To the haters on the message boards...

[G]

This relying on the message boards for handling official dueling business is archaic anyway and should be modernized for a lot of reasons besides my desire to have a message filtering utility.

I am going to touch on this only.

Relying on Message Boards is far from archaic. In fact, it's the newest version of relying on challenges we have.

In the past, it was always required to send an Email to the coordinator, the standings keeper and the person you are challenging. It was never required to be placed on the boards, it was just a courtesy.

Over time, it became a requirement to post on the boards and contact.

Finally it became just a requirement to Post on the Boards.

Why? How many email addresses change? Servers go down. Character name changes, etc. Too many changes that can cause difficulty in an attempt to challenge.

Drop down menu? That requires constant attention because of screen names and tracking and inactivity, etc.

I want you to know, I was against Message Board only requirements at first, but it completely became the most RELIABLE form of verification and challenging there is.

The server goes down? There's a technical reason that a challenge wasn't answered and it's forgivable.

Challenge isn't answered? Post has a Time Stamp, can be seen by Everyone, can be visibly verified, and has all the information you need.

It's the closest to foolproof there is.

You have to deal the the aspect of others not involved with the challenge seeing and posting it? Oh well. Welcome to a Sport where you're a Visible Star.

Think Ali didn't have his share of smack talkers or nay sayers? Think again. You're a public figure if you want to be a title holder.

[Lydia Loran]

Gonna chime in here. We just had this discussion over on ME. E's player has said that dealing with the constant jabs at him makes playing not fun. Nobody loses anything from not having their character poke at one of his; there are plenty of other folks to be a heel towards. He's been upfront about how he feels, so I encourage folks to respect that.

Ironically, point is moot based on Corlanthis' findings, but seriously! Make fun of my character, or any number of others. Just know who your audience is.

On the other side of things, if someone feels similarly about E's player (a few pot-kettle-black comments, but I'm guessing that none of those players had expressed their discontent with E directly before this thread), then let him know ... and the same burden is on him. Collaborate.

We can all play heels, backstabbers, samurais, Dark Gods, Dragon Gods, Exiled Gods, midget sorcerers, unicorns, drunkards with-peeing-problems, and anything else we can dream up. Let's just manage it in a respectful way.

Quoting all of this and bolding it because it's an amazing post.

Since coming back to occasionally play I notice there's been this Heel vs. Not Being a Heel thing going on lately and it's creating a sort of offputting environment. And IMO, there are some people on BOTH sides just being really dismissive of the other side and I don't think that's the way to go.

I find neither side "right" or "wrong". It's not reasonable or realistic to expect characters to not be heels EVER. And in the duels it can be hard to completely separate IC and OOC because... it's not completely separate and cut and dry like other forms of FFRP. Players pick moves, players misinterpret rules, etc. So I can understand someone being annoyed if they, the player, make a mistake and find their character heckled for it. Some people will personalize the heckling. Some people won't.

BUT, if you do not like the heel characters, you cannot expect them to stop playing that way entirely. Some do like them and they all play off each other and enjoy it and it works great. If you do find yourself a target, tell the player of the heel! "Hey I know you don't mean it personally, but it kind of bothers me when you post about my character like that on the forums." or "Hey I like conflict in the chat room, but not so much on the forums. If we have conflict between our characters could we keep it in live chat?"

And if you play a heel, if you know someone does not like that style of play or being the target of the heckling it's probably best not to focus on them. Ideally, yes, players who do not like it would have opened dialogue to let you know but that's not always going to be the case. To keep heckling a character if you know the player does not like it just isn't cool.

Also, you can't and shouldn't abuse this. You can't say, "Please don't have your character heckle mine." and then ... have your character heckle theirs. Again, that's just not cool.

Just this whole.. being dismissive of others and how they play, or playing the majority vs. minority cards isn't working out so hot.

TL;DR: Just read Rakeesh's post. >>

[Jaycy Ashleana]

This relying on the message boards for handling official dueling business is archaic anyway and should be modernized for a lot of reasons besides my desire to have a message filtering utility.

I am going to touch on this only.

Relying on Message Boards is far from archaic. In fact, it's the newest version of relying on challenges we have.

In the past, it was always required to send an Email to the coordinator, the standings keeper and the person you are challenging. It was never required to be placed on the boards, it was just a courtesy.

Over time, it became a requirement to post on the boards and contact.

Finally it became just a requirement to Post on the Boards.

Why? How many email addresses change? Servers go down. Character name changes, etc. Too many changes that can cause difficulty in an attempt to challenge.

Drop down menu? That requires constant attention because of screen names and tracking and inactivity, etc.

I want you to know, I was against Message Board only requirements at first, but it completely became the most RELIABLE form of verification and challenging there is.

The server goes down? There's a technical reason that a challenge wasn't answered and it's forgivable.

Challenge isn't answered? Post has a Time Stamp, can be seen by Everyone, can be visibly verified, and has all the information you need.

It's the closest to foolproof there is.

You have to deal the the aspect of others not involved with the challenge seeing and posting it? Oh well. Welcome to a Sport where you're a Visible Star.

Think Ali didn't have his share of smack talkers or nay sayers? Think again. You're a public figure if you want to be a title holder.

