The Unspoken Woes of a 5%
Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2017 5:46 pm
As a brief introduction:
When I got a major award, I was so excited and really looked forward to getting to play a unique character. In the end I went with a silver half-dragon, something I had wanted to play for quite some time due to FR lore on silver dragons.
To not bore you with the entire story, the point is I regret it.
I'm not saying not to play a special race, and I'm not saying other players did anything wrong, I'm simply trying to help set the expectation for others who are considering playing a special race.
I didn't realize how the character would be received when I choose it due to a lack of source information specific to Arelith, so there is really no way I could have known.
I wish there was a post like this when I was considering what to go with for the award, and so I write it up in hopes that others may find it useful should they be in the same position I was.
Playing a special race:
As a start: Your millage may vary. Everything posted here is based on my own experiences, and the experiences of those I have spoken to. There is always the possibility you may end up not falling into any of this.(Thank you Cortex: A good point.)
If you are a special race that has abnormal appearances and doesn't conceal their identity, there is a high chance they will be treated like a monster regardless of what that race is. (be it deva, tiefling, dragon disciple, half-dragon, etc)
Do not expect to be treated in a manner that includes specifics of situations, or in a way that includes forgotten realms lore on that race.
Ask yourself "Do I want to play a monster?", and if that is a no, consider very carefully before making the choice, as there is no turning back.
I also suggest asking other players about a specific race before choosing to play one, to get the Arelith take on it.
As is occasionally said, Arelith isn't 100% by the book, and various races have a history on the server, be it positive or negative, and these don't always align with what the Forgotten Realms source books may say, but do influence how others will react to and treat the character.
Be prepared to file reports. Every 5% character I had talked to agrees that there will be times where people's reactions are just a little too out of line, whether it be things their character asks or says, OOC factors influencing their character's actions, etc.
Endurance. You may need a lot of endurance to play a character of that nature, especially so if you don't hide it's identity, as your character will most likely be knocked down again and again, through endless insults, rumors, and/or lies.
Use of a 5% on anything else:
Be patient if you're requesting something custom: The devs have lives too, and going back and forth to discuss the details of the reward's usage could take multiple weeks. (everyone I've spoken to that has a 5% said it toke them a while)
Additionally, when choosing a build for any character that you plan to use a major award on, I strongly recommend that you contact the devs and ask if they plan to work on or release any changes to the classes you are looking at any time soon.
My story:
When a majority of people saw something such as silver wings on my character, they would instantly label her a monster and sometimes even physically attack her, with seemingly no regard to what "sort" of monster she is, be they elves within Myon, dwarves within Brogendenstein and so on.
This isn't an issue when it's not a breach of rules, but it's not what I was expecting.
I had wrongly expected the elves to recognize that she can't be that bad if she could pass through the Mythal(meaning Myon is a safe space), that the dwarves would think of the silver dragon that lives in their own hall(meaning she might find allies there), or that some(not all) people would recognize that she's part silver(a dragon that, by forgotten realms lore is known to be kind, friendly, honest and merciful, even if prideful).
These didn't factor in nearly as much as I expected, even high intelligence mages that I thought I could safety assume to know the difference between different types of dragons revealed that they didn't know, far more often than I expected.
Literally every single time I log on my character, I receive negative treatment by other characters, regardless of where I am.
I had naturally expected some hate, but not to the point others would effectively exile her from entire cities for simply being a monster, have guards listen to a criminal and known underdarker before her, or to the point she'd be insulted or even attacked by members of the same faction that she's been a part of for a while.
I think part of the reason the Forgotten Realms lore on this race is so overlooked ties into the fact player controlled silver dragons have a rather bloody history specific to Arelith.
My failure to ask about changes also resulted in a change being released only 1 month after I got the character that ruined the entire build concept to my character, and made playing it that much more of a struggle. This unfortunately falls under "When bad things happen to good adventurers", so cover your bases.
When I got a major award, I was so excited and really looked forward to getting to play a unique character. In the end I went with a silver half-dragon, something I had wanted to play for quite some time due to FR lore on silver dragons.
To not bore you with the entire story, the point is I regret it.
I'm not saying not to play a special race, and I'm not saying other players did anything wrong, I'm simply trying to help set the expectation for others who are considering playing a special race.
I didn't realize how the character would be received when I choose it due to a lack of source information specific to Arelith, so there is really no way I could have known.
I wish there was a post like this when I was considering what to go with for the award, and so I write it up in hopes that others may find it useful should they be in the same position I was.
Playing a special race:
As a start: Your millage may vary. Everything posted here is based on my own experiences, and the experiences of those I have spoken to. There is always the possibility you may end up not falling into any of this.(Thank you Cortex: A good point.)
If you are a special race that has abnormal appearances and doesn't conceal their identity, there is a high chance they will be treated like a monster regardless of what that race is. (be it deva, tiefling, dragon disciple, half-dragon, etc)
Do not expect to be treated in a manner that includes specifics of situations, or in a way that includes forgotten realms lore on that race.
Ask yourself "Do I want to play a monster?", and if that is a no, consider very carefully before making the choice, as there is no turning back.
I also suggest asking other players about a specific race before choosing to play one, to get the Arelith take on it.
As is occasionally said, Arelith isn't 100% by the book, and various races have a history on the server, be it positive or negative, and these don't always align with what the Forgotten Realms source books may say, but do influence how others will react to and treat the character.
Be prepared to file reports. Every 5% character I had talked to agrees that there will be times where people's reactions are just a little too out of line, whether it be things their character asks or says, OOC factors influencing their character's actions, etc.
Endurance. You may need a lot of endurance to play a character of that nature, especially so if you don't hide it's identity, as your character will most likely be knocked down again and again, through endless insults, rumors, and/or lies.
Use of a 5% on anything else:
Be patient if you're requesting something custom: The devs have lives too, and going back and forth to discuss the details of the reward's usage could take multiple weeks. (everyone I've spoken to that has a 5% said it toke them a while)
Additionally, when choosing a build for any character that you plan to use a major award on, I strongly recommend that you contact the devs and ask if they plan to work on or release any changes to the classes you are looking at any time soon.
My story:
When a majority of people saw something such as silver wings on my character, they would instantly label her a monster and sometimes even physically attack her, with seemingly no regard to what "sort" of monster she is, be they elves within Myon, dwarves within Brogendenstein and so on.
This isn't an issue when it's not a breach of rules, but it's not what I was expecting.
I had wrongly expected the elves to recognize that she can't be that bad if she could pass through the Mythal(meaning Myon is a safe space), that the dwarves would think of the silver dragon that lives in their own hall(meaning she might find allies there), or that some(not all) people would recognize that she's part silver(a dragon that, by forgotten realms lore is known to be kind, friendly, honest and merciful, even if prideful).
These didn't factor in nearly as much as I expected, even high intelligence mages that I thought I could safety assume to know the difference between different types of dragons revealed that they didn't know, far more often than I expected.
Literally every single time I log on my character, I receive negative treatment by other characters, regardless of where I am.
I had naturally expected some hate, but not to the point others would effectively exile her from entire cities for simply being a monster, have guards listen to a criminal and known underdarker before her, or to the point she'd be insulted or even attacked by members of the same faction that she's been a part of for a while.
I think part of the reason the Forgotten Realms lore on this race is so overlooked ties into the fact player controlled silver dragons have a rather bloody history specific to Arelith.
My failure to ask about changes also resulted in a change being released only 1 month after I got the character that ruined the entire build concept to my character, and made playing it that much more of a struggle. This unfortunately falls under "When bad things happen to good adventurers", so cover your bases.