The EL IRC channel

[Sibylla]

Abstract

 

I switched to Eternal Lands after playing another popular MMORPG for four years.

 

That MMO is all about Role Play, a subjective term in my opinion. The net effect: if users are not 'in' with particular crowds, they are excluded. That and a prevalence of cheating by way of automation is why I decided to look for a different MMORPG.

 

On Linux there are a few free-to-play MMORPGs to choose from. Some concentrate on battles, some on Role Play and some on quests. I'm interested in grinding and making stuff, an engineer more than a performer or someone who enjoys bloodshed and conflict.

 

Eternal Lands has a balance of these features. Users are at liberty to build their in-game skill set, peculiar to their own aspiration without suffering the pain of exclusion or harassment.

 

Why I set up a freenode :: #eternallands IRC channel

 

As a newbie EL user I made the mistake of picking up a bag. The bag was in a Tavern and there were no other players in that tavern from what I could see. A few minutes later I received death threats from an EL user: "I will kill you." and "I'm going to make your life hell."

 

If they had said: Hey, sorry but you have picked up my bag, can I have it back please.

 

I would have returned the few threads and vegetables in an instant but instead I complained about the threats to the Game Masters. Their attitude was: so what?

 

I then contacted the lead developer who's answer was the same: don't care.

 

This is what prompted me to set up the freenode :: #eternallands IRC channel.

 

Threats from people on the Internet are worrying in most contexts and EL didn't see any reason to prevent them.

 

I didn't play EL again for months, possibly a year and missed it.

 

I wanted a way to chat to other players but not in-game so I decided to ask the (same) lead developer if they had any objections to me setting up an IRC channel. They said: "Don't care, no one will use it."

 

I set it up:

 

IRC server: irc.freenode.net

Port: 6667

Channel: #eternallands

 

Suggested IRC clients: Xchat, Pidgin (cross platform) or mIRC (Windows)

 

I set the channel up a couple of years ago and for most of that time I was the only one on it. A channel where I hoped EL fans would join and discuss EL stuff. Support, though useful is not the primary goal of this IRC channel.

 

Back then, occasionally someone would join, leave a sentence or two of abuse and quickly leave. Probably because I was the only (sad) other user of the channel.

 

Even more occasionally someone would join, ask a support question which I would attempt to answer and then they would just as quickly leave.

 

This went on for well over a year and I conceded: no one from EL was interested in an EL IRC channel.

 

I had not advertised it at all. I had an assumption: I'm a gamer, I use freenode, others must do the same.

 

Then, one day, someone from the EL inner-circle turned up and asked some leading, weird, provocative questions. I replied with: "Do you need help? Are you having trouble with the game?".

 

The abuse level increased so I asked: "Can we start again, I appear to have up set you."

 

Eventually they told me that they wanted to set up an IRC channel for EL and add a link to the EL web page. When they discovered that I had already set one up, they assumed that it was there for negative reasons, for people to disseminate negative views about EL and hence their provocative conversation.

 

On the face of it this assumption is bizarre but then if we consider, they knew I had complained (over a year ago at that point) about death threats by one of their players and the fact that I had not logged into EL since I complained, then their assumption is perhaps not that unreasonable. Although they have never admitted to knowing who I was.

 

That day, a link was added to the EL web page enabling people to join #eternallands IRC channel without installing a separate IRC client.

 

Instantly a trickle of people joined, chatted and offered support to anyone who asked. Some times hours of our time were spent attempting to get people's computers to use the correct graphics card drivers or setting a new user's EL Client so that it would run on built in graphics chips. A year on and the channel user count is on average: 10

 

I set the channel up as a forum for EL users to chat generally about EL but it seems the EL-inner circle are trying to hijack it for the purpose of support. Their original attitude was: ... don't care, no one will use it.

