It has become apparent of late that some people are not happy in the realm and the constant attacks and abuse of the "sadism rule". People are being made to leave the realm because they are being singled out for attack because of positions they hold or because they are just off of dp.
On the sadism help file it states the following:
A rule of thumb which should be used to guide your offensive acts is; never
send your enemy upon the Ship of Death more than once, and only attack again
when the defeated enemy acts against your person. Avoid attacking those
obviously much weaker than you, and, if you are unsure about the might of
another player, take the time to find out before wading in and making some
poor novice's life a misery.
I have seen numerous times when these guidelines have not been followed where people are killed by the same person over and over just because they give up dp. The excuse that is given for the attacks is, they should have kept dp. What has been done to stop this form of attacks, nothing, how long has it been going on, well as far back as I remember to be honest.
There is no doubt that these attacks on characters in game have an effect on those in real life. How can a person expect to pay for the privilege of being bullied? How can we experience the realm of first age when we are constantly being attacked and killed by the same people over and over and nothing is done about it. If you tell a god about it you are told the usual that this is a harsh realm and it was made for fighting, but this is not fighting but the slaughter of people for the sake of keeping them on dp, gaining points or just because you don’t like them.
These attacks on people is making them leave the realm because they no longer enjoy the experience that they paid for and I don’t blame them. Nothing is being done to stop this form of basic bullying by bigger players and it is killing the realm. Each and every person knows who are the people doing the bullying, you can call it combat if you want but I see it as bullying. I said it a long time back while I was an animist that unless people stood up and stopped this form of bullying that the realm would be harmed and people would stop coming to the realm. I was told at the time by a god that it was not bullying and that the place had become more exciting because of these attacks and that it was what the realm was made for. I was also told by this same god that the realm had been the most active it had been in ages and that he has never seen anyone being forced out of the realm because of these attack. Well I beg to differ. What I said back then is coming true now, look at the who list, look at how long once active members stay on for now because they just get jumped as soon as they log on.
So what can be done?
We all need to come together and tell the "gods" that they need to start doing something to stop these forms of attacks. Sadism should be made a rule and enforced. Every should be reporting breaks in rules to the gods and the gods need to follow up on them with relevant punishments. Why report something if nothing is going to be done about it. Active gods need to play more of a role in putting a stop to in game bullying. At the end of the day it is down to the developers of this realm to ensure that everyone is treated fairly in the realm and they need to enforce anti bullying policies. If not the they are the ones that can be held responsible for the actions of those who bully. Its like an employer failing to put a stop to bullying in the work place.
I know some will use the usual, this realm was made for fighting and I am just over reacting. Well I will say this much, if this does not stop then First Age will stop being a game for people to enjoy and they will stop paying and stop coming to the land. Its plain as day!
Please post if you think I am overreacting or if you agree that something needs to be done.
Subject: First Age Bullying! 
Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:59 am
