There's a very important section in the Simutronics Policy that states:

"There are many "grey areas" in terms of defining what is acceptable competition, and what is abusive behavior. In general, Simutronics will not get involved in any player vs. player conflict which is confined to a small group of players. However, if such conflict overlaps to other players, or causes a generally disruptive influence on DragonRealms in general, the participants will be warned. Simutronics reserves the right to determine which behavior is considered abusive."

While occasional forays into this Grey Area are understandable, sometimes unavoidable, and in some cases, even required, it's very important to make it clear that it is a dangerous place for anyone to set up residence.

Even though most people understand this, as new systems, guilds, and storylines have emerged over time, it has become evident that there is a certain subset of players who, for whatever reason, feel the need to make themselves at home in this Grey Area and effectively "set up shop" and begin to involve themselves in incidents of conflict with other players.

When these incidents are observed individually, these Grey Area residents can almost always present a case to the GM investigating the matter that their actions were, to varying degrees, within the Policy guidelines and that the other individuals are the ones who were, in fact, acting outside of the framework of acceptable behavior. This almost always results in entirely the wrong outcome, where the actual "victim" is the one being chastised by the GMs or worse, receiving an official Warning for PvP, Disruption, or Harassment. If the GMs aren't exceptionally vigilant and thorough as they look through the logs of both sides when reviewing these matters, or when multiple GMs are involved over long periods of time and not comparing notes, these patterns can be missed.

When viewed from a "Big Picture Level", however, the patterns become much more visible and the player(s) actions and conduct seems to indicate that the only way that some people can apparently derive enjoyment from DragonRealms is to bully, demean, or provoke other people either into docility and capitulation or, at the other end of the spectrum, into "physical" retaliation or a PvP altercation.

What we need to differentiate between here is the spirit of the law vs the letter of the law. Yes, by the letter of the law, these activities, especially when taken on an individual basis, range from "absolutely fine" to "not really that bad." It is when we look at the spirit of the law that we see that this sort of conduct is detrimental to DragonRealms. The spirit of the law says that there may not be anything specifically wrong with what someone is doing, but that doesn't mean their actions as a whole are acceptable for the good of the community. There's a difference in roleplaying a bad guy or an evil character to enhance the flavor of the game and playing one just because you like to annoy people and cause problems.

DragonRealms is not a game where everyone has to "play nice" or be "a good guy". Far from it, actually. Elanthia has plenty of room for antagonists and foils, provided those who want to play a villain or even just an "unpleasant" character understand that DragonRealms is not a single-player game where the concerns and wishes of the other subscribers are secondary to the whims and notions of an individual or clique. It is entirely possible to develop and maintain an adversarial role in Elanthia without inhabiting or even tiptoeing into the Grey Area of Policy.

Roleplaying an "evil" character or roleplaying a "bad guy" is not an easy task, but it can be an extremely enjoyable experience when done properly. What is not proper, however, is persistent abusive behavior couched in the guise of roleplaying and repeated goading and provoking of other players past their breaking point and then saying, "I didn't do a thing wrong, it's all their fault!".

This post needs to be seen as fair warning that if you are engaging in this sort of behavior (and if you are, you KNOW you are...there's no feigning innocence, here), it will be much more closely monitored and, ultimately, curtailed one way or another if it continues, as it needs to be crystal clear from this point forward that this is not an option.





Solomon


Fight me:
http://la-bubbita.mybrute.com


This message was originally posted in DragonRealms Policy Discussions, General Discussions on Policy. To discuss the above follow the link below.

http://www.play.net/forums/messages.asp?forum=20&category=2&topic=3&message=2225