Read almost any of the Immortal's personal forums below and you will see the same problem posted over and over AND OVER again; the empowering Immortals are simply not around, and not reliable, in ANY sense.

We now have a live "wizlist" in the game wherein each Immortal can update, change, and even add specifics to their status. This is a fabulous feature in my opinion... or it WOULD be if it were actually used by all empowering Immortals, and updated frequently and accurately by all empowering Immortals.

Unfortunately, in most cases, this feature is not helpful because of a number of typical issues (all of which can be directly attributed to both empowering Immortals that just don't care enough to perform the task they agreed, and in many cases BEGGED, for, which is, from the player's perspective and at the VERY least, support and represent the religion (and any associations) that they have set for themselves, and be available for consultation, specifically regarding empowerment (or the denial of it, if that is what is fitting). What is occurring is that many Immortals:
- DON'T UPDATE their status at all, or for a number of successive months (quite often a number of months past the very general time period in which they had, all those months ago, stated that they would return, IF they were one of they few that bothered to add that they would be "hit or miss until (x date or month)" or similar)
- Regardless of IC AND OOC devotion to praying in the proper location, at every conceivable time of the day, on every day of the week, for months, followed by an in game note, followed by an email, returns absolutely NO RESPONSE AT ALL IN ANY FORM (all the while the Immortal is listed as ACTIVE, usually without an addendum stating that they will be unavailable for a certain amount of time)
- SUDDENLY CHANGE THEIR STATUS from completely ACTIVE TO DORMANT -- though, likely, they were merely LISTED as ACTIVE and never actually logging in, let alone interacting with the aforementioned tasks they requested to take on.
- Either they list themselves as simply ACTIVE (without an addendum), which would indicate regularity, or with a general idea of when you can likely find them online, to DORMANT (or something (under the DORMANT listing) along the lines of "maybe on weekends if you're really lucky," as if we asked them to take the position on, rather than the fact, which is that they applied, interviewed, contributed (coding, writing, designing, ideas, reform, et cetera) and FINALLY became an Immortal with their own religion and, thus, followers who may or may not need empowerment or interaction with their "Immortal Patron," which they should be able to rely on, specifically considering the fact that this MUD claims such a heavy emphasis on RP!!! Thus, these Immortals have thoughtlessly, inconsiderately, and downright RUDELY (all things considered), neglected to simply log on and type in a few lines of command and sentence fragments stating their ACTUAL CURRENT STATUS, whether that is DORMANT or ACTIVE.

SINCE THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A VERY SERIOUS RP MUD, the players should not have to FIRST LOOK AT THE ACTIVE IMMS (praying that the list is actually accurate, knowing that they won't hit an active Immortal until they've wasted many, many, MANY hours (writing their roles, descriptions, completing quests, gaining ranks, PRAYING FOR WEEKS and even longer, writing notes, writing emails) on another three or four characters... and then it's just dumb luck.

Currently, the only way to play a character that you take seriously (thus, requiring at least some level of Immortal interaction), or a character requiring empowerment, is to create a useless character and study which Immortals actually bother to log on and spend at least ten minutes at a time, every few days, logged on, attending to the very issues they requested be blessed enough to hold the responsibility of, then delete that character, create a fully fleshed out character based around that (or those, unusually) Immortals they've witnessed or overheard have actually been around, RATHER THAN CREATING THE CHARACTER THEY ACTUALLY WANT TO PLAY, based on creative role and character and RP ideas (the way this type of game, and THIS MUD IN PARTICULAR HAS ALWAYS MEANT TO BE PLAYED)... then they have to pray that that Immortal doesn't suddenly become DORMANT before they reach rank 11.


NOT ONLY ARE THE EMPOWERING IMMORTALS LARGELY NOT AROUND, NOR UPDATING THEIR STATUSES SO THAT PLAYERS MAY ACTUALLY BE AWARE OF, EXACTLY THAT, THEIR STATUSES, BUT OTHER IMMORTALS REFUSE AGAIN AND AGAIN TO GRANT YOU EMPOWERMENT OR GUIDANCE OR INTERACTION IN THE MIA IMMORTAL'S STEAD, BECAUSE IT ISN'T THEIR RELIGION. IF YOU ARE BOTH PERSISTENT AND LUCKY ENOUGH, YOU MAY RECEIVE EMPOWERMENT (THOUGH NO GUIDANCE OR INTERACTION) FROM ANOTHER IMMORTAL TO A VERY LOW LEVEL, TOPPING OUT AT THE RARE HEIGH OF 25 OR SO. SO YOU ARE LEFT WITH ONE CHOICE, TO DELETE A CHARACTER THAT WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ADVANCE BEYOND RANK 21-25 (IF YOU WERE PERSISTENT AND LUCKY), AND WOULD NEVER BECOME A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL CHARACTER REGARDLESS OF YOUR EFFORTS IN RP, ROLE, AND ENGAGEMENT IN THE GAME, HAVING WASTED TIME, ENERGY, AND CREATIVITY... AGAIN!


