Fleurs

[darkcipher]

I generally try to avoid listening to gossip and judging people based on others interactions with someone. I've always heard people bad mouth Fleurs, but never really had a bad interaction with her. Still, it's hard not to feel a little pissed when she wins a raffle for an enchant slot, then goes and shows up to a merchant who is altering AFTER I do and wins two spins on two different accounts. I know I shouldn't be surprised and I can't fault her for trying for as much as she can, she's certainly not alone in that, still it is hard to swallow when you see it happen on a regular basis. I mean, how many fucking alters do you need? When is enough enough? I know this is not news to anyone, but I still wanted to bitch to some people who might understand my frustration.
/end rant

[Astray]

I feel this should be more of a complaint on multi-accounts at merchants rather than just Fleurs.

[Tgo01]

I generally try to avoid listening to gossip and judging people based on others interactions with someone. I've always heard people bad mouth Fleurs, but never really had a bad interaction with her. Still, it's hard not to feel a little pissed when she wins a raffle for an enchant slot, then goes and shows up to a merchant who is altering AFTER I do and wins two spins on two different accounts. I know I shouldn't be surprised and I can't fault her for trying for as much as she can, she's certainly not alone in that, still it is hard to swallow when you see it happen on a regular basis. I mean, how many fucking alters do you need? When is enough enough? I know this is not news to anyone, but I still wanted to bitch to some people who might understand my frustration.
/end rant

One of the rare times I was visiting a merchant and I was patiently waiting my turn. I gave this particular merchant a lot of shit in character so the merchant purposefully put me at the very end of the line. Whatever about that though, it was all in good fun.

Anyways. So I have 9 accounts. There I am sitting there with just one account, patiently waiting to be picked last (like high school all over again!), when I saw three people get the exact same type of item altered in almost the exact same way. Literally. It was 3 pieces of the exact same item and the only alter difference they requested was the color. I thought it was just some new craze everyone was doing and this was a total coincidence. So I joked about what an odd coincidence that people are requesting the exact same alteration to their dresses and that's when someone whispered to me that all characters were owned by Fleurs.

It was at that point I was like "Ohhhh! Now I get it" in regards to why she pisses off so many people.

I mean shit, I could have brought 9 of my characters there and really exploded the wait time but I didn't.

Still, it didn't really bother me all that much because I rarely visit merchants but I can certainly see how this might irk people after a while if she does this to every merchant.

[SHAFT]

She's a necessary evil. You don't want her to sell out. Bad enough when kitsun, sabreon, and buck leave.

[Taernath]

"The measure of a man is the amount and quality of his alters."
- Plato

[tyrant-201]

She wins the gemstone hoarder award. How much shit can one acquire? Fleurs knows

[Luftstreitkräfte]

Fleurs is okay. One time she farted and it was absolutely hilarious, I think EG 2013? She's helpful at merchants if she wins a spot you need (AvD change, RTCF 2014) for example. I think my sentiment is just because the infamous stick together, but Fleurs is cool peepz in IW's book.

[darkcipher]

One of the rare times I was visiting a merchant and I was patiently waiting my turn. I gave this particular merchant a lot of shit in character so the merchant purposefully put me at the very end of the line. Whatever about that though, it was all in good fun.

Anyways. So I have 9 accounts. There I am sitting there with just one account, patiently waiting to be picked last (like high school all over again!), when I saw three people get the exact same type of item altered in almost the exact same way. Literally. It was 3 pieces of the exact same item and the only alter difference they requested was the color. I thought it was just some new craze everyone was doing and this was a total coincidence. So I joked about what an odd coincidence that people are requesting the exact same alteration to their dresses and that's when someone whispered to me that all characters were owned by Fleurs.

It was at that point I was like "Ohhhh! Now I get it" in regards to why she pisses off so many people.

I mean shit, I could have brought 9 of my characters there and really exploded the wait time but I didn't.

Still, it didn't really bother me all that much because I rarely visit merchants but I can certainly see how this might irk people after a while if she does this to every merchant.

I think this is what gets me, most of all. Yes, most of us play multiple accounts and try to win raffles or work from merchants. It's just the sheer volume by which she does this that gets to me. I feel like a dick if I'm running two accounts at ANY merchant, much less at EVERY merchant. If there is a merchant who is only working for a select few people, I certainly wouldn't bring every character I have, one after the other, to try and get spun multiple times, that's just a dick move.


