Plainsman rising as a pathetic rukkian struggles to survive

Yeah plainsman was played by halaster. The last in his line of abusive, super powerful roles before he disappeared from the game completely. Sathis was another one of his "PCs". His legacy is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand he created some very imaginative stories and shared them with the players. And this is an aspect completely missing in todays arm. He created countless characters, each with their own personality and wove them into whatever the ongoing plot lines of the day were. He created an element of mystery and awe to the game with his storytelling powers.

But he also cheated and got whatever he wanted, when he wanted it. And yes he most definitely used knowledge gained through ooc channels and acted on it as plainsman. Where today's imm rpts feature seemingly dangerous missions that miraculously not one pc dies in at all, with halaster's it was almost a certainty you would lose your character. And not because it's a harsh and dangerous world but because he was halaster and could get away with whatever he wanted. I was privy to a public conversation in irc once where some high ranking pc wasn't able to play on the day of an hrpt and was therefore one of the (or perhaps THE) sole survivors to the event. Halaster very openly stated that he was supposed to have died and the only reason he still had his char was because he wasn't free to play the day of an hrpt. In other words log on for a halaster rpt and die no matter what actions you take. Funny how the polarity between then and now is so extreme.

I believe he thought he was creating a harsh world but he took it way too far, such that more than a decade later people are still talking about it. It made me seethe with rage every time the gdb cheerleaders would joke about halaster's reputation for pkilling like it was funny or anything other than abuse. And don't believe what others may tell you, these were not npcs or avatars etc. He played and developed these characters regularly, even mudsexed with them (not that npcs/avatars aren't allowed to do these things but it shows how invested he was in his characters). His characters were always superpowerful and godlike and when they died it was because he expressly wanted them to die. But most imms played roles like this in those days. Anyone remember bhagharva's red robe templar being killed and he resurrected his own character and emoted pulling the scimitar that killed him from his chest, then carried on with the scene like nothing happened? These people didn't even have the decency to act discreet about their abuse, they instead wore it like a badge of honor. Just once I wanted to see an imm animate a lowly beggar and manipulate the world around them rather than being yet another red robed templar or other role unachievable by players. They can even play a position of power beyond the glass ceiling for all I care just create some flaws in your characters and make it clear through your rp that you aren't simply acting on your ooc knowledge.

Present day imms can learn from this if they want. I think they know full well the anger past imms like halaster created among players by wantonly pkilling and have since done a complete about face. Instead of being the polar opposite they should be trying to a) carefully balance things and b) make it painfully evident that they won't act on ooc knowledge every single time. I think the imms really are trying to make an effort right now. Collectively. (Except for nessalin.) I haven't read the gdb much lately but it seems urinemoose has decided to shut his hole for a while. That actually helps. Nyr being out of the picture is an enormous retreat for everyone as well. We can talk about the declining number of players but I think the overall tone has definitely become less toxic. I don't have much hope for the future of the game but there is still a chance for present admin to climb out of the abyss they've dug. But from the halaster days even into current times such virtues as humility and decency have always been rare. I wish them l luck.