Uhhh how else would you RP a thief asking the person to rob them is like sending someone a letter saying "hey. Can I rob you next week on Monday" When people 'ask' its a game/RP/event ruiner in my own opinions and that is why I avoided saying anything OOC to the players.
Two nights ago, my character Tess was attacked. The entire negotiation was handled like this:
(23:05:41) [Tell] XXXXX tells you: [are you OK with Tessra getting any/all of a) robbed, b) assaulted physically, c) killed?]
(23:06:23) [Tell] You tell XXXXX: [yup. im fine with it, as long as there's no raping]
(23:06:42) [Tell] XXXXX tells you: [yeah, that is not XXXXX's style. :p]
About an hour later, the attack happened, and played into a robbery and murder. There was much talk and RP in between the agreement and the attack. After the attack, we even discussed the possibility of a second one, and how my character would justifiably be wary of XXXXX again, and would have to be ambushed or snuck up on for it to work. It was all handled quickly, and without giving too many details to ruin the fun of it.
That being said, I don't really think Vaka should have been banned. I did a few role-plays with Vieg, and he went AFK a lot. It happens. I can understand how it would appear to be disrespectful for someone to not reply, but dropping a banhammer without them even speaking a word in their defense is not cool in my opinion. After all, it wasn't like it was some incredibly time sensitive thing. The banning could have waited at least until there was confirmation from the player that they were even at their computer. Had the GM needed to be elsewhere, messages could have been left for other GMs to handle it, the situation could have been put off to the next night, etc. Personally, I really miss Vieg. He was fun to play with, and my evil alt liked poking at him.
Perhaps it is because this was my first MMORPG, and I came in with very little in the way of expectations, but I haven't seen some of the problems with a lack of RP that others mention. I can always find an RP if I want one. I run four different characters, most people I see in game know that I'm both Teshia and Tessra, but I also have two "secret" alts that I don't tell many people about and use for when I want a change. I am not ashamed to admit I level the heck out of Teshia. To be able to play her in character, she has to have strong stats and an ability to duel, which means I spend hours in the arena or in Oja or wherever my trainers are. It's something that has to be done to accommodate the PvP role-plays. [Incidentally, can I just say I hate rolling dice with a passion? I've done a bit of confrontational RP now, and if the players are both open-minded and mature about it, they will each take a share of hits, and dodge hits without the need for a die.] But even with all the leveling, I still do a lot of role-play with her. It is possible to do both. Maybe I'm just really lucky to have found the people in game that I found, but I know so many wonderful role-players that I just don't see the lack of RP.
I will say, I find the link posted with the situation involving Lhaa to be somewhat disturbing. I've got a lot of experience admin/modding on forums and one of the biggest rules that tends to go unspoken is that a GM/Mod/Admin should not be doing their job angry. Being in that position is a thankless job. You are always going to get criticized, blamed or vilified. That doesn't mean you should lower your personal expectations and act to fit the things people will say. Maybe there was more to the log than was posted, but using one set of [] to correct a typo certainly does not deserve even a friendly reminder. While the GM in question might have spoken English, we cannot assume that everyone on the game speaks English well enough to be able to read typos. Many people do not. It is only polite to correct typos in a situation where those nearby might have trouble understanding them. I mean, I can read basic Spanish, but if it were poorly typed, I guarantee you I would have trouble understanding what was being said. It might not have been the best response to get in the GMs face about it... but I think the GM might have been a little zealous.
Would it be totally lame to quote the Golden Rule here?
[Oh yeah... and this was just my verbose way of saying I agree with pretty much everything Sarras has said
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