SoR community and culture clash
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:29 am
Having read Jyudass excellent topic on OOC culture clash, I thought that I would give my personal view of what is happening, why there is so much heated discussions and people who have been playing more than 6 months may be leaving.
Probably the greatest asset that SoR has is its community and sense of belonging. It has been a game of mapping, discovery, teaming, making items and trading. It is a game where teams and co-operation have become critical; because of this a community has formed which is founded on mutual trust and respect. At its heart is a core of people who have been friends for many months, enjoy each others company, trust each other, have fun and enjoy playing together. I know that I can always find a group to hunt or forage with. I get invites from people I have teamed with before. I have a feeling of belonging and being amongst trusted friends.
As a community we like to help each other and you can see this in the number of fan-sites, the IRL gatherings, videos and the time and effort put into them. We arrange events for each other like the pirate hunts, treks, Mektoub race, gladiator and boss hunts
The events that inspire such a community are those where they can work together, such as the Kitin invasion, the Cut-throats, Samsara pub-nights and the Southgate Murders. Here we can co-operate and still compete in a friendly way using our skills of melee, magic, RP, banter and story telling.
Up until now any opportunities to show aggression against another player have been through in-game conversations, the forums or through in-game exploits such as pulling aggro onto people. The game has contained very few ways to show aggression to other players and they had to be actively sought out. Since the opportunities for aggression have been so rare in the game, non-aggression is seen as normal. Generally there has been outrage at any aggressive act as it threatens the community and its values of friendship and mutual cooperation
The flip-side is that we try and preserve that community as we feel it is a precious and rare thing. There are not many games where there is the same depth of commitment to each other rather than the game itself. We work hard to protect this and despair when it is threatened. We have ignored or not helped players that do not fit in and in the hope they leave.
For a long time there has been a core community and a number of other players who are not part of it or part of something else.
We have a close-knit community based on mutual trust and friendship that will fight to protect itself.
The FvF, GvG and PvP are all things that threaten that community since they discourage mutual cooperation and encourage aggression against other players. These are polar opposites of what the community represents. Once these were discouraged through the game mechanics, but Nevrax are saying not only are they not wrong but they are actively encouraged.
Some of the existing community wanted PvP and dont see it as aggressive. Since it was difficult to do and discouraged by their peers they would not kill other players. Since Nevrax has said its OK these players have been actively involved in the PvP. This would be seen as an aggressive act and a betrayal of friendship and trust. It would be particularly hurtful if you were killed by someone you knew and trusted.
Since the sense of community is rare in many of the games, people coming from those may not be aware of the community in SoR. It takes a while to be accepted and the style of game-play may be different so some players may not have experience of meeting its members or notice that it exists. Many of the forums most heated arguments seem to be between members of the community trying to uphold its values and those coming from other games with different values and ideals.
I see the calls for more Kitin invasions and the goo as a request to return to the cooperative and communal style of game-play.
Although we struggle to hold onto it I dont think the existing community can continue with the changes that are being made. We got used to playing the game one way to a set of rules and now they have been changed. Although PvP/FvF/GvG has always been intended, we got used to one set of rules and adapted to them. With the changes there are several playing styles all in one place that cannot co-exist. It is a shame that the lands are not big enough that the PvP/FvF/GvG could have happened somewhere else, leaving the possibility that there was enough distance that the different game-styles need never meet. Instead the FvF zones have been put right into the central areas bringing the aggression and distrust right into the heart of the SoR community. Many of the long-term players may see this as proof that Nevrax have not listened to the views of the community and are insensitive to their needs.
I dont believe that the old community can continue the way it has especially with FvF right on their doorstep. The old values of trust and cooperation have been abused and I dont believe that the community can survive as it has before. I think we will see the core community dissolve, long term players leaving, less effort being spent on player events and a number of the fan sites being abandoned. I think the game will continue but it will lose its old values. I hope the community will adapt, possibly becoming smaller.
I dont draw any conclusions from this, but hope it explains a lot of what has been happening in the forums and in the game.