She's a necessary evil. You don't want her to sell out. Bad enough when kitsun, sabreon, and buck leave.

Well, see, that's not really a good argument to me. The ONLY thing I remember about Kitsun is that he tried to buy 25% of the RTCF tickets, got caught and banned. I presume he left after that because he felt he was being needlessly singled out. I don't know, however, because it was at that point, post RTCF, that I stopped playing. Why? Well, in one word: Greed. People wonder why the community has dwindled over the years, I mean, the population is down and most of the accounts are played people who MA. I saw so much pure, unadulterated Greed at RTCF, capped off with Kitsun's stunt, that it just disgusted me to the point I didn't want to play anymore. This was two years ago and I came back a few months ago and people like Fleurs are still doing the same thing that's been going on for years.

I know many people on here are of the "Wall Street" mindset of "Greed is Good", but I don't see it that way. Anyway, I'll stop my rant at that, I know most will disagree with my sentiments and I certainly am not claiming that I am any different when it comes to some aspects of Gemstone. I just try not to be a dick about it and I try not to be as blatantly obvious about my MAing as some people are.

[tyrant-201]

I think this is what gets me, most of all. Yes, most of us play multiple accounts and try to win raffles or work from merchants. It's just the sheer volume by which she does this that gets to me. I feel like a dick if I'm running two accounts at ANY merchant, much less at EVERY merchant. If there is a merchant who is only working for a select few people, I certainly wouldn't bring every character I have, one after the other, to try and get spun multiple times, that's just a dick move.



Well, see, that's not really a good argument to me. The ONLY thing I remember about Kitsun is that he tried to buy 25% of the RTCF tickets, got caught and banned. I presume he left after that because he felt he was being needlessly singled out. I don't know, however, because it was at that point, post RTCF, that I stopped playing. Why? Well, in one word: Greed. People wonder why the community has dwindled over the years, I mean, the population is down and most of the accounts are played people who MA. I saw so much pure, unadulterated Greed at RTCF, capped off with Kitsun's stunt, that it just disgusted me to the point I didn't want to play anymore. This was two years ago and I came back a few months ago and people like Fleurs are still doing the same thing that's been going on for years.

I know many people on here are of the "Wall Street" mindset of "Greed is Good", but I don't see it that way. Anyway, I'll stop my rant at that, I know most will disagree with my sentiments and I certainly am not claiming that I am any different when it comes to some aspects of Gemstone. I just try not to be a dick about it and I try not to be as blatantly obvious about my MAing as some people are.

It was pretty repulsive the lengths that people would go to get as many tickets as possible (for RtCF), while putting others out in doing so.

[subzero]

It was pretty repulsive the lengths that people would go to get as many tickets as possible (for RtCF), while putting others out in doing so.

Cash Rules.

[time4fun]

This thread is just sad. Fleurs is a very sweet person, and anyone who complains about someone who pays that much a month to SIMU is short-sighted. If you have 9 accounts, bring them next time. I get showing restraint for events like RtCF, but when we're talking about a regular monthly raffle or a GALD line...who cares?

[Velfi]

She pays for her accounts like everybody else, she can do what the fuck she wants to with them. Like everybody else.

I get that not everyone likes the merchanting and whatnot but that's a pretty silly reason to be so hateful. Fleurs has always been very kind and friendly when I've interacted with her, helpful if I needed it, and I'd probably rate her a better person than a lot of the shitbirds that can do nothing else but whine.

[tyrant-201]

She pays for her accounts like everybody else, she can do what the fuck she wants to with them. Like everybody else.

I get that not everyone likes the merchanting and whatnot but that's a pretty silly reason to be so hateful. Fleurs has always been very kind and friendly when I've interacted with her, helpful if I needed it, and I'd probably rate her a better person than a lot of the shitbirds that can do nothing else but whine.

Personally, I don't hate her. I concur, when you pay for so many accounts, you do what you want with them.

That said, the limited merchanting I do, I bring maybe one or two accounts. It can be a bit disheartening to see so many major MA's win - especially if you're only looking for a few services and can't/don't get them.

Still not a reason to hate anyone.

[Latrinsorm]

She pays for her accounts like everybody else, she can do what the fuck she wants to with them. Like everybody else.And anybody can criticize her for doing so. Freedom has never been a shield.

[RSR]

And anybody can criticize her for doing so. Freedom has never been a shield.

Especially if you don't train in shield use.

