State of RK

Argo, where for art thou?

I've never had problems with moderators being a dick to me, and my character is an obnoxious fuck. Hell, I was making an ass out of myself before Argo took his first steps. I WAS ARGO BEFORE IT WAS UNCOOL. Only things a moderator have done to me:

Removed the most kick-ass song from existence from my music thread because it was "inappropriate" (I admit there was quite a bit of hentai in the video of this song, and the song itself sung about anal sex)

Threatened to shut down my music RP because it was getting OOC (Which it was, we then went back IC and it was allowed to stay open)

And occasionally a curse word is removed from a post of mine.

Nobody loves me ( < / 3 ) and I don't have problems with the moderators.

I could start moderating you harshly if you ever got into an area I was in

Ohhhh, yes, and call me a dirty bitch!

Just let me know where :3

I voted no. Over the past couple years, I spent a lot of time in and out of retreat. My character just moved to Scotland, so while that is a welcomed change in RP, the game is not improving.

I still haven't voted because, well, simply I'm surprised this game is still around and I'm Even more surprised I still play.

Thing about this game is it's about the 'other players' it's almost like a social experiment. Sorry, not almost, it IS a social experiment. I'm surprised these guys are still making nuff money off it to keep going.

Ppl in europe play much different than us in the English speaking world, they embrace adversaries.

Anyhoo I ramble but, bottom line I still play because, my chr is like a pet, she bites me once in a while but, I love her and feed her

oh and for the record, my town is deadish... I feel bad for the kids sittin around waiting for someone to engage

Not sure about the Europeans embracing adversaries. Me and my friends are bombing around, and we revolted a town (sadly failing) but only one of us got caught. That one person, however, is being threatened with all sorts of shit if he stays within the county he offended. Then again, that is in Artois, and they don't have a great rep.

well, your first impression was a revolt. What did you expect?

Artois is kind of the butt hole of france...

oh, you all still play it? i come from retreat once a month or two, and it always looks like pretty much dead. idk, maybe just my impressions.

TheMightyTrooper wrote:

Not sure about the Europeans embracing adversaries. Me and my friends are bombing around, and we revolted a town (sadly failing) but only one of us got caught. That one person, however, is being threatened with all sorts of shit if he stays within the county he offended. Then again, that is in Artois, and they don't have a great rep.

I can confirm this level of arseholery from back when I was in mainland europe. They made me tell them my plans or face imprisonment and fines and also wanted me to disarm my sword and shit for some reason. I think this was Champagne?

As far as I know it's forbidden in France to carry sword and shield , as wel as traveling in an armed retinue.

Sorry to be another anonymous face, haven't played RK in a while and apart from about 6 years ago I wasn't really involved in NNGO.

I just wanted to say I think the main issue is simply that the game is changing. It's not the same place it was a few years ago and it's attracting a different brand of gamers, who are happy with cash cow and pay to win nonsense and don't care/know about creativity or RP. Considering how RPers tend to behave, that's not a bad thing for the devs who are trying to make a living and don't want to deal with it. The RK community has honestly been really poisonous, attracting as many loonies as it does and I seriously think that admin are trying to step away from that and move towards a different demographic. I can't say I totally disagree. Not to say modding wasn't an issue, there were guys on there who were literally spreading nazi images and edl bullshit, but it's not *the reason* why the game isn't the same.

There are ways to foster fun (and healthy) RP settings and community, but I can understand why the devs of RK don't want to put time and effort into that. I've played on and off over the years, but that sense of community, fun and creativity has been lost for me with the pay-to-win type crap. In turn, other people who value RP leave and it's even harder to find a group of people that you can have fun with.

So yeah, if anyone knows of any places where good RP happens, let me know.