 

to: This channel is the place to get support. See this link: http://www.eternal-lands.com/page/help.php

 

If you want support, then please feel free to join #eternallands either via a separate IRC client or from the the web page link. Then if someone has the time to answer your question, they will but if you log on and log off within sixty seconds, don't be surprised if you leave without anyone responding to you.

 

Never once have anyone from the EL-inner circle offered a sentence of gratitude. If it arrived now, it would be dismissed as insincere anyway. Not looking for gratitude but EL-inner circle's lack of humility sticks in the craw.

 

Their attitude seems to be: You play or do something related to EL so you owe us.

 

My admiration for the people and the skills required to create the software that we play is unreserved. That goes for all games actually but without users taking time out to play and evangelise and those who take (the boring) time out to help others who are having trouble getting your software to work, it would just be another piece of software.

 

Is it all about power? Are you that deluded that you believe you own some part of us because we have registered a character on EL?

 

Show me the humility.

[Entropy]

Do you realize that in any MMO you will find people that will threaten to make your life hell for killing their monster, stealing their bag, crossing their path, and so on?

[Robb]

Do you realize that in any MMO you will find people that will threaten to make your life hell for killing their monster, stealing their bag, crossing their path, and so on?

 

 

Having played a ton of WoW, I can vouch for this =(

[Wizzy]

If I didn't have to feed the cat. I would make a more important response.

[bigkav]

So that's what having no social life is like eh?

[Wizzy]

Abstract

 

I switched to Eternal Lands after playing another popular MMORPG for four years.

 

That MMO is all about Role Play, a subjective term in my opinion. The net effect: if users are not 'in' with particular crowds, they are excluded. That and a prevalence of cheating by way of automation is why I decided to look for a different MMORPG.

 

On Linux there are a few free-to-play MMORPGs to choose from. Some concentrate on battles, some on Role Play and some on quests. I'm interested in grinding and making stuff, an engineer more than a performer or someone who enjoys bloodshed and conflict.

 

Eternal Lands has a balance of these features. Users are at liberty to build their in-game skill set, peculiar to their own aspiration without suffering the pain of exclusion or harassment.

 

Why I set up a freenode :: #eternallands IRC channel

 

As a newbie EL user I made the mistake of picking up a bag. The bag was in a Tavern and there were no other players in that tavern from what I could see. A few minutes later I received death threats from an EL user: "I will kill you." and "I'm going to make your life hell."

 

If they had said: Hey, sorry but you have picked up my bag, can I have it back please.

 

I would have returned the few threads and vegetables in an instant but instead I complained about the threats to the Game Masters. Their attitude was: so what?

 

I then contacted the lead developer who's answer was the same: don't care.

 

This is what prompted me to set up the freenode :: #eternallands IRC channel.

 

Threats from people on the Internet are worrying in most contexts and EL didn't see any reason to prevent them.

 

I didn't play EL again for months, possibly a year and missed it.

 

I wanted a way to chat to other players but not in-game so I decided to ask the (same) lead developer if they had any objections to me setting up an IRC channel. They said: "Don't care, no one will use it."

 

I set it up:

 

IRC server: irc.freenode.net

Port: 6667

Channel: #eternallands

 

Suggested IRC clients: Xchat, Pidgin (cross platform) or mIRC (Windows)

 

I set the channel up a couple of years ago and for most of that time I was the only one on it. A channel where I hoped EL fans would join and discuss EL stuff. Support, though useful is not the primary goal of this IRC channel.

 

Back then, occasionally someone would join, leave a sentence or two of abuse and quickly leave. Probably because I was the only (sad) other user of the channel.

 

Even more occasionally someone would join, ask a support question which I would attempt to answer and then they would just as quickly leave.

 

This went on for well over a year and I conceded: no one from EL was interested in an EL IRC channel.

 

I had not advertised it at all. I had an assumption: I'm a gamer, I use freenode, others must do the same.

 

Then, one day, someone from the EL inner-circle turned up and asked some leading, weird, provocative questions. I replied with: "Do you need help? Are you having trouble with the game?".

