Just in case anyone's keeping up with Medievia's latest change to force players to vote, here's a direct threat from the owner of the MUD:

[Mon Dec 12 06:10] Vryce(148):: if we dont STAY in the top 5 on that vote list I will shut down medievia

I've been playing Medievia for 6 years, and will never play it again after Vryce and Soleil broke TMS rules, and pushed yet another threat down his players' throats.

Complainers, whiners, moaners, and groaners are always the ones who are most vocal but are not in the majority. I talk to people nearly every day who are pleased and excited about the new and amazing innovations that are going on in medievia almost weekly.  
Serpents, ships, terraforming, and other new features make this game a growing, evolving vibrant place, and despite the few vocal naysayers, it is in fact an wonderful world to be a part of.
But here's the other thing to keep clearly in mind. Change is hard for some people. There are people out there who prefer to know something inside and out, they want no challenge, they want all things predictable. You can't use Gamerevolution to win this game. Med is not that place.
Today on Med will not be the same as tomorrow on Med. Something you try now, mayl be harder or easier tomorrow.
Some people can't handle that. But if you want a challenge, if you really want to feel good about what you've accomplished, Med is the place for you. If you want easy and predictable, I recommend Tetris.
In order to compete with muds that have FAR FAR FEWER players, Medievia must employ the same tactics that they are allowed to use. This is only fair.

Their change is illegal. Read the rules of this website.

If they "have to" resort to cheating to get people to play the game, chances are there's either a problem with their content (unlikely, since the depth of gameplay is amazing), or with their management.

I'd say management has been slowly killing the game for years. Luckily, this will probably give it the shot it needs to put it out of its misery.

As I see it, no rules were broken.  We've just researched what the other top muds do to help get their players to vote and have adopted a similar strategy that the usual #1 MUD (Aardwolf) uses.  If Medievia is at fault, then they are too. (I know, sounds soooo petty...)

Mr. Gameover, I'm sorry you are disappointed by our actions today, but I'm probably about 99% sure that you are not leaving Medievia because of this issue here on TMS.   If you are, then so be it.  However, I urge you to leave Medievia if you don't like it there.  Go find another game that suits your needs better.  After all, games are for entertainment, right?  You SHOULD leave a game that is no longer fun for you.  Since playing a game like a MUD takes a lot of time, that time should be spent somewhere you have fun.  It's always a shame to lose a player, but we don't want to keep players around who don't enjoy their experience.  I wish you the best at your new MUD home and hope that you enjoy it as much as you enjoyed your time on Medievia.  Good Luck finding that game!

I can't say I'm happy about it, but they do have a point in that Aardwolf seems to have the same system and nobody is complaining about them (although I am about to, privately, to Synozeer).

--matt

Aardwolf's reminder is OPTIONAL, which is the key here. Medievia hinders gameplay by breaking people's prompts, and then threatens them if they use a script to turn it off. Aardwolf offers the option of having a reminder, and the ability to easily turn it off.

Well, first, I have no problem with either system. Don't play the MUD if it bothers you that much. Having said that, however, here is what the rules say:

"You cannot display different messages based on whether someone voted or not, or reward a player for voting by not showing messages."

It doesn't distinguish between systems that are opt-out and systems that aren't. You can argue about one being more intrusive, and you'd be correct, but the rules don't take that into account.

I would certainly back a change that allowed for players to opt-in to that kind of prompt notification system, but the rules currently don't permit it as far as I can tell.

--matt

I second Soleil's post. It is obvious that "Gameover" has not been happy in Med for sometime and is now taking his/her parting dig at the game.
This does not negate some basic truths about Medievia....

The Challenge
The Companionship
The Fun
The Evolution
The Variety

Sadly, too many people aren't aware of the wonders of Medievia, by employing the same tactics used by other Muds on TMS Medievia is leveling the playing field with the competition and helping to make more people aware of the possibilities.

Whether he's upset with Medievia or not is immaterial as to whether Medievia is breaking the rules or not. Whether Medievia is a great game or a bad game is irrelevant to the voting rules.

--matt

Now, if only I could have the significant sum of money that I've spent on the game refunded!

Live and learn...

By the way, you're a great mouthpiece for the game, and so able to ignore anything but happily-spun propaganda. Soleil should pay you, if she isn't already.

Now, if only I could have the significant sum of money that I've spent on the game refunded!

Live and learn...

By the way, you're a great mouthpiece for the game, and so able to ignore anything but happily-spun propaganda. Soleil should pay you, if she isn't already.

