Taking Back Evil: A Guide

A note from Devinicus:
While futzing about on the realm forums from which I have been banned for reasons that defy logic and time, I happened across this exposition/article/rant/whatever by our very own Gefjonn. It's a fantastic thesis involving an issue that's rather consuming our server at the moment. I'd be so entirely pompous as to call it required reading. For the average RPer, at least. I didn't write this, obviously, but I felt it important enough to copy over in a vaguely formatted state.
The original post.
=Taking Back Evil: A Guide=
Hey guys. This is Gefjon. I'm sure you all remember me. I'm pretty awesome.
Who remembers the days when I would wander the world, stabbing at random?
Who remembers how it used to happen, like, elsewhere than Stormwind?
Who remembers when the laws of the world/physics/lore were actually OBEYED by villains?
Gefjon remembers. And Gefjon is quite upset with the turn of events around here. Gefjon once supported this - he admits it. But no more. Gefjon has given this some thought.
Gefjon is sick of seeing Death Knights enter the Cathedral and murder indiscriminately. Gefjon is sick of Warlocks entering Trade District, dropping Infernals, and expecting nothing bad to happen. And most of all, Gefjon is sick of people going, "LOL MY CHARACTER R 4 AWSUM /cast ENORMOUS SHADOW BOLT KAMEHAMEHA" and then expecting every in the ENTIRE ZONE to die.
And Gefjon's sick of people able to take a billion gunshots to the head, get set on fire, and dropped in a river, only to come out unscathed.
So, let's break up my points into nice, easy to follow categories; a guide, if you will, to RPing Evil, and RPing against evil.
1. OSHI- NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!
2. WHAT? I CAN'T BE ALL POWERFUL?!
3. law? lol im evil noob
4. Well, what IS evil? Is killing evil? Can I Just do that? (Hint: No.)
5. Conclusions
=OSHI- NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!=
I know you don't want your character to die: Really, I do. I don't want my character to die either. But there are ways to avoid this, and still make a tiny bit of bleeding sense.
Soulstones are out. They're overdone.
Magical healing? WE're getting closer, but I don't think magic can solve every problem.
RPing your character died, and was rezzed? Come on. There's got to be a limit on the whole resurrection thing, or else the wars of the world would be no problem: "Kay, war's over everyone, let's rez, LOL WERE AWESOME AGAIN /dance Horde and Alliance kumbaya service." The way I see it, there either has to be some consent on the behalf of some deity (i.e., DND Wish spell) or it has to be prohibitively expensive (Again, DND: Fistfuls of diamonds are taken, and they don't exactly fall from the sky)
Your character was almost killed and spends a week being treated carefully by a priest or doctor before he is able to move on his own again? See, now we're getting somewhere.
The immersion of this entire affair has to be based off the idea that the world is run by certain rules. And certainly, they can be prohibitive; we live in a magical world, why can't magic do everything?
Well, magic can't do everything because we start running into problems with consistency, and with lasting effects. Everyone agrees that there's no reason for you to kill your character unless you consent to kill your character; by the same ticket, almost everyone agrees that your character can be injured. Severely, more often than not. But if your character can then "Poof" put back to normal and get back to doing whatever, then what was the point of anything in the first place?
Magic can't solve every problem. IF something needs to be built, you can use magic to speed it up, but magic won't perform the engineering, the architecture for you, you have to direct it. By that thought, it makes sense that magic can speed the healing process, so your character still spends a week or two on bedrest, but can come out of the affair relatively unscathed (if that is your choice). See? Then we have a way for you to NOT kill your character if it isn't what you want, but we don't have an I.W.I.N. button set-up for getting back into the RP.
Besides, presumably your character has friends; some bedside, "Awwwwr, poor thing's injured, we must have vengeance" RP can be fun too.
ALSO: If you do kill off your character, and his body is burnt/dismembered and scattered/in some other way removed, for GOD'S SAKE, HE'S DEAD. Forging a new body is impractical. For God's sake, if you plan for your character to come back (For remember I said that resurrection is simply prohibitively expensive, not impossible) then ask the people politely to keep the body somewhat intact.
