SeminarLog : Seminar 1/21/99

["Martin Hirsch (Filarion)" <filarion@earthlink.net>]

Logged on Jan 21, 1999 by Filarion




Andrei clears his throat, and peers over the crowd with a stern expression on
his face.

Filarion allows himself to point at the readme.

Toranoth takes his seat and yells, "HEY! Down in front!"

Andrei gives a gratious nod of his head to Filarion, straightens his cape and
begins..

Andrei says, "First off, I'd like to welcome you all to this newbie seminar.
I'm sure that all of you newbies here have great potential to become great
RPers, as well as I'm sure that those of you here with a bit of experience
already, will do all you can to make that happen. I'd like to start things off
with a few of the views that I hold, regarding MUSHing in general. My feeling,
is that we're all here to enjoy ourselves. Am I right? And as such, if we all
chip in, and help the newbies to become good players by way of education, then
I think this game will bring alot more enjoyment, for all of us."

You say, "Hear ye, hear ye!"

Andrei says, "The first point, regarding MUSHing, is to remember that we
aren't here to "win". Yes, I know that in this game, there will be winners,
and there will be loosers, but the point isnt to win, or to lose. The point is
getting there. Me, for one, would much rather play a character who at one
point will lose, and get alot of great RP out of it, than to play a "winner"
but in a situation where the RP wont be that great. This is a very important
point to keep in mind. I'm sorry to say, that alot of us more experienced
players, lack the patience to explain these things to you guys. I'm also sorry
to say, that alot of newbies also lack the patience to learn these things.
Which is one of the reasons I'm holding this seminar. Call it a crash-course,
if you will. :)"

Andrei nods his head, "again, if you have any comments or such, you are free
to page Filarion to be allowed to speak." Clearing his throat yet again, the
speaker shifts around on the lectern, and continues;

Andrei says, "Another very important point, regarding MUSHing, is to remember
to take responsability. Yes, we _all_ share a responsability on here, to make
sure that everyone enjoys themselves. Ofcourse, nobody is asking anyone else
to spend their time online entertaining others. All that is asked, required is
that you behave in a responsible manner (which we will go into a bit later)
and that you handle your character in such a way that it doesent break the
"mood" of the game for others."

Andrei peers about in the Auditorium, nodding his head thoughfully. "I see
that we agree on these points." Nodding his head a bit quicker, he goes;
"good, good.." Before he continues in that same tone, that would put a
speed-junkie to sleep;

Andrei says, "So how does one do that, you ask? How does one behave, to make
sure you dont ruin the game for anyone else? Well, a good place to start is
with patience. I know only too well how it is to be a newbie on a Dune MUSH,
and I also know that you want to get out there, to play, to take part in the
things you've read about, the things you've seen in the movie, and maybe even
the things you've played in the computer games. This is understandable, and I
wish I could say something else than to advice you to be patient, as I know
how hard it is."

Filarion taps his temples with the fingers of his left, resting his elbow on
the arm of the chair.

Toranoth props his feet up on the chair in front of him, and leans back.

Andrei checks his watch, glances to Cesare's empty chair, and then checks his
watch again. Going; "Hrm..."

A teenager in a cheesy burgundy uniform walks down the aisles hushing and
pointing a flashlight at people who are talking. When he notices Toranoth, the
teenager walks up to him and breaks his kneecaps, hissing "Feet down, feet
down."

a Howl is heard as Toranoth winces in pain. He then takes the teanagers
flashlight and bludgions him with it.

Andrei clears his throat. "If the people would be so kind as to remain quiet,
this will be quick and painless for everyone, I assure you."

A woman pushes open the door, "Oh, sorry, wrong seminar" and leaves.

Iohannes walks in from Lower Lobby through the Double Doors.

Iohannes has arrived.

Andrei says, "Another important thing to remember, when it comes to taking
responsability, is to remember that you are playing a role, along with other
people, who are also playing roles. We do not have a MUSH filled with Paul
Maud'dibs. What we do have, however is a MUSH filled with characters,
characters with flaws, as well as better points. No character is omnipotent.
And this, is a thing you must always, always keep in mind. We strive for
realism here (within reason, ofcourse, we're dealing with fiction)."

Andrei says, "Sometimes, it can be hard to balance this. And knowing how to
act, in any given situation, isnt something that I, or anyone else can teach
you. It comes with experience. What I, and others here can do, however, is
give you grounds to work on."

