Lazzy the Spazzy

The first point is something that I will discuss in greater detail in a later installment dealing with "Staff Incompetence". And this is just an opinion piece, so if you have a different point of view please share it. EDIT: And thanks, Eyru.

In my previous RPG Etiquette Episode (more than a year ago now), I adopted a rather cynical and sarcastic tone. This Episode will depart from that a bit by taking a more neutral opinion on matters. ---Part 1--- Godmodding. We RPers all know what it is. It's a rule in almost all RPGs, and those that don't have it usually tend to fall apart. Why is that? For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, Godmodding essentially stands for "godly modification", where a player makes his or her character unrealistically powerful or omniprescient, like a god. Ever heard of the slang term "hax"? A godmodder is basically the text-based RPG's equivalent of hax. Let's use a scenario to clarify this definition. Let's say you're role-playing in an RPG. Your character is a Toa, let's call him Toa A. You're fighting another player who also has a Toa, let's call him Toa B. Above I've illustrated the usual symptoms of godmodding. Player B not only has his own hits inexplicably hit his opponent without giving him a chance to react (a subcategory of godmodding called auto-hitting), but he also showed a disregard for Player A's actions and his surroundings (dodging their attacks without getting hit, despite being in a narrow alley). Now let's say Player C comes in. Player C has accumulated quite an army from years of role-playing, and has brought a fleet of airships that she has earned. Now the godmodding gets more unrealistic than before. Yes, we all see this in movies. A single person somehow manages to take down an entire airfleet through sheer awesomeness alone. But unfortunately, what godmodders often don't understand is that RPGs aren't movies, and that they (or their characters) are not the main character in some epic battle. In RPGs author powers don't apply, and using them without respect for the other player's wishes often leads to being punished. But my main purpose for writing this entry isn't to tell you what godmodding is. Chances are, if you're in an RPG, you know. ---Part 2--- So, we know what the problem is. How do we solve it? Usually (and hopefully), all it takes is a word with the godmodder. Most of the time they don't know that they're being unrealistic, and once they've been corrected they get better. But sometimes things aren't that easy. Sometimes the godmodder just doesn't get it, or if he/she does, just doesn't care. Maybe he or she likes being all powerful and invincible, and the rules can go to heck because they're in control, they get to make their character as omnipotent as they want. If you've been RPing for more than a few months, you've probably run into this situation. Maybe you're Player A, and your character is the one that gets "killed" by the other player. Maybe you're an observer, but you see how Player B is clearly godmodding and breaking the rules. Maybe you're a Staff Member, and it's your job to tell Player B to quit it. It's never pretty, and it's never fun. If Player B is okay with godmodding, he's probably okay with breaking every other rule in the RPG or even disrespecting the staff. On the internet where it's hard to actually enforce a rule on someone who intentionally chooses not to follow it, dealing with this can be frustrating. But deal with it we must, because otherwise, without consequences, Player B can godmodd all he wants and the RPG would fall apart. ---Part 3--- So how should we deal with it? Punish the godmodder? Sometimes this helps. Sometimes they just keep playing without regard for the rules. Ban the godmodder? Sure, that would make things much nicer. But does that guy deserve this punishment? He should be given a chance to improve himself, even if that chance happens to be the twentieth we've given him. Does he even deserve another chance? If we're considering doing something like banning the godmodder, he's probably done enough to deserve it. It would certainly save ourselves the trouble of having to deal with him again (which is a very real possibility). That dilemma is a tough one, but punishing the godmodder is a privilege that only staff have. What should we regular players do if we are godmodded against, or see someone godmodding? Telling them is usually the first option, but in rare circumstances where this godmodder is repeating his "crime", what would we do? Godmodd back? Fighting fire with fire works in many situations, but not in this one. If we try godmodding against the godmodder, he'll just godmodd more, thinking it's okay to, or doing it because we made him mad. Worst case, when the staff finally get to the problem, they may just punish all of us, because we also godmodded. If we sink down to his level, then he has an excuse to break the rules. Ignore him? We could just have everyone not interact with the godmodder, but that may not work if the godmodder actively seeks out people to beat up. The biggest problem is, a godmodder will usually respond to bigger conflicts with even more godmodding. Things escalate without a way for a reasonable solution to be achieved. I don't entirely know a path we can always take against godmodding, but I do know that responding with godmodding definitely won't work. If we get mad over this, then we're no better than the guy who repeatedly godmodds. What I think is the best road to take in this circumstance, is to just let the staff handle it. They have the authority to punish him, and if the godmodder ignores even the staff then there's no help for him anyway. ---End Credits--- A group of kids run around on the playground. One of them points at another. "Bang! Bang!" The kid ducks. "Missed me!" he points at the first. "Bang! Bang! You're dead!" "No I'm not!" "Yes you are! I hit you!" "No I hit you!" "Liar!" "Cheater!"

Looks like your life is finally going "up, up and away". [/lame pun] On another note, it was very confusing scrolling down your other entry. You and Smeag are easy to confuse at quick glances.

Hmm...I'm not getting that VAVOOM of inspiration, but I'll give this a try. Please don't delete this entry though, Tifosi. =\

hehe. I actually get that reference. Yeah don't worry about it Spink. You know what I do when I'm in those situations? I eat. It helps relieve my stress. Like your own mastication machine's punching bag.

