RIP Gladiators

I avoided the gladiator scene, because most glads were really pushy about mudsex. As in, I don't think ANY male gladiator I ran into EVER engaged in ANY interaction with my pcs, or female pcs around them, that wasn't basically NICE TITS BABE IM A COOL GUY LETS FUCK style "roleplay". I only happened across one female glad, and it was pretty much an offensive bulldyke stereotype, who more or less wanted the same thing.

I would have preferred all that time and effort, had gone into a city elf clan, the Guild, or maybe even a certain spice clan that has remained irrelevant and non-functional forever. There are so many areas, just starved for enrichment and staff attention.

Instead, we got a parade of he-man fantasy men on a quest pussy... because we just didn't have enough of that in game already, right?

I've had a few characters who did the whole lecherous thing as part of their character. I generally did it in an elf-sleazy way that would be rejected. It was part of the whole "you really shouldn't trust me at all" vibe I was trying to project.

If someone had accepted it I would have ran screaming from the room.

So I don't really judge a reigning gladiator for it since I don't know their motivations. They may have just wanted to build a more realistic character and push the only sort of plots they were allowed to push.

If I want to fault someone for being a mudsex sleazebag then it's the people who take sponsored roles and then do nothing but interact with a partner all day long in an apartment somewhere, neglecting all the duties of the sponsored role. That's the only real issue I have with it.

I have no illusions about the world we live in, and I am very much aware that sex appeal is at least as valuable as merit.

However, in a creative endeavor such as Arm, where we're rich in opportunities to expand the game in interesting and diverse ways, it feels like we continue to trudge in circles in the same, tired old mire. You can be a fantasy he-man in basically every clan in the game, without issue, or it even being out of character. The issue isn't sexuality, but that we're investing time and resources into special snowflake outlets for what is already common, and even prevalent.

You can be a ripped combat pussy hound any time, anywhere, as it pleases you. We didn't need to construct an entire apparatus, to further enable it.

Those resources could have gone towards enriching and enabling other, neglected and rarely-if-ever represented aspects of the game, such as the examples I outlined, in my prior posting. The Two Moons clan, for another, is a good idea, that enables interactions between spheres that, previously, had not much reason or opportunity to interact together.

Gladiators were just a way for socials to play ripped strongmen who are also social powerhouses, without any of the pesky effort, and it never failed to show in interactions.

Gladiators being gone, and those resources made free for other projects going forward, can only be of benefit to the game.

Provided, of course, they aren't immediately dumped into the Happy Maid Milk Bar, which naturally caters to lithe handsome social men of... particular tastes.

I suppose, we'll have to wait, and see.

lol well thats kinda dumb ur respect as a player for what another player did or didnt have to do shouldnt factor in at all to ur chars rping realisticly around them

might as well extend that to nobles templars and role call byn sergeants

id say tho based on responses here that maybe staff expected more from players than to have them abandon realistic rp and lore just because it doesnt square with their ooc knowldge and judgment of how those chars are generated

no shakes said he liked most of the reigning gladiators but didnt like being forced to rp respect for players who were given their chars life for free

i think ur talking about vexs pt

Jkarr is right about my point. He and I don't agree on the issue, but he's right about what I meant.

The gladiator thing is just somewhat ridiculous to me. I'm NOT your average Allanaki commoner. I'm a guy who goes out every day to fight scrabs and tarantulas to bring home a couple of chalton steaks. Why would I respect some guy who beat some other guy in an arena deathmatch? Did you see the shit that chased me back to the gate earlier? Your average reigning gladiator would piss his oiled codpiece at a bus-sized tarantula suddenly busting out of the sand to reel him in the head. Not to mention those three mul raiders who just suddenly rode across the dunes as soon as you dismounted to pluck a buzzard.

There are plenty of people who roleplay characters that never leave the gates to face the horrors of the sands. Let THEM be impressed that someone split the skull of someone else in a staged fight. I'm neither impressed with it IC or OOC.