Shattered Kingdoms

I'd wager a majority of new players try gray/evil first.

I'm not saying this to blow my own hot air, I'm saying this because lighties still spam kill darkies, raid cities, do the same stuff evil does. When it comes to the players of SK, they still junk loot, they still kill new players, regardless of aura, and in most cases, anymore, the principled alignment is completely gone.

So sayeth the player who would justify killing gray aura NPCs for gear as a principled character.



A

I call bullpoo. I have heard newbies say they've gotten more help from darkies than lighties. I've have known newbies to get near instant help as a darkie, as aversed to being forced to wait/ignored from lighties.

It's been my experience, though, that there are more helpful lighties than darkies, as it should be. There are dark-auras that'll help folks out, but I don't think it's as common.

So sayeth half the mud. I'm not the only one. That thread had enough for both sides.

This is getting silly, Grakus. Of course lighties are going to kill darkies. Do you expect them to twiddle their thumbs while irredeemably evil people plot and scheme?

Choosing an evil alignment allows your character to do things that good/selfish characters cannot do. One price you pay for that is that many good characters no longer have to be good to you personally.

I'd also note that while the MC can accept grays, it is an evil organization. It's dedicated to tyranny. It's just less interested in people's motives for serving, so loyal grays are acceptable. The extent of how much said grays can stomach is character-dependent.

Center alignments strike me as:
Fist - principled
Hammer - scrupulous
Druid - anarchist (widely varying)
Harlequin - anarchist (focused)
Midnight - aberrant
Adepts - diabolic

which is pretty much balanced. It's true the Adepts have enemies in the first 3 groups - but the Fists should have them in the last 3, too. They're just a less PK-prone cabal.

It should also be pointed out, however, that Fists have CONSISTENT allies from 1 and 3.

Well, that's the problem, I'm not telling you how it should be, because if it was how it should be, the fist wouldn't be a huge pk organization that is pretty much scrupulous at the base roots. It also wouldn't go gank and hold relics or start wars (fist start wars all the time, they're really an aggressive bunch).

I'm telling you how it is and how to fix it because it's always going to be this way.

As Grakus pointed out, there isn't much difference between lighties and darkies these days. The only difference is their alignment (Yes, I know it isn't true for all but there are too many that walk around with a lightie aura that does the same thing as the darkies: plot to kill the darkies by any method).

Sorry, for a slight side track, but this is a pet peeve of mine:



No cabal should ever have consistent allies in the other cabals. Their missions are too different, and they're supposed to be committed to them. Working together for a limited time towards a mutually beneficial objective is fine. But long-term alliances should be discouraged; the MUD shouldn't devolve into good vs. evil. The whole cabal diplomacy feature deserves a place on the garbage heap.

Getting back to the issue at hand, I'll agree that not everything is hunky-dory in the world of SK. But if you want to change cabal practices, the best way is to make a character to show how it's done. The second best way is to talk to the immortal in charge of the group. Forum complaints don't go very far - and redesigning cabals is absolutely pointless if people aren't respecting their design now.