GM-Ayu Wrote:We like to keep the rules light and flexible, in hopes that everyone knows what it means to respect for one another and not to hinder the playing experience of other players. Clearly, the recent trend in 2021 to bend the letter of the law and try to force the GM's hands as a form of retributive justice say that our player base (with an average age well above 25, and some of us being parents!) can no longer operate on "good faith" principles.

Is "don't KS", "don't kill another player/mob drop", "respect one another" and "don't harass another player" so difficult to understand? Ask yourself, why do you need the GM to "give an objective, quantitative" definition of these simple things? If your actions require a GM to clarify if it's legal, you should probably not do it. If you have to drive out other people in order to feel joy in what you do, and assume that any mistake that happened in your presence is done to spite you in some wicked conspiracy, why are you playing an massively multiplayer online game at all? If you always assume the worse in others, then clearly you hate people, so why are you trying to play with other people? There are many good single player games out there. Play one of those.

GM-Pereca Wrote:Competitive Sportsmanship and Gaming

Let’s talk about competitive sportsmanship and why exhibiting good sportsmanship is important. The common goal that all competitors have when they enter a competition of any kind is simple. Winning. Most competitors enter competitions because they want to win. In fact, they want to be the best and they want to be rewarded for their dedication and hard work.

That being said, I want to talk about why having a positive attitude when you game, especially in a competitive setting, is to your benefit as well as to those around you. Good sportsmanship is about showing respect and exhibiting appropriate behaviour to both your teammates and your opponents. So why should you respect other players in a competition? Do you compete in competitions because you want to be the best that ever was? Then stop putting down other players to bring yourself up. Demeaning your competition only devalues your own win. If you win because the other players are inexperienced or denied the opportunity to grow, did you really win at all? Did the real winner just decide not to show up that day? If the star of the fight decided not to show up that day does the fight really matter at all?

A player who wins and then compliments the opponent is actually making their own win more meaningful. Think about it. If you win a competition against a really tough fighter, then that means you bested someone who is really good and that in turn means you are strong. If you win against someone who is weak then you are simply better then the poor sucker who showed up that day.

When you watch a sports game or any form of competition, is it more exciting if one team steamrolls the other? Or if both teams are tied until the end of the game keeping you at the edge of your seat during overtime not knowing which way it will go?

Yes, losing is frustrating. Just like any other competitor, I like to win. I also really like to compete. Competition makes the prize a lot more enticing. Believe it or not, having a healthy mindset towards competition makes it even more enjoyable. Being kind to a competitor can be difficult. It takes a lot more effort to make a good choice than to make a bad one.

If your teammates are struggling in a competition, help them improve instead of putting them down, so that you can all get better together. Compliment your opponents. The better your opponents are, the better you look when you overcome them. If you cannot find something nice to say then it is always better to keep your thoughts to yourself. Bringing down the competition not only brings down yourself, but it also discourages competitors and teammates from returning to compete in the future. If no one competes then your accomplishments are meaningless. You cannot be the winner of a competition that no longer exists.

Keep the fight inside the ring. You do not need to be best friends with your competitors but creating unnecessary animosity outside the fight only reflects badly on yourself.

If someone is breaking the rules or being inappropriate, report the behaviour. Just because someone else acts a certain way, does not mean it is okay to treat them the same way.

GM-Ayu Wrote:Let this be a stern warning to everyone and every guild in the server. We hope that everyone will be more cautious of their own behaviours, and err on the side of caution. If issues continue to arise and players cannot behave themselves, then GMs will be forced to introduce much more heavy handed measures to make changes at the system level instead. If necessary, we will remove the possible cause of things that are enticing people to compete in an unsportsmanlike manner so that nobody gets it.

If we cannot behave to have friendly competitions over MVP, then we will remove FFA rule and introduce @noks, even though it's well known how noks is extremely strict for its own good.

If we cannot behave in Battlegrounds in its current form, then the entire system will be removed such that there are no more Battlegrounds on demand at the players' discretion and it will be a GM-hosted event only.

If we can't even tolerate the presence of another guild/s, then we aren't ready for competitive events. War of Emperium Second Edition is almost finished in its development for release, but clearly the GM team should re-evaluate if we should introduce it here as our players may not be mature enough to handle any attempts from the GM team to promote friendly competition in our server.

If GMs have to direct the attention of Test & Development to these "preventative" measures instead, then we will not have the resources to make new customized content for our server either.

This is why we can't have nice things.