Dear DayBreak and DayBreak Staff, I'm coming to you to post on the forums about all the concerns I've been hearing and witnessing for myself. The list will be easy to read and understand so I hope that you can take into consideration what is on a lot of people's minds that don't have a voice or are scared to speak up. 1. Time Lost Servers: A lot of players who are newer to the game really do enjoy these servers, and those who have been waddling around the other servers for a very many years really enjoy the change. It's a great idea and a lot of players love this! Yet there are some that find to be a 'look here's a shiny new penny!' distraction so you can make changes elsewhere without players taking much notice because they're focused on the new penny. Many feel it to be a ruse or childish tactic and a way to kill off the game. (How true this is I have no idea. I don't like the new server so my opinion on it is void.) 2. Server Reduction: This is something that is a 50/50 for many. They voice their concerns and a lot of the concerns have been answered straight forward and quickly. I play Antonia Bayle so I'm not really one to voice much on this other than I think it's a good idea to bring players together. 3. The Rules: Being someone who has had to deal with things in this area I'm familiar that Rules are there to guide and keep the community solid and stable, and to keep the rule breakers to a minimum. However, and I do not wish to sound harsh or even brainy on the matter, but people are scared. So scared they are either leaving or scared to even speak to friends for fear they will be reported or banned for a simple slip of the tongue. EverQuest and EverQuest2 has been a place where the player-base (particularly the Roleplayers of whom I stand up for and defend since I'm part of their community) are scared of even Roleplaying. Word has gotten out that even in your roleplay if your character speaks one foul word that you will be reported and punished for it. In a case like this you may find it hard to teach old dogs new tricks, but with how you're going about it it's trying to beat that old dog into submission. (We do have a Mature Filter) Rumors are not something I generally listen to but when the rumors revolved around Venues shutting down that have been around for nearly the duration of EQ2 its self then I tend to listen since some rumors are true. People are concerned for their accounts, their Roleplay that has been going on for years, and the venues that are already scarce as it stands. The changing of the rules is good and I support some of them that have been placed in, but you have to not think of yourselves in this matter, but think of the players who have been around longer than many of you have. Without us you have no money to support EQ and EQ2. This game isn't about just you but us as well. Take into consideration each action you make and how the players react. Watch and learn because some mistakes cannot be undone no matter how hard you try. I truly hope that you, Daybreak, consider this because many in the RP community are scared to even RP with their partners, friends, and even in Venues. Sincerely, A very concerned community member of going on 6 1/2 years.
Cut the drama. Daybreak has lost 40% of its devs this past year. They're hardly wasting their time trolling every little RP group to leave them shuddering in their kilts. If your purported "Roleplay chat" is so offensive to the player base that you're going to get reported and banned for it, then it contains racial slurs, homophobia, or refers in the crudest terms to genitalia or gross/sociopathic acts, etc. Common sense dictates that if you avoid these types of things then you dodge the banhammer. Drunder is up to try and scare dupers, hackers, botters and exploiters, a.k.a. those messing up the game play and game world economy for everyone else.
For non-roleplayers some of these things are "gross/sociopathic acts" as you put it. However for Roleplayers it's a common act of Storyline. Look at the games lore. Every quest has lore in it. Lore books are all over the place. Those acts are all over the game if you take the time to read the quests you do, unless you're powerleveled or just skip through NPC speech when accepting or finishing a quest.
...and this is why we need a PROPER RP server. But I've been saying that for years, back when the hardcore raiders used to troll open RP in the blood haze (or anywhere else for that matter) when it was still around.
I have always seen red names be protective of the games roleplayers. I don't know the in's and out's of the Drunder server but I can't seriously think after all this time protecting roleplayers that a non-RPer can come in, /petition someone doing RP and the RPer get sent to Drunder. I'm of the opinion that if your RP includes something that WOULD get you sent to Drunder then you shouldn't be saying it, RP or other wise. I do agree that we need some clear rules on what gets you into prison around here, but if your RP chat is normal I don't think "the Fancy" needs to shut it's doors.
