AghartaRO

[Veresu]

Allow me to just clarify that I normally do not write things like these, let alone a review but I feel there are some things that needed to be said about this particular server. I will try to not make this long and will try to keep it brief as possible to the best of my abilities. So here it goes:

The Community

This is probably one of the main problems I've had with the server. Newbies tend to get the shaft, as I've seen many new faces come and go on a daily basis. The veterans of the server and even the admin, would drive away and shun new people. Newbies are usually never invited to get into groups, and are left to fend for themselves until their eventual departure. And while yes, the players of the server can roleplay effectively, it's not fun when everyone is segregated into their own little cliques.

Newbies are also required to be in the server's IRC, which is a usual thing for an RP server. However, it's fair warning to say that there will be a bit of hazing. It has happened to me before, but I was able to drone out the problem and not let it bother me. However, for others, it can be a real problem. The IRC itself, while it does has its fair share of arguments that are eventually dealt with, having a newbie witnessing this certainly leaves a bad impression. Overall, unless you have high endurance or patience and can deal with something like this, you'd otherwise have a bad taste in your mouth.

The Staff

While the staff, or rather the admin, is able to keep the server stable and lag free for the most part, that doesn't mean that they are a perfectly high-knit team. Before I departed, as far as I know, I believe it's the admin, a tech GM, and 1 (or 2) storytellers. An ST, is basically, someone who runs events and storylines, but the admin always gets the final say on everything. But even then, the events usually involve veteran players, again, going back to the clique cliche again. This leaves newbies being left out and having no involvement whatsoever. I myself tried to join some of these events, but even then, one particular ST seems to have some form of favoritism and only selects certain people.

When it comes to asking questions, be it server-related or RP-related, they are at least nice enough to answer them as far as I can tell. However, the admin tends to rebuff people for absolutely no reason at times.

The Events

The events are.. well, they're pretty lackluster, from the ones I've been involved in. Some were your typical run-of-the-mill expeditions, where you simply kill monsters and head on home. Some were just to further developed the clique's characters, while the extras were there to.. well, to be extras. And the events usually cannot involve everyone, leaving newbies again, getting the shaft once more. The events seem to be involved something that has happened long ago in the past, leaving new people wondering why they should care enough to even know about that or not having damn clue about it at all. Overall, the events lack creativity and the effort of involving other people, besides the clique, doesn't seem to be there at all.

The Wiki

This is where they call it 'their treasure box'. And I will admit, it is a useful tool to have especially for an RP server. It has all kinds of information, such as lore, characters, places, etc. However, while it is nice to have your own wiki page with your list of characters, this could become an annoyance for new players. As far as I read, the timeline seems to be incomplete and from the looks of things, there isn't seem to be a clear plot or setting of the server at all. There is at least, however, a Getting Started guide on its main page.

The Customs

If anything, I would have to say that this is the only positive thing I'd have to say about the server. There are NPCs that give you a costume item that allows you to change into any job class that you desire. There's also a wide selection of custom 'fake' headgears to the player's disposal, nulling the use of grinding items to get a certain hat that a player wants to get. The stylist NPC seems to also have the elven ears onto the heads, which I find is a very big plus I find. However, some of the hairstyles, look.. well rather odd-looking and misshapen. Overall, they also have their very own custom dungeon which has a very neat system. Though, of course this is a roleplaying server and leveling and grinding isn't suppose to be the main focus of the server in the first place.

My Final Thoughts

While my time was brief within in Agharta, I think I have said enough about what I thought about the server overall. If you're looking for a place to find RP, it's best to find it elsewhere as Agharta is certainly not the place to look for it. With a very unwelcoming community, disorganized staff and a lackluster setting, it makes me wonder how Agharta has lasted this long. It disgusts me completely, and my only regret now is not leaving earlier.

[yC]

Thank you for the in depth review for Agharta, I always wanted to know more about this server.  It's one of its kind as an RP server.  I have a lot of respect for it.

Your review is a disappointment to my expectation unfortunately.  As an RP server and me as an outsider (not playing on the server but it caught my curiosity) I would really expect the community will be welcoming otherwise as you said how can they keep newbie around and keep the server growing.  I imagine this server deserve more players but maybe you pointed out the problem.

Did you mention how long you were on the server before leaving?  I can't recall reading it.

[Fruit Pie~]

RP servers naturally tend towards cliques and closed doors policies. It's an unfortunate side-effect of having running plot lines and character development. It's also an unfortunate side effect of terrible nerds and the two might admittedly be connected.

