Shattered Kingdoms

Cyra brought up an interesting point, and I think it'd be a good way to see a sampling from the players as to just why do they play SK.

So please share your reasons for why you play, they can be things that are part of the ic world or things surrounding the ooc environment that exists. Please give a bit of an explanation.

This is more for why you play now, not why you started playing, but why do you keep doing so. Maybe if we can get some feeling for the general interests and wants of the playerbase, the staff and player-leaders can help place more emphasis on those things and hopefully bring numbers back up and keep some of the new faces we attract.

So....

Why do you play?

Because I have no life and I cant stop

I play because I like the depth and history of the IC world. I like to form storylines for my characters and see how they play out. I like the ease of creating an interesting story with other people.

Same here. Add to this the sheer, dazzling beauty of some of the builds in SK and you've got yourself one fun experience. There's little I like more than finding even just one league of out-of-the-way wilderness that's desc'd so amazingly that I just have to sit there and read it three or four times just to soak it all in (like that little valley of wildflowers between Elisair and Chancel, for example). The same goes for finding an unusual and intriguing NPC desc, or a rarely-used/explored training area that's both ICly rich, and artistically beautiful. There's just so much depth to SK that I can't think of any game other than a tabletop RPG that's been played for years in one continuous campaign/chronicle/whatever to rival it...which, essentially, it is minus the player-controlled die rolling.

Jada and OA said it best. I keep playing because I can everywhere in the game that lots of time and thought has been put in it.

Also, there is what Carsetius said, "I'm addicted and I need a fix." I wonder if D has been programing subliminal messages in the game to make people addicts. . .

I play because of the evolving stories. I play because there are some things I want to see change, and there are other things I want to see stay the same. It's more for personal gratification than any other thing. I like doing it.

I play because there is no other place I can think of (aside other MUDs) where I can RP with upwards of 40 people and where all factions are played by PCs, which in turn offers the excitement of not knowing what will happen next. You can master the mechanics (I said you, not I), but you can never be sure of how or what a human being will do next, which makes this game rich, RICH I SAY, beyond any tabletop RPG.

I grew up roleplaying. My mother started roleplaying when I was about 2 1/2 years old. I got to start joining in when I was 9 years old. I got into MUDs at 13 years old until I was about 17 years old. I played a really old graphical game for awhile until I was introduced to SK by my sister.

I love being able to roleplay all over the place and whenever I want. It is really cool to have a say in the changes that happen and to see the creations come to life.

I would say all of us are addicted to some degree. I know I am. I also know that at times I irritate people because I am "too attached" to the game. Yet for me, it is a game but there are some responsibilities that come with it. I like some of the responsibilities that come with it. I like being able to help influence and change the environment or preserve it.

I know for me SK is a fun way to take a break from an overburdening schedule. It is a way to blow off steam. I might be able to blow off steam faster if I could PK worth a damn. Medical reasons will forever prevent me being a RPKer.

Escapeism. Everything is easier in SK. To become a leader, to help people become better people etc. SK provides me with a time out from life for the few hours a week I am able to play it. How ever its more than that because as Jada said there is story work being created. There is also ways to test the strengths of what you have invested your time building. SK is full of achievable goals via exploration and discovery achieving these for myself and help others achieve them lets me feel, in a short time, what it takes months or years to get in real life. Like getting a new car or saving for a holiday. Finally another reason that keeps me playing is some of the people who I consider friends.

Because Dulrik pays me to.

It's a meager pay, only 15 bucks an hour...but it gets the bills and feeds me.