theworldofdreams.com

"Tell ya what, delete your main character and start again from scratch. Sound like fun?"
Been there, done that. Actually i deleted all my characters before last summer and was away for some time, then i re-builded all five characters with fixed skillsets, gathered better weapons and buffs than before and so. It was actually very nice.

Addition:
I sold my house, trashed over 2 million gold+all items in the bank and on characters then killed them and left as ghosts+deleted them.

WOW! I'm impressed! But, ya see, my point was that this was NOT something that I wanted to do... may have worked nicely for YOU, but I wasn't planning on doing it myself, and being forced to do so is a bit different than doing it of your own accord. If I had chosen to do that, I wouldn't be complaining, now would I?

Celeste, while I can appreciate your perspective as the victim, I'm unwilling to change my viewpoint on the issue, as it stands. However, I can understand the frustration of losing *everything*, and the futility and even embarassment that comes from it. I'm not assuming that you have the same sort of feelings, but that's certainly the way I felt when I lost everything.

Celeste Kendreyl wrote:try deleting your main character - without emptying out his/her bank box beforehand, and start over from scratch... doesn't sound like too much fun, now does it?

I agree: it isn't. Having done it twice, I can quite happily agree with you that getting back on track is a most arduous task. I lost an indestructable studded leather leggings of magery, and a host of other wonderful items, and I tearfully miss them whenever I look at my meek magery score, or limited funds.

As to your post; when we play UO, we must accept that there is inherent risk in the game. Certainly not from other players, but definately for monsters.

Celeste Kendreyl wrote:..it is COMPLETELY "justified" to simply kill a player who is performing well within the limitations and rules of the game. It is "justified" to rob someone of all his/her worldly possesions simply because you don't agree with..

Nowhere in the rules do I find it to say that it is "against" the rules for monsters to kill players. Nor do I find it against the rules for players negligent in maintaining their belongings for those belongings to simply lay in waiting for said player to return. When I said justice was dealt, I implied that no rule had been broken by your character's death. I apologise if you feel that I was inferring that you were deserving of punishment (another aspect of justice) - I will try and make my meanings and metaphors much clearer, next time.

In any case, I am almost completely certain that if you explain your case in game, players will be more than willing to help you "restore" that which you lost. I myself would also be glad to help, but bereft of a 'net connection for all but short periods of time (soon to be rectified), I'm not really in the position to. I encourage that instead of beating a warpath through the forums, it would be much more prudent to seek out help in-game, and you will most certainly prosper. WoD is one of the few players whereby a community spirit does actually exist, and people are *willing* to help eachother. It's a rare and unique thing, and one I certainly am most grateful for.

Please do not take my opposition against your plight on matter of principle as a lack of compassion; to me, they are two separate issues that I deal with individually. I am most certainly happy to discuss this issue in a positive way, and perhaps learn something of your experiences and perspectives: perhaps I am wrong in my judgements? I certainly implore you to help me see how.

-M

I think you missed my point one more time... what I had stated was:

Celeste Kendreyl wrote:What I had neglacted to mention in my earlier post, due to my elevated blood pressure at the time, was that the creatures that attacked, and ultimately killed my mindlessly macroing character, do not spawn at my home's location, EVER. They do not spawn anywhere NEAR my home's location. Further inspection of my journals revealed no players leading these creatures to my location- they just simply appeared on my head. Rest assured that I AM calm as I write this... I'm not ranting, I'm stating facts. Ya see, spawns of creatures are something that GM's and seers place- sometimes for special events, sometimes simply to populate areas. In either case, there were no spawn points for either of these two creatures anywhere in the vicinity of my home.

But MOST importantly:

Celeste Kendreyl wrote:The absolute ONLY way that either of these creatures appeared at my location, was that they were put there... intentionally.

Monsters can kill us, sure... but when they are PLACED on your head, that isn't the same as random spawning, or getting in over your head in some dungeon someplace. When THAT happens, it IS a matter of malice, spite, and DEFINITELY a violation of rules governing whomever happens to be in a posistion to do so. So, in direct contradiction to your statement of "no rules had been broken", YES, it is my belief that certain rules were, in fact, broken in the matter. Regardless, I once again would like to thank everyone I've met for the warm welcome I received, and I would like to once more say that WoD definitely had the friendliest player base I had ever encountered. It saddens me that it came to this...

