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I'm surprised, honestly. I believed Alela had a good relationship with Fyrren ICly, and I thought we were somewhat chummy OOC as well. I've certainly not tried to antagonize you personally.

For better or worse, I'm usually willing to give some amount of insight into my character's behavior if someone tells me they're feeling down because of it. In that spirit, my intent has mainly been to push for information and inclusion. It seems as though the Teradrim believe these are their events alone - an impression I've formed based on their apparent reluctance to tell anyone anything, let alone invite outside participation - and I think they're mistaken in this belief. Last night's disturbances were causing damage and lengthy stuns to numerous people at odd intervals, which meant we couldn't just get on with our business until we were relatively certain it wasn't going to continue. Furthermore, from an RP standpoint, all Undead should be concerned by issues with Earth, and all people in Sapience (who aren't openly defying Varian?) should be concerned about related Albedi threats. We push and push and push because we get nothing otherwise. The Teradrim guild has been like this for a long time, so while it may feel unfair to you as only recently the leader, you're experiencing the fruits of seeds long since sown.

For real, I don't want you or anyone else to feel bullied. However, I don't accept that's what's actually happening here. You (as in the Teradrim in general) need to look at your behaviors and recognize that other characters are going to respond negatively to being shoved out constantly.

I keep trying to come up with a thing to say to this but every time I start I just get extremely angry, but also overwhelmed. Do I try to unpack "bullying the people with leadership positions when they signed on to be leaders and bear the responsibilities of that role" first, or do I go for the implication that there's some sort of metagaming plot to ruin everyone's and/or a specific someone's play experience (when, by the way, Carnifex players are often the ones telling people to stop metagaming in OOC mediums)? Or do I take a crack at the suggestion that players are obligated to explain their characters' motivations out of character on demand whenever their actions inconvenience another person? Or do I roll the dice on trying to dissect what precisely is even "bullying" here?

Because I'm guessing, if this is referencing the past couple weeks of IC stuff (which has been a hoot), a lot of the "bullying" has been characters living in the world asking whether they should be concerned about existential threats that directly impact them, as well as asking for accountability. I have no idea what consequences your character is eating, if any, in game, but this really reeks of "my character had a consequence for an action and I can't take it." It also reads as a bad faith attempt to bait pretty much every Carnifex player into being an aggro jerkwad so you can go "see what I mean?" when pretty much anybody who is slapped with a massive label and unfounded accusations would be understandably angry and upset at the suggestion.

If you can't take the heat of leadership and the responsibilties that entails, you can step down. I've done it a bunch of times in game when I didn't want to keep doing the job. If you are really some person who wants to do nothing but craft and have slice of life RP, that's something you can do! In a guild, even! You just don't become a public-facing mascot for your organization that has to interact with other people and represent their org and its responsibilities. Like I'm not in a real leadership role in the Carnifex right now and as a result I could mostly just screw off and do whatever I want and almost pretend to not be a Carnifex, if I really really wanted.

This post is so nasty and runs against the very heart of what roleplay is and I'm, honestly, appalled that it was written, let alone posted. Also THIS: this is a really unhealthy thing and if that's something you're legitimately experiencing, you really might consider taking a break from the game altogether, because this is not a healthy attitude to bring to...honestly any recreational activity.

Lately I have not been playing as much as I would like to, mostly due to real life health reasons as I have been going through many dental issues and am currently waiting for surgery to remove an impacted wisdom tooth that is growing into my jaw and against a nerve, inducing 24/7 headaches.

What little time I do have for playing has gone into basic leadership responsibilities and dealing with a large amount of griefing and bullying.

It is widely known that the Carnifex guild are a group of thug-like, brutal badasses who chew bubblegum or kick ass and they are always out of bubblegum. Unfortunately, what this guild has cultivated in my view is a mob-mentality within the game and it has had a negative impact on many other characters/players as a consequence.

People often talk about being able to separate OOC emotions from IC emotions but over the two decades that this game has been around, it should be obvious by now that some players are capable of this very well and play some very unique characters without missing a beat and strive to prevent any sort of OOC bias to dictate the actions of their characters and kudos to you hardcore roleplayers for it, you have got some mad skills and not just anyone can do that level of immersive roleplay.

However, there are also many players who are not able to do this nearly as well or simply are not playing the game for the same level of immersion on a daily basis. Some people just want to be able to pursue their interests in the game, be it crafting, lore, bashing, general chatting over webs or OOC clans, whatever. There are so many ways to play this game and that's what makes this game special in my mind.

Lately there has been a trend going on in Bloodloch due to what I and many others know as the monopoly the Carnifex hold in sheer numbers and mob-mentality and it has quite frankly turned into what I can only describe as a culture that deals with others through sheer bullying and griefing, be them ally or enemy, it doesn't matter to them.

What has this done? It has caused an extremely hostile environment to play in. Sure, Bloodloch is supposed to be this brutal city of undeath, but all I have experienced from the Carnifex is a selfish, divisive, and entitled method of dealing with anything. They are intrusive, demand much without offering anything substantial in return, will try to manipulate other guilds through any means necessary such as herd mentality voting in order to stunt their sister guilds' voices or to try to manipulate leaderships of smaller guilds through telling them what is good for them, which essentially means "do what we say or you will regret it". A mentality that is more often linked with criminal organizations than with civilians.

