Hello to Shadowcat, Nocturne, Talya and everyone!
 
i've really enjoyed playing swkod for several years now, although i
don't have as much time at the moment to log in, do some rp(fun),
some cash/experience runs(also fun) and explore (even funner!)
 
it is a very selfless thing imo to bring such a wonderful social game
into existence that many people enjoy, and i'd like to make a post
and reference to it on my newly created website (i'm probably
going to start a thread about vidya in general on it!).
 
all from here are welcome, and i hope visitors/members of my
website will come here in return to see what great game it is.
 
there are some very strong people that visit my site already and
although for the large part they are 'decloaked' that does not
necessarily mean that anyone from here has to be - after all
i've had stalkers in the past, so i know that there are some
damaged people out there that necessitate anonymity on the
net.
 
the site does have a spiritual bent, but a non-denominational one
and you will find that there is a lot of fun to be had there too. i
particularly like where the music thread is going.
 
so the site - well it is an LJ page/forum but that suits me fine as
the site is primarily about people and what they enjoy anyway. in
time i will buy a domain name to stick over the top of it for aesthetic reasons.
 
the site is http://cadno-cadarn.livejoural.com you're welcome to
have a look (or not!).
 
Best Wishes..
 
Kazon/ServantOfUriel/Heddwyn Alaw Jones.
 
A.N.S
 
 

Maybe we could make it so that both land and space around TaT is for PvP, so that PvP pilots could get into the action as well.

I think that would be cool... the only problem with it is that it would limit cargo runs so I'm sure people will be against it... oh... a way to sell your cargo from your ship should be put in place for the same purpose.  Nobody wants to be running cargo and all of a sudden some random PC jump on board your ship when you open the hatch and murders you for no reason when all you were trying to do was make some money... Now if both parties want to rp it out, that's another story. But, making a planet pvp and telling PC's that they can't jump on someone's ships and murder them for being in a pvp zone is contradictory.  So maybe if Tat is gonna be pvp then they shouldn't buy or sell cargo... or maybe... their cargo should buy really low and sell really high... added benefit for added risk...

Ok...everyone smile, nod, and back away from Lanfear...


But I could get behind the idea of PvP TaT, RPing out combat everywhere else. As Sora said, it IS lawless and hell, you wont have a greater hive, ect ect.

Maybe we could make it so that both land and space around TaT is for PvP, so that PvP pilots could get into the action as well.

Wh... waht the shit was that?!  LOL.  I'd be... "alright" with one extra server as a testing/pvp server... but i'd rather we just make a PVP zone on the main port, like we've discussed.  Tatooine would be one of these area's... it's supposed to be 'lawless' and the desert makes a perfect battleground.  lets do it!

awww Jawas are soooooooooooo cute!!!!!! I wish I had one as a pet. Oooh oooh can we get pets?!?! is that coded?!?!?! I want a jawa and an ewok! I'll have a jawok! Then i'll mate that with a wookiee and have a jawakee. But I think that'd all have to happen on the Rp server. So no pvp server vote for me. Besides making up rp reasons to kill people is half the fun of playing here.

Alright, now I don't know who wrote the "Guidelines" that are linked at the bottom, so I am going to assume that it was an accident. But does anyone else not feel, when reading it, that it SMACKS of elitist bullshit?

The Entire "Four" point rating for Depth is like that:

Quote:
         The player’s posts are all in full paragraph form and largely made up with rechos, rather than using emote or placing the player’s name at the beginning of every post.  The player uses no socials or says.  The player shows a strong grasp of prose, including:

• Use    of poetic language, imagery, metaphor, simile, and other literary    techniques appropriately and effectively    
• Use    of a varied sentence structure    
• Avoiding    run-on sentences and paragraphs

Note that a single sentence post can still be effective if done properly, and points should not be taken off solely based on a paragraph’s length.

  That is just one example. Now I am not going to weight in on the whole frigging "Oh this and this person is favoring such and such person." I, personally, have no problem with people not getting 8 damn points for an rp. What I DO have a problem with is that, by these guide lines, it seems like the only people who will get high points are those who are willing to write like its a damn english assignment. I have seen people, over the many many many years I have rp'd on KoD, who could write like that and who added NOTHING to the server. I have also seen people who write very bluntly who are much more deserving of praise.