I didn't even know there were RP servers left, it's kind of amazing. There used to be like five or six active ones back in the day, now this one's the only one I really know now (and even then I just found out about it!).

[Veresu]

Did you mention how long you were on the server before leaving?  I can't recall reading it.

I stayed there for about three months. I don't know if that's long enough to justify my reasons about the server itself. But I have seen enough to know what was wrong and what was right with Agharta. And while yes, it does have its positives, its negatives seemed to overpower it a whole lot more.

[Geckiji]

As a new player on Agharta, I would like to weigh in on this review, as it seems to put the "new player's experience" as the centerpiece for debate.

I have been at Agharta for nearly two weeks now and have yet to see or experience many of the problems you have detailed. My first experience with Agharta, in fact, was logging into the IRC to ask some questions and having one of the people there ask if I would like to be shown around Agharta firsthand. I have never felt myself "hazed", nor have I seen any other players hazed -- at worst, there is friendly bantering between the veteran players, in jest.

I participated in my first open RP less than a week of playing -- in which I was treated just like everyone else -- and was invited to watch an event (sign ups had since closed so as to prepare) not even half a week after I had joined. I have managed RP with a number of varied people (including veterans) and am actively pursuing opening up other avenues of RP with those I haven't done so yet.

I cannot say that everyone will have the same experience that I have, but I will say that, as a new member, I do not find what you have said to be accurate.

[Edgewood]

 Hi there.

As a member of the Agharta community whose tenure is nearly at the three year mark, I'd like to issue a rebuttal to Reevus's review of our server and community for all of its inaccuracies. I will never be so bold as to say that Agharta is without its fair share of problems, but the server and community have improved substantially since my first days there. On several occasions, I made preparations to permanently leave Agharta but found that the oft-cited gated communities of other RP servers were not as inviting or accommodating as the players of Agharta. Reevus and Fruit Pie both raise a fair point in criticizing this phenomenon, but it's not the status quo for Agharta. However, for all the bad press the server has gotten with this sole review, I must come forward as a respected and longtime member of the community and provide for the other side of this discussion. If you're going to come out dripping with libel, at least do so with some perspective.

The Community
I won't say that there aren't cliques in the community, but they are not anywhere near as insular as they could be in other places. I don't claim to be a part of any clique and I can get work done on the server simply by asking. Becoming a part of the community takes some initiative. You can't expect everything to fall into your lap on day one and the process of getting established is just the same as grinding away and getting stronger on a proper PvP/WoE server. If you don't intend to put the work in, then you can't complain when you don't get everything you want and this is not simply a word of advice regarding RP servers but rather a maxim for life in general. I spent a long time getting the sort of social clout I have today and I have it because I put in good work and got things done.

Furthermore, we do not require IRC presence. We never have. For logistical purposes, it's highly recommended if only because it makes it . You must have a forum account in order to be allowed to stay on the server (you are not required to post at all, the account is a formality), but that's about it as far as requirements go. And what's this I'm reading about hazing? Nothing we can say or do to anyone comes anywhere close to the standard definition for that choice verb. If the personalities are grating, then call a spade a spade and say "I didn't get along with the people there" instead of using such an extreme description. I was never hazed, I've never seen members get hazed and in stark contrast I've seen new people act like complete **** and be largely ignored for their behavior (not saying Reevus did this, but it's happened and that particular player is the only person the Admin has ever banned in the history of the server).

The Staff & The Events
Favoritism in Agharta is not nearly as bad as it was in the past before the community called it out and the guilty parties wound it down. We suffered from that at one point, I admit, no lies. We do not suffer for it now. Having spoken to the ST that Reevus came into conflict with, it became apparent that he had an issue with a level playing field as the two times he participated in dynamic events he did not seem to understand that another player-owned character is entitled to the same rights and responsibilities as he is and he tried to kill someone in-character without consulting the other author or even be tactful about it. That's not how that's done. Characters belong to their authors.
If you want to be involved in events, you can't just expect the ST to drop plot on you. In stark contrast, one of the STs of Aurora (Tensard) will readily provide side-events for new players in that community who want to take some initiative, so even in other servers you're generally going to be expected to put yourself out there and volunteer your time and effort. Do you know why characters like Cyrus, Leon and Toren get so much screen time? Their authors put in the work and get things done, being both objective-oriented and interested in progressing the story. If you don't raise a hand and say HEY I WANT TO HELP then you have no leg to stand on when you complain like this. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, as the saying goes.

