Retiring titles

[Elijah]

I just wanted to mention something that kind of bugs me..the easy throw away of titles.

When Grayson challenged Damien barely 12 hours after Damien won against Karen, that kind of bugged me, but quick fire challenges after other challenges were made officially complete have been going on forever and always will regardless. I've always liked a little grace period for new title holders. The thing that bugged me most about Grayson's challenge that he admitted himself was that if he won OL, and graduated from the academy in early June and got shipped out he would retire the mantle. We all would like to try and complete things we have not done yet. I never had a character be Overlord etiher and I want Baphe to be one day. But I think its wrong to try and quickly fit some accomplishment in while you can and then to just throw it away when you left for the ones left behind to scrap over.

As well, it kind of bugs me that Max retired the 1st baron ring right before he Interceeded against Grayson for Damien so if he won he could challenge for Grayson's ring too. I like that Billy is having a tag-team tourney that includes the lower ranks with a chance to win a title, but it would have been more proper IMHO if the 1st had never gotten retired at all. If Damien wanted Grayson's ring to be jeopardized, he should have picked someone other than Max so the ring didn't have to be retired first. Max just barely won the ring. If someone has been around a while in their title, not getting challenged, and are done with the duels I can see a ring retiring. Winning a challenge, getting a prize, and then throwing the prize away after a few weeks so you can do a lateral transfer hopefully to earn another same prize, just seems disrespectful of the titles to me.

I am not trying to say we need to go to some glory days of the past or any cripe like that. I just seem to notice a lack of respect for the titles of DoS in how they are being treated or talked about how they would be treated if someone had a chance to treat them that way.

[Valfar Q]

I'm not against it, as I believe it depends on the character. When I retired the crown with Agrenish I felt that for him to sit on the mantle and defend it was only an option and not a rule. In fact, the whole sequence I had set up for the better part of the year, his retirement letter from the crown and the duels altogether. I think he was only the second or third to have ever retired the crown.

Jessie Troyn also comes to mind of a character the retired his rings quickly just to prove he could win them back. I didn't see Max's action as out of place. Plus, it also gave me a chance to play Val to make fun of something he doesn't entirely understand and he and Max had a nice little interaction that wouldn't of been possible if he didn't do that. I think it's all valid.

Does it cheapen the titles? Possibly. But to me it just means that the titles holders don't see them as a necessity or don't have any respect for them which provides me with opportunities to play my character when the former title holder and my guy come to speak. I'd rather RP my hardheaded character then worry about the "honor" of our imaginary titles.

The tag tournament sounds like a lot of fun anyways.

If your character just happens to share the same belief as you, have your character give them grief for their actions and challenge them when they get another title. If you character doesn’t have the same ideals then what’s the problem?

Besides, if it makes sense to the character then anything that might bother *me* gets thrown out the window.

~Joe

[Elijah]

I totally understand that point of view and in a lot of ways agree with almost all of it, except the initial princepal of "throwing away a title".

BRK was one of the original "bad boys", someone who can play an ass, and treat people like an ass, but not be over the top obnoxious about it. Farek is probably the closest currently to pull it off similiarly much to his credit. I have seen many players play an ass to the point of if you acted like that in the real world you'd get shot in about 5 minutes even by mother Teresa. In short, you can play an ass without being a total a-hole. Same thing in regards to the titles.

I think I am witnessing more and more of late people being assess to the titles just to be ass an ass, and not do it with any real reason or consideration behind it. TItles are not just handed out, they are earned, and for some it is easier or harder than others to earn. Would a team throw away the Vince Lombardi Trophy or the Stanley Cup saying we don't want it, just send us back to the minor leagues? No. Neither should baron or Overlord be treated like that, regardless of what type of character you play.

[Rory Laurent]

I don't think we can judge people's OOC personality based on IC actions.

Max isn't BRK. The characters aren't played alike at all. Just as I play Maria to be obnoxious, I believe Max's player plays Max to be annoying. We don't intend for our characters to be a "bad ass". I think Maria and Max are a lot of like -- two very unsmooth and very unpopular characters. That's how they're supposed to be viewed because we play them to be viewed that way.

I fail to see the purpose of this thread OOC. If we want to talk about this in character then fine. However, let's not go around telling people that they don't play their characters well because their character does something you're not fond of.

[Elijah]

I wasn't attacking anyone specifically IC or OOC, just citing recent example of a trend that kind of concerns me is all.