Originally posted by FrankBuck

 I have been following MMORPG.com for many years looking for information, discussions and advice about my hobby mmoRPG's. The past couple of years I feel it has declined as more and more writers get onboard and MMORPG.com seems to go for quantity instead of quality. 

This rant finally tipped the scale to the point where I see no purpose in coming here anymore. If a rant like this can be posted and an official opinion of a staff writer, then it is time to seek out websites to get my mmorpg curiosity covered. 

You might have gotten a lot of new users provoked by this excuse of an artcle, but you also have one less daily reader. 

 

 

Nearly every one of the games on the list here has its own game forums to discuss the game in.  We dont have to use this site. Its just kinda convenient.  And that convenience is what mmorpg.com lives off of.  In fact, they have bargained their convenience is so important that a wide sweeping insult to the majority of its readers is of little concern. 

As far as they are concerned, you would still even willingly go into the RPG section of these forums and continue discussing how much you like to role play and your personal feelings on the subject, without further concern that this jack ass massey wouldnt steal your very words and use them in his next big set of sweeping generalizations.

There's really nothing here for me so ill be joining you.  If you do find alternate sites similar to this one feel free to send me a link. 

---

Originally posted by puffmouse
If you do find alternate sites similar to this one feel free to send me a link.  

---

Please add me to the list.

Originally posted by Scalebane

I think his post was pretty good and hit the nail on the head in many areas, and all the responses you see here just goes to show the truth hurts.

This is what's called a "cop-out" arguement. Or in the world of Journalism, a world that Dana wishes he was truely apart of, it's termed a self-confirming arguement.

In other words, it's pointless and hollow, and means little. Basically, that above statement translates into:

"Dana is right. Dana is right because people are pissed off. People are pissed off because Dana is right."

See a problem there? It's called circular logic. It's what Republicans and Retards have found themsleves to be quite good at attempting to seed into the general frame of reference.

His article was about as far from the truth as a writen piece of literature could ever be, in these particular circumstances.

If I ever see a "By Dana Massey" tag ever again, it'll be far too soon.

Anyone here wonder why Dana used to be the Editor here, and now isn't? It's probably because he let too many trash articles into the cycle.

Now that we have brought politcs into this thread , its prolly time to shut it down.

Think everyone has stated thier thoughts by now.......

The guy's an idiot and why MMORPG published that trash article is beyond me.

Yes there are issues on RP servers.  The range of RP styles of play are as diverse as tastes in PvP.  FFA Full Loot through arenas with no real penalties. Compared to "a paladin should not be killing BABY trolls!" and "My fire giant will marry the undead gnome if they feel like it.  That's love!" -- yeah,  you've got as many wacko's and jerks in RP as you do in any other areas but to claim as he does... pft...  the guy's a twit and shows a total lack of respect to that portion of the community.

Many create chars on RP servers, not to harrass but to find a more mature, less agressive, community to be with.  The RP servers tend to be far more tollerant of "stupid questions" and "just learning this stuff..." than the other servers with the punk "I pwnd j00!!!" "L2P idiot!" type commentary you find on many other servers.  That idiot didn't even tip his hat to the gamers that go to those servers just for the "maturity" reason which is a *VERY* large portion of those communities.  That has squat to do with harassing and attempts at pseudo martyrdom he claims.  

It doesn't take many "victimizers" to trash the environment of those places any more so than it takes a large portion of the population to mess up an FFA PvP situation -- *IF* they can get away with it and having the reverse of that, the overly zealous RP'ers out there, to help file tons of complaints... Yeah, these servers do tend to be higher on the GM list than most others but a funny little one that twit should look at is the games that offer RP servers:  Those that also offer FFA PvP servers...  The FFA PvP tend to be a close second behind the RP servers for complaints and surpass the RP servers at times.  Again, it doesn't take many "griefer" types to mess up an other wise good game enviornment.

Really, why the hell did they publish such a bogus article? The only explanation I can come up with is if the publisher/editor doesn't know diddley about those types of servers...

Originally posted by LordOfTime

Originally posted by Scalebane

I think his post was pretty good and hit the nail on the head in many areas, and all the responses you see here just goes to show the truth hurts.

 

This is what's called a "cop-out" arguement. Or in the world of Journalism, a world that Dana wishes he was truely apart of, it's termed a self-confirming arguement.

In other words, it's pointless and hollow, and means little. Basically, that above statement translates into:

"Dana is right. Dana is right because people are pissed off. People are pissed off because Dana is right."

See a problem there? It's called circular logic. It's what Republicans and Retards have found themsleves to be quite good at attempting to seed into the general frame of reference.