Just remeber this is just a game you cannot have so called "Worldly possesions", if so then your in a hole that you have dug your self into.

Losing everying isnt all that bad, you still have your skills. You can go off do some odd jobs for the merchants buy you some regs and a few odds and ends...Then start doing some guard quests or hunt a few smaller dungeons you should do just fine. You will be back to where you were in half the time it took you to get as far as you did. I can understand if your account was wiped and you had nothing just a account, but you have all your skills, maybe some Death Taxes, but its all liveable.

I have blown my top pleanty enough but if you notice im gone for a month or 2 and im back. Just as happy as every. A Few people may make me mad but I still come back. I may ignore them but hey thats your right.

If you dont choose to stay and wonder off to another land I say good luck i have searched many a time to find a better place than this. I have never stayed anywhere for as long as i have here. There is no other place like this. WoD is a one of a kind place. You cannot find better in my opinion. But have it your way its your life. If you wish to continue your hole then pick up your shovel and start digging it will get nice and deep for you.

Winters Worth

Celeste wrote:The absolute ONLY way that either of these creatures appeared at my location, was that they were put there... intentionally.

The problem I have with this is not that it isn't possible. By all rights, it may well have happened. My issue is that this particular statement is being brought across as fact, when it is only opinion.

Taking the matter into consideration, I am beginning to wonder if you were not the victim of foul play, but rather a bug. If you would be so kind, Celeste, as to answer a few questions (though you're certainly within your rights to refuse), to clarify the issue?

1. Did the creatures spawn *inside* your home, or any other place monsters would not normally be able to access?

2. Did anyone, if your journal goes back that far, message you offering assistance to ressurect you?

3. Where is your house, what type of deed is it, and where were you at the time you died?

I'm certainly most curious to get to the bottom of the issue, and if we work together, I think we'll certainly come up with a way to explain this incident.

- Marius the Agent
The Truth is Out There

Celeste Kendreyl wrote:
See, though, you're missing my point... YES, items can be replaced, but when the only need for replacing them comes from being forced to do so by malice and spite, there really shouldn't be a need, now should there?

If you review past posts in forums, you'll see this sort of complaint many times. Newcomers seem to think that WoD is "safe". WoD is NEVER completely safe.

You could be standing in the middle of Britain making scrolls and a death bunny could bite off your head. That has happened.

MOBs can and do spawn just about anywhere in the Lands. My miner mucks out clay near Fellowship hall and while he "never" sees any MOBs at the east end, one day a Lizardman Shaman popped in and started pounding him with offensive spell. My poor miner dropped his shovel and ran since he has 0 MR.

If you are going to macro skills, do it somewhere as safe as possible. Maximize your survival chances, ie: do it inside a building somewhere as long as the building isn't public and you aren't annoying others.

Another hint, if you have to macro a skill or trade, try to carry as little on your person as possible. Thus you reduce the possibilities of losing "stuff". Macroing while carrying all your good stuff on you just isn't very smart.

Tell ya what, delete your main character and start again from scratch. Sound like fun?

Done that, so have others.

Celeste Kendreyl wrote:
It is "justified" to rob someone of all his/her worldly possesions simply because you don't agree with something they are doing which, mind you, is in no way harming YOU, the "economy", or in ANY way, ANYONE on the shard.

Glad you used the word "shard". This is a game. Good thing to keep in mind.

Out of curiosity, where is/was your house located? There are treasure maps in some locations that do not normally have monster spawns.

Also, while not 100% sure it's impossible for mob's to cast at you from outside a house I am pretty sure that is the case, if one's door is locked they should be safe.

Should you decide to stay, it is worth noting that unlike some shards once you buy up traning it's strictly done based on a length of time from when you buy the tranining. For example if you pay your 106k to train up a skill and don't even log in at all for 3 days when you do log in when the server runs its training check you will instantly go to 100 skill.

Let me get this straight: you leave the game for several hours and expect to come back to everything just as you left it? If you want a game that plays itself, I suggest http://www.progressquest.com/

Anyone who knows me knows I'm blunt. My bluntness has been called downright rude at times. I've been here long enough to call this my home and I'm just a leeeetle sick of people complaining about my home.