There's a contest going on right now to make a Rahi canon...specifically, the bird Rahi that Ackar uses to teach Mata Nui how to predict an opponent's movements. There are lots of good entries out of the twenty there, go to the poll and vote for your favorite!

Hehe, ironic. Getting writer's block for ideas on how to write about writer's block. Whatever floats your boat. Make it as close to the theme as you can though.

All of the above, plus, if there's anything you've been planning to do that involves a lot of risk, do it now before your good luck runs out. That is, if you feel safe enough to.

I saw this from the Pinned Blogs a few hours ago and thought, "yep, that's sweet, but I don't need to go to the actual entry since I already know you're back". Thanks for disappointing me crushing me destroying all my will to live.

It's never too late, Ardros. You're in. That's a good idea, Akai.

2/10/10 Story Fit Exercise For an explanation of what the Story Fit is, please go here. Each week I'll post an exercise. This is the entry for the exercise of the week of February 10 - February 16. --- We're into our fourth week now, and it's time to get even more creative with our prompts. We've all experienced it. That dreadful thing called Writer's Block. The very mention of it sends chills down the best writers' spines...it's scarier than Edgar Allan Poe's short stories. Nevertheless, the job of a writer is to write, and we have to plow through regardless of whether we're being besieged by Writer's Block or not. We all deal with Writer's Block in various ways -- some of us take walks outdoors, some of us contemplate the walls while we sit in the bathroom, some of us force a haiku out of our brain. We all do something to get our creative juices flowing again. Now, here's the prompt. Think of the activity you do to dispel Writer's Block, then incorporate that activity into your story. Say you go for a swim when you have Writer's Block, and that's what helps you think of ideas again. You would then write a story that contains swimming somewhere -- say, a pair of Matoran discussing current events while they swim in Ga-Wahi, or a Toa swimming out into the Silver Sea to rescue a drowning civilian. --- There is no word limit or any other constraints -- the only requirement is that the story contain this theme. Once you write your story, post here with a link to it. Extra points will also be awarded to those members who review other Story Fit members' stories. This will not only give you practice with writing but also reviewing, as well as promote an exchange of ideas and styles within the BZP Writers Community. Happy writing! Note: As of now, there is no deadline by which you must turn in your story. This is an issue that is currently being discussed: see bottommost section and respond with your opinion. --- Each week we vote for the Writer of the Week, based on the popularity of the stories submitted during that week. Whoever gets the most votes wins the award. Without further ado, I present this week's Writer of the Week: Grant-Sud, for his Conflict-themed story Alternate Perspective! Below is a list of stories that have been submitted within the past week. Look over them, read through them if you want, then vote for your favorite story (send a PM with your vote to me). At the end of this week, I will count up the votes and give the Writer of the Week [of 2/3/10 - 2/9/10] award to the writer who gets the most votes. Last Week's Stories 1) Soulsnare by Rising Moon 2) Sister by Grant-Sud 3) I Am: Klighatus by Akai Hana no Tenshi Vote away! --- Maybe not a deadline, but rather a two week period between tasks instead of one week? Not sure how others feel about this, or if they feel the same, but I know that I'll need at least that for a while as at the moment I'll only be able to write two days a week [possibly five days, but three of those would be for a very minimal amount of time, and probably won't be of good quality unless I'm feeling very inspired]. But I don't want that to influence other people's opinions. I want to honestly know if you'd rather have it one or two task a week. ~ Velox So far we have three votes for one task a week, and one vote for a deadline (two weeks) rather than the "submit whenever" system that we've been using so far. Please share your opinion so we know what changes need to be made, if any.

So, I know you're online right now and all, but your profile says to "bug you" since you don't check PMs? So, *bugs* I sent you the first of a series of PMs to help describe my commission to you.

Aww. I'm sorry. =[ Hope that guy/girl learns his/her lesson. I'll have to respectfully disagree with you here, Eyru. They may be done through different media, but art and writing both involve a huge contribution of soul and feeling into the project. Any project involves that, really -- constructing a bench, building a house, even if that something isn't entirely from your imagination, it's still something you put your sweat and heart into, and it hurts just as much whether it's art or writing that gets plagiarized. I hope you get better though, Nikira. For what it's worth -- *airhug*

Gah. Our school doesn't have the same problem yours does (much more open spaces) but I'm a very fast walker and I hate it when I'm stuck behind someone and can't get around them. But your level of congestion seems much worse...Taiwan or New York-ish, maybe? Also. I approve.

Finally awarded points to everyone for last week's stories/reviews. Time to start this week's...

Excellent. =D I'll see what I can pull together. Could you put me up for a slot for the time being?

You should. You certainly did a lot in one year. o_O

Sweet. =D Let's say I wanted to commission you to draw a character of mine from the RPG forum. What info would I have to provide? A basic text description? Some posts to help you visualize the personality of that character when drawing?

I have just got to say, the new Farshtey Feed in the S&T Forum is being very helpful already.

Weird, since I've known you you've always been Spink to me... But I don't mind confusing myself with your cat while I wait to get used to my new name. =P

Gah. That's actually a good idea, I never thought of it before. But that's a huge moral dilemma...sacrifice the enjoyment we derive from sports to save the world? Or not? Hmm....

Maybe. It certainly explains some things. Schizophrenia is more up Sera's alley though.