[Shaps]

This game became pay to win a long time ago.

On one hand, MA'ers pay their dues and deserve to do what they want.

On the other, the market has been dominated by 10-15 people for so long.. The only real way to get any nice item is to pay real cash for it to other players. I wish SIMU would just look at the current market value.. say level it out at $8 per million.. and make everything available via cash store.

I'd rather give my money to the company instead of having certain people monopolize events just to resell their winnings immediately. Want a 10x weapon? Pay SIMU 200 dollars. Want a spell-knowledge enhancive? Pay 400 dollars. Least then, the money is going to the company for use, instead of peoples personal pockets. Perhaps then, it would limit monopolization of events by people, since it would reduce the value of the resell market.

[Silvean]

There are days when I consider taking $10,000 and just buying the items I want but I doubt I'll ever do it. I'm probably less tempted than I would be if gear were more important to hunting success.

A single player lining up multiple characters to monopolize alteration services seems like bad form. It's almost mean spirited. Why take opportunities to have a little fun away from others like that?

[Whirlin]

Fleurs has really done her best to be readily available as a wizard guild leader, and helped out people when she can. Arguably, she's a little harder to contact, not being a Lich user, which in my opinion, just makes the amount of MAing that she does even more impressive to me.

While she does have super aggressive merchanting tendencies, Simu implemented maximum services at merchants, as seen in the last Spitfire, to curb those types of activities, and remove some of the top tier merchant-hunters. I'm flat out jealous of her merchanting hunting, because she's damn good at it, and also super lucky!

That being said, you'll still hear me curse about her when she wins stuff I want... but then again, I'd curse any of you off if you won something I wanted.

[Fallen]

I'll echo others that have said MA'ers keep GS, and especially pay events going. That being said, an issue does arise when tickets to an event are limited to the point where a single person can buy a significant amount of the slots available. At that point, the demand is far higher than the supply, and the playerbase is sufficiently angry enough to do more harm than good.

In my opinion, that's a problem on the side of staff. They shouldn't set up super limited ticket events that are easily able to be monopolized through the box office by a very small group of people, MA'ers or not. To his credit, Wyrom seems to be actively addressing that particular problem.

[Androidpk]

One of the rare times I was visiting a merchant and I was patiently waiting my turn. I gave this particular merchant a lot of shit in character so the merchant purposefully put me at the very end of the line. Whatever about that though, it was all in good fun.

Anyways. So I have 9 accounts. There I am sitting there with just one account, patiently waiting to be picked last (like high school all over again!), when I saw three people get the exact same type of item altered in almost the exact same way. Literally. It was 3 pieces of the exact same item and the only alter difference they requested was the color. I thought it was just some new craze everyone was doing and this was a total coincidence. So I joked about what an odd coincidence that people are requesting the exact same alteration to their dresses and that's when someone whispered to me that all characters were owned by Fleurs.

It was at that point I was like "Ohhhh! Now I get it" in regards to why she pisses off so many people.

I mean shit, I could have brought 9 of my characters there and really exploded the wait time but I didn't.

Still, it didn't really bother me all that much because I rarely visit merchants but I can certainly see how this might irk people after a while if she does this to every merchant.


Were they all handbags and totes?

[darkcipher]

Well, I said my piece, or rather ranted my rant and got the reactions I thought I would get. Some people think I'm in the wrong, some people agree with me, some people blame Simu, most people don't care.

Against my better judgement, I will post one last collection of thoughts on this, you can read it, or not, then I will stop beating a dead horse. I am considering moving to Zul Logoth to beat some dead Centaurs, however.


tl:dr - I don't hate Fleurs, I don't know her, except by reputation. I'm suggesting that people shouldn't be dicks or you'll wind up just losing more players in the end and have no one to play with but yourself and your shiny toys. You can stop reading now or continue for the long version.


Firstly, I cannot speak to how nice, helpful or sweet Fleurs is to anybody, I don't know her at all, I know her reputation, which is mixed, and the first thing I said is that I try not to judge people based solely on their reputation. After posting I went back to the Picklefest and she was there, with more than one character waiting for a merchant to do work. I said hello to the room, and asked if I was interrupting things. I was told that Rosalini was doing work.