No one should be trembling in fear. As the saying goes, "Chicken Little, the sky is not falling". As Windstalker's post announcing the Drunder prison server states: Drunder is where some accounts found to be in violation of our existing Rules of Conduct, Naming Policy, AFK Policy, Terms of Service, and/or EULA are selected to be sent in lieu of account termination.Everyone should take the time to read through these documents carefully. No one is likely to be banished to Drunder for an occasional coarse word within a limited audience. But if you get in general chat channels and lard on the obscenities, that's a different story. Primarily, Drunder is for people who are disrupting the play of others and who are cheating.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Zexian and I agree 100% with you regarding #1 though not all of the other things you listed. I do respect your right to your opinions. As I've been a long time player of EQ2, I like others have seen many changes in game and with significant ones from SOE to Daybreak in how we as players are taken care of from a customer service aspect. However, the game is still satisfactory overall and all I ask is that DB take care of us all because without us dedicated players, this game would shrivel up and wither away.
I still think that AFK policy should be put on the back burner until the /camp bug is fixed. At least strict enforcement of it should be.
I have a conjy who experiences the /camp bug frequently. It's never a bad idea to move your toon away from mobs and other hazards before camping in the first place. If you are standing AFK in your guildhall doing nothing, there's no issue. If you are a summoner standing AFK with your pet told to not attack or defend, or better yet off to the side somewhere, no problem. It's the summoners standing in little-frequented areas with lots of green mobs with their pet set to protect their master, with a bevy of various sized boxes rotting around them from where the pet has been killing the repops that's an issue. That's the AFK leveling thing. I dunno if one could level one's green adorns this way, so even at level 100 with all your AAs, I would recommend a minimum attention to where you try to camp.
Since I realized it was a bug with /camp and not me being spacey and forgetting to camp, I have started taking my conjy and necro back to either the guild hall, a house or a city before camping. That eliminates any potential for mistakenly being banned for afk leveling. Honestly I generally do that with my other characters as well, or at least move them to an out of the way place (fly to the top of a cliff or something).
Much drama about nothing seriously. First rule of RP is know your audience. Some groups are shall we say are more risque then others. Choose carefully the type of group you wish to be a part of. I can assure you devs or GM's are not listening on all RP to insure they are following the rules to a tee. Rules are clearly stated in the TOS and EULA. Read them, know them, and again KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. In any case I'm sure unless the violation is a gross violation of either of those documents, you may receive a warning, perhaps a time out etc., before the perma ban hammer falls. And even then there is a repeal process in place as always. Also, these are unwarranted rumors, probably started by those who would troll role players in the first place. Ignore rumors. Stick to the facts. So unless you or others go around and purposely break the rules stated in the TOS or EULA documents, let me assure you that you have no worries at all about your accounts. It would be more helpful if folks would just keep calm and follow the rules instead of amping up unnecessary drama concerning this new prison server. Think of it this way, this prison server may end up helping RP'rs in that those that have trolled you guys in the past and kept you from enjoying the game in the past, broken rules etc., will now be removed from general pop and the harm they do on the live servers. In the meantime, squelch the rumors and enjoy your RP.
Just get in the habit of moving your toon to their home or guild hall before going afk or camping. Or dismiss your pets and mercs.
It is something I've seen. People are scared to have their characters curse when they may be a pirate or something that has a vulgar mouth. Someone's already been banned for their character cursing in an in character situation. To my knowledge one of the longest and oldest Venues is thinking of shutting down because of their theme and how it works. I'm not here to create drama just merely stating the facts that this could and has already snowballed in the RP community from my view and knowledge. I really enjoy this game and with what little RP there is left, it's shrunk even more in the last week with people leaving to the sudden and drastic changes. Only here to voice my opinion and try to stick up for the little guy in this.
Be careful believing everything people tell you regarding bans, though; they're usually banned for doing much more than they will ever admit to doing.