Now, one person mentioned that reading the RPs is like homework for imms. And I fully accept that, and that is good they do it. However, much like for players, it doesn't have to be. I don't understand why make it so complicated, for one. And based off someone ELSE judging its "Worth" for another.

Why not give one points as a base, and add points based on a simple check list that does NOT have a high school scale.

Base 1 point.

Did the party in question engage in the conversation/action? 1 point.

Did the character engage in actions that suit their RP up to that point? 1 point. (IE: If the character is a jedi, did they ACT like a jedi? Or did they BBQ the guys who tried to mug them, even though the muggers where unarmed. Did the Character suddenly go from "Evil" to "Good" without a long series of RPs foreshadowing this change. After all, the guy who will burn a planet to cinder's isnt going to wake up the next morning and suddenly be rainbows and sunshine.)

Did the character, through their IC actions, try to insure EVERYONE involved was equally useful? 1 point. (IE: Did your combat toon blow up the death star, heal a character of a death wound, killed all the enemies, and then sealed a diplomatic treaty while making everyone else twiddle their thumbs? Or did they, rather then killing those 50 enemies in a single post, make sure that EVERYONE was able to get into the action.)

Did the RP include MORE then two people? 1 point.

Did the RP have effects that would affect the mud as a whole, for those who WANT to be effected, so that it strengthens the MUDS RP? 1 point.


This is just a rough idea, but it (I hope) gets the point across. It lets imms have a fair, unbiased way of giving out RPP. It lets players worry about the RP itself, rather then "Crap, did I use enough flowering prose? Oh no, did I use emote too much and Recho not enough?  Do I have enough pages? Have I rushed my character development enough to get a 4 and not screw up my average?". Noone could say "Oh hey, that imm is being unfair and just doesn't like me" because PERSONAL opinion never enters it.


(Side note: I find the worry that such and such imm might be letting personal feelings affect how well they judge something very valid. The imms are human and humans DO do that. I am not saying such and such has or has not done this, but only that the FEAR of it is a valid concern. Just cause I haven't been hit by some one in the chair applying their makeup or talking on a cellphone doesn't mean I don't have to keep an eye out for those kinds of drivers.)

I think I understand Talyah's point now. And I tend to agree. The idea of "Well that person is more intimidating so now I am scared and wont fight as well" is a bit flawed. (Which I assume is the logic behind the 'penalty'). Some people DO fight better when they are intimidated simply because they know they are getting an ass beating and so have nothing to lose. I LOVE the stat giving levels to BH/Leadership, but I would like more details on these "penalties" and WHY someone should get them when dealing with code combat.

The "why" is just because I couldn't think of anything else for intimidation to do in combat, and didn't want a stat whose only use was in gaining BH and leadership levels.  The penalties would be balanced to put it in line with what the other ones do, likely just a small decrease to the stats of the other player overall.  We're looking at possibly making the stats work on a scale of 100 or 1000 instead of 30 to make them more "analog," so likely it'll be a reduction of 1-2 points for every 5 or 10 points difference, or something like that, to every stat.

More information on the "analog" thing later.

So, some of you have been complaining for a while about the lack of objectivity and consistency in the awarding of RP points, especially in light of the new RP leveling system discussion.  Some of you have been complaining you weren't getting enough points, or that some imms were awarding a higher average than others, or that you didn't understand why your RPs were awarded the way they were, or that you generally felt that the guidelines we used to award points were too subjective, or any number of other complaints people have had in the past several years.

Well, I'm here to tell you that we heard you.  And we listened.  It may have taken a bit for anything to come of it, but change is here, and I hope that this will lay to rest all the complaints that have been had - on both the player side and the imm side - regarding RP logs and awards for them.  To make fully transparent the process we go through in awarding these points, here follows a brief summary of the guidelines that we will use for the awarding of points.  You can download the exact guidelines in full, as presented to and referenced by our RP staff, in pdf format and microsoft word format.  These downloadable copies contain an elaboration on the summary presented below, as well as tables containing exact descriptions of what we will be looking for in each category to obtain the maximum possible score.  With this information, you will always be aware of what we are looking for in an RP, and able to make a reasonable estimate as to what your award will be by examining your RP under the very same guidelines we will use to award them.

