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Friday, February 24, 2006
Unwritten rules
I'm in a foul mood. I'm angry at a guild mate for breaking an unwritten rule, he probably (or lets say hopefully) wasn't even aware of. The rule is question is "do not roll NEED on an item which is better for another class, unless nobody of that class wants it". On Raslebol's 137th UBRS raid finally the Draconian Deflector dropped, and no other warrior needed it. And then that shaman decides that this is a nice shield for him, rolls NEED, and snatches it away from me.
There is a certain justification for this unwritten rule. If everybody rolls need for all items he could possibly use, it is quite likely that the shaman will end up with the draconian deflector, which with its +10 defence bonus is ideal for warriors; and then next time a shield with for example an intelligence bonus drops, the warrior wins it, making both parties worse off than if everybody had only rolled for the stuff that was for his class. In a recent raid my priest didn't roll on a dreadmist robe, which was much better than what he had, but is considered more of a warlock item. And then there is the eternal fight between hunters rolling for melee weapons (the "that is a hunter weapon" running joke), and melee fighters rolling for ranged weapons.
Problem with unwritten rules is that often they are not known to everybody, or they are known and not accepted. Everquest first had an unwritten rule of "don't killsteal", then that rule was written down in the "play nice policies" of SOE, and still killstealing was such a problem that modern games have some anti-killstealing device hardcoded. Technically killstealing isn't possible in World of Warcraft, the first person to damage a monster gets the xp and loot, but there *still* are complaints. Yesterday for example I wanted to try killing Scarlet Spellbinders in the plaguelands for a chance to find the crusader enchantment. I found the tower where they reside, but other mobs are guarding the entrance. And while I fight the mobs at the entrance, two other guys rush past me and killsteal all the spellbinders. Not nice, but technically allowed. And how often did you kill the monster next to a chest, just to have somebody else empty it?
Of course some people try to invent new unwritten rules in their favor. For example on my server we will have the opening of the Ahn'Qiraj gate world event, and the big guilds are spamming the server forums with messages telling everybody else to stay away. They say "if you haven't contributed a lot to the war effort, and if you aren't in a level 60 raid which actually can fight the battle, you have no right to be at the event." It is well known that lots of people present during the event will cause at the very least some unbearable lag, but more likely even several server crashes. I can see how the big guilds would want to have the event for themselves, but that isn't going to happen. Nobody is going to accept *that* unwritten rule.
- posted by Tobold @ 8:43 AM Permanent Link
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There's a lot of crap that comes from having a truly "Massivly" multiplayer setting. The only real way to combat it effectively without putting a bunch of artificial crap in the game (like locked encounters etc.) is to go %100 instancing. Players can't regulate themselves unless they have the ability to choose who they play with - which they can't do without instancing.
The downside to instancing in game design so far is that it chops up the world into tiny little pieces. As a result the game-world loses it's feeling of "Seamless Imenseness". We have a guild mate who swore up and down he was going ot switch to D&D online - then he got into the beta and said it "Felt all wrong". He didn't feel like there was a great big world to explore. He said it felt clausterphobic - like a bunch of tiny little rooms.
I tend to think that once they come out with a MMORPG that uses %100 instancing - but doesn't sacrifice the seamless imenseness that a game like WoW has - that will be a cool thing.
The downside to instancing in game design so far is that it chops up the world into tiny little pieces. As a result the game-world loses it's feeling of "Seamless Imenseness". We have a guild mate who swore up and down he was going ot switch to D&D online - then he got into the beta and said it "Felt all wrong". He didn't feel like there was a great big world to explore. He said it felt clausterphobic - like a bunch of tiny little rooms.
I tend to think that once they come out with a MMORPG that uses %100 instancing - but doesn't sacrifice the seamless imenseness that a game like WoW has - that will be a cool thing.
# posted by 
: 24/2/06 14:13
: 24/2/06 14:13
Which classes can roll on which items is a long-standing issue in WoW. I remember an issue between two guildmates. A Myrmidon Signet (boe epic tank ring) dropped and the Druid won the roll over the Paladin. The Paladin was extremely unhappy because it's a tank ring and Druids are most often relegated to healing.
One particularly contentious extremely-rare drop is the Baron's mount. Should it drop in a Baron Raid, who gets to roll? Those without an epic mount or everyone?
On the Alliance side, it's generally the Paladins who cause the most trouble since they can be tank-like or healer-like and they can wear any armor-type and use most weapons (excepting daggers, staves, and ranged). I remember one contentious win where a Paladin won the roll on the epic 1h axe that dropped from Onyxia. A lot of people were upset because they didn't think Paladins should roll on tank weapons.
As for your shield, that's a tough hit. Unfortunately, in pickup groups, most of the who-can-roll-on-what is left up to the Master Looter and the rules he or she sets down. There's nothing you can do if the ML allows Shamans to roll on the shield. I know Paladins generally roll on it (heck, my Paladin has one) and I don't begrudge anyone that. It's a nice shield, not just for tanking, but also for MC.
And one last comment - the Dreadmist Robe is different - it's a class set piece. Class set pieces go to that class if needed. Period. If the Warlock needed it, it goes to the Warlock, no ifs, ands or buts. That's a fairly strong unwritten rule in WoW.
One particularly contentious extremely-rare drop is the Baron's mount. Should it drop in a Baron Raid, who gets to roll? Those without an epic mount or everyone?
On the Alliance side, it's generally the Paladins who cause the most trouble since they can be tank-like or healer-like and they can wear any armor-type and use most weapons (excepting daggers, staves, and ranged). I remember one contentious win where a Paladin won the roll on the epic 1h axe that dropped from Onyxia. A lot of people were upset because they didn't think Paladins should roll on tank weapons.
As for your shield, that's a tough hit. Unfortunately, in pickup groups, most of the who-can-roll-on-what is left up to the Master Looter and the rules he or she sets down. There's nothing you can do if the ML allows Shamans to roll on the shield. I know Paladins generally roll on it (heck, my Paladin has one) and I don't begrudge anyone that. It's a nice shield, not just for tanking, but also for MC.
And one last comment - the Dreadmist Robe is different - it's a class set piece. Class set pieces go to that class if needed. Period. If the Warlock needed it, it goes to the Warlock, no ifs, ands or buts. That's a fairly strong unwritten rule in WoW.
# posted by : 24/2/06 14:17
: 24/2/06 14:17
The problem with trying to artificially create unwritten rules is that each individual has a different opinion about what they should state and include... which is most likely why they remain unwritten... as a result, the only real rules are the ones built into the rule-set of the game code. While I would personally not do so, if a warrior can roll for AND USE an epic ranged weapon as designed by the game engine, does he not have equal right to roll for AN EQUAL CHANCE at obtaining said weapon? After all, this is a game where luck and probability are still a core component... and in the end nothing is ever "stolen" in this game as it is impossible via the game engine to steal... it was by design and chance that somebody won and lost said item. Note this argument does not include class specific items / weapons... if you cannot use it, the rule-set clearly implies you should not roll for it.
# posted by : 24/2/06 18:07
: 24/2/06 18:07
Sounds to me like your guild has some issues. In my guild, we all pass on any BoP and then discuss it afterwards and do a /random from the people that need it (for MC/BWL/Ony we have DKP).
Of course if your guild has people in it that will be selfish enough to roll on stuff, you are probably at risk of ninjas.
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Of course if your guild has people in it that will be selfish enough to roll on stuff, you are probably at risk of ninjas.
# posted by : 26/2/06 22:00
: 26/2/06 22:00<< Home