 

The abuse level increased so I asked: "Can we start again, I appear to have up set you."

 

Eventually they told me that they wanted to set up an IRC channel for EL and add a link to the EL web page. When they discovered that I had already set one up, they assumed that it was there for negative reasons, for people to disseminate negative views about EL and hence their provocative conversation.

 

On the face of it this assumption is bizarre but then if we consider, they knew I had complained (over a year ago at that point) about death threats by one of their players and the fact that I had not logged into EL since I complained, then their assumption is perhaps not that unreasonable. Although they have never admitted to knowing who I was.

 

That day, a link was added to the EL web page enabling people to join #eternallands IRC channel without installing a separate IRC client.

 

Instantly a trickle of people joined, chatted and offered support to anyone who asked. Some times hours of our time were spent attempting to get people's computers to use the correct graphics card drivers or setting a new user's EL Client so that it would run on built in graphics chips. A year on and the channel user count is on average: 10

 

I set the channel up as a forum for EL users to chat generally about EL but it seems the EL-inner circle are trying to hijack it for the purpose of support. Their original attitude was: ... don't care, no one will use it.

 

to: This channel is the place to get support. See this link: http://www.eternal-lands.com/page/help.php

 

If you want support, then please feel free to join #eternallands either via a separate IRC client or from the the web page link. Then if someone has the time to answer your question, they will but if you log on and log off within sixty seconds, don't be surprised if you leave without anyone responding to you.

 

Never once have anyone from the EL-inner circle offered a sentence of gratitude. If it arrived now, it would be dismissed as insincere anyway. Not looking for gratitude but EL-inner circle's lack of humility sticks in the craw.

 

Their attitude seems to be: You play or do something related to EL so you owe us.

 

My admiration for the people and the skills required to create the software that we play is unreserved. That goes for all games actually but without users taking time out to play and evangelise and those who take (the boring) time out to help others who are having trouble getting your software to work, it would just be another piece of software.

 

Is it all about power? Are you that deluded that you believe you own some part of us because we have registered a character on EL?

 

Show me the humility.

 

Honestly, I started a new IRC channel

IRC server: irc.getafuckinglife.net

Port: 6667

 

I invite everyone to use it, and if you use it in a way I do not like, I will complain to God about the way they are using life. ty

[Elgoran]

My 2 cents:

 

Making an irc channel imo isn't exactly a reason for everybody to throw themselves at your feet in admiration and gratitude.

An irc channel getting hijacked/entered by people doing whatever at least for me wouldn't really be a reason to slit my wrists.

Still:

Do you realize that in any MMO you will find people that will threaten to make your life hell for killing their monster, stealing their bag, crossing their path, and so on?

I completely agree with you there, entropy. It's pretty much common behavior on the internet. Yet, imagine playing a game that has a rule against it right next to rules concerning hacking the game and exploiting bugs. Just how serious would you take the latter when being able to quote the game's chief like that on the former?

I adressed this before and maybe "people should be smart enough to weight the rules for themselves" might be the most obvious reason to dismiss it.

Well, 2013 topics in the bans section would beg to differ. If by some means emphasis on some rules vs. the others was expressed, i'd bet my left arm we'd only have 2012 of those by now.

Edited February 27, 2011 by Elgoran

[Aislinn]

Wow...

I will address the parts specifically about me.

I guess I am the one from the "inner circle" who showed up on the IRC channel.

The tale from MY perspective:

 

We knew nothing of this channel's existence. As you pointed out, you did not advertise or announce you had it anywhere.