Well, Germany is awesome for robbers, But, as we all know, one must speak german to go there :; But, it's been several years since I was there so maybe they disengaged as much as us North 'Mericans are

Oh and anothe 2 bits if I may ... I think it is the players that have changed and well, the world around them. Us older players in our 30's really don't get a thrill outta it anymore. Im mean it was the 'annonimity' at the time. Messin with ppl ya would never meet. Now days ppl need to be real, everyone and their grannu lnows how to take s screenshot! Yeah, so, for me it's not the game thats dead it's .. well the internet. Hahahah

Plutogirl wrote:

Oh and anothe 2 bits if I may ... I think it is the players that have changed and well, the world around them. Us older players in our 30's really don't get a thrill outta it anymore. Im mean it was the 'annonimity' at the time. Messin with ppl ya would never meet. Now days ppl need to be real, everyone and their grannu lnows how to take s screenshot! Yeah, so, for me it's not the game thats dead it's .. well the internet. Hahahah

True, I miss my robbing days in England, being vagrant thief Robbed all in the country all around

My experiences with RK have been varied and vast, with lots of low and high points. I first began playing quite a long time ago (lets just say it was basically Sussex or nothing) and found a lot of fun very quickly. I enjoyed the political and social aspects, and the "ascent" from just starting out being a completely clueless noob to becoming a prominent member in the growing foundation of England. I found satisfaction in gaining titles (which I foolishly pursued, and still retain, but keep mostly as a laughing point at the convoluted system that has developed), becoming mayor, running a stable settlement, organizing trade deals with neighboring towns (and later Wiltshire), making deals with rogue elements like DarkDevil (who RP'd out his groups banditry, and didn't have to worry about random executions), running a town newsletter, "fighting" when necessary, etc. There were alot of things that I once enjoyed about RK. Probably because I used to be a hardcore RP'er, involved in lengthy in-depth storylines with a multitude of people. I could find the fun in any of the facets the game had to offer. Hell, there was even activity and roleplay in the Corn Farmers Guild (or whatever it was named).

So as to the current state of RK... I really don't know. Alot of the new developments COULD serve as great benefits to the game, COULD become a very different and exciting place to play, and COULD draw in huge crowds of players to create a diverse and interesting world. But they don't, because they are lacking in so many areas. Like the 3-D... if some hot-shot software firm created a version of RK that had the same elements (landowning, market, trade, combat, sailing, politics, etc) while including a true 3-d environment (Oculus Rift?) for truly interactive role-play and simulation... I just shot a warm load thinking about it. Instead, RK is just stagnant. The RP community here is fading just like everywhere else, its an internet phenomenon, and then you're left with just a sub-par game, there's really much to be desired.

Any of that make sense?

Diragon wrote:

I just shot a warm load thinking about it.

...

Any of that make sense?

I'm not sure

Made perfect sense to me, and I share a lot of those feelings, except I wasn't around in those old days. Just been here for the last three years, where it's been mostly dead and slowly dying.

Yes, it is indeed dying and we are witness to Rk's death throes. I can remember a time when one clicked on the tavern button and found two, three or more of them filled to capacity. Also, there were the days when a "popular" thread in the forums didn't stagnate until the discussion was fully over, and even then there were likely to be the occasional bit of random bullshit thrown into the mix anyway for days or even weeks afterward. Finding RP partners was easily done, not anymore. RK is in fact dying and it makes me wonder why I even stick around anymore. It's become more cliquey and it has become more difficult for noobs to settle in comfortably. It's not just the fault of the admins for neglecting the game but also the fault of long time players who think they are better than the new players because they've been around longer.

A lot of people complain about that Argotitan fella. Much of what he says I think to be utter rubbish like I'm sure many of you believe, however, he is dead on when it comes to the bias of moderators and the fact that RK has turned to a tribal-like culture where stranger and noob have become words synonymous with enemy. He may be blinded by his dislike, or perhaps hatred for feminism but he is absolutely right where the mods and the fact that RK players have become obsessed with their own little clique is concerned. I disagree with Argo that it is due to some kind of radical feminazi movement which caused this decay in RK, but instead believe it is due to the holier-then-thou righteousness that so many long time players seem to exhibit.

Sure, blame the game admins for their neglect of RK, it is deserved because they have indeed neglected us as well as their game; but before you're done playing the blame game look into a mirror and ask yourself if you may also be the cause for RK's decline. Remember, it's not just the admins and their neglect which run people off.

