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That Jay
04-18-2011, 11:35 AM
Story:

Character A won a raffle for weapon weighting services from Merchant. Character B whispered an offer to trade for the services for some armor pieces that Character B had inquired about acquiring earlier from Character A. The Merchant whispered to Character A that they would not take that offer as Character A could do much better.

The players of character A & B get along and were fine with whatever decision Character A made about the service.

So the question is, was Merchant acting appropriately in using GM ability to see all whispers and putting their two cents into the discussion?

Discuss.

Asha
04-18-2011, 11:39 AM
Yes.

Buckwheet
04-18-2011, 11:46 AM
http://www.onlinesciencemall.com/Shop/Control/Product/fp/SFV/30852/vpid/8540306/vpcsid/0/rid/126318

Warriorbird
04-18-2011, 12:39 PM
If it's public they pretty much always do this.

That Jay
04-18-2011, 12:43 PM
I understand that they pretty much always do it. Hear whispers that is. But to comment on them seems egregiously out-of-character to me. After all, the player characters cannot over hear whispers. Yet, somehow these GM NPCs always can? No matter how inexperienced they are roleplayed as?

To interject commentary seems, if nothing else, ill mannered.

Ryvicke
04-18-2011, 12:47 PM
Was character A/B discussion IC? also I assume you're talking plat here? I know a lot of the GMs in plat have closer "relationships" ooc'ly with players.

Drakefang
04-18-2011, 12:55 PM
There are many ways this could have been responded to and dealt with in a polite and social manner. Coming here to discuss it probably would not have been my first or even second instinct. However, it surely was an option.

Consider:
1) The GM has no clue the relationship between player A and player B.
2) The GM may feel responsible for trying to keep uneducated players from getting taken by more experienced sellers/traders.
3) The GM cannot keep you from completing the trade. As such, it was merely advice. No harm, no foul in my opinion.
4) They kept it to a whisper. This was between you and the GM, to ignore or heed.
5) That you had a working and maybe friendly relationship with the second party doesn't mean you fail to grasp the value of what you are winning.
6) With regard to #5, nor should it matter that the values equal but the GM doesn't know you don't care that this is so.
7) Look at the appraisal folder under merchanting. People don't know the value of items. Some people take gross advantage of this both in game and here.
8) From the OP, it seems there were two ways to view this. One, the GM was nosy and butting into something they had no right to. Two, the GM was merely taking a keen interest in making sure the first party was not being abused or taken by a (possibly) seedy merchant type.

BriarFox
04-18-2011, 01:11 PM
2) The GM may feel responsible for trying to keep uneducated players from getting taken by more experienced sellers/traders.
3) The GM cannot keep you from completing the trade. As such, it was merely advice. No harm, no foul in my opinion.

^

Tgo01
04-18-2011, 01:15 PM
Just say "I appreciate your concern but he's a good friend of mine. Now get back to work! People are waiting!"

Archigeek
04-18-2011, 01:15 PM
Plat is different than Prime, so I can't speak to the differences in relationships, but it does seem out of place. I would think that in Plat, players are generally quite experienced and more up to speed on values too.

I find it very odd that a GM would chime in on a deal being brokered, unless they had specifically said no swapping items. In which case the chiming in would be a reminder. I find this a little extra amusing since the merchant doing the crit weighting in Prime anyway, completely ignored any whispers that I made directly to them.

If I were a GM and it were possible, that feature would probably be the first thing I would turn off. With a ton of things on your plate, why would you want to eavesdrop?

That Jay
04-18-2011, 01:19 PM
I suppose I should have omitted some more information regarding the matter to make it a blind question without clues to implicate any of the parties. My fault there. I tried but not hard enough.

Additional information:

Both players (of Character A and Character B) are longtime players and are not known to be newbies likely to be swindled.

There exists an antagonistic relationship between the GM behind Merchant and the player of Character B, but heretofore not between the merchant, him or herself.