Of course, it's impossible to be 100% objective in something like this, but my hope is that these guidelines will be clear enough that the inconsistencies between one person's opinion and another will be kept to an absolute minimum, keeping objectivity and consistency as high as possible.

---

To help keep subjectivity and inconsistency to a minimum, ensure transparency of our processes, and in an attempt to address some concerns that have been made by both players an imms, we have developed a new, more objective system of RP awards.  This system is based on the following three mantras:

"Crap RP garners Crap Awards"

We all know what crap RP looks like.  I don't even have to define it.  Fortunately, we don't see much of it, but some of it does come through.  If your RP is obviously crap (by which we mean the quality, not the content, is crap - say it's just a string of five says that are entirely unrelated and accomplish nothing, for example, or an RP that's completely unrelated to Star Wars, etc), you'll get 1 point for it stock.  This is the absolute minimum award and any RP will gain at least 1 point so long as it's *actually* an RP and not just a bunch of randomness.  All the same, please don't RP crap.

"Stock RP garners Stock Awards"

By "stock," here, I mean any RP that you do multiple times without any great variance.  This includes buying equipment, getting a clone, inducting a new member into your clan, or any RP that is done entirely over a channel with no physical interaction.  This also includes RPs that use nothing but socials and the 'say' command.  These RPs will be awarded a stock 2 points.

Note that stock RPs do NOT, however, include RPs in the same contexts mentioned above that have a clear effort to make them something unique and enjoyable.  If, for example, you buy equipment, but your purchase RP includes several long emotes or rechos, is a few pages long, and entails considerable IC interaction between the two characters beyond placing the order and picking it up, your RP will not be considered stock, but will be moved into the next category, which is...

"Unique RP garners Unique Awards"

Any RP that doesn't fall into the above two categories falls into this one.  These RPs will be read in their entirety and evaluated, rather than being given stock awards as mentioned above.  RPs will be evaluated based on four aspects: Language Proficiency, Depth, Character Development, and Length.  Each of these will be ranked on a scale from 1-4 based on the criteria laid out in the guideline documents.  Once these scores have all been tallied, an average will be made and rounded down.  To this result, we will add a base score of 2, making all RPs in this category score a minimum of 3 points and a maximum of 6.  Since we're rounding down, a score of 6 represents a perfect 4 in all four RP aspects, making it a very rare award and something to brag about if you should happen to receive it.  The average reward will be a 4, with 5 representing above-average work and 6 representing outstanding work.

This scale can and will be adjusted based on extenuating circumstances.  A foreign player, for example, will likely be graded one point higher in language proficiency to cover for his or her "disability" in that area.

---

Once again, if you would like to download the full guidelines as they have been presented to the imms, including the grading criteria for all four RP aspects, they are available here in pdf format and microsoft word format.

A RPP bought force Reset makes sense. There are a LOT of reasons someone's connection to the force 'shifts', so it would not be an issue from an RP stand point.

As for the servers.. I would love an RP server where code combat was in arena only. It would be a HUGE step towards being truly RP Enforced, and a side mud for PvP -only- would give people something to do between rp with out screwing up their or someone else's rp via death. I doubt anyone logs into KoD currently JUST for PvP, otherwise it would be nothing but Arena spamming.

And the PvP server would let you be something that is more fun for code combat then  rp.. like a jawa combat/forcer or something insane.

I think I understand Talyah's point now. And I tend to agree. The idea of "Well that person is more intimidating so now I am scared and wont fight as well" is a bit flawed. (Which I assume is the logic behind the 'penalty'). Some people DO fight better when they are intimidated simply because they know they are getting an ass beating and so have nothing to lose. I LOVE the stat giving levels to BH/Leadership, but I would like more details on these "penalties" and WHY someone should get them when dealing with code combat.