort, but you probably gave yourself away just by being a douchebag.

The players who would lose the most from imms tracking IPs are the toxic whiners - I fail to see exactly why the imms would be interested in non-griefy non-whiny non-cheating players, aside from them being, y'know, interesting.

Most people assume: "We are being discriminated against because they are IP checking." (IP checking causes positive/negative differences in the rewards given to players.)

When in reality it is more that player actions are often consistent across characters as most players have tells (I am also guilty of this.) If those player habits happen to be bad habits, such as cussing someone out OOC after a PK loss, it immediately throws up a red flag and tends to color future perceptions of said character badly.

So a more likely causal interpretation might be: "I have a tendency to act in a particularly unappealing way due to my (bad) habits, thus I am being given the cold shoulder as a result."

You could also flip the argument the other way to explain rewarding behavior, which may be even more likely. The people getting constant rewards just happen to have hit on and refined the "how to be rewarded" formula and apply it to all their characters. (Individual player habits cause positive/negative differences in the rewards given to players.)

Anyway, I'd thought I would chime in. Apologies to Torak as this isn't death-thread specific. Not trying to steal your thunder there.

-Gedunthos maybe deserved it from the time put in and longevity but from what would make a strong Emperor, no I don't think he made a good one - there's a reason he didn't make three separate votes. Had Merf not made his dumbass decision to either delete "to keep Emperor in my grave" as he put it, or to promote an absolute terrible War Master who was buddies with Gedunthos literally a day or two before the vote, none of this would have even occurred anyways.

-I know Gharzal won the vote "fairly", but it was tainted in my opinion considering it was pretty obvious who would make it despite any action taken on my part. We can get into details here, but it's really not worth it considering he's long gone and the two people who made the "wrong" choice are still alive. The fact Gharzal got anything is testament to how we'll just disagree - this is a guy who says "not everyone plays to roleplay" on a RP-enforced game, who went blatantly OOC countless times, was bar none the most whiny mummy I've ever seen, and who only wanted Emperor to delete as an Emperor... and didn't he even temporarily delete more than once? Why reward that at all?

-I never said once that I deserved more from you, I enjoyed our talks and think it was a nice balance. The "betting on the wrong people" is just my opinion that Gedunthos/Gharzal were not of the same caliber - and it obviously shows for Gharzal with the hatred for him in his goodbyes and the fact he deleted an Emperor in less than a few days after getting it. Had followers been directed differently or you had chosen differently during the vote lock, things would be different.

-Making myself anathema was both preemptive (and considering Gharzal said he'd would have done it... and had said it also earlier in life, it wasn't much of a surprise I knew it was coming) and a move in the hopes to make life more interesting. Half the times I logged in, no one would stay on long and Empire numbers would start logging in. Scion had been non-existent for months, I wanted to change that... but low and behold, Reksah didn't.

-My reoccurring problem is definitely in expectations but this time I was just done. They can say it was "evil RP", but the three nails just ended any enjoyment for the character for a long while. I played for 300 hours, I was content with what I did... and all I had left wasn't interesting from my vantage point.

I said I enjoyed playing Soviatos, hopefully my vitriolic introduction didn't taint it too bad. I'm not quitting CF or anything nor am I mad at you Destuvius... I just think you chose wrong

And I really got the impression he deleted because of it based on my last interaction with him.

One thing I find amusing is you were the first one to approach me about the vote after I got War Master, so I am not exactly sure what your angle is on this complaint other than I didn't vote for you.

Naldigar's angle with Gedunthos was from very early on getting Gedunthos to champion him for War Master in exchange for his vote which as far as I know he did and Naldigar made good on his end. Also, Naldigar was spending a few hours everyday fighting villagers with Gedunthos while he high priest was running around ST which made him lean more Gedunthos as well.

If Merf had not made Naldigar War Master, or someone else pretty soon, I definitely had the feeling imms would have picked one to get the council filled and allow a vote if desired which you and Gharzal were both jumping at the chance for.

I agree Soviatos or Gharzal would have made better Emperor's in the kill everyone and make every other cabal log off sort of way, but thought Gedunthos would be interesting in other ways, and I figured he'd be age dead in a month anyway.

Have you ever had a character whose outcome you were satisfied with? This isn't quite wanna be maran but really Julius follower except Jullius isn't playing any more territory, but I don't remember any of your characters that you seemed happy with once all was said and done.

Not going to say too much about the vote, there were reasons it turned out the way it did.

But I have a questions. Were you trying to appear insane IC or was that just the way I experienced you? Was a cool char, seen from both sides, but as an ally I just never felt I knew where you stood.

Good luck with whatever you roll next.

I would have liked to have gone into the Silent Tower, but alas 2K imm exp was more role that I wanted to write for Aglaron. I just wanted to have fun.

I have to admit I made a few lame mistakes with Aglaron, but sometimes I played wreckless because that was Aglaron. I'm sorry if it frustrated you. I tried to keep it to a minimum most of the time. Feel sorry for Corlx, he got full wreckless most of the time.

Stop playing the same character role
playing out dif dogma. Work w your
allies and theow out the fick u im having
fun. Just realized who the "oh its this
jerkoffagain" iz. Fun times regardless
bro.