The Wiki
We don't call this a 'treasure box'. I don't know where that remark might have come from but it certainly wouldn't have been any of the people who actually edit it. Reevus's complaints about the timeline and setting are legit. I only know the setting's broad strokes by asking and roleplaying so he's absolutely right when he makes his claims. However, the wiki is full of useful information about the regions, countries, cultures and organizations within the setting and is by no means a small database. Character pages stack up to the hundreds and their level of detail varies from author to author. Organization pages are built so you have lore to use in-character. Our wiki is certainly functional enough to make up for what it lacks, but that doesn't mean Reevus is wrong about its weaknesses.

The Customs
Our customs are pretty f***' legit, so I agree with you here. Some of us still like to play RO proper from time to time so there's a very tiny economy but we're not a WoE server and nobody likes to PvP. As a result, we only have four custom weapons and they are absolutely horrible and were added solely for looks. You can buy custom items with variable prices directly from the Admin (for example, a one-of-a-kind hat with properties from various MVP and non-MVP cards for $15 with a unique name and ID tag) or just drop dosh for MVP cards, bubblegum, battle manuals and enriched ores. About 95% of the custom content is open-source hats and we have a wide (but rather common at this point) assortment of hair styles, hair and clothing colors. We've even got every sprite available for the game, past and present (old RK sprites, new Hanbok sprites) and a small handful of custom class sprites (modified Shadow Chaser, etc.). We have never been for lack of customization options.

All in all, Reevus is not without a handful of perfectly valid arguments. The problem is that his scathing review comes from a relatively small amount of time within the community and he takes no responsibility for how his personality may or may not have clashed with those of other community members. Agharta can work if new players actually try to make it work. The cliques are formed from people who've floated around the various RP communities that have existed for the last 6-7 years and I'd like to say that we've got far fewer a****** now than any single community has ever had in the history of the practice. Communities fail when a****** set roots, and that's why Fortuna, Advent, Eos, Aeon and many others have failed and summarily disappeared. Agharta has lasted three years and in doing so has outlived a number of communities because almost all of the a****** are gone now. Our cliques are no longer exclusive and standoffish. You can get RP time in with almost anyone if you ask. If you don't ask then you don't get what you want. If you don't put yourself out there then you don't get recognition. If you don't show some initiative then nobody can help you succeed since you've already decided on some level that you don't want success.

And furthermore, don't spend less than three months doing next to nothing and barely communicating with anyone and then have the nerve to tell RMS what horrible people we are. If you want to bring the bad press, I can break the reality check.

Sincerely,
Edgewood

RP servers naturally tend towards cliques and closed doors policies. It's an unfortunate side-effect of having running plot lines and character development. It's also an unfortunate side effect of terrible nerds and the two might admittedly be connected.

Have you ever actually been to one or are you just spouting off based on anecdotal evidence? Regardless, do remember that you're posting on a forum that hosts reviews for private servers for an antiquated Korean MMORPG from 2000, especially if you want to toss the term 'nerd' around in the pejorative.

[Uke]

To make it clear, I was a new player who played for about two and a half weeks with my boyfriend, who also roleplayed with Veresu. I won't be doing an in depth review of the game as a whole because I agree 100% with what Veresu has to say.

Clearly, the whole point of this thread is to evaluate the server. There's no point in directly calling people out and arguing with them over their opinion - I have many problems with Edgewood's post, mostly because I feel that he's doing more calling out and attempting to shame Veresu in posting his review.

I'd like to quote the Server Review Rules thread -

Learn to deal with criticism or don't make a thread here

Seriously. It's upsetting to see Edgewood become so defensive and even attempt to shame Veresu because they don't agree with their comments.

Whilst it may not be my place to point this out, comments such as;

And furthermore, don't spend less than three months doing next to nothing and barely communicating with anyone and then have the nerve to tell RMS what horrible people we are. If you want to bring the bad press, I can break the reality check.

Are extremely rude and clearly break the rules set by the RMS staff for server reviews. Reality check? You're being a jerk. It's okay to disagree! It's not okay to ignore the rules set by RMS by not being able to take criticism (for a server that you don't even own) and bait people for their reviews.

First of all, let me make it clear that my review is identical to Veresu's and the other reviews posted in THIS thread. Do note that this server has gotten more negative feedback than positive; the only "positive" feedback is Edgewood's and Geckiji's, the former who only posted as a way to shame Veresu and offer a "rebuttal" (which is nothing more than an attempt to flame and bait).

