Armageddon Shadow Board Reviews

Heh. posts like these remind me of high school. When a girl didnt let a dude get some, so next day he's spreading word that she's a slut all over the school.

It's like you didn't read what I wrote. I said go ahead and write your negative reviews, but don't act like you're doing something valiant and noble, rescuing people from being "lured" and "tricked" (lmao). You're just putting in your opinion like everybody else. Just like the people who are reviewing it positively.

I also said I find other MUD communities way worse than Arm's, so I feel like I already answered that one, too. Most criticisms of Arm are true, but let's not kid ourselves and pretend it's better anywhere else, really. Staff on other games love talking shit on Arm because it's popular to do and it distracts from the fact that their game is just as bad, if not worse.

For example, the EoE head imms used to post here in their capacity as EoE imms and gripe about Arm. That's petty as hell. They have the right to air their complaints, but make them as players, not as the staff of a competing MUD, unless the complaints had something to do with their position as EoE imms...which they didn't. That was every bit as shitty as the time Nergal flipped out and told everyone on TMS or TMC or whatever it was not to go to Jeshin's site because he didn't like something he said on this forum about the wiki leak.

And that's just one example. I've seen imms of other games publicly insult certain players and characters they didn't like in the middle of their own game. Even Arm staff doesn't do that shit. They did this stupid pixel nonsense instead, but I have no doubt that that Cyrus guy from Sindome (no idea if he's still around) who loved ranting on Jeshin's forum would have done the same if it helped him ban players he didn't like. Didn't he ban someone for something they posted there? It's all the same garbage. Arm staff has fucked me over plenty--probably worse than most of you here--but I laugh at the idea that its competitors are not guilty of the same things AT LEAST.


If there's actually a game that rises above this childish crap, it's an exception and I want to hear about it so that I can play it. But I don't really trust you to be able to recognize it, mehtastic, because you fit right in with the pettiness I see everywhere in the MUD community.

don't post negative reviews out of spite or just so you can 'hurt' arm. it's petty, useless, and fuels the erroneous narrative that everyone here is just a spurned lover making up lies about good ol' armageddon volunteers.

Yeah, I wasn't arguing that they didn't have a good reason to complain. What Nyr pulled on them was bullshit. It's just that this complaint had zero to do with their being staff of EoE, and they didn't have to use their EoE staff handles or advertise their game here after that. They can do that if they want, but it makes it hard for me to buy the idea that the other RPI imms are really above the stuff that Arm staff does.

Doesn't mean the kettle isn't still black, buddy.

That is indeed an aspect of Armageddon that makes it difficult to enjoy. It is not a 'flaw' exactly. But it's just one trait that gives the game it's allure and at the same time makes it maddeningly unwise to invest time in. Fact of the matter is that you can spend a year building up your character and then DIE within a second of circumstances turning against you. Just like that. BOOM.

Armageddons numbers are indeed down. Even though in my opinion, the 'toxicity' level of the game improved considerably after Noted Liar Nergal's departure. Rathustra, Calavera, Loonsh, and a few others absolutely kicking ass and making things great. But still. Armageddon is indeed in a slump. But it's not Armageddon itself. MUDs, in general, are in a slump. Armageddon being 'extra niche' and beset with a pretty harsh reality of perma death, is just in a greater slump then others. Of course, if you keep comparing Arm to the 'good old days of year X', you will never be satisfied. These days are fucking gone. The playerbase is 10+ years older now. They've got jobs, families, responsibilities. Even Morgenes moved on.

Staff

Who exactly are staff? People on these forums keep making staff out to be this secret society that is out to make the Arm fun for them and shit for everybody else. Victimizing people for their maniacal evil plans. But who are staff exactly and why are they staff?

Rathustra (Became staff roughly 8 yrs ago)
Rahnevyn (Became staff roughly 10 yrs ago)
Fehu (Became staff roughly 14 months ago)
Loonsh (Became staff 12 years ago)
Seidhr Became staff 4.5 years ago)
Shabago (Became staff 9 years ago)
Ayomai (Less then a year)
Renenutet (Became staff less then 3 yrs ago)
Akariel (Became staff 3 years ago)
Italis (Became staff 7 years ago)
Calavera (Became staff 9 years ago)
Draugr (Became staff less then a year ago)
Oryx (Became staff 8 years ago)
Tleilax (Became staff 3 yrs ago)
Vilya (Became staff 3 years ago)
Noted Liar Nergal (Became staff 4 years ago)

Nathvaan (Became staff 5 years ago)
Adhira (Became staff 14 years ago)
Brokkr (Became staff 3 years ago)
Tiernan (Became staff aaages ago)
Nessalin (Became staff before the birth of christ)

This is slightly off in some aspects, but good enough truly. My point here is that there only "Them vs Us" staff that can genuinely be called 'staff' here is Nessalin, Tiernan, and Adhira. And it's stretching for Adhira We're talking someone who's been on staff for so long, that they can genuinely be suspected to have long forgotten how it is to be a player. At the same time, despite Nessalin being a total douchebag, he is a coder and therefore important for the game. Adhira tends to be a mediator and adjudicator. She's the one who tries her best to prevent a 'negativity spiral' (A process where staff shittalks about players to each other, until everyone are biased and see everything a player does as negative) and is the most common person who responds with, "What do you mean? What's your point?" When a staff chooses not to pick a clearly good sponsored role application with an explanation of "I just dont like the player".

