[Phragmar]

Originally Posted by h0tr0d (shaere) [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Just because someone disagrees with you, or takes a different stance then you doesn't make them a 'douchebag'. I hate that term. Some middle schooler finds out what it is and starts using it, and here we are. Actions speak louder then words, including actions here.



I agree with this, but say someone is camping say Raster for an extended period, their router burps or whatever, and they go linkdead. They log back in within minutes, as soon as their character is no longer active on their server and allows them to log in. They log back in, and you are now at the camp. Different ways different people handle it, as we see here. I would also point out there are people playing who would take advantage. They claim to 'have been there', or they gate to bank, or transfer a lore item, and come back to farm. As to the point of helping people cr in fear, and they turn around and stick it to you. One reason the rules do exist. Losing your camp can be unfortunate, but the people that arrive in the 30 seconds you are gone legitimately, are not 'douchebags'. Just as the people who lose a camp and are frustrated are not as well. there are people who use the rules to hide behind poor actions, but these rules also protect against people who act poorly. You cannot blame the OP for being disheartened, or frustrated, or the original camper. Just as you cannot blame the camp-taker(s), when no one was present. The real key is how you handle yourself after it. I didn't read in the OP that the camp-takers were the scum of the earth, my take was more he would have been the good samaritan, and wishes others would be as well. While I agree with that sentiment, he has a right to his opinion, and doesn't deserve venom for feeling this way. And the people who argue what the rules state do not deserve it either.

Would be an interesting poll, what would you do?



Player X trains Player Y. Player Y dies, and is no longer at the camp. Tough luck Player Y?

Player X has the camp. Player Z asks for help in the next room, to avoid death, or they ask for res, or cure, or something. Player X goes to help, is gone a mere matter of seconds. They arrive back at camp and Player Y claims it is now theirs.

It isn't always so cut and dry. The best rule is the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Treat others as you would like to be treated. That is my opinion, and all I have to say on this.

/sermon off

This is generally accurate on enough levels that I feel like chiming in to confirm. I'm not advocating that the rules should be changed or that all VD members should have ropes placed about their necks and be hanged until dead, and I don't expect any great cultural upheaval among this server community over this incident. Moreover, I certainly don't have any delusions of stirring moral conviction in those of you who have made it abundantly clear that you prefer moral bankruptcy. But for everybody else, I believe that striving toward a higher good is a worthwhile undertaking, and that means talking about it.

I've avoided using religion or a religious basis for a number of reasons, one of which is, frankly, that it's just another thing to be flamed for. Anyone who has studied Jewish or Christian theology (and probably others) doesn't need me to tell him where the analogies are in this discussion. Having said that, however, and acknowledging the impediments it brings with respect to those who for whatever reasons legitimate or otherwise will not consider any reasoning that has even the least hint of religious influence, I'll readily admit that the golden rule is powerful.

To speak more broadly, however, especially if you're someone who has some reason for disliking Jesus Christ, what ever happened to virtue? [This is a rhetorical question.] Angry as I was over the incident, and as vehemently as I would advocate that good people must contend against these kinds of things, I may have taken it for granted that everyone else had an understanding about what it is to be virtuous. I've certainly done my share of stupid, evil things. I can't pretend I've never stolen a kill in the whole time I played EQ, or trained anyone, or worked all manner of nefarious deeds in guild politics, not to mention a litany of cruelty to people in different arenas, so I don't want anyone to think that I believe I have some kind of moral high ground just because I've taken the position I have or because I feel strongly about it. I'm just another guy on the internet.

But there's a difference between right--I mean right, as in righteous, not correct--and wrong, and it's not the same difference as between legal and illegal. The whole crux of my argument is that where those distinctions overlap, as here, right must be preferred to wrong, and good preferred to evil, before any consideration of legal or illegal.