Edgewood and Geckiji mention that there is "no" hazing in the community. I was a member for a good two and a half weeks and I witnessed a lot of hazing. I was in the IRC more often than not and although I didn't speak a lot, there was a LOT of hazing. I'd like to quote a poster from the original thread for Agharta -

One thing I don't agree on entirely is that every one of the players are good folks either. It is relatively common that  players or even staff members will constantly haze certain players for simply not being in their RP circle or different than they are.

Notice how even 4 1/2 months ago, the word haze is STILL being used to describe the community. Just because you, as an individual, have not experienced the hazing doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Being ignorant to the hazing or "putting up with it" doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

I felt almost always isolated in the IRC. No matter how many times I attempted to comment on things or bring up something, I was almost always ignored through the extreme amount of talking that goes on or simply ignored because I wasn't known and people were having their own conversation. The only time I felt "welcomed" was literally when I entered the IRC because the chat will notify you when people enter; and I had 1 ~ 3 people say "Hello ___" when I entered. That was it. The conversations were either arguments or a constant  back and forth of conversation that isolated new people.

No one is saying that friends can't have personal conversations with their friends, but it's annoying when even the host herself is constantly chattering with people whilst ignoring other people who may not understand the conversation. Like mentioned before, 99% of the entire community knows each other outside of game. This makes it very easy for the entire site to be one big clique and it's almost daunting to go into the IRC because there are always conversations that you won't understand that generally involve characters of the members who have been around for 1+ year(s).

My problem with Edgewood's comments about the clique is as follows;

I won't say that there aren't cliques in the community, but they are not anywhere near as insular as they could be in other places.

But we're not talking about "other places", so that fragment isn't relevant. The problem is that the entire player base IS a clique. You can choose to be ignorant of it, but it's either because you are already a part of the clique or you were welcomed as a new player and therefore, don't see it as a clique because you don't ever feel isolated like others. Edgewood makes it seem that you have to "dig" yourself inside the clique in order to feel welcomed and un-isolated and that if you still feel isolated, you haven't "tried" hard enough. A very rude and inaccurate way to portray the isolation of new members.

Tip: Just because you don't feel that there is a clique doesn't mean it doesn't exist. This is a severe problem with the community and eventually, it will force the community to wither away. Just because new members have their questions answered doesn't mean the community isn't a clique. Saying "Oh well whenever I had a question, it got answered!" isn't proof that the community isn't a tight-knit clique, so responses like that are void because they aren't relevant to the discussion in the first place.

The IRC is where most, if not all, of the hazing took place at. There's also the fact that I personally felt uncomfortable because many of these conversations included (trigger warning)

Spoiler

rape, pedophilia, racism, misogyny, etc.

[close]

When are such conversations ever appropriate in a public IRC? I understand that the former might be relevant to the roleplay because some people do play victims of those type of atrocities. But often, these conversations are not relevant to the in-character realm of the game. I don't want to come into the IRC and have people discussing how "child porn isn't that bad" and the like. It's not about personal views at this point; it's about respect for all audiences. Some people find such discussions very triggering and upsetting and they shouldn't feel isolated because they are uncomfortable discussing such topics.

More often than not, the head admin and other staff were there and non-AFK when conversations arose. There was never an attempt to ask for the conversation to end; the staff is ignorant to the fact that sensitive topics are not welcome in a IRC. When I brought it up, nothing happened; most likely, my comment was swallowed away by the fact that everyone in the IRC is non-stop talking to their friends. Basically, I was ignored because no one stopped to even read what a new player was writing or cared.

There's also the fact that racist language was used both in the IRC and in-game (in the OOC room, of course). It may have been funny to the person who issued the comment, but calling my character a "sandbaby" is racist and not cute nor is it "cool". As a person of color in real life, I felt it distasteful and not funny. There ARE characters who are racist against others in-game due to the lore (I played a Mu, a dark elf, in the game who were often wary of elves [who are white] and vice versa) but this shouldn't even be acceptable in game. It's offensive and because it was an OOC comment, it can be taken as a personal slight. This same person continued to harass myself and my boyfriend in the OOC room and then decided to take it to the IRC.

I'm generally against name dropping, but what Cyanide did was extremely annoying and offensive. Bragging about "pissing someone off" in the OOC room in the IRC is immature. Grow up. She is an extreme turn off to the entire community.

There's also the fact that the head admin almost always appears to ignore new members or to have a very snappy attitude. Look, I get that we're all human and we're all going to have bad days ... but it seems that 90% of the time you attempt to talk to her, she's very quick to snap on you and is ignorant to the severe amount of hazing in her community. As an example, I sent her a PM about wanting to join a guild and some questions about it. A minute later (I went AFK for a brief second), I come back to the IRC and see her say that I had "wasted" her time because she was online to give me a guild invite.