There ARE solutions here. Characters should NOT have to be designed around which (very few Immortals, with an even narrower spectrum of alignments, alliances, and spheres) Immortals are actually around (AT ALL) to grant them the interaction and/or empowerment they need, but rather the creativity and effort of the individual. If a player has done absolutely everything he/she can do, both in game IC and out OOC, and received no response, or simply no care or assistance, THEN ANOTHER IMMORTAL OF A HIGH ENOUGH IMMORTAL RANK TO ASSUME SUCH A POSITION NEEDS TO BE CHARGED WITH CARING FOR THESE ORPHANED CHARACTERS.

Another, not-so-bad idea, would be to stop choosing the same players (OOC) to "Imm," realize instead that those players are "heroing," "Imming," QUITTING, and then doing it all over again, when there are people on this MUD that have been playing for 10-15 years, newbie, then mediocre, then legendary after legendary character, who are consistently turned down... and, yes, even if they have coding abilities, creative wells, and time in their lives (which, with the exception of the last item, all vary in degrees between the Immortals), are being turned down again and again and again.

I remember when I began playing CF, about 13 years ago. Granted, much has changed. Much, even I would say, for the better. Though not all. And certainly what has absolutely ruined this MUD is the fact that Immortal involvement exists between perhaps three to five Immortals, and even then in halts and lurches. When I began playing, you could choose from almost any sphere, shaping first your character, and then choosing your divine guidance accordingly. Character creation, play, advancement, and Immortal involvement (or even in game existence), guidance, interaction, empowerment, et cetera were a very large part of what made this game fun.

Now we are like the mouse hitting the feed bar just hoping some food will come out, and every time we hit the bar, the number of active player-associated Immortals drops, and the horizon of choice narrows vastly.


Just find the time to read every word and please address this issue. It isn't just me by any means that is completely fed up with this rather egregious issue (though it is only me who would bother and have the balls to state it this passionately and lengthily).

Please address this issue. This MUD has morphed into a sad, dragging, uncreative and completely rote environment. It really, really, REALLY isn't out of your reach to make some adjustments and try to correct the terminal direction of everything that used to make this a fun and even stimulating "place," to which many people have spent thousands of hours of their lives thoroughly enjoying, and completely dedicated to, the intermingling of serious and enforced role play and character development with a fun game in a unique and creative "world," with other players who shared similar interests and enjoyment!


All of the things that made this a great place to come and escape, and play, et cetera, are disappearing rapidly.

Between the caps, hysteria and length of that post I'm shocked you think someone would actually read that. Lose the caps, lose the attitude, cut the length in half and try again.

n/t

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

I've never had a problem catching imms during their times, personally. Sometimes it might take a few days, but guess what: this isn't their job. This is their hobby. They don't get paid to do it, and *gasp* they have lives, too! As for imming, well, I've never applied (I wouldn't get accepted anyway, not until I have a few more good chars), so I can't comment on that, but it sounds like to me that you're just BAWWWing that you haven't gotten immed. One point I will cede is that I think the sphere system is really overly limiting, and it would be awesome if somebody came up with a good way to replace it.

Oh, and like Valg said, typing everything in caps doesn't make your argument any better, just harder to read.

They immed me on the basis of Nhiala and a relatively clean rules record, so the bar isn't set unattainably high. If you're considering it, I highly encourage you to read the "advice to prospective heroimms" I posted on Nhiala's battlefield thread.

I have found that the wizlist was completely accurate with the Imms that I have needed empowerment from. Enlilth, who seems to have a relatively constrained schedule, went out of his way to empower me (granted, on a temporary basis at first) after I contacted him according to his info.