This is important: See, villains need to be able to do something. If people refuse to even get into an RP because they don't want their character to die, then villains lose their ability to be villains. By the same token, if villains never let themselves be hurt for any length of time, heroes lose their sense of worth; they don't feel like they're actually accomplishing anything. Both sides have to give for the entire affair to work ultimately.
Failing that, we can come up with some rules for resurrection, that everyone agrees too, so that resurrection doesn't become overly rampant. Here's an idea for it.
Resurrection requires the following reagents:
*The body of the deceased.
*A relic near to the soul of the deceased (some item that was dear to him; a wedding ring, the last portrait of their dead grandmother, etc.)
*A holy symbol, living seed, ankh, etc. something representing the power of the resurrector.
*Something prohibitively expensive (I really do like the idea of fistfuls of diamonds)
*The consent of the higher power being invoked. For God's sake, their power is Divine, if some higher power doesn't feel like resurrecting X today, then dead X stays.
=WHAT? I CAN'T BE ALL POWERFUL?!=
A lot of villains like the idea of their character being this sort of Hercules, able to do whatever they feel like. A lot of heroes do too. After all, what's better than Superman?!
I'll tell you. Batman. Batman is better. And do you know what Batman isn't?
Batman isn't all-bleeding-powerful.
Sure, he's got gear, training, he is a competent bastard; but if he gets shot, he's gonna bleed. And he isn't capable of kicking through a brick wall, or grabbing someone and literally snapping them like a twig. And most importantly, Batman tires.
"But Gefjon! Isn't this a magic world?!"
You're very right. This is a magic world. Many of us play caster classes. And what's that fancy blue bar up there?
That's mana. See, if you're going to cast a spell, it's going to drain something from you. The more powerful the spell, the more it drains. And since we're all Batmans, if you're going to fire up a spell that DEVASTATES THE LAND FOR A THOUSAND MILLION MILES (or something less sarcastic but equally overpowered) guess what that's gonna do to your body?
If you answered "Dry you up like a sponge left in Death Valley," your answer is correct. IF you answered, "Nothing, my character is just that powerful," please leave. I can't help you.
Caster classes aren't given a doomsday spell for a reason. That reason is that there needs to be some chance of failure. And that is the same thing. Sure, it's not technically godmoding if you fire a shadow bolt the size of Stormwind's walls at someone, but it's still not exactly leaving them much option, is it? And if you get a seed in them that's going to explode them like an overripe fruit, again: it's not technically godmoding, but it isn't really leaving them much to do.
Your character can be powerful. I'm totally for that. But your character can't be overpowered.
The difference is the Batman/Superman comparison up there; your character can be above and beyond the normal Warrior/Mage/Warlock, whatever. But once he starts flying and shooting lasers out his eyes, we run into a problem.
And heroes, the same goes for you. Just because you can say you're awesomely powerful doesn't mean you should. IF we're all going to have fun, we all have to play in the same band. There have to be some people - most people, in fact - who are just ordinary guys. Well trained, yes. Armed, yes. Armored, yes. Magically capable, definitely. You're better than a civilian, or a guardsman.
But not EVERYONE can be better than all their peers. Because then we wind up in an RP Arms Race that can only end in ignore lists and disgust.
=law? lol im evil noob=
Why don't you see guys with miniguns roaming around shooting people indiscriminately in the real world too often? Well, it's because of these things called the police.
See, if you pull out a minigun in the real world, someone is going to dial 911. And once that happens, a bunch of people with guns and a WHOLE lot more training than you are likely to have is going to show up, and they are going to snipe you from the rooftops. And then the problem's over.
So why doesn't that apply in game too?
Well, see, it does. You just have to understand that.
Guards exist. I know it's hard to wrap your head around; I admit I have some trouble with it too (I'm serious). They don't talk, they don't stop, they just walk by as you commit your crimes. But they exist. The guards are not going to let you do whatever you want, and by pretending they will, you start to play with our willing suspension of disbelief. Stormwind operates. You need to pretend as though it does, even though their programming doesn't let them do it.
In the Cathedral? Your crimes are witnessed by enough Paladins that it'd take an army to defend yourself from them all. In Stormwind period there are too many guards for any one person to commit crimes without fear of repercussion. And don't tell me you'd just kill them; the guards would get off at least one shout of, "Oh #%*@, this guy's killing everyone," before you killed him, and then you'd have enough guards on your ass to build a house out of them. Don't tell me you'd buy them off: No guard would accept money for you to kill -everyone,- and if they did, there'd be at least one who'd refuse.