This was developed after reading the forums and an OOC conversation between Kyerna and Kindle.
Probably the greatest asset that SoR has is its community and sense of belonging. It has been a game of mapping, discovery, teaming, making items and trading. It is a game where teams and co-operation have become critical; because of this a community has formed which is founded on mutual trust and respect. At its heart is a core of people who have been friends for many months, enjoy each others company, trust each other, have fun and enjoy playing together. I know that I can always find a group to hunt or forage with. I get invites from people I have teamed with before. I have a feeling of belonging and being amongst trusted friends.
As a community we like to help each other and you can see this in the number of fan-sites, the IRL gatherings, videos and the time and effort put into them. We arrange events for each other like the pirate hunts, treks, Mektoub race, gladiator and boss hunts
The events that inspire such a community are those where they can work together, such as the Kitin invasion, the Cut-throats, Samsara pub-nights and the Southgate Murders. Here we can co-operate and still compete in a friendly way using our skills of melee, magic, RP, banter and story telling.
Up until now any opportunities to show aggression against another player have been through in-game conversations, the forums or through in-game exploits such as pulling aggro onto people. The game has contained very few ways to show aggression to other players and they had to be actively sought out. Since the opportunities for aggression have been so rare in the game, non-aggression is seen as normal. Generally there has been outrage at any aggressive act as it threatens the community and its values of friendship and mutual cooperation
The flip-side is that we try and preserve that community as we feel it is a precious and rare thing. There are not many games where there is the same depth of commitment to each other rather than the game itself. We work hard to protect this and despair when it is threatened. We have ignored or not helped players that do not fit in and in the hope they leave.
For a long time there has been a core community and a number of other players who are not part of it or part of something else.
We have a close-knit community based on mutual trust and friendship that will fight to protect itself.
The FvF, GvG and PvP are all things that threaten that community since they discourage mutual cooperation and encourage aggression against other players. These are polar opposites of what the community represents. Once these were discouraged through the game mechanics, but Nevrax are saying not only are they not wrong but they are actively encouraged.
Some of the existing community wanted PvP and dont see it as aggressive. Since it was difficult to do and discouraged by their peers they would not kill other players. Since Nevrax has said its OK these players have been actively involved in the PvP. This would be seen as an aggressive act and a betrayal of friendship and trust. It would be particularly hurtful if you were killed by someone you knew and trusted.
Since the sense of community is rare in many of the games, people coming from those may not be aware of the community in SoR. It takes a while to be accepted and the style of game-play may be different so some players may not have experience of meeting its members or notice that it exists. Many of the forums most heated arguments seem to be between members of the community trying to uphold its values and those coming from other games with different values and ideals.
I see the calls for more Kitin invasions and the goo as a request to return to the cooperative and communal style of game-play.
Although we struggle to hold onto it I dont think the existing community can continue with the changes that are being made. We got used to playing the game one way to a set of rules and now they have been changed. Although PvP/FvF/GvG has always been intended, we got used to one set of rules and adapted to them. With the changes there are several playing styles all in one place that cannot co-exist. It is a shame that the lands are not big enough that the PvP/FvF/GvG could have happened somewhere else, leaving the possibility that there was enough distance that the different game-styles need never meet. Instead the FvF zones have been put right into the central areas bringing the aggression and distrust right into the heart of the SoR community. Many of the long-term players may see this as proof that Nevrax have not listened to the views of the community and are insensitive to their needs.
I dont believe that the old community can continue the way it has especially with FvF right on their doorstep. The old values of trust and cooperation have been abused and I dont believe that the community can survive as it has before. I think we will see the core community dissolve, long term players leaving, less effort being spent on player events and a number of the fan sites being abandoned. I think the game will continue but it will lose its old values. I hope the community will adapt, possibly becoming smaller.
I dont draw any conclusions from this, but hope it explains a lot of what has been happening in the forums and in the game.
This was developed after reading the forums and an OOC conversation between Kyerna and Kindle.
