Posted by The Arcane(VIP) on July 26, 2000 at 12:24:39:
In Reply to: the SMUG drama queeen. posted by Forum Reader on July 26, 2000 at 09:39:00:
> I'd be curious to know which attempts you actually consider above the norm?
I've interacted with a whole bunch of smuggers over the years. None of them stuck out as piss-poor roleplayers. They don't run around talking about exp tnl and high avg eq that they got off their PKs or something. They all know how to roleplay, or put on a semblance of roleplaying, well enough to pass a cabal interview, or get a tattoo. Their focus is professedly not on the roleplaying aspect of the game, though I think that everyone but Arolin out of the group has the capacity to enjoy it to some extent. Jarmel and Serafim were pretty good, and Azeleth (Zharradam's Sylvan transmuter whom I interviewed) was genuinely impressive at the time. True, you'll never find a SMUG Trouper, but by the same token, I'd be very surprised to see Nepenthe, Balgrimnr, Guerric or several other Imms play a Trouper or otherwise pacifistic character. Playing the game largely for the PK aspect isn't a crime and shouldn't be treated as such.
You could make an argument that their RP is above average for the whole CF playerbase, but probably below average for the percentage of the CF playerbase that's been playing the game for 4+ years. You'd probably be right.
Without knowing any of the characters involved, I can't contribute meaningfully as to whether or not they deserved their fates. I'm not defending permagrouping or pure mindless killing, but smuggers aren't evil incarnate either, and despite their tarnished history, they're really not all that different from quite a few players out there. (Arolin excepted... that boy's got issues. :P)
As an aside, regardless of the players involved, that denial message was in decidedly poor taste--about on the level of the swastika-brandishing in that IRC log posted on the forum a week or so back.