But I have to admit, I do check out the availability of the Imms before I pick out my empowerment characters. I realize that if I want to create a character that would be dependent on an Imm who has very, very limited time or is dormant, then my life will be very difficult for a while. That is what I accept, given that this is a free and fun game. Fun... and .... free...

>I remember when I began playing CF, about 13 years ago.
>Granted, much has changed. Much, even I would say, for the
>better. Though not all. And certainly what has absolutely
>ruined this MUD is the fact that Immortal involvement exists
>between perhaps three to five Immortals, and even then in
>halts and lurches. When I began playing, you could choose
>from almost any sphere, shaping first your character, and then
>choosing your divine guidance accordingly. Character
>creation, play, advancement, and Immortal involvement (or even
>in game existence), guidance, interaction, empowerment, et
>cetera were a very large part of what made this game fun.

>
>Now we are like the mouse hitting the feed bar just hoping
>some food will come out, and every time we hit the bar, the
>number of active player-associated Immortals drops, and the
>horizon of choice narrows vastly.
>
>
>Just find the time to read every word and please address this
>issue. It isn't just me by any means that is completely fed
>up with this rather egregious issue (though it is only me who
>would bother and have the balls to state it this passionately
>and lengthily).
>
>Please address this issue. This MUD has morphed into a sad,
>dragging, uncreative and completely rote environment. It
>really, really, REALLY isn't out of your reach to make some
>adjustments and try to correct the terminal direction of
>everything that used to make this a fun and even stimulating
>"place," to which many people have spent thousands of hours of
>their lives thoroughly enjoying, and completely dedicated to,
>the intermingling of serious and enforced role play and
>character development with a fun game in a unique and creative
>"world," with other players who shared similar interests and
>enjoyment!
>
>
>All of the things that made this a great place to come and
>escape, and play, et cetera, are disappearing rapidly.

If you did, you missed at least 8 quests, a new area going in, over 100,000 imm exp rewards, dozens of edges given out, many spells given out as rewards, a legacy given to a non-warrior and a hugely incredible amount of vis imm time.

Then again, you might be one of those "Legend In Their Own Mind" characters who apply to imm and then play their "Legendary Heroes" 3 hours a week after applying and then post something like this to fool these non-existent imms into making you an immortal. But, if you really are one of these applicants, and we haven't immed you, I think the players can safely assume that what we do is really in their best interest. Don't you think?

Just had to chime in here.

This weekend was GREAT! I haven't had so much fun in the fields maybe ever. I didn't want to log off for fear of missing another quest or activity.

Thanks for putting in all the hours, I know I saw several Imms online quite a bit. It really makes players like me (who haven't been playing non-stop for 10-15 years) enthusiastic for their character. Even though you Imms can be intimidating as hell sometimes, it's really good for me to see the polish that all of the Imms and hero types have because it shows me what I need to improve to make my character more believable.

So again, that was great.

Trust me, I was SO there... and very participative (but not in yours... intentionally).

1) Typing in all capital letters is useful for emphasis, but not when it's 30% of your post. If you have a good argument, it'll work without that.

2) Someone else can grab the empowerment issue, but in general I believe we're catching people earlier and more reliably now than in past years. You tend to play in the middle of the night for North America, which won't overlap well with most of our schedules, however. Even still, your last character was empowered within 10 days of creation, which historically speaking is slow but not very slow. As far as I can see, the wizlist looks accurate right now, except a couple people marked "Dormant" occasionally grab people.

3) Regarding Immortal positions, you wrote:
"Another, not-so-bad idea, would be to stop choosing the same players (OOC) to "Imm," realize instead that those players are "heroing," "Imming," QUITTING, and then doing it all over again, when there are people on this MUD that have been playing for 10-15 years, newbie, then mediocre, then legendary after legendary character, who are consistently turned down... and, yes, even if they have coding abilities, creative wells, and time in their lives (which, with the exception of the last item, all vary in degrees between the Immortals), are being turned down again and again and again."

I can't find anything in that paragraph that is remotely correct.

We have a record of every successful applicant going back a decade, and unsuccessful applicants going back nearly as far. I'm simply unaware of anyone who could be remotely described as playing "legendary after legendary character" who has been turned down recently once, let alone repeatedly. We've even given chances to a number of people who had, uh, uneven rules histories in the (not especially recent) past.