Andrei smiles. "Something I think we can agree on, all of us, that we share
some degree of responsability in. Am I wrong?"

Ivanova nods her head.

Sha'ara'diin inclines his head in agreement with Andrei.

Sarina nods.

Toranoth looks around at the nodding and nods.

Iohannes agrees.

Filarion remains silent, studying the crowds.

Andrei knocks his knuckles at the face of the podium, nodding his head. "Good,
good.. We seem to be in agreement here also. This brings us to more general
netiquette. What is "right" and what is "wrong" ? In a seminar like this, for
example?

Andrei smiles. "Do we have any views in the audience on this?" He looks around
expectantly.

Filarion points out, "I should be paged when questions arise, for instance."

Cesare says, "Wrong would be to get up in the middle of the seminar and start
table dancing."

Filarion nods thoughtfully at these words of deep wisdom.

Nils stands up and shouts, "I'm not wearing any pants!" (That's wrong.)

Cesare winces and nods.

Toranoth nods, "Even worse if you did it with a 67 year old man..."

Filarion notes that my last pose was unnecessary for example.

Belgoth doesn't think any PC should be terminated in RP unless it's fully
concented by both sides. It takes all the -fun- you so highly speak of when a
character you've been developing for a year is knocked off by a newbie cause
you 'step on his foot' or something.

Andrei nods his head to Belgoth. "A very good point indeed. One that brings us
to something we call "consent"."

Henrick nods his head in agreement.

Andrei says, "Or that old famous line, ICA=ICC."

Andrei says, "Something that is very important to know about, is that old
concept of ICA=ICC. ICA=ICC stands for In Character Actions = In Character
Consequences. In short, it means that when you take an action with your
character, you should be prepared for the consequences of that action. Which
brings us to our next subject, consent."

Andrei says, "This is a consent based MUSH, and this means that nobody can
force you to die. However, that does not in any way mean that you can draw a
sword on the Emperor infront of two legions of Sardukar, and expect to
survive, just because you don't want your character to die. Consent is a good
thing, when used with responsability, but it can sometimes be abused. Remember
however, that consent does not protect your character, if you take actions
that doom you. ICA=ICC."

Andrei says, "And even more important, remember that we are all equal as
players, that we are all here to have fun. If you abuse the system, not only
will you ruin the game for others, but you will make others alot less inclined
to RP with you again. Please remember this, as it makes a better game for
everyone."

Andrei, seemingly getting some wind in his sail, continues to rant;

Andrei says, "Okay, now to deal with some Netiquette. I will name a few things
that will make you seem over eager, and what will sell you out as newbies at
the first glance. :) First of all, the use of caps; this is a good thing, in
some cases. Life without caps, would be hollow indeed. But, don't overdo it.
Using all caps in a word, for example, will be frowned upon, as it is
considered "screaming". For example "HELLO!" over the public channel, will
make people uncomfortable. The same goes for !'s. One, or max two, is okay, if
you really want to underline somethings importance, or if you want to make a
strong point. However, using too many is also frowned upon, like so;
"Hello!!!!!!" <-- Bad form."

Ivanova chuckles.

Filarion DOESN'T KNOW WHAT AnDReI MEANS???!!!! <------even worse

Henrick says, "be quiet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Andrei nods his head, making his wisdom appearant. "Aye, all those are good
examples.. Well, apart from Ivanova. She didn't break netiquette."

Steffan walks in from Lower Lobby through the Double Doors.

Steffan has arrived.

Andrei says, "Moving along.."

Andrei says, "The most important thing to remember, when it comes to
Netiquette, is to always be polite, never be hostile, and to respect peoples
privacy. Those are the three things that are paramount. While other things may
make you seem inexperienced, the lack of these three points, can make you seem
alot worse than that."

Boris walks in from Lower Lobby through the Double Doors.

Boris has arrived.

Boris takes a seat in back.

Filarion watches Cesare bounce back in and nods to Boris.

Cesare nails himself to his seat.

Andrei nods his head lightly, "if there is anything anyone belives me to have
missed, you are free to page Sidekick-Fil to get the word. However, there is
something we need to adress here also.. How to go about to find RP? Well, RP
is the reason we're all here, isn't it? And as such, knowing proper etiquette
for getting hold of that RP, might be important, eh?"