1.) You're on a free shard. People spend their free time running/tweaking/listening to copmlaints about the game on their "Free" time. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

2.) Personal opinion, only. Macroing isn't cool. If you're gonna play, play. If you're going to flop on the couch and watch tv, flop on the blasted couch and watch tv. Realistically, you can't learn to shoot a bow and arrow correctly by sitting at home and sewing, now can ya?

3.) WOD is full of the nicests, kindest most helpful people I have ever met but I believe they are being entirely too nice, too kind and too helpful in this case. You had something horrible happen to you. Everyone expressed sympathy and/or offered assistance but you just kept whining and complaining. I'm gonna go! Ok, maybe I'm not. I'm gonna go! Ok, maybe I'm not. I know for a fact that "I" am not going to empty my bank account and give YOU the things you've lost just because you keep complaining about it. Do what the rest of us have done and get back out there, acquire stuff! Use this opportunity to show your inner strength and determination. I wouldn't have quit. If you did run your own shard, it's evident why you don't anymore.

4.) Leave my home alone. I love this place and I hate seeing whiners/complainers/snot-nosed macroing high achievers not get what they want then just start whalloping people and the game on the boards. I'm not as nice as some people and I may not personify the characteristics of a WODian but here I am and I plan on sticking it out, whether or not an Ogre Lord pops up on my head or not. Try dealing with an Ancient Sewer Rat that just pops up on your boat in the middle of the ocean where you can't get away. I didn't bawl and squall about that.

5.) I don't think that anyone deliberately did this to you but then again I don't have proof, but just remember this, the Powers That Be (aka Drocket, Siohban, Sebastian, etc.) can do anything---anything they want to. And we accept it. End of story.

Chelsea
ONE of the Defenders of WOD and it's People

Ogre Lord and Gazer sound like guard quest spawns to me, but we'd have to know where your house is to see if thats the case. Might it be in Skara Farmlands?

Sounds like this could be nothing more than an accident. Unless the mobs spawned inside your house, it is totally plausible for Ogres and Gazers to spawn in the wilderness. Where is your house? You said that those mobs don't ever spawn near your home? How long have you lived there? Didn't you just get an account about three weeks ago? Three weeks don't sound like enough time to make such generalization.

I don't mean to upset you any further but Ogres and Gazers spawn just about ANYYWHERE that has woods. If you live near Skara or Yew or near the compassion desert or anywhere in between, I bet you can find those kinda mobs spawning all over the place. Is your house next to or near the shore? Gazers have a bad tendency to "sail" around the world traveling long distances from their original spawn point.

In any event, if you were inside your house and locked in, you should have been saved. Gazers don't cast that many area spells (I think explosion, MS, and CL are the only ones). I don't really see how you could have been killed so easily unless your doors were unlocked (your henchmen would have opened them when attacked), or the mobs were spawned INSIDE your house like your post implies. If the latter was the case, then yes that sounds like foul play. Somehow I doubt a GM would care to do that, though. GMs that find people macroing usually just "disconnect" them from the server if they really see a need to.

One last thing to remember is whenever you are connected and walk away from your computer there is an amount of risk involve. Like someone already said, it doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter if you are in Britain castle (which has like about 15 guards or so) or Britain bank, there's always danger in leaving your computer unattended. WoD isn't one of those places where macroing is ideal. While it's not strictly prohibited you have to understand that you assume some risks when you decide to macro. The truth is WoD is not a game to be macroed, it's a game to be played. That's why our developers have spent hundreds of hours working on the scripts to make in-game activities more enjoyable. You don't need to macro animal lore (actually, you can't). Simply paying for it and then waiting for the skills to go up (while you play and make some more money) is the best way to advance in stats and skills.

All that being said, I'm sorry to hear about your loss. Believe it or not, it could have been a lot worse. You could've been a far more advanced character, with much (MUCH) better gear. Losing all of that gear then would have been real tragic. As it stands, most of your items should not be difficult to replace. If you do decide to stay, look me up in game I may have some stuff for you.

