What Evil would you prefer to see?

[GodBeastX]

As we write the world out, we are considering what would be enjoyable for play from your perspective.

What sort of evil would you like available for your playing pleasure and perhaps a brief post on why.

[Maxx Powers]

Personally i like both. Yes, the in your face type can get annoying and is usually too straightforward, but its necessary and has its own challenges. The scheming evil is always welcome in that it provides logistical challenges and presents mysteries, but it can also get annoying/boring if drawn out too much and not timed correctly. I would like to see/participate in both.

[Arithor]

to be or not to be a vile villian

Both types of evil are nec. to provide a fully immersive setting. You have the evil dumb arses who simply kill for the sake of killing IE. Chaotic Evil ala - ogres. And the diabolical evil plot creating head bad guy types like the liches and vampires or necromancer schemeing to take over the known world/region via pawns in an overall scheme IE Lawful Evil/Neutral Evil.

[Rainrix]

You need both types... Although you can love Lawful Evil characters because they have more of a personality to them, Chaotic Evil is just as described... Chaotic. Lawful Evil could become predictable (They usually seem to have a target i.e. a powerful artifact or ancient gem etc etc)... Where as Chaotic Evil would burn down villages for no reason, Just an excuse to spill blood for themselves or whatever god they worship...

[TheId]

I prefer what's best for a particular campaign. That can vary depending upon the circumstances.

[GodBeastX]

Well, having organizations that players can become involved in that are DM'd and have impact on the server means we want it to be fun from player standpoints. I'm basically asking this poll to see what people want to be doing with their characters. Should they be a Chaotic sort of evil where they rush in, destroy stuff, take no prisoners, obvious enemies that governments will want to decimate... or should this primary group be something more dark and sinister, setting up the "good guys" for the fall.

It gets difficult to DM multitude of groups, and we have ideas for different possibilities, and obviously players will likely start their own organizations, but this is meant to see what people would prefer.

[Revil]

I have a question, will any of the forms of evil be a faction that contains players? It would be good to have something like that to have some PvP between factions. Battles for control of an area or something like that.

On the subject of chaotic or plotting, maybe a sinister plotting evil that manipulates a more chaotic faction from behind the scenes.

[Rainrix]

Lawful Evil can usually lead bands of Chaotic Evil / Neutral Evil. Lawful Evil is better suited for Leadership... They just need a way to keep the Chaotic Evil troops under control.

[TheId]

Players are free and encouraged to create their own player-based factions, should they be guilds, cults or otherwise. Be aware though that the actions of these groups will be closely watched by the game masters, who will be looking for ways to involve players in plot lines. If you are a member of the Children of Baator who prounounces such in public, expect some unwelcome surprises from the righteous helmites or maybe even rewards for your overlords in the hells.

[Faltru]

Players are free and encouraged to create their own player-based factions, should they be guilds, cults or otherwise. Be aware though that the actions of these groups will be closely watched by the game masters, who will be looking for ways to involve players in plot lines. If you are a member of the Children of Baator who prounounces such in public, expect some unwelcome surprises from the righteous helmites or maybe even rewards for your overlords in the hells.

I like the sound of this.

[CartSnyden]

Players are free and encouraged to create their own player-based factions, should they be guilds, cults or otherwise. Be aware though that the actions of these groups will be closely watched by the game masters, who will be looking for ways to involve players in plot lines. If you are a member of the Children of Baator who prounounces such in public, expect some unwelcome surprises from the righteous helmites or maybe even rewards for your overlords in the hells.

I think that's a great idea.

[Semli]

I have always felt that one fo the best forms of "evil" are the least expected ones. Yes maybe a dark overlord type that commands his troops to do his bidding but more so the evil that is always jsut out of reach. Causing all the mayhem in a more political sense then taking an active role. I mean any true "evil" leader would ahve forces do the work for him and smartly stay hidden from the eyes and knowledges of any would be heros.