Oh, and let's face it: Who do you think the guards are more scared of. Your character, who we established in part 2 can't be a raid boss, or King Wrynn, who IS a raid boss?
I don't think I need to go much farther than that, but I will anyway.
Law operates in this game just as the real world. There are some guilds out there that try to enforce the laws, but ultimately, it is up to us ALL to realize that laws exist. For the good of the RP. If we go around pretending Stormwind is some sort of anarchic wasteland, then we just... Lose the sense of immersion. We start thinking too hard about it. And then the realization that this is a game comes rushing back, and the RP is no longer as sweet.
The solution?
We need to RP less in the cities.
I know this has been said before, but it's true. Stories require drama; they require conflict. But you can't have conflict in a city of any sort of real violent or criminal kind, because there are gods, and we can't do it privately. It is fully acceptable for Stormwind to have a seedy underbelly, but it can't be in the streets, and violence can't occur there. World of Warcraft has some truly beautiful locations, and some great places to RP. But so few people these days see them, because they're just RPing in Stormwind. IF we want to build up a server story - a server community that really has a coherent mutual background - we need to spread our wings and fly with it. And we need to expand. If all the RP is collapsed in on one point, there is really only so much that can be done before we have quite literally run out of possible actions. Get out there. Explore. Make teh storyline happen elsewhere. MAke your character live in Duskwood or something.
Seriously, is it for a moment believable that EVERYONE lives and does all their things in Stormwind?!
=Well, what IS evil? Is killing evil? Can I Just do that? (Hint: No.)=
Evil. What really constitutes evil?
Evil: noun
profound immorality, wickedness, and depravity, esp. when regarded as a supernatural force : the world is stalked by relentless evil | good and evil in eternal opposition.
So, yes. Killing's evil. But it doesn't constitute the sort of poetic evil that makes for a good story.
Evil should be subtle when doing this. Evil should not reveal itself. Insanity reveals itself: If you want a character that wanders, kills indiscriminately, and revels in it? That is insanity, even if it is of a frighteningly logical sort. Evil is less noticeable. Evil is more manipulative.
Evil involves a fair amount of killing, but it involves even more work behind the scene. Pulling strings. Performing small crimes; evil has a goal. Everything has an idea. True evil should not have a face; it should simply wear many masks.
Many people seem to forget this. Evil can't go advertising itself (at least not In character) because it would cause people to rise up against them. Terror, suspense, and fear are caused by what we don't know, not what we do. Yes, if a murder is committed, it's frightening: But what's more frightening? The murder itself, or the fact that you don't know who did it.... Which means it could be anyone.
Evil should NEVER be about shouting things and expecting people to go, "o dar evil." Evil should do what it intends with or without IC knowledge. ESPECIALLY without.
And of course, I understand the desire to have someone in your RP: so arrange it more OOCly. In order for evil to be fun, there needs to be someone to oppose them; and in order for heroes to be fun, there needs to be someone to oppose. See how that works?
We need both for either one to be worth playing. For what is Inspector Javert without his Jean Valjean?
A final note: Try branching out in your roles. Seem everyone is just a crazy person trying to conquer the world. Where are the corrupt politician RPers? The extortionists? The bullies? The other kinds of evil that we see so often in the real world? Try that for a change if you feel like being evil.
=Conclusions=
Alright. Let's sum up my points.
1. You don't need to die, but you need to have some sort of REALITY, some consequence if your character is injured. You can't have an 'everything's all good' buttton.
2. It's alright if there are a few characters that are a LITTLE more powerful than other characters, but c'mon; if we have a whole server full of supermen, then being a superman loses its significance, doesn't it?
3. Law exists. Get over it. Avoid cities if you're gonna commit crimes - in fact, avoid cities altogether. It's the WORLD of Warcraft, people!
4. Evil is not random murder; evil is something that changes, and doesn't just look like one thing. Be creative, people: reach for the stars. And if you don't feel like that, don't call your character evil, or get behind someone who does. There's nothing wrong with being a flunky.
=Extra Thoughts=
I've done some more thinking, so here are some more points.
