Oi, what a headache. Alright, well now that I'm back, I'm going to weigh in on this.
Spoilers... hrmm, what's a spoiler? A quest solution. That's a spoiler. Can't think of anything else. In short, don't tell people the answers to quests. As far as in-character answers to quests, I'd be careful. To use an earlier example, "Have you seen a lost child recently?" "Yea sure... there was one down on the plaza and one in Ojaveda and one out on the road to the Magic shop..." Just because your character completed the quest once does not mean your character knows who the heck this other person is asking about. Unless the asker is very specific and unless your character
knows that whatever the person is looking for will be in a certain place (people actually move around in real life, believe it or not), he/she shouldn't provide an answer. To mean, this means 99% of the time, in-character quest-answers should not be given.
Out-of-character: In general, if someone is stuck on a quest, they really shouldn't be given help; they need to figure it out on their own (A. to keep the game interesting, and B. because Talad said so
). HOWEVER, the conversation system really sucks now... so if someone is stuck and asks, "How do I get this person to take item X so I can complete the quest?" I have no problem with the specific phrase being provided as long as the person knows the gist of what needs to be said. This still needs to be dealt with in out-of-character channels, though. Hopefully, the conversation system will be improved soon and this exception will become irrelevant, but until then, to prevent frustration, these sorts of answers are probably fine.
If you're confused, as a general rule of thumb: don't help people with quests.
Moving on from quests... Game mechanics. There are two categories of game mechanics: the basics and the details. By all means, please impart the basics (moving around, using the various graphical interfaces, etc) to all those who ask (in out-of-character channels, i.e. /tell). Helping newbies with the basics makes their entry into the world a lot smoother and saves everyone headaches down the road. Imparting etiquette and basic information on roleplay also makes things easier.
Then there're the details: "How much strength do I need to wield weapon X?" No one should know the answer to that question (or care), and you should definitely not say the exact number. Your character has no way of knowing just how much muscle it will take to wield said sword: you can't really quantify that. You can say something like, "Well, you need to be pretty strong," but specific numbers? No, no, and no. No one should be discussing any of the specific gameplay mechanics in terms of formulas and numbers. It works against roleplay and puts the emphasis of the game on leveling and stats. "But I want to know if I'll be able to wield sword X before I spend 500,000 tria on it!" Would your character have any way of knowing this beforehand? Not without practicing with the weapon. Maybe your guild has a weapon you can try out, but I doubt most merchants would let you test out a deadly weapon (anyone ever asked if they could try out a gun before buying?). Trying to mess with the stats to produce the most powerful character you can is called munchkinning. Here's the wiki blurb if you're interested:
"A Munchkin is a player who plays a normally cooperative game (usually a role-playing game) to amass as much power and as many kills as possible, whatever the costs to role-playing, the storyline, fairness, logic, or the other players' fun. The term is also frequently used in reference to powergamers and to immature players in general...
Munchkins are infamous for twisting rules and min/maxing. This often leads to exceptionally unrealistic or unusual characters.
Munchkins are often accused of roll-playing, a pun on 'role' that notes how munchkins are often more concerned with the numbers and die rolls than with the roles that they play.
A more neutral use of the term is in reference to novice players, who, not knowing yet how to roleplay, typically obsess about the statistical "power" of their characters rather than developing their characters' personalities."
Munchkins are not wanted in Planeshift. If you want to munchkin, play World of Warcraft. I won't say it can't be fun, but Planeshift is not that kind of game.
This has all been pretty negative thus far: "don't do this and don't do that." Well, here's what you can do...
Provide in-character information. This ranges from directions to places (NOTE: directions that your character knows. If you have two characters and the first one has been to the bronze doors while the second one hasn't, the second one should not be directing people on how to get to the bronze doors) to information on how to make money ("Well, you can kill rats and sell their hides to fellow X. I made a fair bit myself this way, back when I was a poor fellow new to the city," etc etc (depending on backstory)). The key thing to remember in everything is: "What does my character know and what would he be willing to share?" You may play a pompous merchant who has no time for foolish paupers (poor people). In that case, a "Get away you filthy wretch," (or something to that effect) would be in order. Always, who is my character? What would he/she do? If your character knows and would help, help. If not, don't.
Sorry that this has gotten so long, but I wanted to be as complete as possible. This is just my take on things and how I personally deal with the issues presented.
Oh, one final note on roleplay: do not try to make OOC things into roleplay; it causes headaches. I'm referring specifically to the sort of thing epitomized by, "What's a cat?" It's not helpful. Instead, in a /tell, very politely explain that there are not cats in Planeshift and that you are an enkidukai. This policy is ditto for additions/changes/bugs. The fact that you fell through a hole in the world and died doesn't need to be played as, "a wrathful god created a rip in the fabric of space-time and sucked you up." This sort of thing changes the environment of the world. That god takes on a slightly evil shade (I mean, what nice god randomly sucks poor innocent people down rips in the fabric of space-time?). If you really need a roleplay justification for bugs, crashes, etc, try some real-life basics that we don't really discuss in PS on a normal basis, such as: "Had to use the bathroom." "I was thirsty, so I got a drink." "I forgot item X at shop Y/my house." There are plenty of mundane reasons you can use. Don't make every bug into a magical event. And don't thank the gods for the bronze doors (i.e. new areas, new features). Just go on as if they'd always been there.
Anyway, my piece is done (for real this time)... now I think I'll go to sleep.