Wasted your time? Have you lost your damn mind? I hope that 30 seconds of you sitting at your computer is not a waste of your time. That was very rude and not what I expect of an admin. Your tone plays a big part of how you appear to others online. Like I said, she's not always like this, but the moments where she is makes you not even want to keep bothering with her.

In the other RMS thread for Agharta, Tande writes;

But it doesn't really help that many of our IRC conversations will scare away newbies, and some members come down on newbies when they make mistakes or aren't really much of the norm of Agharta.

This was four months ago. FOUR MONTHS. You admit to it being a problem but in four months, you have done nothing to attempt to solve the problem. You admit that it's a problem but you decide that it's either 1) not important enough for you to bother with or 2) it will go away on its own.

What do I do when one of the culprits is you? Even if I did report other players to you, I get discouraged with all of the rampant two-faced mentality of the staff and players that's present on the main channel of the IRC. What happened to having a sense of professionalism when you are trying to run a server? I know we were human, but that doesn't entitle you to bring other people down, simply because they are different or don't always share similar views. If you don't want to put time, effort, and money into something that you consistently loathe, then don't do it.

A comment that Dusty made in the previous thread. I agree with it one hundred fold. There's no point in me trying to report the head admin for being rude, because I'd be hazed to the point of no return and blackballed no matter who or where I tried to roleplay at.

I digress. I don't want this to seem like I'm calling out everyone who has wronged me or other new members to RMS. I want to mention that all of these things DID happen to new members so that new members won't waste their time trying to experience the game. It simply isn't worth it.

Some positives is, of course, the custom lore and custom equips. There's also the fact that despite the clique-ness of the IRC, I was never "ignored" in game. Granted, my boyfriend and I almost always roleplayed with each other, but his character was in a guild, which made it easy for me to also roleplay with others.

Edgewood's rebuttal relies on "it's not that bad" and that Veresu is at fault for his experiences because he didn't try hard enough.

A person should not have to try hard to not feel uncomfortable around the current player base.

[RoseTea]

I'd like to say that we've got far fewer a****** now than any single community has ever had in the history of the practice.

I might have found one you guys missed:

And furthermore, don't spend less than three months doing next to nothing and barely communicating with anyone and then have the nerve to tell RMS what horrible people we are. If you want to bring the bad press, I can break the reality check.

Have you ever actually been to one or are you just spouting off based on anecdotal evidence? Regardless, do remember that you're posting on a forum that hosts reviews for private servers for an antiquated Korean MMORPG from 2000, especially if you want to toss the term 'nerd' around in the pejorative.

If you're done posting in your defensive lash-back attitude, it might be nice to get some actual discussion in.  I was interested in checking out AghartaRO but your post by itself is turning me off entirely.  Is that the sort of behavior and word use you're going  to use to represent the contrary opinion, the one to show the server is actually quite decent?

EDIT: By the way...

There's also the fact that I personally felt uncomfortable because many of these conversations included [...] I understand that the former might be relevant to the roleplay because some people do play victims of those type of atrocities.

No.  This should never, EVER be relevant to anything at all that's involved in this conversation.  There is not a single amateur-hour roleplayer (And yes, everyone in this thread, this is you.  You're not that great.) who is competent and capable enough at writing to use a theme like that for a roleplay character in a tasteful and adult way, as opposed to trivializing it to be a special-snowflake or "I need a tragedy for my backstory and I'm creatively bankrupt!" excuse.

[Fruit Pie~]

Have you ever actually been to one or are you just spouting off based on anecdotal evidence? Regardless, do remember that you're posting on a forum that hosts reviews for private servers for an antiquated Korean MMORPG from 2000, especially if you want to toss the term 'nerd' around in the pejorative.

I've played on several, and they're all pretty much the same. The only way you can get to be in the "in crowd" of one of them is if it's just started AND isn't made by a small group of RP friends. Very rarely is there the "wise old veteran" archetype in these servers, willing to lead the newbie around, which is fine because of the very nature of roleplaying - newbies have a lot to catch up to.

It's not like regular servers, where you make a Swordsman and go bop Porings in the head for cash prizes, there's a lot of investment in terms of time and effort to make an RP character and not everyone - well, nearly nobody - is willing to help. Bonus points if you ignore the running story and get labeled (rightly so, even!) as a unique snowflake who doesn't give a crap.

