Wed Oct 6 22:02:00 2004

At 8 o'clock AM, Day of the Bull, 15th of the Month of the Battle
on the Theran calendar Nhiala perished, never to return.

I think the best thing to happen in the last 6 months are
the Immortal Comments on the PBF....and all these
Hero Imm's deleting. Giving me a real idea of how it goes,
and the challenges involved. Im not ready yet. So I'll just
keep playing, and donating.

*cackle*

When a man makes a beast of himself...he gets rid of the pain of being a man.

Ever delete a character and get a feeling of relief instead of the usual faint sense of loss? Gotta say, it's nice.

Apologies are due to Valguarnera. When we spoke two weeks ago I had pretty much decided I was going to delete anyway regardless of whether I was able to finish the area. The only reason I even attempted it was a sense of obligation towards you and the rest of the staff. After working fourteen straight hours on Thursday I was close, but it wasn't going to happen. Several of my better ideas had been scrapped in order to save time, and the result wasn't something I could be proud of. For what it's worth, I still feel that particular area concept is ripe for someone to develop. There are tons of subtle hints about the history of that place that could be fleshed out and expanded.

Anyway, thanks for giving me a chance. I enjoyed the company of pretty much everyone on staff, and took pleasure in the few times I was able to help out a mortal or two.

Below is my unsolicited advice for current or prospective heroimms. As always your mileage may vary, but I found each of these to be fairly valid:

1. Don't imm unless you anticipate deriving serious enjoyment from some specific aspect of immortal life. One of the big ones is "role-play not involving PK". Just having a vague sense that you want to help out won't do the trick. If you don't enjoy what you're doing, you can only ride that goodwill and desire to help so far. Eventually you'll reach a point when you realize what you're doing is "work" instead of "fun" and you'll burn out. If you are someone who does desire to help, instead of joining the staff consider: 1) Giving knowledgeable, polite and concise answers on the newbie channel and "New Player Q&A" forum, 2) helping newbies in a role-play appropriate manner within the game itself, and 3) donating money.

2. Don't imm because you think it will magically allow you to better "manage" the time you spend on Carrion Fields. Yes, immortals can log off at a moment's notice and not be smacked for dropping link. The cost, however, is added expectation concerning how much time you spend online. Some players complain that it isn't possible to run a successful mortal given limited playing time. Personally I disagree, but to whatever extent that complaint is valid it's doubly true with regard to running a successful heroimm.

3. As a new heroimm, do not aspire to write "the next Kteng's Lab". Think simple. Think small. Think homogeneous. The more small, simple and homogenous the better. Remember that it is infinitely more preferable to complete an area and be told it needs improvement than to aim too high and never finish. This cannot be emphasized enough. Seriously. Besides, nothing stops you from working on your magnum opus after you've been promoted. Get there first, then make your grand plans.

4. A book I read claimed that three typical characteristics of the ADD adult are: 1) a predilection towards addiction, 2) an inability to motivate one's self to complete unenjoyable tasks, 3) a tendency to focus on on enjoyable tasks to an unhealthy degree. Ergo the nature of Carrion Fields may actually attract the type of person least likely to succeed as part of the staff. If as a heroimm you suspect you're in the "at risk" group, it might be a good idea to develop set of incremental goals and insist they be enforced. "I will have my area mapped by this date", "I will have half my rooms done by this date", etc. Don't avoid accountability: demand it. If you know you're prone to procrastination then start setting these goals immediately upon immorting.

5. If you are playing a mortal and contemplating applying to staff, nothing says you have to actually immort before starting to think about your area. Without the docs you'll never be able to produce an actual file, but you could easily work on developing a good concept. Beyond that you could draw up a map, figure out which mobs you want to have, position them on your map, and even start writing your room, mob and item descriptions. Having all that prep work done before even immorting would go a long way towards ensuring you actually finish. The best part is that none of that requires any knowledge of the area docs.

I think a lot of us want to give back but don't know how. Money sometimes doesn't seem enough...

The game is a big part of your life when you realise how much you play it over time and losing that would be awful. I suppose for a lot of us, the dream of immorting is only so that others can experiance what you have in a few years time.

I had some minor plans to see if the staff had use of my skills (limited as they are) but I guess I'll give it time.

To Isildur: Love you as a player, you add a good few kicks and twists by interacting.

To Immortals: Just thanks, guys.

Yhorian.

> I had some minor plans to see if the staff had use of my
> skills (limited as they are) but I guess I'll give it time.

I'd like to clarify that I wasn't trying to suggest people not imm. Without the staff there would be no game. All I was saying is that it's advisable, when considering imming, to have a reasonable expectation that you'll enjoy the job. A big part of that is being honest with yourself. If what you really enjoy about Carrion Fields is being a player, then by all means, continue being a player. That doesn't mean you can't still help out.

1. Conduct yourself in-game in a way that attracts rather than repels new players
2. Be a newbie channel hero.
3. Be an official forums hero.
4. Express your gratitude with your wallet.
5. If you have friends who you think might enjoy the game as much as you do, by all means advertise it to them.

> To Immortals: Just thanks, guys.

Ditto.

I always knew when I was logged on, you and Gradaelus were the only others willing to fight the imperial horde. I enjoyed our interactions as Tulvaluthian every time, well done, good luck with the next.