Gnome Rage
04-18-2011, 01:24 PM
I think that it is naive to think that a GM, who has the ability to listen to all conversations, wouldn't occasionally put their two cents in.

Archigeek
04-18-2011, 01:28 PM
I wouldn't want to hear all the drivel spewed in whispers. What a great way to take the last bit of luster off a roleplaying game. Don't care to know what everyone is saying about everyone else and thinks is a private communication, however wrong they are.

Buckwheet
04-18-2011, 01:38 PM
I wouldn't want to hear all the drivel spewed in whispers. What a great way to take the last bit of luster off a roleplaying game. Don't care to know what everyone is saying about everyone else and thinks is a private communication, however wrong they are.

This comment just reminds me of the Fisdan misthought heard round the world.

Tgo01
04-18-2011, 01:44 PM
This comment just reminds me of the Fisdan misthought heard round the world.

Go on.

Buckwheet
04-18-2011, 01:51 PM
Go on.

Fisdan: "act cradles your nakedness in his arms licking slowly at your neck, while at the same time, his sheathed cock begins to pulse ever so slightly."

The assumption is Ylena was on the receiving end. But it went across the amunet.

Tgo01
04-18-2011, 01:52 PM
Ahh yeah I remember now. Too funny.

WRoss
04-18-2011, 02:15 PM
There was another one at a merchant a year or two ago. A couple was trying to RP public sexxors and accidentally ACTed instead of chatting.

Drew
04-18-2011, 02:27 PM
Fisdan: "act cradles your nakedness in his arms licking slowly at your neck, while at the same time, his sheathed cock begins to pulse ever so slightly."

The assumption is Ylena was on the receiving end. But it went across the amunet.

And then Ylena came out and said she wasn't logged in at the time.

Archigeek
04-18-2011, 02:32 PM
Ylena was awesome. I have a copy of her box song somewhere, amongst others. She is right up there at the top of my list of all-time favorite Gemstone bards. And to be fair, Fisdan played a merchant pretty well. Besides just being a merchant, he roleplayed a merchant and did a decent job of it.

That Jay
04-18-2011, 03:07 PM
I think that it is naive to think that a GM, who has the ability to listen to all conversations, wouldn't occasionally put their two cents in.

Never said I did not expect it to occasionally happen, just asked whether it is appropriate or even considered good manners. Lots of things happen that are not surprising, sadly so sometimes.

Dramada
04-18-2011, 04:14 PM
Ylena still play? I played during that time and met her a couple times in real life. Last time I saw her was a fellow gemstone players funeral which was quite a few years ago. Hope she is doing well.

Darren/Dramada

That Jay
04-18-2011, 05:23 PM
Nope. Last I heard she was playing WOW with some other ex-GSers.

Fallen
04-18-2011, 05:25 PM
;chat to SoandSo Blah

Whispering around GMs is a bad idea.

RSR
04-18-2011, 05:27 PM
It should be mentioned that the winner was given 5 minutes to produce a suitable item or she would spin again

Ayamei
04-24-2011, 09:46 PM
I hear they also have latched rooms tapped, little scarabs with magical dictographs hide beneath the sheets, colloquial known as bedbugs by GMs. They record all those nasty little ACTs so GMs can laugh and ridicule you later.

Stretch
04-24-2011, 10:06 PM
;chat to SoandSo Blah

Whispering around GMs is a bad idea.

Chatting (http://forum.gsplayers.com/showpost.php?p=716283&postcount=150) isn't idiot proof

Fallen
04-24-2011, 10:28 PM
lolololol.

msconstrew
04-24-2011, 10:49 PM
;chat to SoandSo Blah

Whispering around GMs is a bad idea.

This. Or use AIM if you're not on lnet (you should really be on lnet).

Abilene
04-25-2011, 04:49 PM
There exists an antagonistic relationship between the GM behind Merchant and the player of Character B, but heretofore not between the merchant, him or herself.

Just made me giggle. Antagonistic relationship with Jay, lol que?!