joe
Clueless newb
Posts: 54 
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Post by joe on Jan 15, 2020 17:17:26 GMT -5
-The existence of the shadowboard fascinates me. Without the censorship, masked metagaming of 'find out ic', and favoritism of players that know they enjoy playing with each other, this board probably wouldn't exist.
-It does though, and it is fueled by poor behavior of both staff and players, and I have to say I've...not really engaged in much of it. My own play as gone through different stages of adhering to a characters personality and knowledge when oocly recognizing suicide...to twinking...to metagaming...to just playing the game, probably way too much.
-I've never really developed relationships with other players...I think I'm actually on the outside...BECAUSE...of that. I do most of my interaction right in the mud.
-I feel like I don't have a relationship with staff, and that, maybe they don't like me. So if they don't play with me, maybe they don't want to play with me...unless I do something that upsets one of their characters and they decide to end me. This is just a feeling, and may not be accurate, but it's not a great feeling.
I think the defensive and authoritative attitude broadcast by staff is unreasonable.
Yet I still love this game. There is no other like it.
This is a real question...and prompt for thought...that despite it all...the game still has a huge hold on me, and I may have a few ideas, but I'm not fully certain why.
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Post by lechuck on Jan 15, 2020 17:35:31 GMT -5
Way back in the day, I was in the OOC circles, as were most anyone else. This was back when people used AIM. It was good and bad; access to social circles allowed me to orchestrate playtimes and character concepts, but it took a heavy toll on the organic aspect of the game. When half of your character's associations stem from something pre-planned on AIM, much of the quality is lost. I took a few years off, and when I came back with a new account, I didn't contact anyone at all. Since then, over several years of on/off play, I've talked to like three players on Discord. I no longer play, but if I do again, I'll continue this trend. All I ever got out of it was code secrets, which were useful but not important.
But what's so special about Armageddon? I think I know. It's the fact that it's a (supposedly) always-IC, immersive experience with permadeath and so on, but with the added element of competitive code. If all you're after is a world where you're expected to be in-character at all times, there's like fifty different MUDs and MUSHes out there. If all you're after is some hardcore PvP, well, the entire gaming industry is your oyster. It's the combination of these two things, and its unfettered nature in Arm, that really seals the deal.
That doesn't just pertain to PKing some dude in the desert. It's the way you can unlatch someone's backpack and steal a tome of secrets out of it, or dream of one day playing a psionicist so you can read Lord Fuckface's thoughts. It's the way you can spend months developing your skills and still have something to look forward to even after those months have passed. It's the way you might have to spend a year before your character's wealth, connections or coded power is sufficient to obtain, say, a metal weapon or a magic ring. These things keep you coming back.
Unfortunately, all of those things become immaterial if there's no story to lend it any relevancy. There was a time when a bunch of stuff happened on Armageddon. Building up a powerful warrior felt rewarding when there was the carrot of a war with Tuluk to look forward to, and developing a notorious assassin was enticing because the thriving political environment promised juicy jobs that rewarded the risk and effort. These are now lost, but people who have experienced them still think that the potential is there.
I haven't taken this game seriously in quite a few years. Playing on and off, often with breaks of six months or a year, I sometimes catch myself thinking about all the awesome shit I might be missing out on. The temptation strikes to make a new PC and get involved, but for the last six years or so, every single time I've given in to that temptation, I've been left disappointed. All those stories, plots and activities that my imagination told me would be worth the incredible time investment turned out not to exist anymore. But the potential remains in the game.
Armageddon lives off of its potential, what it could be if staffed by the right people, and what it was back when this was the case. It no longer is, but I'd like it to one day become something worth my time. It's been a long while since it was, though.
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Jeshin
GDB Superstar
Posts: 1,516
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Post by Jeshin on Jan 15, 2020 17:35:51 GMT -5
Armageddon is Crackageddon because real time responsive RP with life or death (for the character) consequence is fulfilling. It's the same reason people love Second Life, MMOs, tabletop RPGs, classic video games. There is a level of engagement, creativity, immediate fulfillment of consequences that provide satisfaction. There's no questioning that RPIs are a potent set of RP, mechanics, and consequence.
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Post by shakes on Jan 15, 2020 17:39:44 GMT -5
Armageddon is Crackageddon because real time responsive RP with life or death (for the character) consequence is fulfilling. It's the same reason people love Second Life, MMOs, tabletop RPGs, classic video games. There is a level of engagement, creativity, immediate fulfillment of consequences that provide satisfaction. There's no questioning that RPIs are a potent set of RP, mechanics, and consequence. That's why I liked it. I saw it as cooperative storytelling. |
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ShaLeah
Clueless newb
Sooth Saying & Seeking Clueless Vet
Posts: 65 
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Post by ShaLeah on Jan 15, 2020 18:05:31 GMT -5
What a good question. The answer isn't simple though and it's definitely not going to be the same across the board because hey, not everyone can say "It has great graphics!" and agree.
I would sum up Armageddon's primary lure to one thing that everyone who loves it feels in common. It *feels* real.
Why does it feel real? Because YOU made it real.
You created a character and lived out their life and you died way too soon most likely, without even achieving half the shit you dreamt up with the creation.
It's a well known psychological fact that people grow more with negative trauma. It is how well we handle it that determines where we end up. There is no coincidence to two 90 year olds who went through the same exact trauma having 2 different outlooks in life.
Armageddon allows for creative expression (positive) but it does so in a confined manner, within a forced and strict set of rules that force us to think around them if we want that expression so it's anything but FREEDOM of expression (negative). Very much like our life's beginning, we are obligated by higher ups to follow *their* rules, rules they do not themselves follow - it mimes a shit ton of parental relationships. Let's go further! In order to do even more, we have to please those in charge or we'll eventually get bored so - we seek their validation.
Why do we love Armageddon so much? It hits core psychological triggers for every human being alive. I have found it to be the single most fascinating psychological experiment I have ever witnessed. It takes us back to childhood. It lets us live do overs again and again. It lets us explore the depths of our most horrible. For the shy and antisocial, it can be the party of their lives. The ugly can be beautiful. The weak, strong. The fat thin, the short tall. The meek can be loud and the vanillas can be kinky.
You can be whatever the fuck you wanna be on Armageddon... on someone else's terms. That psychological ying yang is very much at play on Arm.
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Post by shakes on Jan 15, 2020 18:13:10 GMT -5
But that's also the same reason I've decided to just let that shit go.
I've had some really good experiences in Arm, but the majority of my time has been spent trying (and failing) to recapture those experiences.
Add that with the new revelations of what staff is doing ... and I am content to go waste my time elsewhere.
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