*tips hat* to Splork

[Medios]

[ 1w 0o 0c 0d] Flight the Untitled

I would first like to say that I think as a playerbase we whine alot. We come home log in, figure its business as usual and find something has been changed/nerfed/fixed whatever. People dont like change much and we usually end up bitching/whining about our old skill or how hard it is to get our new skill spellbooks or alignments in order. The bottom line being that we play this game for fun. The immortals who run sloth do so because they enjoy seeing us having fun. They arent getting paid money or even items/services in the game. They work for free simply so we can have a place to come and call home. There isnt some initiative to piss anyone off or nerf a hidden trick that made us do things we shouldn't normally be able to do. Yes they sometimes give us too much and then reduce the power to keep it more fair for everyone, but overall they are here for our enjoyment. I had a fairly long discussion with Rick last night after I made a imm bash on the crier. After we talked I realized he felt that as players we dont understand the time put forth to make our game great. Alot of us say hurtful things, its human nature, and our imms take it to heart. During my discussion I felt sorry about the way we conduct ourselves when things get changed. I hadnt put much thought into the fact that while we level and get eq, Splork is checking logs for cheaters, coding new skills, and generally making sloth alot more fun. Everyone knows I like to tease him about being SlothMuds public relations imm and nothing more. I think he knows thats just a joke but nonetheless it weighs in. I also think we unfairly judge Rick for his chars power. Rick is on this game more than anyone I know (Bird in close second ). He spends countless hours every day playing, not only Splork but also mortals to test the classes and make the game more fun and fair for all. Does anyone know how many > tri40 chars he has deleted? Char deletion in our minds is not even a question. I think some of us came off like we thought he used immortal knowledge to advance in levels and eq. I submit the following, once you know about a certain skill/advantage the luster wears off. The game isnt as fun if you know everything. Nontheless he continues to play and in my estimation will continue to do so regardless of who threatens to leave or quits. From our conversation and the pwipe of Flight I realized Rick is more concerned with the overall well being and future of sloth than any char or eq he could ever obtain. Some will say, he can level another char no problem so the wipe doesnt prove anything. I see it as a gesture of good faith, we all talked about him and made some stupid comments that really just tarnish his integrity as a person not just an imm/player. For this I would like to say I am sorry if I ever offended you Rick. Lately we have talked more than ever and your a hard person to reach. Most players are lucky to even get a simple nod. Please dont take our harshness so personally, your a driving force on this mud. One that has made it the great game that it is today.

Mike

PS. Thanks to everyone who keeps our game running like a well oiled machine.

[brand]

nods

[12345]

Agreed.

[Avatar]

Well said Medios.

It's hard sometimes to express your opinions online. I've seen countless arguments and misunderstandings where two people actually agree with what they're saying but don't get their messages across this digital, text-based barrier. Rick's contributions to the game have been countless, and that's just considering the ones I know about. I'm sure there are equally as many behind the scenes that I'm not aware of.

So, for myself, let me apologize for my lack of respect and constant whining. I've tried to improve lately and spend a little more effort towards expressing the gratitude that I do feel for this place and the people who make it possible. I also try to vote whenever possible, even when I'm upset by a change I try to remember that this is still my favorite hobby. Most of the time, when I vote, I even vote for Sloth. (Just kidding! Just kidding! My votes always go to Sloth!!)

Back to the point, I know we whine and complain and can be quite spiteful sometimes. Rick definitely made Flight into one of the top tanks on Sloth. He's inspired a whole generation of Warrior/Monk tanks, and they have some huge shoes to fill. I don't think anyone can deny his skill as a player or his dedication as an immortal.

I guess I've pissed off every imm around here at least once, and I do regret it each time. I try to say one thing and it comes out another, and people get frustrated with me. That's in addition to all the difficult situations I specifically caused as an imm. I guess this is a good opportunity to say that I appreciate the time and energy you dedicate to this place. I'm sorry if what I've said has offended anyone, and I wish I could find better words to explain things positively instead of annoying people.

