Howling rant of a Grey Wolfie
Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:10 pm
Now, this here thingy is a challenge. There has been attempts to see why people think being a mod is scary and frankly I ain't convinced. So lemme just give you a personal account of what it's REALLY like. And I dare you all to convince me otherwise.
Lemme start with a story if you will.
Been a while since I joined. Four years and a bit more. Been playing for a while, and even had a pair of characters going. Then I got talked into taking the seminar. Been a bit scared. At first. Then breezed through it and enjoyed it. Some pretty fun stuff written there. You just have to read it right and see the stuff written as guidelines that are meant to give you one view on how you could mod. Not should, could. Because you can do it differently, and tweak it to suit you. This is just to provide you with a tested solution others have found to be working well.
Then came the really scary part. Citadel and its political scene. Or rather it was scary and made me nervous, but I was far too stubborn to let it stop me. It turned out it was not really that scary. A bunch of NPCs which have been described in the Mod forums. And you take them, post a few times for them, get a feel how they behave in your hands and you are doing the modding thing. After a while when someone meets an NPC you just feel the reply flowing out of your keyboard.
Then came the Coordinator's position. Somewhat suddenly I was given the entire city and after initial shock once more realized that it was real easy. You had more responsibility sort to speak, but if you see it as fun and not work it is not that scary. Plotting bit is easy-peasy. You just think of a logical, fun event that could take place. Or even not that. You think of a logical reaction to something players did. Think who would be present. And then you post a thread or simply put it into a post for the existing thread. And you got yourself a plot going.
Now, I saw a lot of you being worried their writing was not up to the standard expected from mods. Pffffffffft. Don't make me laugh. Why do you think mods post as good as they do? Because they are fancy writers from birth with special cool-writing superpowers? Yeah right. It is simple. Practice, practice, practice. You post as a mod and your posting improves. Just like it does when you are a player.
Worried about the abundance of existing content? HA. You don't like it? Change it. Simple as that. An NPC might be having personal problems. He might have been dumped by a girl. Thousands of reasons why he changed. Usually players won't mind it if you change the NPC when you take over. They will offer advice, give you links to threads where the NPC appeared and help you get the feel of him or her. But, you can always say, no "he is like this now" and think of a simple reason why.
Think you can't handle the pressure? Then why not mod only two threads? Maybe just one? Get into modding slowly. See if you like it. I bet you will like it. And always remember one thing. Players love to get their posties. By posting you make people happy. Don't you like to see when Wolfie has been online and posted to your thread? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya? Well, I do like when my mod posts and makes me think and makes my char squirm.
And last, but certainly not the least, when you are a mod you do not have to do all yourself and struggle alone. There are other mods there. And guess what/ They help. Offer advice. Support you. Help you solve problems. Guide you. Do all sort of cutesy friendly stuff to get you through. Cause they went through it. And they know what made it better. Sure, we got that scary dragon lady in the cave. But, guess what. She is cute under all those scales. And nice. As are the others. So, hug your mod and see him or her as a person who dedicates just a bit more time to Tazlure than a regular player. They give and do so gladly. Don't you want to do so too. Father of Heavens, Pan and even Dominicus like those that give.
Now, that dare thingy. Think I am full of it? Think you can prove it? Let hear it. Show me I am wrong. I dare ya.
Lemme start with a story if you will.
Been a while since I joined. Four years and a bit more. Been playing for a while, and even had a pair of characters going. Then I got talked into taking the seminar. Been a bit scared. At first. Then breezed through it and enjoyed it. Some pretty fun stuff written there. You just have to read it right and see the stuff written as guidelines that are meant to give you one view on how you could mod. Not should, could. Because you can do it differently, and tweak it to suit you. This is just to provide you with a tested solution others have found to be working well.
Then came the really scary part. Citadel and its political scene. Or rather it was scary and made me nervous, but I was far too stubborn to let it stop me. It turned out it was not really that scary. A bunch of NPCs which have been described in the Mod forums. And you take them, post a few times for them, get a feel how they behave in your hands and you are doing the modding thing. After a while when someone meets an NPC you just feel the reply flowing out of your keyboard.
Then came the Coordinator's position. Somewhat suddenly I was given the entire city and after initial shock once more realized that it was real easy. You had more responsibility sort to speak, but if you see it as fun and not work it is not that scary. Plotting bit is easy-peasy. You just think of a logical, fun event that could take place. Or even not that. You think of a logical reaction to something players did. Think who would be present. And then you post a thread or simply put it into a post for the existing thread. And you got yourself a plot going.
Now, I saw a lot of you being worried their writing was not up to the standard expected from mods. Pffffffffft. Don't make me laugh. Why do you think mods post as good as they do? Because they are fancy writers from birth with special cool-writing superpowers? Yeah right. It is simple. Practice, practice, practice. You post as a mod and your posting improves. Just like it does when you are a player.
Worried about the abundance of existing content? HA. You don't like it? Change it. Simple as that. An NPC might be having personal problems. He might have been dumped by a girl. Thousands of reasons why he changed. Usually players won't mind it if you change the NPC when you take over. They will offer advice, give you links to threads where the NPC appeared and help you get the feel of him or her. But, you can always say, no "he is like this now" and think of a simple reason why.
Think you can't handle the pressure? Then why not mod only two threads? Maybe just one? Get into modding slowly. See if you like it. I bet you will like it. And always remember one thing. Players love to get their posties. By posting you make people happy. Don't you like to see when Wolfie has been online and posted to your thread? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya? Well, I do like when my mod posts and makes me think and makes my char squirm.
And last, but certainly not the least, when you are a mod you do not have to do all yourself and struggle alone. There are other mods there. And guess what/ They help. Offer advice. Support you. Help you solve problems. Guide you. Do all sort of cutesy friendly stuff to get you through. Cause they went through it. And they know what made it better. Sure, we got that scary dragon lady in the cave. But, guess what. She is cute under all those scales. And nice. As are the others. So, hug your mod and see him or her as a person who dedicates just a bit more time to Tazlure than a regular player. They give and do so gladly. Don't you want to do so too. Father of Heavens, Pan and even Dominicus like those that give.
Now, that dare thingy. Think I am full of it? Think you can prove it? Let hear it. Show me I am wrong. I dare ya.