 

On the forums, the subject of making an IRC channel came up because it came up many years ago as well, and the idea was revisited. So in the process of making a channel, I found the name #eternallands taken. Imagine MY surprise. Not to say you couldn't make it, but it WAS a bit odd that a channel was made with the exact game name and nobody knew it. So yes, I joined as shariebeth (I already used freenode for other purposes) and started asking questions. I DID wonder why you would make a #eternallands channel and not tell anybody. I think it is a logical question. I did not know who you were at first but once I started digging, I was a bit surprised and not even because of the bag incident you mentioned. I had always thought it curious you wanted to sit on IP and "video" EL but not play it. I am pretty sure we did discuss this as well, and I did tell you I knew who you were. In case you hadn't noticed, I don't beat around the bush. Not with you, or anyone. Just take a look at my posts.

 

However after talking to you for a while, it seemed we had the same intents for an IRC channel and I liked you and decided I had no reason to be "suspicious". So I suggested we use your channel for EL officially. You agreed. For that matter, you seemed very happy about it. I was happy about it. So we posted this channel in the thread in forums and as you say, people trickled in.

 

Here is where I become a bit confused. How are you getting that nobody wants the channel for chat and only support? I see both in there. I certainly have not said it is only for support, and hijacking it?! You are the one who made the topics. I have been in there, granted not hugely active, as I work, do stuff ingame, etc., but if people need me they can type my name and the client beeps and highlights. You made me a minor "op" in there, I never asked for it, but YOU are the one who felt it was a good idea "just in case". I have yet to use the "powers". We certainly did try to get people in here, but I can't control who comes in and who doesn't, or why. And as far as my recollection goes, it all was with your blessing and approval or I would never have posted it in that forum thread and simply would have gone and made another one.

 

If you would prefer that we make a new separate channel from yours, just say the word. I had no idea you were unhappy with it, other than not as many people were in it as you would like. It is a simple procedure to make a new one so I would do that if you wish. For that matter, it IS your channel so I would still do that if you wish for any reason. There was never any attempt to hijack it. I can't recall a time EVER I tried to dictate how that channel was run or what its purpose should be, or let people assume it was "mine" or the "inner circle's". You are the one who chose to name your channel with the official game name of #eternallands, if people think it belongs to me or the game or radu and roja...not exactly a far-fetched assumption. You asked to have it included on the official site, and it was. What should I be doing or saying that I am not? I have always deferred to you.

 

A comment on freenode and IRC in general: freenode isn't known for being the gaming IRC server. Mostly it is for open source projects, such as linux distros and the like. In all the other channels I'm in, most people are not gamers there.

[Forgiven]

erm...howcome we need an irc when we can just talk in the game?

[ccReynolds]

Because the enemy already has one.

 

erm...howcome we need an irc when we can just talk in the game?

[Aislinn]

erm...howcome we need an irc when we can just talk in the game?

There are a lot of reasons people use it.

1. They can't get ingame for technical reasons and need help.

2. They are at work or somewhere they can't log the game client on.

3. Server goes down or there is an internet hiccup. IRC fills up like crazy then

4. They are on IRC already for other channels.

5. Multiple computers running and it is easier to get help on a different screen you can see at the same time.

ETC.

 

Anyway, after this, I have no idea what sybilla is going to do with his channel, so I made and registered #eternal-lands (still on freenode) just in case. It is empty other than for me and ChanServ right now. I don't see a reason to make it the official channel unless sybilla pulls the plug on his.

[elg3neral]

How do i get into the "inner circle" ???

Please Help

[Forgiven]

erm...howcome we need an irc when we can just talk in the game?

There are a lot of reasons people use it.

1. They can't get ingame for technical reasons and need help.

2. They are at work or somewhere they can't log the game client on.

3. Server goes down or there is an internet hiccup. IRC fills up like crazy then

4. They are on IRC already for other channels.

5. Multiple computers running and it is easier to get help on a different screen you can see at the same time.

ETC.

 

Anyway, after this, I have no idea what sybilla is going to do with his channel, so I made and registered #eternal-lands (still on freenode) just in case. It is empty other than for me and ChanServ right now. I don't see a reason to make it the official channel unless sybilla pulls the plug on his.

 

That explains it better Thank you Aislinn