[Shyla]

I don't normally post a whole lot anymore, but when it comes to bashing

of immorts I guess I feel I have to. I know I whine a lot. I know I am

probably the biggest whiner around and I don't take change. But I realize

just how much the immorts do for this game and how much of a toll it can

be on them whether they admit it or not. People might say annie this

flight that but let me tell you there are certain people that no matter what

char you give them they will rock just because they are better players

overall, not b/c they cheat or their classo. Thankyou medios for saying

something nice about an immort. I really wish more of the people here

would publicly stop bashing immorts and start praising them for the things

you like. I am not saying you can't whine about changes you don't like.

HOWEVER I reall would like to see more thankyous!

Thankyou to the immorts those seen and invised that spend their time to

work on this mud

Shyla

[osric]

Wow, I think Splork has a knack for turning arguments around (something he has even done to me a few times) so don't let him fool you, he too actually likes this mud (he may even enjoy in some small way all the whining) and many of the players. I have no idea why Flight is down to 1st level (so lemme know all the gossip when I'm on) but I really enjoyed trash talking him when I had a free moment, I often used words like CHEAP, and CHEAT, and even NERD, and I know that at times he really disliked that, but hey thats what you get when you're the best. I told Splork once when we were on the subject of Flight that even though I was jealous of his abilitiy (both as a character and a player) that I enjoyed grouping with him, and once even losing a Chaos Night (something they shoiuld bring back) to him, yes I actually enjoyed losing for once, at least I got to go toe to toe with the big lug! I bring this up not to pat Splork on the back (though he deserves it) but to remind him not to let all this gushing get to his head, cuz I'll be there to trashtalk whatever great character design he comes up with next! I say this because the imms are the creators of all things in this game good, and reactionary (read bad if you like) and they deserve feedback for the changes they make to the work of others (and their own in many cases) esepcially when they are too close to the situation to be critical. In closing Thank You all immortals and even you Splork, my freetime wouldn't be the same without your efforts and I appreciate it, truely! Now when are we gonna get ticks back, just kidding

[blackmore]

There's a lot I could say about this, but I don't know any details behind it, so I hesitate to say too much. However, Rick has coded most of the new warrior and thief skills, especially the avatar ones. He could have easily made them overpowering to his own benefit. He also added much of the quest shop equipment, and while I've jokingly accused him of it before, he didn't focus the equipment he was adding to increase Flight's power. It's a hard line to walk, between being a skilled mortal and being a mortal who has admin responsibilities, especially when everything thinks the line belongs in a different place.

[**Jake**]

In the line of tipping our hats to Splork, I'll do so as well.

Rick doesn't pull any punches when it comes to telling you what he thinks. Same goes for when he's telling me I'm nuts on some topic. Maybe this demeanor ticks people off from time to time, but there's no question about his dedication to Sloth.

I don't think there's a class he hasn't played. After playing many of the new classes, he felt there was a problem with the lack of abilities in the old non-caster classes (thief and warrior - but especially warrior). (He wasn't the only one who felt this way, but I doubt there are many up here who know as well as he does which classes do and don't need help.)

He started out by complaining to the coders - but finally said screw it and fixed the problem himself. He came up with the ideas, and he learned how to code them without any programming background. You'd expect lots of issues with code introduced by someone new to coding, but he tested them so well that it went really smooth. After all that effort, he had me to "skills warrior" and said: "Now that's much better, but still not where all the other classes are."

I know at least a couple older, semi-retired players who started playing again merely because they saw "Unlearned" in their skill list. (On a side-note, I wonder if they would have really ended up playing more if they had just went to the warriors guild and done: "practice <skill>" 8 times.)

I could keep going, but I don't want to add a table of contents. There's no doubt -- Sloth wouldn't be what it is today without his help.

--
Jake

[Yasik]

Cmon ppl, a little cynism wont hurt you! I have an explanation on whats happened

Rick probably just got drunk, wanted to wipe ME and *accidentally* wiped his own char! Few "days after" he definitely will realize the terrible mistake he made and he would restore his char. BUT NOW he CANT do that, after all the nice things you said about him, because now he MUST keep up the image of "Noble Immortal" !!!


You evil people, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM !!!

Friendly famili mud, eh?

[Medios]

bump



Mike