[ Eep! I apologize so much for this... Quote and Edit were a bit too close :/ Unfortunately most of the post ended up being removed by accident. If you could edit it back, Verrliit, to include as much of it as it was before... Again, really sorry for my mistake. I\'ll watch myself better next time. --Karyuu ]
[Edit-- You are instantly forgiven, Karyuu. To have won such respect from you, that you would apologize, pleases me greatly. That you consider one of my posts valuable enough to ask me to reconstitute it, pleases me even more. Especially since what I say here might be taken as critical of you. That far outweighs any upset that others might not read what I wrote. :) --Verrliit ]
[Edit-- some was saved, a little was added -- Verrliit]
Originally posted by Karyuu
Originally posted by Verrliit
I only put a name to the boxes. Those that inhabit them, did so, long before I said a word.
Tsk :) I never thought of myself as being part of the tiny few in the PS community, who are either jealous of your weapons, or worshippers of dull and boring. Try not to divide the community into \"us\" and \"them.\"
I am pleased to have provoked introspective thought, Karyuu. :) And I never said you were either of those things.
My weapons? Those who live in those dark little boxes of insignificance as you call them, are jealous of all things exceptional, unusual, rare or extreme, no matter who achieves them. I only argue that extremes should exist, and are good for roleplay and mechanics alike, not that I must personally keep the weapons I currently have.
I agree completely, that doing things to divide the community is wrong. That is why I have extensively debunked such ridiculous and devisive notions as: \"Powerleveler, Arch Enemy of Roleplay\", \"Abusing /tell\", \"Abusing the DR\", and \"Roleplaying Incorrectly\".
They do not exist.
These insults were invented so that a few could call others names, win arguments, and feel superior. They have been used extensively to seriously divide the community, for a very long time.
You are quite right, Karyuu. Those who divide the community, should very properly be ashamed of themselves.
I have spent many hours reading in the forums and engaged in discussion here and elsewhere about PS, and I can no longer resist posting this:
The Blind Men and the Elephant -- John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
?God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!?
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, ?Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ?tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!?
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
?I see,? quoth he, ?the Elephant
Is very like a snake!?
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
?What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,? quoth he;
? ?Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!?
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: ?E?en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!?
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
?I see,? quoth he, ?the Elephant
Is very like a rope!?
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
Moral:
So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!
I hear passionate argument from each of you, and others, telling me what PS is supposed to be, what is right, and what is wrong.
Each of you says things that are \"true, but\":
Yes, this is officially called a \"Technical Demo\" of the game. But PS has gone public, and has thousands of players who have each put in hundreds of hours of work into the game.
Yes, someone could exploit my proposal for dealing with a wipe. But not enough that the rest of the players should be shortchanged, just to prevent the exploit.
Yes, the weapons with a slash in the hundreds may have been an accident. But that does not make them a bad thing. They have many positive effects, and they do not harm RP in the slightest.
Yes, players do things that are not part of a dialog, or a character interaction. But not all of life or the RP story of one, involves interactions between people.
Yes, the players do not play the way that you expect. But what the players do is what makes most sense to
them.Yes, everyone in PS should RP as best they can. But non-RP play is not wrong. After all, the official treasure hunts and quests are really not RP either. (But I know a player who can make simply having a cold, a fascinating and compelling RP experience. I hope someday to get that good, myself.)
Yes, RP is the point, and the reason PS exists. But the players come to PS, first and foremost to have fun, and short of disrupting the play of others, there is no wrong way to play.
Yes, the players play on the stage that the Devs have built. But...
PS is what the players do, not what the Devs do.
The players will always play to have as much fun as possible, with whatever they are given to play with.
If they did not do what you expect of them, they did not make a mistake. They did not do something wrong, and they did not play incorrectly.
What you expect of them, is unimportant. Your design goals and theories and preferences are irrelevant.
The players do not play with those things.
The players play with what the Devs have built so far.
If they do not do what you expected, you did not build what you thought you did, and you are the one who failed to understand.
Not the players.
PS is what the players do.
Verrliit