Fleurs OOC whispered me, (presumably seeing my post here): "You know, if you have problems with me, you could just simply not talk to me instead of pretending to be friendly. I've tried to be helpful where I could this festival, but no one is entitled to things more than any other. We all pay."
My response was thus: "My character has no problem with you at all, my player, however, has seen how you act for years... you Are not the only one, but you are certainly the most prominent person."
Fleurs OOC reply: "Whatever makes you happy. I'll stay out of your way from now on."
Mine: "And I shall do the same for you."

After this, I said good evening and I left. I had no desire to see her get three to four more items worked on while I wait at the back of the line for the hope I might get something. I'm also not going to beg or bribe her or anyone else to get the work done. Do I like have altered, lightened, nicer things? Yes, I do, I feel like its a big draw in a game when you only have your imagination to paint the picture. I feel the process is creative and yes, there is a certain satisfaction to winning stuff, it's a poor form of distribution, but auctions only generally benefit the rich anyway. At least if you're in a raffle, you have equally as much chance to win as the next guy.

Now, the extent of my interaction with her at this festival was, I showed up after Felthrop's raffles drew, she won one, Hoy one the other. I got some armor lightened and saw the Announcement, logged on my other character who had participated in the Poetry Contest earlier in the day, (I didn't win, but I wasn't expecting to, I was there for the interaction, one of Fleurs characters was also at the poetry contest). My character is newly arrived to the Rest, the week before this Festival, he has a cloak full of silver pickles that are supposedly usable for merchant services. I haven't seen any merchants and when I was at Felthrops (he was lightening things), I opted not to run out the door like a madman to rush to RR and try and get more work done. Anyway, I got there late, Gliza was working, Fleurs and an alt showed up behind me. Fleurs OOC whispered me to ask if I had seen Rosilini (the contest judge) since the contest, I replied, no, I hadn't, I had just gotten back from Felthrops. She thanked me, I said it was my pleasure. Again, I know her reputation, but I'm not ignoring or insulting her for gossip and slander, particularly when it comes from outside the game (here or LICH).

The merchant had been working for a few people, I finally asked if she would be doing more work, she said she could spin a few but probably won't get to all. Two people in front of me got spun and won, and the two Fleur characters got spun. They got their work done, merchant left.

I left, made my rant post here and went out for a bit. I don't feel as if I had been particularly "friendly" to her in that exchange, nor particularly rude to her. I generally do my best not to make conflict. But I couldn't help but be upset when I see someone who is WELL known for going to every merchant and winning a lot of raffles, items, etc., win something, and then by pure random chance at another place win two more things, one of which I wanted. I''m not greedy, I have a cloak I want to get altered, idea and everything. I think I may have gotten one alter on this character 2 years ago when I started back up again, just complete random chance to run into a merchant.

I suppose my post on here was an attack on her, I guess it could be considered an attack on anybody who agrees with her, or emulates her play/merchanting style. What I said was, it was hard not to get pissed when you lose out to random chance (the two raffles and the spinner) and three of those losses wound up going to one person. Of course, it's not random chance if you stack the deck, which many people don't seem to have a problem with. I never said I hated her, I've not said much to her at all... I generally keep to myself because I find if I delve too deep into the LNET/GS pool, well, I usually wind up with a bad taste in my mouth and end up "taking another break", because the community goals and views do not match my own.

I also asked the question: When is enough enough? Which is sort of a more philosophical question, because each person sets their goals and plays with those goals in mind. I'd like to cap a character, or enchant something to 7x, maybe Fleurs wants every character to have the exact same matching outfit so she can start a cult, Ardwen wants all the silver so he can build a Scrooge Mc'Duck type money vault that he swims in nightly, Vishra wants to own all the high end blunts, etc. I think goals are great, they keep us playing, they keep us living. I think a lot of people pass away when they retire because they no longer have anything concrete to work on, they've lost all their goals, and they slowly succumb to the inevitable embrace of death. Or, to put it in terms of the game, they quit, sellout, because they can't achieve the goals they thought they could and the game no longer makes them happy. I mean, that's why I play, to be happy, I can't speak for anyone else on this subject and I won't presume what your goals are, or why you play the game.