His article was about as far from the truth as a writen piece of literature could ever be, in these particular circumstances.

If I ever see a "By Dana Massey" tag ever again, it'll be far too soon.

Anyone here wonder why Dana used to be the Editor here, and now isn't? It's probably because he let too many trash articles into the cycle.

What i love about this post is he attacks people (to make himself feel better) has a problem with what Dana wrote so hates on him, but like the hypocrite he exposed himself to be he attacks republicans and mentally challenged people in one swoop. (so he was wrong in what he said and is attacking others and thats wrong but its okay for you and other to attack, riiiiiggghhhttt)

Then keeps on attacking Dana like he somehow knows better heh.

Oh please fill this out in triplicate while your here, so we can investigate further:
 

Originally posted by Eleazaros

The guy's an idiot and why MMORPG published that trash article is beyond me.

Yes there are issues on RP servers.  The range of RP styles of play are as diverse as tastes in PvP.  FFA Full Loot through arenas with no real penalties. Compared to "a paladin should not be killing BABY trolls!" and "My fire giant will marry the undead gnome if they feel like it.  That's love!" -- yeah,  you've got as many wacko's and jerks in RP as you do in any other areas but to claim as he does... pft...  the guy's a twit and shows a total lack of respect to that portion of the community.

Many create chars on RP servers, not to harrass but to find a more mature, less agressive, community to be with.  The RP servers tend to be far more tollerant of "stupid questions" and "just learning this stuff..." than the other servers with the punk "I pwnd j00!!!" "L2P idiot!" type commentary you find on many other servers.  That idiot didn't even tip his hat to the gamers that go to those servers just for the "maturity" reason which is a *VERY* large portion of those communities.  That has squat to do with harassing and attempts at pseudo martyrdom he claims.  

It doesn't take many "victimizers" to trash the environment of those places any more so than it takes a large portion of the population to mess up an FFA PvP situation -- *IF* they can get away with it and having the reverse of that, the overly zealous RP'ers out there, to help file tons of complaints... Yeah, these servers do tend to be higher on the GM list than most others but a funny little one that twit should look at is the games that offer RP servers:  Those that also offer FFA PvP servers...  The FFA PvP tend to be a close second behind the RP servers for complaints and surpass the RP servers at times.  Again, it doesn't take many "griefer" types to mess up an other wise good game enviornment.

Really, why the hell did they publish such a bogus article? The only explanation I can come up with is if the publisher/editor doesn't know diddley about those types of servers...

you probably want to fill out that form too. -pat pat-

LOL Massey is either on crack, or hasn't tried Age of Conan.

"Play Nice" .... that's roleplay?

15 in character barbarians aren't "nicer" than 15 nerds practicing their skillz with pocket calculators dude.
 

Log into the RP server I play on Dana, and learn what it feels like to "play the victim".

Cimmeria (RP-PVP)

"The most Brutal Roleplaying Experience in any MMO"

You'll wish Roleplay didn't "work" in an MMO when you walk up to a bunch of in-character Cimmerians and say, "Sup f00|_z, any phat lewtz droppin yo?"

Seriously, you should give it a try, you will have enough content for a full weekly article in under 15 minutes.

Originally posted by Stradden

Originally posted by DarkRexx

This isn't an article, it's a thinly veiled verbal assault against a certian playstyle. Articles are not supposed to take sides or state the writer's opinions as if they were truth. I mean seriously Dana, you don't even TRY to disguise it as an article, the freakin' NAME is 'The Myth of Role-Playing Servers'. The title of the rant is basically trying to quote itself for truth. Even when you admit that there may be an exception to the rule, you immediatley discredit yourself afterwards on purpose in order to try to prove your point on several occasions.

Exaggerated Example: "I realise that there may be decent rp'ers out there but they are so few and far-between that they're hardly worth mentioning."

That kind of writing is bullshit. It doesn't matter if the article is The Myth of Role-Playing Servers or the The Joy of Role-Playing servers if all you do is ramble on about your personal opinion and use writing trick to sound subjective and informed when you're really not. I'm sure if the article was "Are Role-Playing Servers a Myth?" and allowed both sides of the issue equal time and consideration, and maybe if you did a little bit of research into the subject instead of relying on your own speculation it would have been much better. 

In short, MMORPG.com should not be treated like a refrigerator door for the journalists to stick any half-assed thought on for all the world to see. This kind of journalism reflects badly on you, and in turn the website your writing represents.

I'm not speaking about the content of the article on way or another, but I WOULD like to point out that this was an OPINION piece. Disagree with the opinion, sure, but you're dressing it down because it IS an opinion.... which is the point of each of the five featured columns every week.