That can fall into many catagories though and does not always ahve to be evil. Just as an example would be the catholic church during the inquisition. I would not say teh curch was evil but torturing and burning folks with a different belief structure or as a tactic to gain thier wealth and land would definatly be considered a evil act.

Items like knowing that one wrong spoken word or act in the wrong place or around certain ears could bring the "wrath of the gods" so to speak down on you can be a very motivating intriguing storyline in many ways.

SOrry bit of a rant there but in the long run if something "evil" must be the counterpoint to the "heros" my opinion is to make it so overbearing yet hidden that the players and characters can paint thier own mental pictures of how horrible it is and why it must be stopped.

In response ot the player driven "cult" orginizations, is it possible to play an evil character and possibly start a secret cult? and if so does that statemtnt mean that players doing so will actually ahve the assistance of the game masters in forwarding thier own plots and schemes? This is great!!!

[VFoxcraft]

In my opinion the best 'evil' is the evil that is evil for the sake of good, if you catch my drift. For instance, the interrogator who tortures prisoners for information, but does it to save a country or city-state. Another example, this one more real, would be the difference between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. in the 1950's. The U.S.S.R. was bad, it's people oppressed and the like, but to them the U.S.A. was just as evil as they considered citizens of the states to be victims and slaves to excess. I believe this kind of evil brings the most depth, and allows even evil characters the ability to fight for something that they believe in more than themselves. For instance, where there are the kindly farmers protecting their homes for the good of the community, there could be the evil druid trying to destroy civilization as he/she believes it only serves to protect the weak and spits in the face of natural selection.

[singlemind]

I've always liked the evils that come about through the actions of pcs... from things as simple as the brother of the peasant they slaughtered, who's now raising an army to avenge his blood.... but the best... THE BEST is when players are lead by their respective noses all over the place, as part of some well crafted plot by their enimies, only to show up at a place and time picked by those same enimies where they unwittingly fufill their enimies plans. As an example (and I do hate to use this as an example, but I figure most people will have some idea what I'm talking about... and it's the only reference that I can think of that wouldn't be completely obscure) in the most recent harry potter movie, the big bad needs harrys blood to be resurrected - without the actions of the good guy, the bad guy would never be a threat....

just my two cents....

[Shakamahaloa]

I would like to see both, and I think that both are necessary to make a good story. After all, the scheming and plotting evil may have more of an impact within the context of a greater more obvious evil. Final Fantasy 12 is a good example. For those of you who want to or are going to play it, i'll leave out spoilers, but in FF12, there is a greater more obvious evil called the Archadian empire which is made known right from the start. If FF12 just had the empire and the goal of the game was simply to crush the empire, you might have a pritty boring save the world story on your hands. Thats not the case though. Part of what makes FF12's story so great is the smaller scheming and plotting, the shear amount of twists and turns, the surprises, the bumps in the road, the drama, and how those characters deal with the problems or solve them. In other words, the stuff that builds suspense. Most of this scheming and plotting is and should be shrouded in mystery until the time is ripe to unveil those details. If done at the right time, the story will impact the player more.

At the same time though, you don't want all the plotting and scheming evil to overshadow the big picture evil. It should work with the main objective of the story or shed a new light on it as in the case of a story twist. Many games, especially mmo's, fail at this task unless you're a self proclaimed lore keeper who knows all the intricacies of the the story. Most people don't. Some of this evil can be outside of the main story, but I don't think it should be so much that it makes you loose track of your main objective or goal like mmo's have a horrible habit of doing. There is so much you can do in an mmo that the main story or objective can be lost if you're paying loose attention. My advice would be to include both kinds of story telling and try to keep the intricate plotting and scheming within the greater context of the main objective as much as possible. I think this would help to remind the players what their main objective is and to keep a sense of drama, suspense, and urgency going. I realize, though, that in a PW it is hard to do this because you have to provide content to keep the player busy - content that may not be in line with or distract players away from the main story such as side quests.

Another wall of text... yay for 2hr breaks b/t class.