I guess the issue, for me, lies in how one person's goals can conflict with another person's goals. I'll use a real life and a game life example: The Wall Street Financial Meltdown. You've got a banker and a potential homeowner, they're both trying to live, to make money, have a comfortably home, provide for their family, etc, etc. The homeowner becomes convinced that he needs a particular house, maybe one he can't afford, but it's the one he has always wanted, it's his goal to live there. The current owner wants to sell the house and move away, the realtor wants to make a commission by facilitating the sale, the banker wants to make money on the mortgage. Now, seemingly, they all have achievable goals and ones which complement one another. Well, let's say the banker looks at the homeowner's financial records and realizes he can't afford to buy this house, this is going to torpedo the whole deal and make four people unhappy. So, he pulls some strings, does a little magic and presto!, the owner gets the house, realtor commission, he gets a nice bonus in his paycheck. Everyone is happy. Until the bank realizes that people can't pay the mortgages they gave them and they start to foreclose, or worse, bundle all those mortgages into a pile and sell it to someone else so they're not left holding the bag. And whom ultimately suffers in this? Everybody. Maybe the banker suffers a little less because the government (read: taxpayers) bailed him out, but the homeowner is still homeless. Perhaps if his goals were a little more reasonable it would have worked out. Perhaps if the banker had done his job, it wouldn't have snowballed. Hard to tell, but this is my real life example.

So, my GS example. Vishra. This is not a personal attack on you at all. I don't know you, but your unique obsession lends itself well to my example. You love OHBs. You gotta have em! You only want high end OHBs. You'll trade anything or anyone you can to get your hands on the 10x mace of Doom. That seems to be the goal for your character, an admirable one to say the least. Not as easy as some goals, but I see you working on it every night and if I had an OHB that was worth more than a few hundred thousand silver, well, I'd probably consider selling it to you, for the joy I would see in your words, for the respite I would get from your asking on LNET, for a number of reasons. Now, occasionally you will joke about (at least, I hope it's a joke) how "ALL THE BLUNTS BELONG TO ME!", I'm paraphrasing, but we all know your passion for weapons that crush skulls and other bones. So, if your goal is simply not to possess a weapon of great power for you to use in your hunting (or maybe 2, they're small, another one wouldn't hurt, THIS one goes with my Monday outfit...) then I say that's admirable, achievable and I wish you great luck. However, if your goal is to own ALL the blunt weapons worth owning in the game, well, it is possible that your goals might conflict with someone else who would like to be able to swing a really cool blunt weapon once or twice. So, the questions is... is it better to adjust your goals, to foster better community and happiness in playing this game, maybe attract some new players (or not repel current ones), or to achieve your own personal goals? If you collect all the cool blunt weapons, which is an admirable job, what's left for other people, or for someone just starting the game? I mean, don't you currently have 7 of them? How many arms do you have, or have you ducked tape them to your back like a porcupine and attack mobs by rolling over them? Do you really NEED more, or do you just WANT more?

Yes, I'm not telling you, or Fleurs how to play the game, or how to spend your money, I don't think anyone has that right. I am trying to point out how some people in this "community" damage the environment more than they help it. That in our quest for power, money and fame, you can't just disregard everything else that happens and chalk it up to "I'm paying for this game, so I can do what I want". Can someone bring 9 accounts to a limited merchant and get all of them worked on? Yes. Should that person pause to think that if he brings nine accounts that means eight other people will most likely go away disappointed because they couldn't get something as small as an alter to one item? Probably. Will it change their actions? Most likely not. However, do not be surprised when someone figures out that you are gaming the system somehow (whether it's buying all the tickets you can to RTCF or logging in as many accounts as you have for a merchant line) and is not pleased with it. Some may shrug their shoulders and say "well, that's just Fleurs", some will joke about it and not care, some will eventually get frustrated and leave.

As to Fleurs (or anyone else's) being nice and helpful, and I should lay off. I'm not attacking her, or anyone. She's a prime example of taking a goal to the Nth degree, kind of like Kitsun was for RTCF ticket buying, or Sabreon was for MA hunting in OTF. I know these things happen, I have a lot of experience, even though I haven't been particularly active in the community. I started on AOL, played for awhile after NWN was shut down (1990's), left for awhile, came back in 2000, left for awhile (school took precedence), started again in 2103, left after RTCF, came back this year. But, I digress, as to the "nice and helpful" nature of Fleurs, I don't believe that one good deed washes out all your bad ones. Simply as I don't believe that one bad deed marks you for life (with exceptions, of course) and undo all the good you've done.

