avoiding-drama

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  • Wings Over Atreia: Drama llama -- DUCK!

    by 
    MJ Guthrie
    MJ Guthrie
    09.05.2011

    Hey, I warned you long ago that music influences everything I do! (If you haven't heard The Llama Song, I highly recommend Googling it!) More than just a nod to one of my favorite songs, the title is a tip off that this week will involve another episode of our favorite I-wish-it-only-happened-to-someone-else show: Daevas of Our Lives. Yes folks, despite the the attempts of many -- though unfortunately not all -- to avoid the steaming piles left on the roads in the wake of the dreaded Drama Llama, sometimes someone flings the stuff around and you just can't dodge fast enough to avoid the splatter. And that smell doesn't disappear when you log out. A couple of weeks ago, Wings Over Atreia took a look at relationships within Aion. As pointed out then, not all relationships within game or legion are bad, but the propensity for drama is certainly higher. Those who share too much personal information soon find that the situation becomes uncomfortable for them -- or others -- when things start going wrong. And nothing feeds a hungry Drama Llama like a relationship gone bad. So don some rain gear (or maybe a Hazmat suit) and venture past the cut if you dare for this week's episode of Daevas of Our Lives -- The Break Up.

  • Storyboard: Best practices

    by 
    Eliot Lefebvre
    Eliot Lefebvre
    05.28.2010

    Roleplaying is a finicky business. If organizing endgame raid groups is like herding cats, organizing coherent roleplaying is like herding cats with even more ego. And no promise of rewards. And with only other players to provide a threat. And you're herding them with a Nerf bat that many of them are more inclined to just play with. And you have to balance it around activities such as endgame raiding. It takes a lot to get roleplaying going and keep it going, is what we're getting at. It's a testament to how passionately people feel about roleplaying that, despite all of this, it happens on a consistent basis and usually without too much (unintentional) drama. But it's hard work for everyone involved, and that just inspires people to be more passionate about it as an aggregate. Hence the creation of a column entirely devoted to roleplayers and the careful art of crafting, playing, and working through characters.

  • The accidental ninja

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    03.24.2008

    Spensi on WoW LJ says she may have accidentally ninja'ed -- it was clear before the raid that if Moroes' Pocket Watch dropped, she would get it. But when it actually dropped, she apparently looted it herself as main looter without saying anything, and her guildies didn't quite remember the deal before the instance started. Was it a ninja? I don't know -- there are good points on both sides.In fact, it seems the only way to really avoid loot drama is to, unfortunately, be as selfless as possible. Last night, I did a run of Ramparts on my up-and-coming hunter, and on the first boss, the Hunter mail pants dropped. The other Hunter in the party needed them as well, so we rolled on them, and I won. Later in the instance, another green piece came up that we both needed, but to be fair, I let him have it. And finally, on the second boss, the mail hands dropped, and I did need them, but once again, to avoid drama, I just let the other Hunter have them. I could probably have made a case for at least rolling on them, but it wouldn't have been fair for me to walk away from the instance with two blues when he only had a green, so to keep the peace I let it go.It worked out, too, because I picked up some great blue hands anyway when I turned the quest in. And that's the thing to remember when it comes to loot -- there will always be more of it. Even if your item doesn't drop, or you don't win this roll, or your guildie gets angry because you nabbed an item, even though they knew you needed it, there'll always be more drops and more rolls and more loot to get.