Hilariously, RP guilds in regular servers are much more welcoming. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Also, "RO nerd" can be little but pejorative. You're a terrible nerd whether you're a low-rate libertarian activist, a mid-rate BG hound straight from the DotA community, a high-rate PK server griefer who kills level 11 Novices, a stuck-up defensive roleplayer or a jaded old skeptic driven by nostalgia who hates everything past *insert your favorite episode here*. Surely I can post on an RO forum while simultaneously admitting the RO community's weaknesses? Or do I need to like everything about it?

[Uke]

No.  This should never, EVER be relevant to anything at all that's involved in this conversation.  There is not a single amateur-hour roleplayer (And yes, everyone in this thread, this is you.  You're not that great.) who is competent and capable enough at writing to use a theme like that for a roleplay character in a tasteful and adult way, as opposed to trivializing it to be a special-snowflake or "I need a tragedy for my backstory and I'm creatively bankrupt!" excuse.

I agree - but it seemed to be a common theme to have prostitutes and child sex slaves as roleplay characters. One player herself had a twelve year old girl be a part of a sex slave ring (??); something else I felt was uncomfortable and not really relevant, nor did it seem to be really elaborated on because somehow, her character still managed to have her "childhood" and was a relatively happy-go-lucky kid.

I digress. Not trying to call people out on their inability to roleplay, because that's a different discussion.

I'd also like to mention that even when you post a departure thread (that wasn't negative nor condescending), the staff responds with negativity such as:

Typically RP does not fall into ones lap. It helps to be in irc and ask people for rp since no one can be on and idle 24/7 and we're all in very different time zones. You get what you give.

So, according to this staff member, it's my fault that the community was a clique and that I felt isolated.

Thanks, Agharta.

[Tande]

Let me start that a lot of this topic is vague he said she said.  Let me iron some things out, since reviews are nice to have, but not nice when they are vague to the point I can't even figure out where the problem stemmed from.  Vagueness just makes it look passive-aggressive.

Do note that this server has gotten more negative feedback than positive; the only "positive" feedback is Edgewood's and Geckiji's, the former who only posted as a way to shame Veresu and offer a "rebuttal" (which is nothing more than an attempt to flame and bait).

Because people tend to only write about something when they're in a fluster.  Negative always outweighs the positive in people's minds, especially when they find it rather personal.  Writing is personal.  There's always going to be more negative reviews on something, even if its a generally good thing...people really only tend to take the time to write out a review when its either negative or they're asked to write a good one.

No one is saying that friends can't have personal conversations with their friends, but it's annoying when even the host herself is constantly chattering with people whilst ignoring other people who may not understand the conversation. Like mentioned before, 99% of the entire community knows each other outside of game. This makes it very easy for the entire site to be one big clique and it's almost daunting to go into the IRC because there are always conversations that you won't understand that generally involve characters of the members who have been around for 1+ year(s).

Outside of the game?  Do you mean IRL?  Because everyone lives like 300 miles apart. If you mean the general roleplay group that has moved from server to server, yes, because Agharta is an incarnation of Fortuna, which is an incarnation of etc, etc, etc.  It's just how roleplaying RO servers work.  People tend to flock from one server to the other as soon as one goes down.  The RP community in RO has known each other very well for 8+ years.  It's sort of what happens when there's a small pool of servers to select from.

The IRC is where most, if not all, of the hazing took place at. There's also the fact that I personally felt uncomfortable because many of these conversations included (trigger warning)

Spoiler

rape, pedophilia, racism, misogyny, etc.

[close]

This is kind of taken out of context.  The moment we were talking about pedophilia was from a tumblr post regarding kink-shaming...which, well, is another problem on its own.  We were having a discussion about a serious issue in the roleplaying community, and I'm sorry that it made you feel uncomfortable. 

I'm generally against name dropping, but what Cyanide did was extremely annoying and offensive. Bragging about "pissing someone off" in the OOC room in the IRC is immature. Grow up. She is an extreme turn off to the entire community.

No, I want details.  That's what makes a review believable and things easier to fix.

There's also the fact that the head admin almost always appears to ignore new members or to have a very snappy attitude. Look, I get that we're all human and we're all going to have bad days ... but it seems that 90% of the time you attempt to talk to her, she's very quick to snap on you and is ignorant to the severe amount of hazing in her community. As an example, I sent her a PM about wanting to join a guild and some questions about it. A minute later (I went AFK for a brief second), I come back to the IRC and see her say that I had "wasted" her time because she was online to give me a guild invite.