If I remember, wasn't there already a drop-down menu attempt at issuing challenges? I think it was stopped because it never worked right (and that's when challenges started needing to be posted on the board). We've already tried other options, this has become, as G said, the most reliable.

[Seirichi]

Think Ali didn't have his share of smack talkers or nay sayers? Think again. You're a public figure if you want to be a title holder.

This. Titles are not about the person winning it. The titles themselves are a collective of everyone who has or will hold it one day. When you become a title holder, you are the face of that sport for the time being. You are relevant, a focal point for praise or criticism. I'll use G as an example, even though the situation hasn't happened. Let's say G won a barony and it's been a few months since his last duel. He hasn't posted anything regarded his barony and it's stagnated. That means any character can up and criticize him and say "Oh. You aren't doing anything with your title. You aren't even dueling. You don't deserve it! So I'm challenging!". That's valid. Your character is a smacktalker? It's valid to challenge for that reason - but expect there to be criticism coming your way.

High ranks and title holders are sports stars in the duels. If you dislike negativity coming your way, that's fine, but do not then turn around and throw negativity back at others in the form of live chat if negativity IC is not your preference; after all - the forums that people post challenges in are in character, just like the chats. Complaining about one thing and doing the exact same thing in another situation? All that does is show you're a hypocrite who can dish it out but can't take it.

If you dislike smacktalk on the forums then I have an option for you. Press CTRL F on your keyboard. See the little box where you can type in? Type in your opponents name - then press enter. It will skip the page down past everything and zero in on the highlighted target word. That way you can ignore everything that is not related to your character or your opponent.

[Amaltea]

If I remember, wasn't there already a drop-down menu attempt at issuing challenges? I think it was stopped because it never worked right (and that's when challenges started needing to be posted on the board). We've already tried other options, this has become, as G said, the most reliable.

Yes, it required monitoring and making sure that email addresses were updated as the titles changed or people changed email addresses. The best and most reliable option is the message board, you get a time stamp that can't be disputed.

[Seirichi]

If I remember, wasn't there already a drop-down menu attempt at issuing challenges? I think it was stopped because it never worked right (and that's when challenges started needing to be posted on the board). We've already tried other options, this has become, as G said, the most reliable.

Yes, it required monitoring and making sure that email addresses were updated as the titles changed or people changed email addresses. The best and most reliable option is the message board, you get a time stamp that can't be disputed.

Along with spam filters and people saying they "never got the email"? It sounds like a total hassle. I like the forums for the reason you and G posted alone. It's reliable and has a time stamp. That was one of the biggest headaches for when I was a coordinator for this last Madness. People saying they never got emails when they were sent, etc.

[G]

Everything I said.

If I remember, wasn't there already a drop-down menu attempt at issuing challenges? I think it was stopped because it never worked right (and that's when challenges started needing to be posted on the board). We've already tried other options, this has become, as G said, the most reliable.

Yes, there was, now that you mention it. And it ended up having far too many problems to make it worth maintaining.

[Seirichi]

Also the forum makes it more community driven. Challenges are not about you and your opponent. Challenges are events for everyone to enjoy. If everything was in a drop down menu? That'd kind of be boring. I like roleplay with my game, thank you.

[G]

Knowing your audience is an important part. And if that audience is taking part in smack talking/bad mouthing, etc. Then they're open to get it back. Otherwise, it becomes a childish case of "They can dish it out but they can't take it."

Feel free to smacktalk G or whatever. It happens. And if you're doing it to G, then just know that G's going to do it back.

Other characters of mine? Yeah, they're not. Aya won't smack talk you. She would just say either something she believes is true like "You skills are severely lacking and you should seriously contemplate taking up woodworking as an alternative line of employment." or she will acknowledge your skill respectfully, providing you have EARNED her respect.

G talked smack, got challenged by Mur, got smacked down and hit with a slash. What happened? G got humbled and quiet. *I* was fine.

Earn your respect. Earn your Smack-talk. It's all earned. And if you give it out, be prepared to take it.

[Seirichi]

G YOU SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I HOPE A RABID MONKEY BITES YOU AND GIVES YOU SOME SICKNESS OR SOMETHING!

[Jake]

Everything I said.

If I remember, wasn't there already a drop-down menu attempt at issuing challenges? I think it was stopped because it never worked right (and that's when challenges started needing to be posted on the board). We've already tried other options, this has become, as G said, the most reliable.

Yes, there was, now that you mention it. And it ended up having far too many problems to make it worth maintaining.

Just affirming, since the forums became the standard for challenge notification, things have been much smoother.

Another benefit of the forums is that friends of the challenged could see the post and alert the title-holder if they knew they were out of town or something.

Hands down, the forums as a mechanism for issuing challenges has worked much better.

[Seirichi]

Jake. Hurry and agree that G should be bitten by something. Jeez.

[MurOllavan]

There's another advantage to board-play. It doesn't require the person to be in the chat in order to play. It helps for those that can't make it around as much.

[Jake]

Jake. Hurry and agree that G should be bitten by something. Jeez.

I am pretty sure he's *already* been bitten...many times. Thankfully...it doesn't seem to be communicable.

[G]

Jake. Hurry and agree that G should be bitten by something. Jeez.

I am pretty sure he's *already* been bitten...many times. Thankfully...it doesn't seem to be communicable.

Yet.