Again, I'll repeat for clarity, I don't hate Fleurs, Vishra, or anyone else and I do not think I have a right to tell them how to play. I am simply voicing my displeasure at actions that some people do that affect me. And, as Latrinsorm pointed out, I have a right to rant about things like that. Same as she has a right to bring multiple characters to limited events and get one more item on each of them altered. I'm saying that there is a difference between what you have a "right" to do, and what you "should" do. I know, I know, that's pretty subjective and my own opinion on whats right and wrong, you don't have to point that out to me. Still, I think the universal maxim of "don't be a dick" should be applied to more situations in GS. I also think that most people are aware of their actions and how they hurt others, but for some reason manage to rationalize it away with skewed logic.

Okay, I'm done now, make of it what you will. I'll be on the Plateau near Zul Logoth, torturing centaurs to death and keeping my head down. If you'd like to come kill me, feel free, if you want to talk, find me on Lnet as Arioch. If you want to respond more, that's your right. Sorry for the long post, couldn't sleep over this situation and needed to get my thoughts out before I stopped caring and left the game again. Oh, and for anyone wondering, I did not neg rep Brem for selling her contest win, I think she's a sweety and she was the reason I went to the contest in the first place. I think it's a noble charity, a selfless act and a prime example of what I am trying to convey.

-Dark

[Fallen]

Good Lord, son. That's a long ass post.

[Astray]

TL;DR

Holy shit, that's a wall of text.

[darkcipher]

I put the TL:DR in the beginning, lol. I knew that would be the reaction.


TL;DR

Holy shit, that's a wall of text.

[Viekn]

Someone smarter than me can correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that someone being able to MA without reserve to snatch up all the alters, or someone cornering the market on OHB's, etc. without real regard to how their goals might hurt someone else's is just pure capitalism working the way it was designed. It pisses me off to. It would have pissed me off to be in your shoes. It pisses me off that Walmart can clear a beautiful plot of land close to my home for a new grocery store when there is another full Walmart with groceries, 2 Publix Supermarkets, a brand new Aldi, and a Super Target with groceries all within a half mile of each other. That's the way it works. There's a whole lot of ways and a whole lot of times that capitalism has served all of us, but sometimes it's just going to piss you off and you've got to be willing to eat shit on those days because you benefited every other day.

[Shaps]

One small difference.. this game has maybe 200 solid players that are on a reasonable amount. That is a very, very small community.

The US.. is alot bigger and there are plenty of places to move where Walmart is not within 30 miles+ of you. Or any other retail giant for that matter.

[Jeril]

Eh, Fleurs isn't always so lucky either there are days when she shows up and doesn't get picked but those aren't the days you notice because she hasn't gotten something you desired. There are also plenty of other people who MA at merchants besides her, some likely even point her out because it distracts others from the fact that they are doing the exact same thing. And at least with Fleurs the majority of her wins get used by her and she isn't looking to profit from it like other people are. She also shows up to merchants rather well prepared and it is rare for her to take up much of any merchants time even if she does bring three characters, especially when compared to those people who come with 0 ideas and the merchant spends 20-40 minutes or even longer working with them. I've been to a lot of merchants who say they'll do 5 or 10 and see how it goes and do more if things go quickly. Sometimes things do move at a good pace and other times you get that asshat with zero clue and they take up a good half an hour or more of the merchants time.

[Jhynnifer]

I've never been a Fleurs fan, but with the introduction of the one-per-account spinners, lists, etc my reasons for disliking her have lessened. For the most part, gone are the days of her getting work done on her 3 accounts, logging those chars out and logging new ones in to come running for 3 more spins. The fact that she makes the exact same item and varies them in color actually makes me laugh more than anything else these days. We started a game, I think last EG?, where we'd all try and guess what color each of her accounts would do. It's a fun game, so I have to give her props for being entertaining

As far as getting work done on multiple accounts, if you're paying for more than one account you should have every right afforded to someone with a single account on each one of them. Why should her money be worth less than anyone else's?

[Androidpk]

Totes McGotes

[darkcipher]

Well, thanks for the thoughtful responses, Jeril, Jhynnifer and Viekn. I do agree that some people most likely do the same exact thing and hold her in contempt because it makes them feel better about their own avarice ("I'm bad, but at least I'm not as bad as XX"). I'm not usually one to say anything because I play GS for fun and I don't need the extra stress and drama. I laughed at the red rep that suggested I "seek help", the grey rep that said nothing and I appreciated the signed red rep that suggested this was not a place to attack other people (though certainly I've seen enough of that over the years).