For me it's not Game Admin neglect, I was actually happier when the Admins left the game alone.  The forums were active, the taverns were active (when they worked).  Sure the market got stuck, sometimes for days, the game froze up sometimes and other bad things didn't get fixed, castles didn't get handed over like they should, but we also did not get timers most of us didn't like, 3D most people don't want or use, and a lot of other changes that were very unpopular with the existing player base.  I think many of the socializers quit when the game went to click-click-click timers.  The ones that watched over the new players, and enjoyed leading them into enjoyment of the game.  I used to be one of them myself, but as I liked the game mechanics less and less, I changed my focus to building up my county, and stopped bothering with taverns and forums.  It's hard to be enthusiastic when I don't enjoy the game like I used to.

I would happily go back to Version 2 (including the ugly yellow interface), and all the flaws it had, if the players we have lost would come back.  Sadly I think it's too late for that, and RK will just keep shrinking.  It's sad because what made RK great was very simple IG functions, and great role play and interaction on the forums and the taverns.  Now we have more IG activity (per player, but my guess is not overall because many people have quit), but the taverns and forums are about dead.

The few times I have been in taverns, I haven't seen any new players treated badly.  The problem is they are just ignored, and the few that do show up either are reborns, and know how to play, or true new players, that mostly don't stay around.

If the game were as enjoyable for me as it once was, I would likely try to be more active, to keep new players, but it isn't, and the reason is the recent changes made by the Game Admins.  It's not my job to make this game a success. I'm not being paid, I'm here to have fun myself, and like most players, I'm staying for the friends I still have in the game.  I really don't have an interest in trying to retain new players.  I can't say I love the game anymore, because I honestly don't. I do like being with my friends on RK, and that is why I am still playing.

It's rare to see outright hostile behavior directed toward noobs or anyone in the taverns. However, it is from apathy and the ignoring, which you, Springtime, mentioned, as well as passive aggressiveness which is the abuse I mentioned before. Ignore your child when it is hungry and you will be held accountable by the law under child abuse legislation. Ignoring is a form of abuse, though not actively aggressive it is nonetheless damaging. Attempting to be part of the life of the kingdom, being active in the forums, and having fun is simply not enough for the cliques. There must be incentive for them to accept the noob, some reason aside from their newness to get them interested in their progress in the game. This is a wrong, though very common attitude.

Perhaps it is due to the new 3D system and the hour-by-hour clicking which has caused a downfall in population and I do understand becoming less enthusiastic toward the game because I am becoming wholly apathetic toward it myself, and that bothers me because I once had a great love for RK. Maybe these new additions led to the troubles we now face and it caused old timers to stop caring or leave altogether, but I believe it to be a copout to be pissed off at the admins and then take it out on the RK world by not caring. I'm not saying you, Springtime, are one of those who no longer care, it shows you do indeed care because of the work you've put into your county and the work you continue to put into it; yes, I am familiar with your work. But those who are mad at the admins and then take it out on the general population of players are the ones to blame, also are the ones who allow paranoia to dictate their actions whether or not to accept a new person.

RK is broken and the leading culprits are not the admins, in my opinion at least, though their (the admins) hands are dirty as well. The main culprits are the long time players who refuse to accept or sometimes even acknowledge the less fortunate and the new.

I'm not angry, I'm disappointed, and yes, discouraged.  I still work to keep my county running, and profitable, but that's pretty much all I spend time on now.  Many don't know this, but my first character was very social once upon a time.  As a mayor, as a player, having fun.  But sadly that time has passed.  It's not just the recent changes, it goes back to the wrecking of the forums, the locking us down to only the county and town we were in (yes, I know they fixed that, but by then it was too late, the forums were dying), and the culling of threads where all of our history was (each of us could only save 2 threads, I can't tell you how much history of my character's own, country, county and town were lost).  It's hard to invest time on the forums when they can be culled whenever the Admins decide to do it.

I think the type of player the game now attracts will not help fix the problems with the forums or the taverns.  The game is now geared to click-click-click on real time.  I'm not sure that players who like to click will have any interest in role playing.  Such players will float from game to game, clicking to advance for a while, then may get bored and move on to the next game.  I don't think by their very nature of play they will be long term, dedicated players.

I tried to explain this to the Game Admins, but they just dismissed me.  I really was trying to help them understand the impact of the changes they had made to the underlying playability and focus of the game.  Maybe I just can't reach them because of the language barrier, or maybe they just didn't want to hear that all their work was effectively destroying RK.  I don't know, but I did try.