Reasons people tend to get turned down:
1) Weak character history. We need to see that you excel in a couple areas of the game.
2) Rules problems. Obviously, if you've been cheating recently trust is low. If you've ever been caught cheating as a staff member you're more or less dead in the water. (We did give a heroimm a repeat chance who had previously inducted his own mortal into his cabal. I can't think of other examples.)
3) Availability. They haven't shown a consistent ability to stick with one character, with a reliable schedule. All Immortals have four-digit numbers of hours on their characters.
4) Previous poor performance on staff. We're pretty liberal with a first chance, but getting a second one is tough, and getting a third one will make a lot of people grumble. This doesn't really apply to people who have previously proven themselves, left on good terms, and want to come back... though even then, they often get poked and prodded a lot, and we do turn some applications down.
5) Poor written English. Basically, if you can't express yourself clearly in text (both spontaneously and for areas/helps/etc.), this is a very hard job, and the "success rate" (getting to 53, say) is very low. We've had a number of staff who turned out great despite English as a second language, however.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

1. Agreed. I was a complete ass. I was completely irate and should have stepped away from the computer. Had I done that, this would have been a paragraph stating basically the same essential point, which I still believe is valid. Also, I can't stand CAPS, so I'm particularly disgusted that I was so "generous" with them.

2. I actually do not play in the middle of the night in Middle America. I play in the evening, night, late night, and early morning on the West Coast (so, yeah, the night hours are late for those on the East Coast). However, if I am looking for empowerment, I poke around with my hours, trying first late afternoon, just-after-dinner-time and just-after-kids-go-to-sleep time, then midday... you know, trying different times realizing that everyone has different schedules and timezones. 10 days isn't the end of the world. But a month and a half as my last Trabryn follower (in-game note, then letter to @carrionfields.com email, then praying in general for assistance), getting a stern empowerment from a non-visible Immortal to rank 21 stating that no one would empower me past 21, unless it was Trabryn... but then Trabryn changed his status to dormant. That was a long explanation, but it is frustrating because these things keep happening.

3. I made a larger deal of it than I should have, as it is probably far less common then I made it out to be. However, I actually know, with certainty, that there are more than one case to each of those points. Unfortunately, stating names, actual or in-game, will only bring down more of this drama and nonsense, and I want none.


Regarding the successful applicant/list of reasons for turning applicants down:
Absolutely none of those items apply in the case I was referring to (not me, clearly).

Reasons people tend to get turned down:
1) Weak character history. We need to see that you excel in a couple areas of the game.
2) Rules problems. Obviously, if you've been cheating recently trust is low. If you've ever been caught cheating as a staff member you're more or less dead in the water. (We did give a heroimm a repeat chance who had previously inducted his own mortal into his cabal. I can't think of other examples.)
3) Availability. They haven't shown a consistent ability to stick with one character, with a reliable schedule. All Immortals have four-digit numbers of hours on their characters.
4) Previous poor performance on staff. We're pretty liberal with a first chance, but getting a second one is tough, and getting a third one will make a lot of people grumble. This doesn't really apply to people who have previously proven themselves, left on good terms, and want to come back... though even then, they often get poked and prodded a lot, and we do turn some applications down.
5) Poor written English. Basically, if you can't express yourself clearly in text (both spontaneously and for areas/helps/etc.), this is a very hard job, and the "success rate" (getting to 53, say) is very low. We've had a number of staff who turned out great despite English as a second language, however.

6) Lying a whole lot. I forgot about that one, as it hadn't come up until fairly recently.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

tl;dr

Is that the super-secret back door command to get automatic empowerment? Nifty.

Nah, net-forum shorthand for too long; didn't read.

:)

I can't say I disagree, but why did you bother posting at all?


Hey! Maybe you should tutor me in succinct posting. If you compare the ratio of my epic piece of crap to your 5 digit post, both in length and content.



Edited: Because a crazy-looking emoticon appeared where I was attempting a text-only smiley face.

... the first paragraph.

The tone of this post is incredibly demanding and pompous. When you roll an empowerment character, you're taking all the risks that you just complained about. End of story. That is just plain life as an empoweree. If you can't hack it, feel free not to play a shaman, druid, paladin or healer.

I doubt very much that any of the Imms will bother to read your, quite frankly, utterly rude and presumptive post.

You need this disclaimer: The Immortals and Administration of Carrion Fields LLC do not owe you anything, at all, ever, period. Anything you receive from them should be taken as the highest praise for the effort you've put in on the game that each and every one of them has put in more hours creating and refining than you will ever know or understand.