It is my view that a city is supposed to be made up by a majority of members from the three guilds that call it home, which means that those guilds should be working together towards a common goal and respecting the authority and autonomy of each other over their given charge. Teradrim - Pillars of the Earth/Undeath. Dominion - The Blood. Carnifex - The Master Soulstone.

What has happened instead is the Carnifex essentially bullying the leadership and members of the Teradrim and Dominion in order to achieve their own goals with zero regard for what the characters of these two guilds are trying to achieve themselves within the confines of their own guilds and with their roles in the city of Bloodloch. The Carnifex players may be enjoying this as a form of 'immersive roleplay' but it is at the cost of 'immersive roleplay' for others. Instead of being able to deal with the Teradrim/Ivoln/Undeath themed roleplay that I would rather be doing, I have to deal with the real life stress that is induced from a barrage of bullying, insults, accusations, threats, demands, and so forth FROM AN ALLIED GUILD.

Why do things have to be this way? Can someone truly justify the idea that any form of bullying/griefing in an Out Of Character context is not okay but then play a character who partakes in bullying/griefing in an In Character context?

This is all written from my own point of view and I have voiced it here rather than in game due to the fact that I experience a straight up sensation of real life fear for the fate of my character should I voice anything in character at this point in time. I have invested money and much time, as any other long time player has and I don't want to see this all gone to waste because I have an opinion about things that do not go with the current status quo but sadly that is the state of mind I have been brought to. It is even to the point that I write this post knowing that I will likely suffer further consequences for speaking up on these issues, be it through OOC backlash on the forums or Shadow Web or the meta bias that will likely make me the target of further griefing and bullying IC. But at this point, I rather speak up than lurk and just watch this happen.

There are many players in this game who will justify their behavior as it being a part of their character and 'immersive roleplay' but where do you draw the line? Where do you draw the line between being an evil undead dude and straight up griefing people? I speak with players on a daily basis who have crossed 'the mob' and thus suffer greatly for what in my mind are trivial mistakes or simply real life circumstances that have forced a player to take certain actions In Character such as avoiding certain positions or stepping down from positions, etc. Should they continue to suffer for this? Are their own experiences and suffering inconsequential and thus should be allowed to be treated as lepers and pariahs indefinitely?

I have played a Teradrim for a long time and have had my ups and downs but any player who knows me IC or OOC well enough knows that I play this game ONLY for the Teradrim/Ivoln/Undead lore and related. I have my faults as any other player has but I do try to at least provide as welcoming an environment as I can in a game format that is not going to be seeing a renaissance any time soon. I try to breed collaboration rather than division. Community building rather than fracturing. But trying to do this while being a target of what I perceive as a clandestinely organized smear campaign has brought me to a dismal mindset.

Due to the current situation I have explained, I will be cancelling my subscription to the game and ceasing any spending in it as I cannot justify paying for something that allows for an environment with this level of bullying and griefing. If things change, I will likely continue my subscription once more.

Also, I do not mean this as an attack on any one individual but rather a vocalization of what I have been experiencing lately. I am very well aware that I am going to be likely experiencing a lot worse after this post.

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But as I like to end any post like this with a bit of brightness rather than just a straight up rant, I will like to give thanks to every player who has made this game worth sticking around for as long as I have since my return.

Everyone in TCC, you give me the strength to weather through everything, whether it is IC drama or real life struggles and I truly feel I have grown to be a better person since getting to know many of you better and experiencing what it is like to have a great online community to be a part of. I love you all.

To the Teradrim guild members, you are the reason I play this game, let alone Fyrren, and no matter how tough things get for me in game or in real life, you always have my back and keep me anchored and help me get through things. I could not ask for a better in-game community to be a part of and it is always a pleasure when we get to explore our extremely niche style of roleplay and lore. I give an extra big shoutout to @Zenobia , @Amarita , @Macavity , and @Malcanthet because you are my Aetolia-family and you rock my world. (Teradrim puns are mandatory.)

To the admins and developers and volunteers, thank you for your endless dedication to keeping this game going and no matter how bad things get in the short term, you all seem to find a way to fix things and make things once more enjoyable for so many people. Keep on being awesome!

So with RP I think there are two approaches. You can go with the method actor's approach and be true, through and through, to what your character would do in all situations. Then you can take more of a director's approach and shape your actions based on what you think will enable the best story over all. I try to find a balance between the two, read the situation and enable better stories. It sounds like you're chaffing under the former approach and feeling like it's stifling the story @Fyrren would like to be telling and I can appreciate feeling frustrated by this. Nobody likes to feel bullied, at the same time, I don't think anyone is bullying.

One of the things that differentiates the Carnifex from everyone else is their's is a culture of enabling people as opposed to stifling them -- which for better or worse is what many people experience in the other two guilds in Bloodloch.

It's a real problem that has resulted in plenty of resentment felt on both sides while those who have felt stifled in the Terradrim and Dominion have found themselves escaping this in the Carnifex, thus making it the largest population in Bloodloch. If this is happening, I can only recommend taking a good hard look at how you are doing things in your own micro-organism and see how to resolve this population discrepancy. Focusing on the backlash you're experiencing is trying to treat the symptom and not the illness.