If this would have been posted in the forums, it would have been axed and the OP warned. Instead, it has been endorsed by MMORPG.COM.. Because, according to Stradden, it is what they want their columnists to do!

So you want your columnists to rant and attack a large portion of those of us that frequent this site? This is just part of the ball game? Even "opinion" pieces need to be cleared for print by Editors by any real publication. The fact that this was allowed to be printed is offensive in nature.

I have to agree with a few others, the past 2 years the integrity of the published pieces/columns/etc has dramatically dwindled.
Opinion pieces that attack a large portion of your community are counter-productive, and more accurately, trolling to the highest degree. I say to the highest degree because it has been endorsed by the editor as well as the publication.
 

Pure Sickening…
 

let me throw out here what we all should be looking at and saying

rp and rpers need to go

rp and rpers no longer belong on mmos they are a bane on the game who take up resorces from things that the devs should really be working on namely the game and the game

rpers are whiny ppl who just want to whine about every little thing that happens to them they are the ones who then turn around and scream at the devs about the game and want to see a game that rpers have ruined? go look at swg nge and try not to puke

if you want to rp then please take it to a message board or irc chat i play an mmo i am not looking to get into some kinda erp love thing or something like that

i play mmos to crush as we all do

Originally posted by Dracus

Role-playing servers have become a beacon for two kinds of player: those who claim to be RPers, and those who love to annoy people who claim to be role players. And of the two, the second group is the more intellectually honest. - Dana Massey

 

Thank you for the insult (as well as the others in the message/rant).  So staff are exempt from the Rules of Conduct that are enforced in the forums to users? Hummm... 

/block

Oh wait, that's considered role-playing...  then consider this as one less person to be reading of your works.

Well, after Sanya basically pitted real-life racial and social groups against each other in her column/thread, which would have been deleted fast if any of us had written it even in the "off topic" section, AND she still has a job here, nothing surprises me much anymore.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/242230/page/1

Just read the article.

I must say, Dana your observations are spot on, and match what I have found in the past decade of MMOs, with UO being the notable exception. I also play on RP servers hoping to find the "mature" playerbase, but due to the isolationist nature of RPers, it can be hard to break into the cliques, especailly when you are being constantly judged by your fellow players as to the "quality" of your backstory, or your RPing.

To see all these posters saying you are uninformed seems very odd to me, since your article matches my experiences to a tee. All I can think of is that these posters are unable to accept the reality of RPing in a modern MMO, or they have isolated themselves so much, they are unable to see it.

Compounding the fact a modern MMO lacks the flexibility required for RPing, is that based on this thread, it would be easy to sterotype RPers as being overly sensitive, and completely overreactionary. No regular player is going to want to get involved in the drama fest of RPing, not after reading this thread.

Originally posted by stillkillin

let me throw out here what we all should be looking at and saying

rp and rpers need to go

rp and rpers no longer belong on mmos they are a bane on the game who take up resorces from things that the devs should really be working on namely the game and the game

rpers are whiny ppl who just want to whine about every little thing that happens to them they are the ones who then turn around and scream at the devs about the game and want to see a game that rpers have ruined? go look at swg nge and try not to puke

if you want to rp then please take it to a message board or irc chat i play an mmo i am not looking to get into some kinda erp love thing or something like that

i play mmos to crush as we all do

You comment is the secod most idiotic  view posted ,the first being the original Ops messge .The only reason that yours is not the dumpest post is either you are joking and want a reaction or you are so uinformed its like a having an arguement with a 4 year old...pointless
 

Originally posted by bcrankshaw

Originally posted by stillkillin

let me throw out here what we all should be looking at and saying

rp and rpers need to go

rp and rpers no longer belong on mmos they are a bane on the game who take up resorces from things that the devs should really be working on namely the game and the game

rpers are whiny ppl who just want to whine about every little thing that happens to them they are the ones who then turn around and scream at the devs about the game and want to see a game that rpers have ruined? go look at swg nge and try not to puke

if you want to rp then please take it to a message board or irc chat i play an mmo i am not looking to get into some kinda erp love thing or something like that

i play mmos to crush as we all do

You comment is the secod most idiotic  view posted ,the first being the original Ops messge .The only reason that yours is not the dumpest post is either you are joking and want a reaction or you are so uinformed its like a having an arguement with a 4 year old...pointless
 

Actually he just translated Dana´s intention and thoughts with this article..

