Jade Constantine
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Posted - 2003.09.09 13:18:00 -
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Tehel (and the Taggart chaps) I think part of the problem you have in the premise of this thread is in understanding the gulf between what Taggart players think of themselves and what the rest of the community thinks of them. This obviously has both and IC and an OOC angle, but though I have experienced both in the last week, I chose as a player to concentrate solely on the former because the latter is something of a pointless minefield strewn with sadness and misdirection.
The problem is that to explain the issue requires OOC perspective for effective dissection;
The Taggart players as a group seem afflicted with a form of organisational schizophrenia. On the one hand they want to play peaceful economic domination and commercial alliance building to the limits of their skill and vision, while on the other, (personified in the play of Ragnar and Roark and Ctaesis and others) they want to play Keyser Soze and the Godfather mingled with Russian Mafia chic.
Now we all enjoy the ranting cackling emperor from Return of the Jedi who taunts and goads Luke towards the dark side by rejoicing in the death and humiliation of his friends à this is all great stuff à in a movie, but start utilising this form of dramatic methodology in a competitive game and you will reap the whirlwind of in-character hate.
In-game Taggart killed its own reputation the weekend before last. Ragnar took Taggart forever beyond the pale of the ôgood guysö and leagued himself with murderous pirate corps of the worst reputation imaginable. He betrayed his old allies, denounced a council he had been part of, spurned the sacrifices hitherto made for his corporation, and then proceeded to levy a direct contract of fiscal annihilation on my character Jade.
Now some people have described the 100 million in 5m chunks for 20 corpses a ôgriefingö bounty designed to spoil my game. I donÆt.
But I do believe it was a clear and obvious attempt to entirely destroy my in-game position and wealth as a warning for anybody else who might dare to stand up to the big bad Megacorp. Ragnar surely knew that 60million in projected cloning fees, 60-180million in destroyed ships, and Xmillion loss of earnings from interrupted business would hurt me a great deal, perhaps even break my ability to maintain a presence on the Eve political landscape.
What changed with RagnarÆs declaration were the rules of conduct, the rules of the game. Hitherto we were playing poker with friendly stakes, nothing risked that we could not afford to lose. But Ragnar changed that, because when he served notice on JadeÆs fiscal future he left me with one of two options;
1. That I beg, I grovel, I come back on my knees; the submissive public relations ***** a-scraping for forgiveness beneath the table of the mighty Plutocrat.
Or
2. That I fight and respond in kind. And how does one fight a nebulous organisation cloaked in alts and hidden business dealings, a company prepared to hire mercenary killers and dupes till the cows come home? By destroying its reputation and its employeesÆ will to be associated with the name, by destroying its perception of safety, by scorching the earth of future endeavour with an enduring war of significant material impact, to (as athule has commented elsewhere) leave TTI on the sidelines of development forever, by making the possibility of player-owned freestanding structures nothing but a lonely pipe-dream for the Taggart brand.
Now none of you chaps knew anything about me (apart from Ctaesis it appears) so who knows? Maybe the first option seemed likely, maybe the second never occurred. Certainly you underestimated the consequences and perhaps even convinced yourselves that the rules of engagement would be limited, would be tidy, and would be ultimately manageable with little disruption.
But its time to wake up and realise what Ragnar did. In-game he turned the bully-boy tactics of the Mafiosi against the wrong target. By breaking the VA council with treachery TTI earned a war. By making this a personal battle, with JadeÆs very existence in-game at stake, your CEO bought you a ticket to a blood feud. When a person is attacked with intent to murder, the victim has a right to self defence, this has happened, and is happening in-game.
My advice? Either live with it, or do something about it. But donÆt come looking for sympathy on the basis that none of it was your fault. All that is required for evil to flourish is for good men do to nothing.
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