Salem

First off:

This game looks to be exactly what I’ve been missing since my all time favourite game «Ultima Online» broke around 2001. I am having some conscerns, however, and I would very much like to get a few things straight about the game, the community and the direction this game is heading.
I’ve been getting into the game for about a week now and what I’ve currently gathered is this:

• Griefing and bullying
A game like this will always attract malevolent players whose soul purpose is to grief other players and getting their entertainment from making other people not enjoy themselves and having them around is unavoidable. Is this desireable or should it be combated by moderators?
Considering the economical motivation for the developers it should be a problem if a select few are turning the game into their personal bullying yard causing a drop in players and poor reputation ensuring fewer customers for the product.
I’m seeing shocking examples of trolling here on the forum where there seem to be a lack of regulation by the moderators, in my opinion. Some people can’t restrain themselves and need someone to do it for them in order to ensure the community doesn’t suffer. (Remember some People are not "online" adults even if they're 30 and have attained the ability to articulate themselves).
I’m sure everyone realize that the majority of gamers won’t be keen to pay for the game such as it is now. This is bad for everyone – The bullies, the developers and the general players.

• Mechanics & Safety
The game is free PvP and free loot. This is what it advertises and this is what it delivers. There are, however limits as to how far this should go. There will always be methods bordering on exploitation of game mechanics – I know how to dupe in some MMO’s but I can’t very well claim that since the mechanics of the game allow me to do so I should be able to do so freely without any consequences from the game moderators. Similarly a game that allow you to harass other players doesn’t mean you should do so without moderation. Certain kinds of behavior should be discouraged.
Again, from an economic standpoint, how does the developers expect people to pay for the game when there is no way to protect what you buy. Sure, if you die you should be prepared to loose what you’re carrying and wearing and with perma death an issue that just promotes ingame robberies wich can be fun for both parties (avoiding perma death for one, getting wealth the other) but with houses that can be destroyed, raided and looted and any kind of bank not an option one would have to be pretty stupid to spend money on this game. Some people will, ofcourse, but there are easier ways of making that kind of money considering the low customer base.

I want to see this game succeed. I'm loving the concept and I am fearful that the current direction in wich the game is being dragged by a Group of the community is self destructive. I say this as a potential customer wanting to play the game With my friends but finding it damned hard to recruit anyone to join up in a suicide run. The current bullies in this game is proving EA right "Limit the players/increase cash flow".

So is this game Worth playing, or are you going to continue to allow your paying customers to get pissed on and not bother to play. Do you feel it is currently working?

oh god not another one of these posts, gamers/people in general are so ***** pathetic these days.

once upon a time no group would be on top for long because there was always another half dozen groups lurking in the folds waiting for their chance, the game does not have a "griefer problem" it has a "carebear problem" where 95% of the playerbase are wimps that would play on a pve server if given the chance.

this means that everyone bleets like sheep instead of defending themselves let alone becoming a threat to their enemies.


starting from scratch with absolutely nothing you can have a character with several hundred biles in a month or so, and after that you can crank out 300 statters every 2 weeks. that character is now a threat. if you had 4 or 5 others that did the same thing you have now become a very large threat even to the established groups that have higher stat characters.

the sheep will continue to be harvested by the wolves until they stop being sheep, simple as that and no amount of game mechanics and stupid suggestions will "fix" it for you because the issue is not the game, it is the girlymen playing it.

At its core Salem will always be, by design, full pvp, full loot, and full destruction. To ask for anything else is to ask for another game. Likewise, there will never be in-game moderation. You can ask for and theorize mechanics that will improve communities and detract from raiding, but to ask for either of the former ideas is a waste of your time.

There should be a sticky thread in Ideas & Innovations in which the devs post the general type of game they want this to be so that people stop suggesting the removal of the full pvp, full loot, full destruction, player controlled politics systems. There are way too many 'please make this more like farmville' threads.

DarkNacht wrote:There should be a sticky thread in Ideas & Innovations in which the devs post the general type of game they want this to be so that people stop suggesting the removal of the full pvp, full loot, full destruction, player controlled politics systems. There are way too many 'please make this more like farmville' threads.

Would be nice. I think there was a sticky on the paradox forums about it.

I kind of agree with some of the op.

I think the more types of players the game gives options for the better it will be.

The threat of danger is what makes these types of games fun for me. But I have no desire to actually raid or kill myself.

It has nothing to do with wanting a farmville type game. I just want to try and live in a dangerous world as an average person doing things like farming, crafting and mining instead of being a warrior or thug of some kind.

sebastion wrote:I kind of agree with some of the op.

I think the more types of players the game gives options for the better it will be.

The threat of danger is what makes these types of games fun for me. But I have no desire to actually raid or kill myself.

It has nothing to do with wanting a farmville type game. I just want to try and live in a dangerous world as an average person doing things like farming, crafting and mining instead of being a warrior or thug of some kind.

The op is asking for restrictions, not more options.
In the games current state being a warrior or thug is dangerous and not very profitable, unless you have legacy level biles. I don't murder or raid but even I can see that we do not need to set more artificial limits on what can be done.

Raiding isn't profitable. It's painful, expensive, and takes a lot of preparation. Besides, if you have a well defended and maintained base then you shouldn't worry about raiders all too much; you're in the most danger when you're outside of your base or when you're causing mischief and leaving summonable scents.

In my opinion, and I'm sure others will disagree, but mechanics that give towns control over permissions to a greater degree and ways to build cohesion and actual societies would benefit the game the most and permit the most freedoms. As it is, taking on random players is incredibly dangerous and so towns are stifled to accommodate small groups. This limitation hurts more than any death can.