And the sad truth is that there is a movement to ban the RP from the MMORPGs (God, now we all call it only MMO´s nowdays), I think there is a tendence to dumb down the online games, because its cheap that way... The MMO world is becaming more simple and approaching a Counter-Striker style... The stablishment is now trying to convince us that simpler is better (Smedley was the avatar of this with NGE, in fact I have a sig in other forum who is a dialogue between Luke and Yoda and goes like this "Luke - Master Yoda, what is left if we pull out the R-P-G from MMORPG? ; Yoda - NGE").

Dana (and MMORPG.COM) is always doing the companies job, even if it hurts the quality of the games, and therefore hurt the gamers (after all, this is a free site, the companies are ones who pay the bills in here). However what they dont see is that this thumbing down of the MMORPG genre could be seen as a good business move on a short term, but it does not work properly on a long term run, and MMOs are long term runs... NGE is the better example of this, and how good and intelligent companies try to embrace all kinds of playstyle, and try to became a ´partner´ their player-base, who are, after all, who pay the bills. A dumb game, with no RPG server, or any ´fluff´ may be cheap at start but will lose player-base fast, because those players are like plagues, they jump from one game to another, because they seek the thrill of new and do not get atacched to any game... They are there to ´crush and destroy´... They are also tasteless as majority...

They are trying to convince us that pretty graphics and cool action is enough to hold a subscriber base, and we all know that, with all this competition, this is NOT... In the article, Dana comment how hard is to maintain a staff to take care of a RP server and their demands (for example, to keep track of open tickets about naming policy). From what I do know, tehre is not many games with numerous RP servers on it, lets say that every BIG shot would have 6 RP servers... First of all, to pay 6 interns to clean the names would, for itself, create a LOT better RP environment.. I would risk to say that ALL that the RPers want in their server is a clean sky, with a more conservative naming policy... No RP server obligates you to RP, but it may obligate you to have as proper char name... And pay 6 interns to do so is NOTHING to keep the player-base happy and offer something different.

Originally posted by Zorvan

Well, after Sanya basically pitted real-life racial and social groups against each other in her column/thread, which would have been deleted fast if any of us had written it even in the "off topic" section, AND she still has a job here, nothing surprises me much anymore.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/242230/page/1

Wonderful... 

Thanks for that link.  Seems that the RoC are no longer applicable.  I think whenever I type such "heated" or flame baiting posts I'll post a moderation disclaimer pointing back to those columns, to the effect of, "Do as I say, not what I do" angle.

I only join RP servers because most "L33T" kids wont be caught dead actually playing on one. Yeah maybe to harass RP'ers, but wont/cant go past the newb zones. So I'm in the clear.

For the most part anyway. I'm not an "RP'er" but respect those that are.. and let them do as they please. I don't bug them, they don't bug me lol.

True I've still seen jackasses on RP servers, but its not terribly common.

Perhaps in some games this is true, but if you visit Antonia Bayle server in EQ2, you'll find that it is definitely not true.  While not everyone RP's there, you'll find a dedicated community of RP players who very much appreciate that the server is an RP server.  Player events are held annually, there are player run inns and taverns, and a huge variety of guilds set up along different RP styles. 

Just so you know.

I welcome the author of this article to come play either CoX, Champions Online or DDO with me and my merry band of losers. We might be able to turn you to the darkside. Come on Dana...you know you wanna!

Wow. For the mature community that you claim to be, you sure are responding rather immaturely.

This man has presented his opinion relative to his experience with the role-playing community. To be honest, I happen to agree with him. A good role-playing server is a utopia nowadays. Sure, it happened in MUDs, but that is very, very rarely the case in MMORPGs.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE story-telling, I love tuning to one's character and role playing, and I love the immersion that one gets when such an experience happens, as long as it is veritable. But nowadays what happens in RP servers is nothing short of travesty.

Also, I would rather role-play lightly on a PVP server than be forced to engage in "hardcore" role-play that isn't even enjoyable anymore due to high-nosed-elitistic-pricks. (To be fair with you, role-play to the point where you don't follow the game mechanics anymore and care more about how the level 1 sword looks on your character isn't very healthy.) With an attitude such as this you defy the light-heartedness required for role-play and storytelling.

So sit back, relax, and get that bug out of your behinds. If you feel offended by this article it's because you lack the common sense to acknowledge that this is what happens in the majority of cases, and that if you somehow managed to have a good role-playing experience every time you logged into a RP-server it's either because you are very lucky, or downright mediocre.

Cheers and kudos to the writer for having the courage to state what is usually and generally the case in nowadays' RP servers. Yes, he may be blunt and outright offensive, but he's speaking statistically, and the statistics say most role-playing in MMORPGs has lost its authenticity.

P.S. If you haven't picked it up already, the writer actually wishes that authentic role-play was possible, but is dismayed by his direct experience with it.