There. Everyone else? They're not staffers. Not in a way that you lot are portraying them to be. They're just players who were given wiz powers. Some of them, and not necessarily the most senior ones, have achieved greater responsibility/power then others. Some special ones did it due to their coding ability. This is separate and important. MUDs nead coders. Others though? well, partly because they were not totally against getting it. Partly because they spent 10x more time, effort, and labour in the game. Does this make those staffers good people? Good players? Good staffers? Not always. Nyr was very prolific. Noted Liar Nergal was very prolific. Seidhr is relatively prolific. They're still all shit people. Truth is. If you're smart, kind, talented, non-asshole person. Then the odds of you easily gaining Admin+ position is slimmer. Mainly because you're too busy pulling a six figure salary IRL, getting a doctorate, and helping a child, or three grow up as good people.

Truth of the matter is that MUDs in general are a niche for people that are irregular. That is okey. I, myself, am no peach. But we're all toxic people in one way, or another. We are often unhappy, we are often eager to escape our reality. This is often why we play MUDs. And it should not be a surprise that if some of us are given powers, we become assholes with powers. It's not the powers that made us assholes, we were assholes already. Doesnt apply to everyone, but to many.

So when you say. Staff is out to get the playerbase! You're wrong. Playerbase is out to get the playerbase! The people are the same. Sometimes some players who've been fighting against the staff one year, ARE staff 2 years later. Sometimes some staff who are being asses to the playerbase one year, are writing longwinded staff berating threads 2 years later as players.

Staff are just players who are in the 'clique' with other staff. I'm sorry, but this is simply not true anymore. At one point it might've been. Now everyone and anyone who has not been blatantly disruptive, abusive, degrading, have at one time, or another had a chance to became staff. Two thirds of the veteran playerbase was staff at one point. The game is so starved for creative, passionate, energetic people, they are 'very' easy trying players out for staff positions. Not every single one. But there is usually a reason for that. People are not stupid. Sometimes players who were clearly powergamey and uncreative, were 'still' chosen as staff. Granted, they dont tend to last long, barring occasional exceptions of slipping through cracks. Slipping through cracks happens. Armageddon is a freaking 'hobby'. It was no shit easier to become staff then to reach 5th karma. All you needed is to show that you've got A LOT OF TIME to invest, a passable writing ability, and at least an 'appearance' of not wanting to 'Wyn' armageddon by every sane, or insane trick, exploit, and grind.

In all honesty. You dont like Armageddon, but in love with its premise enough to pine and whine for YEARS? Why dont you just become staff, INVEST THE TIME, get a higher position, and change things from within. Rathustra/Calavera/Loonsh are doing it. Help them. All you gotta do to achieve that is work a lot on a hobby that gives you a lot of stress, worry, indecision, and merely eats all of your free and non so free time.

Or, you can just go and create your own game. Game so good and properly managed, the entire playerbase will move to your game. Please. I assure you. The moment a game shows up that is significantly better then Armageddon, 'that' is when Arm will die.

These forums existed for five years now. And from the very beginning, people have been saying how Armageddon will die aaaaaany moment now. Lately, there's been attempts to 'speed it up' since the damn thing refuses to 'self-destruct'. Shit like voting bots that knocked Arm off TMS. Or these "let's go on different media/forums and explain everyone how shitty Arm is. Just so it can 'self destruct'" drives. Or let's all unite up and stop playing Arm, just so it can 'self destruct' attempted initiatives.


Would you like a demonstration of how a player turns into a staffer and then the assholeness comes out? I'd like you to view the Mafia thread on this very forum.

It's just a game of mafia. Topkek was the most experienced in it so he was asked to moderate and organize it. He went for it. We relied on him. He set things up and we played. It was FUN. It took awhile. It took unexpected turns. It was unruly. It was disruptive. Things did not go the way Topkek hoped they would during the setup? If you read the thread, you'll notice that Topkek was becoming more and more and more belligerent. Less and less interested in moderating the game. Until finally, he abandoned it. That Mafia game never actually ended up having a finale written up, because mostly ... Topkek couldnt give enough fuck.

And that's fine. Topkek had other IRL shit to deal with. And he needed to read through a 'looot' of text, to get that little post posted to close up the game. Too much to do for no real gain. FUck it. Fine. Yeah. Okey. We moved on to other things.

That is a mini demonstration of what happens when a player is tried out as a staffer. A very very very common occurrence. Dont like the current staff? Become a staffer yourself and dont go that route. Or you just can whine a lot and do absolutely nothing constructive. While those who do a 'little bit' constructive, walk all over you and others who dont want to waste time staffing and just want to play the game.