I'm sorry, but this is nonsense Soleil. You know I've defended Medievia in the past, but saying you're going to break a rule because someone else did is crap. If you knew Aardwolf was breaking the rules, why not just shoot an email to to let Adam know? It's worked in the past. Materia Magica got kicked off here after they cheated. A couple other MUDs have too.

I wish you guys would reconsider.
--matt

That's really not what I meant.  I just assumed that since Aardwolf's system has been in place for a long time and that they've been the #1 game for just as long, that what they were doing was totally in agreement with the rules.  If not, why wasn't this brought up ages ago?? That is the major reason why we chose to do the same-ish thing.  I didn't know they were breaking the rules at all.  Maybe just my assumption that everyone was aware of what they were doing was incorrect.  

This brings about this question...
Just exactly how far does Synozeer go to prove that games aren't cheating?   Does a representative of this site EVER log into MUDs to make sure they are following the rules?  If so, why didn't Aardwolf's system come out before?  Why now, when Medievia does it, does it come out as illegal?

I'd imagine that Synozeer depends 100% on MUDs policing each other. Aardwolf has a lot of players, so we've never seen a reason to investigate their high vote counts, but we do investigate, as thoroughly as we can, any sudden jumps in voting or suspiciously high vote-total to total players ratio.

So I mean, the answer to your question is probably just, "Nobody complained." (Until now.)

Incidentally, I'm proposing to Adam that he consider changing the rule to allow for vote reminding systems that allow players to opt-out if they want. That way Aardwolf could just keep their current system (which seems perfectly fine to me as long as the rules permit it) and you could modify yours to allow players to opt-out of the vote-status-on-prompt.

I think that the reason for the rules is that Adam doesn't wish players to be selectively nagged based on whether they've voted or not. Currently the options are then either to nag everybody or not to nag. If the rule change were permitted, there'd be a third option, "Only 'nag' those who are ok with being 'nagged.'"

--matt

You know, I wouldn't even have a problem with the game except for this one paragraph

"Once you vote do a VOTE IVOTED and your prompt will clear until tomorrow. Do not run a script to clear the prompt as the game detects this and marks your history. That is fine but if you ever want our help, or our support in your problems, or to become an avatar or god, you do not want this kind of history."

Sounds like an implied threat to me, and makes me wonder why I'm playing a MUD where the gods can be so callous about the playerbase

If a vote button comes up after a certain period of time in the client, is that alright?  If it doesn't turn off if you vote, that is. Is that legal in the voting rules system?

I just heard from Adam regarding this whole issue. Here is the general gist of his feeling:

Displaying different messages based on whether someone has voted or not is fine IF those people have opted-in to that scheme. So, if it's on by default when you create, or is turned on by default for you, that's illegal (so no opt-out schemes, only opt-in schemes).

So, if Aardwolf's is on by default, Adam says it's illegal, but if people have to opt-in to it then he says it's fine. Medievia's sounds like it is still against his intent though, as it seems like it's forced on players.

He says he'll try to take some time tonight to consider altering the rules to clarify his intent.

--matt

Here, let's discuss further shall we?

There's a saying:

"If everyone else was jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you?"

Obviously, Medievia would. But that's not really the point is it.

I'd like to point out that Medievia has made a significant jump on the list by forcing people to vote. Yes, that's "forcing", as in, no choice, or we break your prompt, and also, think about the implied threat:

"We won't support you."

Ok, so for instance, if a player does something illegal by Medievia's rules to another player. Let's say the discipline gods now have to check the records to see if someone's voting for Medievia or not. Let's say here that the victim is not voting, and has subbed or somehow blocked the ugly IVOTE yellow tag so their prompt will work right. That person isn't voting, therefore gets no help? Doesn't that sound like an utter crock? That's like saying "Oh here, go vote and you can do whatever you want." Golly gee whiz! If only the money I've sunk into Medievia for donation equipment would buy me the same privileges!!

But it doesn't. All I have to do now to get away with things is go vote for a game. And I don't have to hand over any of my hard-earned money!

That'll raise revenue won't it? But the above scenario is merely supposition. What's the real deal?

And Jeena, you're not fooling anyone with your name on here. I know who you are, and so does anyone else who's played Medievia. Your condescending "holier-than-thou" attitude can't be mistaken, and you are one of Medievia's gods, so of course you're going to defend the game.

The sad thing is, there are players who haven't been screwed by Medievia yet who will come and defend it too. I can name off the top of my head quite a few bigtime players/donaters who got nailed. No reimbursements, not even a note saying "Hey, sorry about your loss", no nothing. Just a bunch of excuses and no facts.

You all can lie until it flows our your ears. Too bad V has a big mouth, and loves gloating over how "smart" he is over the IMM channel. You all say one thing, and then turn right around and do another.