Posted by Cured Arby-lover on January 3, 2000 at 18:58:21:
In Reply to: Erm what happened to the Arbiters? posted by Leorinth on January 3, 2000 at 17:45:22:
now I can't bring myself to play one. Below are my reasons. 1)Immortal micro-management: It's all true what past lords and elders say, they have no sway. All they do is relieve the hero-imm arbiters from having to conduct interview after interview. In short, they've interviewers and nothing more. The plaque in the cabal places them at the top of the chain of command, but in actuality they're on the same level as a newbie arbiter, just with the ability to interview/induct. With no possibility for gaining and real power many decide becoming and Imperial would be more lucrative, at least with them they have a chance to be somebody. 2)Ranking is a pain. It's not so bad when there are many arbiters, somewhere around 5, but when it's just you ranking is pointless. As soon as you leave the city things go to shit and you have to return asap because you suddenly have 20 people telling you that they were just attacked and killed. Summoners might have it a little easier, but in some cases(as far as I know) mobs give less exp when summoned away from their home area(it used to be like this, but people say storm giants give the same amount so maybe it's only certain mobs, I remember summoning George to Eregion for beef and then killing him and receiving half the amount I got for killing him in Thalos). The only way to enjoy being an arbiter is not to become one until you hero. 3)There's never anybody to give you an interview. Before Justin turned 53 you could count on him to give you a fair interview. Stellyx was also a good one for this. Astein is to be avoided like the plague because he's too hardnosed and dick-like to give an enjoyable interview, his is more like a 2 hour tongue-lashing for being stupid followed by induction. I've never had an interview with Jaldean so I don't know what he's like. 3)Double difficulty as an evil arb: Ranking is bad enough as a lightwalking arbiter, but an evil arbiter is extremely painful. I don't know if Imperials will rank with arbiters anymore, but under Agorinth they wouldn't. That meant you basically had ragers(yeh right), masters, and loners to rank with. Loners are usually hardened criminals. Even if Imperials will rank with arbiters now, they usually prefer being with their own kind. Lightwalkers on the otherhand have many more possibilitie and it's just generally easier to rank a lightwalker no matter what the cabal, BUT since most people play evil characters... 4)Hatred: People hate arbiters. That's all I've got to say about that. 5)Time Constraints: You can't usually enjoy a nice ale in the Inn or a good exploratory journey because you're constantly bothered by people calling you back to town. You spend all of your time in your guild. Those are the reasons I no longer play arbiters. The biggest problem is the immortal micromanagement. I can handle heroing then getting into a cabal(most people can't), but since there's no chance to gain any real sway in the cabal as far as creating and implementing policy is concerned...