You asked me while I was at school, where the ports are blocked.  I ended up coming home, but I only have so much time to myself until work.  This also came at a time where I posted something in the forum regarding my free time.  My free time is very much expensive to me @__@, especially during the weekdays two weeks before midterms between one class and work...and I had to go digging through mySQL in order to even get the account of a guild no one plays in anymore.

No.  This should never, EVER be relevant to anything at all that's involved in this conversation.  There is not a single amateur-hour roleplayer (And yes, everyone in this thread, this is you.  You're not that great.) who is competent and capable enough at writing to use a theme like that for a roleplay character in a tasteful and adult way, as opposed to trivializing it to be a special-snowflake or "I need a tragedy for my backstory and I'm creatively bankrupt!" excuse.

Obviously you aren't a member of the roleplaying community online @__@  Or at least the RO or tumblr scene.  Because its a serious discussion topic, because it happens in real life, and thus happens in RP writing.  You also have to take in account that there are ranging degrees of talent in the roleplaying community, and snubbing your nose in the air about an issue, whether well written carefully by a veteran or a stumbling error done by a newbie makes you sound very, very elitist.

I think I'll extrapolate on these things later, when I'm not at work and having to deal with customers at the same time c:

Either way, its good to hear both sides.  Bad or Good.  I want to hear details.

[RoseTea]

Obviously you aren't a member of the roleplaying community online @__@  Or at least the RO or tumblr scene.  Because its a serious discussion topic, because it happens in real life, and thus happens in RP writing.  You also have to take in account that there are ranging degrees of talent in the roleplaying community, and snubbing your nose in the air about an issue, whether well written carefully by a veteran or a stumbling error done by a newbie makes you sound very, very elitist.

Obviously, I mean, there's no way I could have 7-odd years of RPing experience off and on.  Mainly in MUDs, I will admit.  What kind of rookie fool would post "hey, roleplaying about rape or a rape-themed RP character isn't in the best taste and privilege means a lot of writers have difficulty giving it the treatment it should have"?

I agree with you entirely: it is a serious discussion topic, and it happens in real life and affects real people.  That's why it bugs the hell out of me to see people using it as a roleplaying tool.  Because an event that destroys and ruins lives should not be treated as an element for somebody's make-a-story cooperative game time.

If it's elitist for me to think "that isn't cool at all and has no part in roleplaying", then I am 100% fine with that.  If such play exists on Agharta (as Uke suggests) and is accepted, then I'm appalled and rather glad to take my time elsewhere.

[Tande]

Obviously, I mean, there's no way I could have 7-odd years of RPing experience off and on.  Mainly in MUDs, I will admit.  What kind of rookie fool would post "hey, roleplaying about rape or a rape-themed RP character isn't in the best taste and privilege means a lot of writers have difficulty giving it the treatment it should have"?

I agree with you entirely: it is a serious discussion topic, and it happens in real life and affects real people.  That's why it bugs the hell out of me to see people using it as a roleplaying tool.  Because an event that destroys and ruins lives should not be treated as an element for somebody's make-a-story cooperative game time.

If it's elitist for me to think "that isn't cool at all and has no part in roleplaying", then I am 100% fine with that.  If such play exists on Agharta (as Uke suggests) and is accepted, then I'm appalled and rather glad to take my time elsewhere.

It's writing?  You can be as angry as you want about whatever elements a writer decides to put into their story, but it doesn't mean you have to take part of it if you disagree with it.  The whole part of roleplaying is disconnecting from your character to write a story - something that elicits emotions.  And disgust is very much an emotion that at times authors want to get out of their readers.

Conflict comes in many different ways, and sometimes its in disgusting events that will be used to develop a character.

Writing is writing.  Books are books.  I think the biggest problem from this would stem from no warning, but with Agharta we always ensure such things that are happening within the RP-verse like that are warned about in topics (though its harder to warn people in an active roleplay, that's what character wiki articles are for c: ).

[Uke]

tw: rape, racism, pedophilia

You keep asking for "details", Tande, but that's the same thing you asked for in the previous Agharta thread 4 months ago and if we compare reviews, nothing has changed. How much more of details do you want? How many times will a new member have to come up and explain the cliques or the crap that comes with being isolated or staff casually ignoring things that are going on until you are satisfied with the "details"?