Fredhrick walks in from Lower Lobby through the Double Doors.

Fredhrick has arrived.

Fredhrick enters, surrounded by 10 Sardaukar soldiers. Apparent is the
tell-tale shimmer of a shield at its maximum setting surrounding the Emperor.

Henrick grins

Andrei nods his head to Belgoth. "You have the word."

Belgoth says, "Another point about being polite, is sometimes people pose for
another character. It's quiet rude in my opinion, and usualy annoys the heck
out of people. For example..."

Boris walks in wearing a redneck attire. He looks around and grinz devilishly
when he spots Andrei, showing off two missing teeth. "Alright sonny, you spend
'nuff time with yer friends. Time to go home now, and get yer cows milked.
Move it, boy, 'fore I beat you like a readheaded step child!"

Belgoth says, "If I was Boris, I'd probably get an admin and get them to take
some measured against the player impersonating him (please don't @toad me,
this is just an example)"

Boris says, "I nominate Belgoth for @toading. All in favor, say Turnip!"

Cesare chuckles.

Ivanova says, "Applesauce."

Filarion mutters something, might have been "Turnpoint"

Andrei smiles nods his head. "A very good point, Belgoth. I think we can all
agree, that this isnt something we'd like to see happen to oursleves."

Andrei says, "Thank you for your point, Belgoth."

Belgoth nods and turns the "Stick of Power" back to Andrei.

Andrei says, "I belive this seminar would have been a bit more efficent,
should we have more people here who actually needed to know these things. I
think we all can agree, that no matter how good RPers we have here, there is
also newbies, yet to learn of these things."

Andrei smiles. "However, we can all help.. Not just by teaching the Newbies
the proper commands, or showing them to newsfiles, but by caring. If we put
just a little bit of effort into the people we know have problems with these
things, then I think we can turn the experience of Dune III into something
nothing short of fantastic.. For all of us. I want to thank you all for coming
tonight, and for your patience in sitting here while I go over things I know
you already know. Thank you.
---------------

-Added: Concept of the speech, provided by Andrei. These are the poses that
were left out due to too little newbies present



Andrei says, "Okay, I'd like to place those of you Newbies who are here, and
the rest of you also, in a few RP situations. Then, I'd like you to pose, in
turn (my assistant will tell you when you can pose) and we can all examine
your pose, and compare results. A picture is worth a thousand words, eh? :)"
You are a minor noble, and to your suprise, the Count of the ruthless
Pirhhatha house has invited you to discuss a trade matter. You arrive,
punctual as usual, to the large citadel-like embassy of this House Major. At
the gates, a small ugly man greets you. "Ahhh, there you are, m'lord.. We were
just getting worried." The disgusting little man rubs his hands together,
before inviting you into the embassy proper. Once inside however, you notice
that a full score of ten guards await for you! The shock and terror of it.
These evil types are indeed filled with betrayal. You don't have much time to
really think about just how much you dislike this house, before the disgusting
little man runs off to the far side of the room, and shouts for the guards to
grab you. The question is; what do you do?

Oh no, not again. Poor little commoner, all alone in the big shark-pond that
is a party filled with nobles. Good thing you've taken such a strategic
position by the punch, that nobody has bothered to approach you yet. But alas,
your luck is not to hold.. There he is, that fop Count Fil of the Arion house.
And by the looks of it, he's smelling blood in the water. With an arrogant
expression on his face, he leers you up and down, giving a snort of
displeasure. "What are you doing here, you peasant?" He states the question
with obvious superiority. And its just as obvious, that this windbag of a
noble belives himself your better. With a languid, almost lazy looking motion,
Fil tosses his cup into the punch bowl, making punch splatter all over the new
outfit, that your last hard-earned cash went into buying! With an obnoxious,
yet relaxed smile, the noble says; "oh.. I'm _so_ sorry, your new outfit all
ruined, eh?" He chuckles softly with amusement. The question is; what do you
do?

Andrei says, "Which brings us on to theme.. I wont spend too much time on this
subject, as it really isnt the point of this seminar. However, a little bit of
knowledge in this department, can go a long way. What we must always remember,
is that the world of Dune isnt a fair place. And that this is the theme we all
have chosen to play. The IC world is grossly unfair, and as a commoner, you
will be pushed around by the nobles. As a noble, you will be pushed around by
the imperial family, and as the imperial family, you will be pushed around by
the emperor."