Shattered Kingdoms

I def let some people down, but at this point it was inevitable. The game is literally unplayable on anything but an individual, random level. Without making a char who is completely unrelated to any politics or time demanding maintenance, I don't see how anyone is expected to enjoy this game. I like the nostalgic logging on and playing a game I once really liked, but it was made very clear that it's just the shell of that now. The players make the game within the construct of SK and they're just: not there, not enabled, not motivated, and simply ignored. I know the main fan site is being read by staff. Why the comments of some of the vets, who are clearly keeping this game going, are being blatantly ignored and things are being implemented that are just...obviously not working...is beyond me. What the staff's plans for this game are are either FAR out of reach or just SO far from enjoyable, as a player, that I want absolutely no responsibility for this game's future. I truly am sorry I couldn't impact things in a more positive way, but I just have absolutely NO idea how I could do that given what I'm enabled to do as a player and without any clear message from staff. Changes to code/equipment/areas seem to be absolutely one directional, but nobody understands the direction. I've asked of several people to tell me what enjoyment they get from playing and have gotten no clear answer. Once my RP got questioned by staff that completely shut me down. I encourage staff to get a pulse on what direction they want this game to go in, and declare that to the players who are, despite what anyone thinks, the people who CARRY THIS GAME!!!! The only reason there IS a game to play is because PEOPLE STILL PLAY IT!!! I'll stick around because I can still get a little enjoyment once in a while on a pure "blast from the past" kick, but unless EVERYONE sits down and figures this out things are going to be forever broken. No matter what anyone thinks, if the players' voices are not the loudest and most impactful, nothing that staff does matters. I feel sad that things are in the state that they are.

I feel ya man. I joined this game back in 2001, played hard for like 5 years then life came up and I took a long break. Always came back every year or two, just for a little while. It's definitely gone way down. Heh, ever since world of warcraft and games like that came out. A lot of people don't want to use their imaginations anymore. I'm having troubles getting into the game a lot, but I'm poor. What are some ideas that should get implemented? I know that this game CAN improve, but I think the IMMs want....no NEED input from us. Give 'em some.

I enjoyed Ashituri a lot. He was a great ally to have especially when it often seemed like there weren't many allies to be had. We had some fun times and were able to accomplish quite a bit.

That said, there was one thing that bothered me about Ashituri, which was that sometimes I really had a hard time feeling like the IC character of Ashituri and the OOC player of Ashituri were two separate entities. I realize I'm not perfect at keeping the two separate myself, but I feel like it detracts from the game when the player of a character starts to become more of an influence into the character rather than letting the character take on a life of its own, and I got that vibe from Ashituri moreso when our two characters would come into conflict, especially concerning IC politics.

Anyway, I understand burnout and the game is indisputably much different than it used to be, so I understand you leaving. For what it's worth I enjoyed our interactions and I hope you did too, and I hope this post comes off as I meant it, which is a bit of honest advice for enjoying the game in its different state: Just enjoy playing your character, keep your character separate from yourself, and then it's less frustrating when things don't go your way, which they often won't.

I'm also a late 2000 early 2001 kid. The game was much different then. This was before wow came out and there was always between 100 and 130ish players on. It was loads of fun and still was until I stopped playing 1.5 to 2 years ago.

Now I think the game is 12-15 on? Not sure. Still an excellent game but mmo's have eaten it alive imho.

The forums were much different then too. Much more...uh...hmmmm....not nice.

You will notice this orac forums ID is from'03 I was known as Conan for a couple years before that aka Conana Banana ala Jardek.

The point I am making is yea SK has changed alot but so has what is competing with it for peoples time. Not just other muds but mmo's and some excellent console/pc games. It's actually pretty good that lil ole text based SK even exists these days.

I'm compelled to respond to this thread for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I enjoyed this character, both as a mortal and as a staffer.