Cyanide harassing me and my boyfriend in the OOC Room and the IRC is not something I want rectified, because we're both done with such a lousy, unprofessional server. This is not the first time Cyanide has acted out and overall been obnoxious to others - I'll keep their names out of it for sake of privacy, but I heard pretty negative things about her when I first joined. This also threw me off because I hate gossip and I thought it was inappropriate for other members to gossip about one member, but they actually gave me me an accurate description of her personality.

Me reporting Cyan to you or any staff isn't going to change anything. A bunch of staff was online and non-AFK when she bragged about "pissing someone off in the OOC room" and using phrases like "dat nigga got decals on his peco" and calling my character a "sandbaby". I'm damn sure you or any staff weren't going to reprimand her or ban her because this goes on every day in the IRC and nothing happens.

Stop asking for details when you do NOTHING to deal with the atrocities that occur on your server.

Where do the problems stem for? Let me nice and iron it out for you, boo.

• The entire server community, generally excluding most new members, is a clique. It's not very inviting, especially in IRC conversation. Sometimes roleplay is inviting; other times, it is not.
• The staff plays favorite - yes, including you, Tande. They purposely choose to overlook things, give their friends special treatment, and are lazy when it comes down to monitoring the chat. You only have one banned person, yet given the way many members act, you'd think 99% of them would be banned.
  
  Before you argue / attempt to offer a rebuttal, I'd like to quote you from another thread -
  

  Report them to me.  Like I said, I can be blind to things, especially when they're oldies or friends, and I'm not present in IRC 24/7.]

  
  That was four months ago. you still haven't fixed this problem of being "blind" and neither does your staff.


• Staff can also be unprofessional. Very rare do staff post on introduction topics, which bothers me a lot. How can Agharta be so "friendly" when the staff don't welcome you? There's also the fact that I had to get a regular member to show me how to connect to IRC because staff ignored my PMs about it.
  
  When you post departures, staff (Hitura, in this case) decide they get to blame you. I was very offended by what he wrote for my departure;
  
  

  Typically RP does not fall into ones lap. It helps to be in irc and ask people for rp since no one can be on and idle 24/7 and we're all in very different time zones. You get what you give.

  
  Thanks, Hitura, for blaming me despite never roleplaying with me nor speaking to me in the IRC! I really appreciate your friendly attitude as a staff member.
  
  Mind you, Hitura didn't even say "Thanks for giving us a try" or "Thanks anyway". I got chastised in my departure topic. Or is this not a problem to you?


• Events are nice, but they aren't very interesting. Events often include the same characters (or really, the same players) and generally end in "ok now kill ___".


• Inappropriate comments and conversation. The dumb crap that members say is never dealt with and ignored, or worse, seen as "normal". Who gives a damn about kink-shaming on a RP server? We have to fade to black anyway, so why are "kinks" even relevant? Why is that even a discussion in the IRC? Who cares? Why do you allow people to talk about pedophilia? Why is having a twelve year old child sex slave okay? Why is talking about rape okay? Why is making psuedo-racist remarks okay? Why do you and staff allow this?
  
  Don't apologize to me for "making me uncomfortable". Stop letting it happen. Apologizing to me isn't going to make me feel better and knowing the way staff runs things, it's not going to make it stop because in the end, no one seems to really care about what the non-majority thinks (the 1% that isn't a part of the clique).

Is that enough "detail"?

Btw,

though its harder to warn people in an active roleplay, that's what character wiki articles are for

Except it isn't mandatory to have a character wiki article and 85% of the people I roleplayed with DIDN'T have a wiki page (and if they did, it was unfilled). I can list names, if you want.

There's also the fact that there is no "trigger warning" on any article that deals with "triggering" topics such as rape, racism, pedophilia, etc.

[RoseTea]

The whole part of roleplaying is disconnecting from your character to write a story - something that elicits emotions.  And disgust is very much an emotion that at times authors want to get out of their readers.

Again, no, sorry.  There are not many people in the world that can make a rape-based story do what you're saying: disgust at the story itself, and not at the writer.  Too many awful, awful writers have decided to be edgy and unique by using it in their own awful little stories, so nobody's allowed to use it unless you're a goddamn professional (and if you're reading this, you aren't).

Again: A writer would get somebody disgusted at the writing, not digusted at the writer themselves.

Nobody involved in any of this is a writer.  That I promise you. You're no Vladimir Nabokov.  Agharta doesn't have a Vladimir Nabokov.  I guess your writing did get a reaction out of me: legitimate anger that somebody would have the gall to post that in all sincerity.  Out of all the servers and things on the RO community for me to get annoyed about, you were the one that flipped my switch to angry.  Good job.