I won't tell you not to feel rotten about what happened to you. If you feel angry and discouraged, than that is simply how you feel.
For what it is worth (not a lot), all of us who have spent any time in WOD have suffered similar (though of course not identical) losses- undeservedly and unjustly losing things we invested heavily in time and effort to attain and that we cherished as though they were real-world family heirlooms.
I will play the role of mind-reader for a moment and suggest that you are particularly upset because you feel that a GM or seer was responsible for what happened to you, and that it was done as a joke (HIGHLY unlikely) or as a punishment for some imagined offense. That seems a bit unlikely to me, as well, but there is no need to speculate. Simply submit the question to Administration. If they did it, they will tell you and tell you why. I would stake my own citizenship in WOD on that.
All of that said, I must point out that you did some things that were unwise and that set you up for this disaster. If a person drives around with their wallet on the hood of their car, it is still stealing when someone takes it, but the ex-owner needs to learn a little something from the experience.
WOD is a dangerous and unpredicable place. I would NEVER willingly and knowingly leave my character online while I go off and leave my computer. Sure, I know lots of folks do that, but those who do should know the risk they take. It just isn't prudent if you care about your character and equipment. Secondly, I NEVER carry everything I own around with me. I have lost everything I had on my person dozens, if not scores, of times. Again, WOD is a dangerous place. I am famous for being an Idjit and taking stupid risks, but to do BOTH things at once- leaving my character on line WHILE carrying all of the possessions I care about--- well that is boldness and recklessness beyond my ken.
The amazing thing to me is that, even after your great loss, you don't seem to think you made any mistakes, but rather are looking for a culprit to hold responsible. If someone did this to you on purpose, they should be punished, but, for crying out loud, learn something from your own errors in judgement here.
You speak several times about "just having fun playing the game," which is certainly an approach we can all identify with (although I fail to see how macroeing while offline fits this description). However, the "game" is an artificially-created world with high risks which are are supposed to negotiate by your wits and hand-eye coordination. When you fail, you lose stuff. If it doesn't hurt a little, then the game failed to work right. At least part of your losses were, in my humble and unknowing opinion, the result of poor judgement on your part. I've been there a few hundred times. Dust yourself off, figure out what you did wrong, then go back to work on building "stuff", resolving not to make those mistakes again (but knowing that you will probably not hold that resolve).

Chelsea Duklain wrote:
1.) You're on a free shard. People spend their free time running/tweaking/listening to copmlaints about the game on their "Free" time. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Agreed, as so many others have stated to ME in this thread... "been there, done that" Ran my own server for over a year, and I know the pains that come along with it, which is EXACTLY why I don't do it anymore. If you re-read my posts, you'll see that I didn't bash the shard, simply the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Chelsea Duklain wrote:2.) Personal opinion, only. Macroing isn't cool. If you're gonna play, play. If you're going to flop on the couch and watch tv, flop on the blasted couch and watch tv...

Point #2- Cool, or uncool, it's something that's allowed, and your personal opinion doesn't come into question- i.e. it doesn't really matter what YOU personally think of it.

Chelsea Duklain wrote:3.) ... I know for a fact that "I" am not going to empty my bank account and give YOU the things you've lost just because you keep complaining about it. Do what the rest of us have done and get back out there, acquire stuff! ...

Um... didn't ask you to, nor did I ask anyone else to... dunno where that came from, but it would seem that YOU are the one jumping to conclusions on this subject...

Chelsea Duklain wrote:5.) I don't think that anyone deliberately did this to you but then again I don't have proof, but just remember this, the Powers That Be (aka Drocket, Siohban, Sebastian, etc.) can do anything---anything they want to. And we accept it. End of story.

And finally... this subject has already been looked into BY the "powers that be", and once again, YOUR personal opinion, while being incorrect on THIS subject, STILL doesn't enter into it...

Bottom line here is this: If anyone took my posts as whining, you took them the wrong way, as I don't think I was whining, but rather expressing exasperation at the incident, as I was unaware that this kind of thing was common, and acceptable here. After talking with the people who matter on the subject, it has been cleared up. I never asked anyone to replace my lost items. I never asked Ms. Duklain to empty her bank box for me. I dunno which thread you were reading, but I know you didn't see any requests like that in any of MY posts...

Celeste