==We Don't Have a DM==
In DND, one of the most egregious mistakes you can make is to let the players think that just because they're level 15, whatever, they get to wander the city killing people.
"Well, !!##," I was thinking the other day. "Some people think that if they kill the guards quickly, then everything'll be good!"
In DND, everything is controlled by the DM, and a sign of a good campaign setting, and of a good DM is that everything should have some decided function BEFORE the situation requiring its use arises. World of Warcraft is an excellently thought out setting... But it doesn't have that DM. It doesn't have the person to make things happen. As for killing/gagging/knocking out guards, it's worth noting that in DND, shouting out is a free action.
For the uninitiated, a free action can be taken whenever at no expense. Like, you're fully allowed to shriek, "OH, GOD, MY BOWELS," as you're being knifed.
It is therefore the responsibility - nay, the duty - of each and every RPer to come up with, learn, and abide by, some set of common rules for how that NPC world works. Sure, the game mechanics may not make it so, but RP is all about imagination... And frankly, we need a bit more of that in MG RP.
1a. The guards do not patrol randomly. The guards have assigned routes, guard stations, and specific patrol TIMES. They are expected to check in from time to time... So even if you kill a guard so fast, he can't shout for help, he's going to be missed. And he's going to be missed within 20 minutes.
1b. It is known that Stormwind is supposed to be an excellently policed city. Between it being the seat of the Cathedral's Paladins, and the heavy guard presence, there is the matter of the unstable, temperamental, and heavily involved King wielding a pair of Quel'Serrars up in the Keep. And one thing we need to recognize is that Stormwind is very much a MONARCHY, which means in all likelihood...
In all likelihood, inciting riot against his Majesty is an IMPRISONABLE OFFENSE.
Let me say that again in case you missed it.
Medieval societies were not known for utilizing free-speech. Free-speech is, in fact, a relatively modern innovation.
YOU MAY THINK THE GUARDS WILL IGNORE YOU FOR SCREAMING IN THE TRADE DISTRICT THAT THE KING SUCKS, BUT THIS IS A MONARCHY.
A M-O-N-A-R-C-H-Y.
King. Throne. Absolute power. No constitution.
1c. I mentioned earlier that DMs can't let players think they're all powerful. One way they fix this problem is that even though stick towns might not be able to handle a bunch of adventurers, the capital city (And Stormwind is the capital city) would have some serious defenses. A champion who's higher level than the average guard. A bunch of wizards with scrolls of anti-magic zone (Which in DND doesn't reduce damage, it makes magic GO AWAY).
It is VERY likely that Stormwind has a similar set-up.
1d. I have to reiterate that the guards seriously aren't going to let you do whatever whims strike your fancy...
2. When Bad Things Happen to Good Characters
I said up there that characters shouldn't always have to die. But here, I'm going to talk a little bit about the storyline uses of death.
In most great stories, the climax involves death. Often, the death of some main character - be it a protagonist, or an antagonist - features heavily in this. And that death is not - NOTNOTNOTNOTNOT - a "lol kay, im ded, im gonna go do thins over here now dat im bak alive TEN MINUTES AFTER YOU KILLED ME" affair. The death is permanent... Or if it's not, resurrection is used SPARINGLY.
Death is a fact of life that resonates greatly to human beings. When someone dies, it AFFECTS us. We NOTICE. But if your character dies frequently...?
Well, then death loses its resonance. And then, every death after that turns into a, "/sigh He died AGAIN, didn't he?"
If you're going to kill your character, you'd better have damn good reason, and he'd better STAY dead. Resurrection is a tool that CAN spice up a story, but again, if resurrection is used to frequently, then it, like death, stops being interesting, it becomes stupid.
So please. Bad things are going to happen to your character. Let them happen. When your character's time is done, it's done.
As for this feeling people have that we don't want to lose...
As people, we don't want to lose because we have this sense that winning is more fufilling, more 'good,' and I mean that in terms of good and evil. But think for a moment in terms of storyboard. When a character wins, then it is over for that character. His motivation vanishes, and he becomes 'that guy who won.'
Yet the person who lost (if they survived) suddenly has a WHOLE new set of motivations: Regain his honor, get revenge, reclaim the throne... The list goes on.
Category:Guides