However, after you angled so hard for the position of Prior, your own communication with me ceased. If there was something you had wished to do as a mortal, I certainly didn't know enough about it to give you any direction or guidance. I am and have been a very hands-off patron, to the delight of some and the dismay of others. Unless I know there's something going on, I don't stick my nose or my hands into the faction workings. It is my position that they are mortal run so long as the core objectives are being met and the NPC entities behind the faction aren't offended to the point of butting in. If I am needed to facilitate a role play, an event a request or something else, I am open to schemes, questions and logs. That is how I have always operated.

I also stay quite far away from the other site, so if you want to reach my ears, these forums, my inbox or SK email are best.

Lastly, nobody on the staff knows anything about questioning your RP. You didn't petition me or anyone else for clarity about whether or not X or Y thing that you were doing (that someone must have questioned, but I can't surmise that it was a staffer) was okay. Your response was to essentially rage delete. I am sad for that: I wish you would have asked.

Best of luck with your next.

Sad to hear this Ash....

I had a couple interactions with the character and liked the RP, we didn't get to do too much in game but talk and it was great, he realized that aberrant characters did have some morals and values and gave me enlights when we spoke about actions of other characters that didn't act according to their cabals and or alignments (allies and enemies). Wanted to see the real Ashituri and how he acted in PK situations, but I think it would have been cool to have him as a friend and enemy even though our factions collided.

From what I saw he was a great character, hope to see you around with another one!!!!

I am sorry to see another friend leave the world. I will have a drink in your honor, my friend. - Xelen

SOMEone on staff knows. When I got my leader flag I basically got called out on some super basic day-to-day RP my char was doing to justify my even getting a leader flag. Someone was behind the NPC that straight called me out on a PC I was associating with had some sort of agenda, that was blatantly obvious. If you have a player willing to put forth effort into running ANY aspect of this game why wouldn't you just completely back that play with the state of things? Whether the player runs the cabal/tribunal/religion in a good/bad/ugly way, at least they're doing SOMEthing. As long as it's within the rules(which is a whole different ridiculous issue) who CARES what effect it's having as long as the player is generating activity?!

Bottom line is I came into a game with very little understanding of the state of it. I realized quickly that it was a very different game than I remembered. I tried to inject a little life into a dying situation, as best I know how(which can be pretty blunt I know), and got a very poor response. Once I had that interaction with staff and I talked to a few players to find out what FUN people are having playing this game, I felt like even in a leadership position of a cabal I couldn't make the game more fun for other players, which was the only reason I wanted leadership in the first place. I truly was willing to do more to make the game fun for other people but I honestly don't feel like that's a priority for, anyone, really. I think there's a few players hanging on because they can dominate a game with no players and there's a few players that have found a niche to do, whatever they're doing, but beyond that I don't see anybody(pbase or staff) with any sort of vision to make the game new and exciting to provide people with entertainment, which to me is the point of a game.

I just really want to get this point across, GET IT TOGETHER! I mean the disconnect from Dulrik to the people putting in the most hours playing his game is incredible. The most staff hours being logged are absolutely NOT in service to the desires of the players putting in the most hours. The "game" being played seems to be mostly players figuring out how staff is steering the game away from them. I blatantly asked what the staff direction of SK is and what they see for the future and got some runaround. If you like playing this game...if you like staffing this game...if this is YOUR game, realize that it's a GAME!!!!! Games have to have players! Players play to have fun, to be challenged, and to experience new things!!! This isn't something you should be LOOKing for ways to exclude people from. This is something you should be bending over backwards to INclude people TO! If you don't figure it out, eventually this is going to be a game with 5 referees and nobody playing. I don't have all the answers but the problems are blatantly obvious.

Just because someone's character questions what your character is doing doesn't mean the player don't like you or doesn't want to play with you. It sounds like someone ICly questioned Ashituri's actions in some really vague way and you decided that meant that the staff was out to get you and wasn't "on your side" because of that. Expecting people to always agree IC with your character just because you're logging in goes against the point of SK, which is to play a character, not yourself. It's also extremely unfair because it effectively demands that other people put their RP off to the side if it happens to disagree with yours.

Statements like thisseem to indicate that you feel that the staff should -always- agree with you just because you're playing the game, as if you're doing them a favor just by being present. That doesn't make sense to me.