Yes, capitalism is alive and well in GS (I'm actually surprised no one called me a "socialist"). You can pay to buy stuff from Simu through the store or pay events, you can pay other players for stuff, you can have 9 accounts and block everyone who wants to visit a merchant, you can do anything you like unless you violate some of SIMU's policies. I'm not arguing that you CAN do these things, I'm just arguing that you shouldn't be surprised when some people get upset now and then from your blatantly obvious greed.

Perhaps I am glorifying the days when there were a ton of people on and you had groups of friends that felt more like family than your competition for items. I know a lot of people have left, for various reasons, and some people have risen to the top as "GS elite". I'm just not going to glorify greed and childishness, or laud someone for how nice they are when they're clearly (in my opinion) acting like Varucca Salt ("Daddy, I want an Ompa Loompa, NOW!") from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Yes, you can spend as much money as you like on the game and get all the cool toys, that's totally your right and you do deserve to get what you want for your money. I was simply trying to give the perspective of someone who is on the fringe and has often been disgusted by the actions of some people, I was also venting, as everyone has a right to do. Imagine being a totally new player and seeing how toxic things can be sometimes... I doubt I would have played more than a month if the state of things back then were as it is now. Perhaps it was and I just didn't notice at the time because I was having too much fun.

I'm going to take Fleurs advice and go back to my not interacting with people, I play to have fun and not to "win". I'm sorry for venting against a specific player, I didn't particularly appreciate the "if you don't like it, don't interact with me" suggestion, nor the suggestion that I was "pretending to be nice" to her face and bad mouthing her on the boards. Prior to her OOC whispering me, I had absolutely NO interaction with her.

-Darkcipher/Arioch

[Ltlprprincess]

I admit to MAing at merchants, but unless I'm really lucky, I normally only get 1 account to get work done. Sometimes both are spun in the same shot. It happens. I also MA hunt my characters, and MA rp them as situations arise (which is very... very hard to do). I've been jokingly called a Dirty MAer by a GM at con and really, I make no secret of it. Anyone who went to Con got introduced to me by my nametag and all the names of the characters I play. Yes, I get irritated when someone wins something I want, yes, I get irritated when someone gets spun and I don't... or someone takes up time that could have gone towards me. It's selfish, but everyone does it. I'm also guilty of doing the same thing. It happens. But then again, I've got no issues with helping out my own friends if I'm drawing a blank and they want something done... and I don't charge for that sort of thing. I'm not a huge fan of selling merchant slots (I will, though, if it makes sense to) and I certainly won't buy them. Most everything I work on, I do solely for my own characters, of which I have a lot...

[Tgo01]

I'm going to take Fleurs advice and go back to my not interacting with people, I play to have fun and not to "win".

You won't believe how much more fun the game is when you don't allow yourself to get sucked into the bullshit and the drama. I admit, I used to be right there in the thick of it.

These days I just don't give a shit about all of that anymore. I think a lot of people who play are trying to win some sort of imaginary popularity contest. Like they are too afraid of hurting anyone's precious sensibilities by having the nerve to express their opinion.

Fuck that shit! Fight the system!

Hell a couple of weeks ago someone whined to me because he didn't like my hunting script because my guy would kill his critters because he was hiding without a disk. I tried to explain to him he really should get a disk because it's the easiest way for people to know if someone is hiding in the room. I even offered to give him a disk. He whined and cried and carried on and I was just like whatever...

I gave him a disk anyways just to shut him up.

A few minutes later he was whining again because he felt my guy was moving "too fast" and he didn't like it. Then he threatened to report me for AFK scripting if I didn't knock it off. Again I tried to calmly explain myself but he kept up with his threats so finally I was like you know what? Just report me then because I'm done defending myself to you.

Sometimes you just have to tell it how it is.

[Jhynnifer]

I'm going to take Fleurs advice and go back to my not interacting with people, I play to have fun and not to "win". I'm sorry for venting against a specific player, -Darkcipher/Arioch

This is a statement that makes me sad. Yes, there are bad elements to the community. The kind of people who enjoy causing and reveling in drama as well as those people who (as TGO said) are playing some kind of popularity contest. However, that element is small and for every one person like that there are 20 people who are awesome and totally worth interacting with. Unfortunately, you're going to come across some bad ones while putting yourself out there meeting the good ones... but trust me. I wouldn't give up the handful of good, solid friends I've made here for -anything.-

Also, I can't rep TGO atm, so let's just pretend I did.